An 80th-minute try by Jackson Ferris set up by a Billy Magoulias chip kick has handed Newtown a stunning 20-16 NRL State Championship win over Burleigh.
The Jets were down by four with less than a minute to play on Sunday when Magoulias’ chip bounced perfectly for Ferris to steal the trophy at ANZ Stadium.
It’s the second time in less than a week the Cronulla star produced the game-winning play after piloting the same kick in last week’s Canterbury Cup decider.
The Bears had seemingly sewn up the title on twice, first by setting up a 16-2 lead on two Anthony Don tries and a third to Jamal Fogarty in the 47th minute.
Newtown roared back with three consecutive tries but looked to have fallen short when they turned away on numerous occasions by Burleigh in the closing stages.
That was until Magoulias rolled the dice one final time, landing his chip in the middle of a pack of Bears and sitting up for Ferris to score under the posts.
It’s the fourth year in a row the NSW reserve grade champions have taken out the annual grand final day clash against their Queensland counterparts.
The early signs weren’t positive for Burleigh the moment hooker Pat Politoni’s afternoon ended with a suspected broken arm in the third minute.
Newtown then drew first blood on a Braydon Trindall penalty goal.
But back-to-back Don tries in the space of eight minutes, including an 80m effort, gave the Bears an eight-point lead at halftime.
Jets winger Ronaldo Mulitalo was also put on report for headbutting just before the break and Burleigh made them pay with a third try before his return.
It wasn’t until the 54th minute that Newtown finally broke the Burleigh line, with Sione Katoa producing an acrobatic put-down to cut the lead to 10.
Magoulias was also responsible for their third try, charging down a grubber for Ferris to run 60m and reduce the lead to four.
A Katoa try with four minutes remaining gave Trindall a chance to level the game from the sideline but his attempt swung wide.
Ferris was a second player cited for a second-half knee lift on a carry and Bears lock Sam Coster was put on report for a crusher.
