Knights book NRL finals spot, send Dolphins packing

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Knights book NRL finals spot, send Dolphins packing

Newcastle have clinched the last NRL finals spot and crushed the Dolphins’ dreams of a fairytale top-eight berth with a Kalyn Ponga-inspired 14-6 victory in the shootout for eighth spot.

The Knights spent only two weeks in the top eight prior to round 27, but Sunday’s win in Newcastle locks up an elimination final date with North Queensland in Townsville next weekend.

The Dolphins’ loss brings the curtain down on Wayne Bennett’s two seasons as the 17th franchise’s foundation coach and ends retiring captain Jesse Bromwich’s 338-game career.

A maiden finals appearance looked officially out of reach for the Dolphins when Bromwich went to the sin bin in the final 15 minutes for sliding over to hit Ponga high on the ground.

Superstar fullback Ponga threw the last pass for both Knights tries in a gritty affair that went scoreless for nearly half an hour.

After struggling to find his rhythm with the ball early on, the Knights captain scooted out of ****** half to put lock Adam Elliott over with a short ball.

He doubled the Knights’ 6-0 half-time lead by strolling almost half the width of the park before finding a space for Brodie Jones to streak over.

Ponga could have had two more try assists if the bunker had not intervened to find knock-ons in the lead-up to both would-be four-pointers.

A late shot from Felise Kaufusi left Ponga clutching at his right shoulder midway through the second half, but he finished the game after being cleared by a Knights trainer.

Ponga’s rival fullback Trai Fuller was the Dolphins’ best and had an early try denied on the left edge after it was ruled Knights forward Jones had been obstructed in backplay.

The mature-age rookie came within inches of reaching out for a try in the shadows of halftime but was stopped short amid an afternoon of strong goal-line defence from the Knights.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow finally opened the account with 10 minutes to play.

The result officially ends the Raiders’ mathematical hopes of playing finals.

Canberra had been relying on a draw between the Dolphins and Knights to sneak into eighth spot, but will instead finish ninth ahead of the 10th-placed Dolphins.

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