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Live sport on SN this weekendKnights book prelim with Penrith as Warriors fume
George Clarke, AAP • September 20th, 2026 8:41 pm
Newcastle have reached the preliminary finals with a tough away win against the Warriors | Photo: Andrew Cornaga/AAP
Newcastle's fairytale finals run has claimed another scalp as the Knights knocked off the Warriors in a controversial 12-10 win to set up a preliminary final with Penrith.
In front of a pro-Warriors crowd at Auckland's Eden Park on Sunday, the undermanned Knights celebrated one of their most famous victories with tries from Fletcher Sharpe and Dominic Young.
The Knights will play the Panthers at Accor Stadium on Sunday with captain Kalyn Ponga cleared of concussion and fit to play despite missing the dying stages to undergo a head injury assessment.
"I'm really proud of the boys, there's a lot of young lads out there and this is their first time in front of 50,000 plus," Ponga said.
Warrior Leka Halasima opened the scoring with a try in the 12th minute | Photo: Andrew Cornaga/AAP
The Penrith fixture will be Newcastle's first preliminary final since 2013 and caps a remarkable turnaround under Justin Holbrook after the club was condemned to last year's wooden spoon.
But their semi-final victory over the Warriors was not without controversy with reports emerging after fulltime that fans threw projectiles in the direction of referee Ashley Klein.
Warrior Te Maire Martin was penalised for a strip as his side hunted a winning try in the dying stages, before Newcastle forward Tyson Frizell appeared to run Leka Halasima off the ball while chasing a kick on the home side's last foray forward.
Fletcher Sharpe pulled the Knights level with the Warriors in the 28th minute | Photo: Brett Phibbs/AAP
"I thought they were trying to find ways to take it off us," said Warriors coach Andrew Webster.
"He (bunker official Chris Butler) said, 'I can't find any evidence', and he says, 'Oh, hang on, I'll have one more look and oh, there it is'. He looked at it 20 times."
Klein didn't award a penalty for Frizell's escort which would have given the Warriors the chance to kick a goal from in front to send the game to golden point.
"The last one, two points would have drawn the game, he is going across Leka, pretending to try and catch the ball which they've told us you can't do," Webster said.
Webster was gracious enough to admit his side blew plenty of chances and it will be a long off-season of introspection after the Wahs went within a whisker of claiming the minor premiership before exiting the finals in straight sets.
Many expected the Warriors to crush the Knights, who were again without their first-choice front row and star playmaker Dylan Brown.
But finals wins over Souths and the Warriors on the road highlight why many will consider Holbrook the leading candidate to be Dally M coach of the year.
Holbrook's men were electric from the start and had tries to livewire five-eighth Sharpe and Young chalked off, before Halasima crossed to open the scoring in the 12th minute.
Bradman Best burst through the Warriors' right edge in the 28th minute and found Sharpe on his inside, the five-eighth juggling the infield pass to race 30m to score.
Sandon Smith's conversion made it 6-6 at halftime and Newcastle hit the front through Young soon after the break.
Two finals, two losses: Warriors Ali Leiataua and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava after a straight sets exit | Photo: Brett Phibbs/AAP
Francis Manuleleua jolted the ball loose from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and on the first tackle the Knights spread the ball to the right, where Gagai unleashed Young with a flick pass and the towering Englishman touched down.
Halasima scored with an incredible 70th minute finish to give the Warriors hope but Taine Tuaupiki missed the sideline conversion.
Tuaupiki and Ponga went off for head injury assessments in a nail-biting final 10 minutes as the Warriors pressed for a winning play but the Knights held firm.
"We've got a lot of confidence in ourselves and self belief and whoever we're playing, we play well and we know we can win," Holbrook said.
"It's the same again next week, we play Penrith who've had a rest but I'm sitting here confident and I can't wait for the game."
