{"id":126240,"date":"2025-09-07T20:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T20:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/126240\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T20:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T20:22:10","slug":"nrl-2025-tongan-teen-fane-finau-tipped-for-bright-future-after-newcastle-knights-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/126240\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2025: Tongan Teen Fane Finau tipped for bright future after Newcastle Knights debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tongan teenager Fane Finau dedicated her dream debut to her dad Dale after helping Newcastle secure a fourth straight NRLW finals berth at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cheered on by her own support crew of around 40 family and friends, which included Dale and her mother Mele, the 19-year-old tackle-buster scored a try in the Knights\u2019 28-22 victory over Gold Coast at McDonald Jones Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finau, who was born in Nuku’alofa, started in the secondrow but switched to left centre after fullback Botille Vette-Welsh (HIA) was replaced in the 21st minute and Knights coach Ben Jeffries shuffled his backline.<\/p>\n

Taking a pass from captain Yasmin Clydsdale six minutes into the second half, Finau bumped off three defenders close to the Titans\u2019 line to crash over and score, quickly disappearing under a huddle of smiling teammates.<\/p>\n


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\n Knights rookie Fane Finau dedicated her NRLW debut to father Dale.
\n \u00a9Shane Myers\/NRL Photos
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\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing to play NRLW and score a try in front of a home crowd in Newcastle,\u201d Finau told NRL.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a really fun time and am grateful for the opportunity. It was great to get the win for Dad on Fathers Day, and for all the dads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finau, voted Newcastle\u2019s 2024 Tarsha Gale Cup Players\u2019 Player, joined the NRLW squad at the start of this season and earned her top-flight call-up after some impressive performances in the Harvey Norman NSW Women\u2019s Premiership.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a phenomenal athlete and I\u2019m just so excited that she got her opportunity this season, and she really took it with two hands,\u201d Clydsdale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s actually been playing centre down in Harvey Norman, so when \u2018Bo\u2019 went off, it was just an easy transition and it was seamless out there. It didn\u2019t even feel any different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clydsdale put Finau\u2019s try down to footy instincts rather than any specific set play they had practised.<\/p>\n


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Fane Finau Try<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s actually crazy. We\u2019ve never really done anything like that,\u201d Clydsdale laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a sixth sense – I felt her out there, I gave her the ball, and she\u2019s a bulldozer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from scoring a try, Finau made seven tackle breaks and ran for 114 metres, ensuring she retains her place for the Knights\u2019 last regular-season game against the Dragons in Newcastle next Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFane plays back row and centre, so she\u2019s done rep after rep after rep in pre-season \u2013 and throughout the season \u2013 and that\u2019s put her in good stead today. That\u2019s why you train week in, week out, and do all those reps,\u201d Jeffries said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a credit to herself how she carries herself, she\u2019s played really well in Harvey Norman, she\u2019s been projected in today, and she\u2019ll be there again next week.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n Fane Finau had a huge support crew for her NRLW debut with the Knights.
\n \u00a9Shane Myers\/NRL Photos
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Ending a three-game losing streak, fifth-placed Newcastle (12 points) moved three clear of the sixth-placed Titans (nine). Depending on other results next weekend, the Knights could finish even higher up the ladder if they beat the ninth-placed Dragons (six) next Sunday.<\/p>\n

Newcastle led 10-0 after five minutes, 16-12 at half-time, and 22-12 after Finau\u2019s try.<\/p>\n

But the Titans rallied and the Knights needed a last-minute try by NSW halfback Jesse Southwell to break a 22-22 deadlock and ensure the 2022 and 2023 champions can pursue a third premiership when the new six-team finals series kicks off in two weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As she did in the first minute of the game to score her first try, Southwell spotted a gap in the Titans\u2019 defensive line and stepped through to touch down for the game-winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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Jesse Southwell Try<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the game\u2019s on the line, good players come to the forefront, and she wanted the ball in her hands,\u201d Jeffries said. \u201cSo congratulations to her, and the group to be honest, with how they responded after last week\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n

“It could have went another way but credit to them, they showed plenty of character and courage, and well done to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

After three straight losses, including a 19-18 heart-breaker against the Sharks a week earlier, Clydsdale felt relieved to reach the finals with a week left in the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learnt a lot of lessons the past three weeks, and I think there was a reflection out there on the field of what we have learnt,\u201d Clydsdale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to close out the game finally, and it\u2019s a relieving moment when you know that you\u2019re going to be in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u00a0again, the girls know we still have a lot of work to do, and we will be building into that game against the Dragons then taking that into semi-final time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tongan teenager Fane Finau dedicated her dream debut to her dad Dale after helping Newcastle secure a fourth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-126240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}