Jermaine McEwen Scored Twice as Newcastle Knocked South Sydney Out of the Finals in Front of Twenty-Eight Thousand
The Knights won the elimination final 20-10 at Allianz Stadium in a match Wayne Bennett left complaining about the video referee.
Newcastle Knights beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-10 in the first week of the National Rugby League finals at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Friday 11 September. The crowd was 28,152.
Jermaine McEwen scored twice for Newcastle, with Dane Gagai and Dom Young adding the others. McEwen's second, in the sixty-second minute, proved decisive. Campbell Graham and Jye Gray crossed for South Sydney.
The game turned on two moments in the second half. Cody Walker went off with a calf injury, and a Jayden Sullivan try was disallowed by the video referee for a knock-on by Alex Johnston.
Knights captain Kalyn Ponga said the belief and confidence the coach instilled in the side meant they did not worry about what they did not have. The South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett said he would rather have the referee doing his job properly and that he could not live with a video official that was supposed to be perfect.
Newcastle advance to a semi-final against the loser of the qualifying final between the Warriors and the Dolphins.