New Zealand Warriors 40–10 Newcastle Knights — Semi-Final, 2023 NRL Finals Series
16 Sep 2023 · Go Media Stadium, Auckland (NZ) · Attendance: 26,083
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2023 NRL finals series: New Zealand Warriors 40–10 Newcastle Knights, at Go Media Stadium, Auckland (NZ) on 16 Sep 2023.
Sourcing caveat: Try-scorer minutes are sourced from a secondary aggregation of match reports rather than an official minute-by-minute timeline. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scoring timeline
| 2′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Nicoll-Klokstad |
| 6′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Fonua-Blake |
| 11′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Montoya |
| 24′ | Newcastle Knights — try, Marzhew |
| 42′ | Newcastle Knights — try, Lucas |
| 46′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Walker |
| 59′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Berry |
| 63′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Watene-Zelezniak |
| 75′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Sironen |
Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here; goal tallies we can't attribute to one specific try are shown as descriptive text in Scorers rather than guessed into this timeline.
Scorers
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Nicoll-Klokstad 2'; Fonua-Blake 6'; Montoya 11'; Walker 46'; Berry 59'; Watene-Zelezniak 63'; Sironen 75' Goals: Pompey (6/7 conversions) |
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Marzhew 24'; Lucas 42' Goals: Ponga (1/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| New Zealand Warriors | Newcastle Knights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | Fullback | Kalyn Ponga | 1 |
| 2 | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | Wing | Dominic Young | 2 |
| 3 | Rocco Berry | Centre | Dane Gagai | 3 |
| 4 | Adam Pompey | Centre | Bradman Best | 4 |
| 5 | Marcelo Montoya | Wing | Greg Marzhew | 5 |
| 6 | Te Maire Martin | Five-eighth | Tyson Gamble | 6 |
| 7 | Shaun Johnson | Halfback | Adam Clune | 7 |
| 8 | Addin Fonua-Blake | Prop | Jacob Saifiti | 8 |
| 9 | Wayde Egan | Hooker | Phoenix Crossland | 9 |
| 10 | Mitchell Barnett | Prop | Leo Thompson | 10 |
| 11 | Jackson Ford | Second Row | Tyson Frizell | 11 |
| 12 | Marata Niukore | Second Row | Dylan Lucas | 12 |
| 13 | Tohu Harris | Lock | Adam Elliott | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Dylan Walker | Kurt Mann | 14 | |
| 15 | Jazz Tevaga | Daniel Saifiti | 15 | |
| 16 | Bayley Sironen | Jack Hetherington | 16 | |
| 17 | Josh Curran | Mathew Croker | 17 | |
| Andrew Webster | Coach | Adam O'Brien | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Adam Gee |
Match report
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd at Go Media Stadium, the Warriors set the tone within two minutes when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad crossed after Newcastle fumbled from the kick-off, and Addin Fonua-Blake barged over soon after to make it 12-0. Marcelo Montoya extended the lead to 16-0 by the 11th minute. Newcastle hit back through Greg Marzhew and Dylan Lucas just before half-time, narrowing the margin and giving the visitors hope of an upset. But the Warriors reasserted control immediately after the break, with Dylan Walker scoring in the 46th minute to push the lead back out. Rocco Berry, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Bayley Sironen added further tries as Auckland pulled away in the closing stages, running out comprehensive 40-10 winners. The result sent the Warriors through to a preliminary final against Brisbane, continuing their remarkable turnaround after finishing last the previous season, while Newcastle's season ended at the semi-final stage.