Club records tumble
The send-off paradox
Cleary’s debutant’s ball
Leka the tackle-breaker
Taine kicks on
In one of the more bizarre matches of the Andrew Webster era, the Warriors outlasted a 12-man Newcastle side 46-32 at Go Media Stadium to stay on top of the NRL ladder with one round remaining.
Trailing 12-0 early — then 16-0 soon after Knights prop Jacob Saifiti was sent off for a sickening high shot on hapless club debutant Luke Laulilii — the Warriors took little time to erase the deficit and got out to a 32-20 lead.
The plucky Knights refused to put up the white flag, however, and fought back to 32-30 before the Warriors sealed it with the last two tries of the match.
The Warriors had 54 percent possession and made almost 400 more run metres. But the most overwhelming takeaway was the manner in which a shorthanded Knights outfit repeatedly stripped the Warriors on both edges — ultimately making 11 line-breaks to eight.
Newcastle wingers Fletcher Hunt and Greg Marzhew finished with two tries and four line-breaks apiece.
Both sides’ completion rates were below their average, while the Warriors made 14 errors to 10. The Knights underlined their pluckiness by also losing the penalty (8-3) and set restart (5-4) counts.
Club records tumble
The Warriors’ 17th win of the season equalled their all-time record, set in 2002. They can set a new mark with a victory over Manly in Round 27.
Meanwhile, the Warriors powered past the 2002 team’s all-time records for points (688) and tries (119) in a regular season campaign — advancing to 697 points and 121 tries with a game to go.
Less auspiciously, the Knights’ tally represented the equal-highest score conceded in a Warriors win, levelling the 48-32 win at Penrith in 2001.
The shaky defensive display means the Warriors can only concede four points and one try against the Sea Eagles if they want to break their club record for least points and tries conceded in a regular season (393 and 71, respectively, in 2011).
The send-off paradox
Sunday’s result was regarded as rather underwhelming given the Knights played 67 minutes of the game a man short.
But it follows a similar pattern of recent send-offs for Warriors opponents.
In 2022, Cronulla’s Will Kennedy was sent off in the first half for an ugly coat-hanger on opposing fullback Reece Walsh — yet the Warriors sunk to a humiliating 31-10 defeat.
The following season, amid a lengthy late-season winning streak, the Warriors struggled to put away also-ran Gold Coast after prop Moe Fotuaika was marched after 16 minutes. The Warriors let a 12-point lead slip and needed two tries in the last 10 minutes to get away with a 28-18 win.
Only two other players have been sent off against the Warriors in the NRL era (1998-present): Roosters superstar Brad Fittler, despatched along with Ali Lauitiiti as the Warriors won their 1999 season-opener 26-16, and Cowboys firebrand Luke O’Donnell in a late-2006 encounter the Warriors won 26-0.
The Warriors haven’t had a player sent off in an NRL match since Wade McKinnon in 2007.
After no players were sent off during the 2025 season, Saifiti joined St George Illawarra’s Jaydn Su’A (shoulder-charge versus South Sydney in Round 7) as the only players to get an early shower in 2026.
Debutant’s ball
Debutant Jett Cleary and third-gamer Luke Hanson equalled the NRL era record for the least experienced starting halves pairing to win a first grade game.
In his maiden appearance, Luke Walsh paired with Marvin Karawana, who was playing his third game, in Newcastle’s 2007 victory over Sydney Roosters.
Handling the scrutiny and expectation of a more-hyped-than-usual debut that comes with carrying a famous name, Cleary also equalled the record for most try assists on NRL debut with three. He matched the mark achieved by Parramatta’s Tim Smith (2005), Brisbane’s Corey Norman (2010) and Canberra’s Sam Williams (2011).
Both records via Random Stats Guy
Break stuff
Leka Halasima is thriving with the extra space a position in the three-quarter provides — and is proving a nightmare for opposing centres in the process.
The 20-year-old wrecking ball, who will make his 50th NRL appearance against Manly this weekend, chalked up an incredible 13 tackle-breaks against the Knights. It’s the second double-figure tally he’s managed in five games since his centre switch.
Halasima finished with an outstanding 176 metres on 13 runs, lifting his average in this five-game stretch to 153.8 metres per game.
Mitch Barnett was the Warriors’ top metre-eater again with 194 from 18 runs. The co-captain has made 160-plus metres in four straight games, while his lowest tally in his past nine NRL outings was 146 metres.
Aside from a powerful try, Erin Clark was a menace with 171 run metres — his highest tally since Magic Round — and five tackle-breaks.
Taine kicks on
Though he has failed to hold onto the No.1 jersey with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad returning in Round 27, Taine Tuaupiki confirmed he is the man to give the kicking tee to whenever he’s on the field.
Tuaupiki followed up his perfect eight-from-eight against Souths with seven goals from eight attempts against Newcastle.
The livewire’s record at NRL level now stands at 25 goals from 27 attempts, a success rate of 92.6 percent.
While that will almost certainly come down the more time he has with the goalkicking gig, it’s worth noting the only other player with a career strike-rate of better than 90 percent and more than 15 attempts is injury-ravaged utility back Kyle Stanley, who slotted 15 from 16 (93.8 percent).
Our inside defence was compromised by others 'helping out' which is understandable with the inexperienced halves pairing and resulted in a compounding problem at the edges. Unlikely to happen again with TM and CHT back in the saddle for the Manly game. Credit to the experienced and committed Knights for staying in the game for so long. Everybody will have learned something from the review earlier in the week.