New South Wales Cup grand final, Newtown Jets vs North Sydney Bears, Niwhai Puru, man of the match, stats – MASHAHER

The Newtown Jets claimed their ninth New South Wales Cup premiership on Sunday off the back of a man of the match performance from emerging halfback Niwhai Puru.

The Jets defeated the Norths Sydney Bears 28-22 in a thrilling contest at CommBank Stadium. It was the first time the two foundation clubs faced off in a grand final since 1943.

It was a tight tussle from start to finish with the Jets and Bears going try for try the entire match. Scores were locked up 22-all with 20 minutes to go until experienced Sharks prop Braden Hamlin-Uele scored what ended up being the matchwinner in the 64th minute.

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Newtown’s No.7 Puru was crowned Player of the Match following a busy performance that included a try assist, a linebreak assist, 120 metres and four conversions from five attempts.

The 22-year-old Panthers junior joined the Sharks ahead of the 2023 season on a development deal. He was upgraded to the Top 30 this season but is yet to be locked in beyond this year.

Puru played every minute of every game this year except for one, recording five tries and 19 try assists in 27 appearances. He also took over the goalkicking duties at different points in the season and converted at an impressive 82.61 per cent.

The Storm’s excitement machine Sua Fa’alogo was a late addition to the Bears’ line-up at fullback and proved to be a handful with a try, a linebreak, 13 tackle busts and 185 running metres.

But so too was Newtown’s rising star Liam Ison, who made his NRL debut for the Sharks earlier this season. Ison ran 145 metres and had 10 tackle busts.

After fulfilling 18th man duties for the Sharks on Saturday night, Mawene Hiroti pulled on the Jets jersey and starred in the centres with a try assist, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, five tackle busts and 138 metres.

In fact, all of the Jets’ back five made over 100 metres.

Newtown managed to seal the win despite losing five-eighth Khaled Rajab, who was a mid-season signing from the Bulldogs, to what looked to be a shoulder injury.

The Bears were admirable in defeat. Tepai Moeroa was enormous up front with 131 metres and 26 tackles — one miss — while the likes of Ben Talty, Nathaniel Roache and Regan Hughes were faultless in defence.

The Bears finished with more run metres, more tackle busts, more offloads and less missed tackles than the Jets. But their 17 errors compared to Newtown’s 11 proved costly.

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It was a tough pill to swallow for the Bears after also losing last year’s grand final by four points to the Rabbitohs.

They had a tumultuous year, using a total of 40 players and losing coach Pat Weisner mid-season — but still managed to claim the minor premiership.

The Jets will take on Queensland Cup premiers, Norths Devils in the NRL State Championship on Grand Final day at Accor Stadium.

The NSW Cup premiers have been overwhelming winners in this contest, winning the last six State Championships.

One of those was in 2019 when Newtown defeated Burleigh Bears 20-16.

Sharks stars Will Kennedy, Sione Katoa, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Braydon Trindall, Toby Rudolf, Blayke Brailey and Teig Wilton featured in that game. As did retired Kiwi international Greg Eastwood and premiership-winning Panther Scott Sorensen.

Billy Magoulias set up the matchwinning play — a repeat of what he did a week earlier in the NSW Cup grand final win over Wentworthville Magpies. Fast forward five years and Magoulias is still running around for the Jets.