Five-eighth Dallas and centre Sultana both played played starring roles in helping the Knights win their first piece of silverware, by defeating Niue 24-16 in the Cup decider  at St Marys Leagues Stadium – to claim the third ever ENWC and the first ever in the southern hemisphere.

After leading 10-6 at the break, the Knights stretched their lead to 24-10 with 15 minutes to go, before Niue, featuring Shellharbour’s Tamati Ulukita, mounted one final comeback.

“It was a really physical game as expected and the Niue boys were massive and play very much a power game,” Jono Dallas said.

“We'd lost to them in the pool rounds, and while we were missing a few players, we still managed to get a lot out of that match, which probably went a long way towards us understanding what we needed to do in the grand final. 

“It took a lot of patience from our boys to just wear them down and take the chances once we'd earned them – I felt across the park we did that brilliantly.”

In the win, Nathan Benson (two), Jono Dallas, Jake Attard and Jarrod Sammut scored tries for Malta, with the latter landing two kicks.

While Justice Utatao, Christian Ulukita and George Lolo crossed for four-pointers for Niue, wth Eddy Paea converting two of them.

“With Jarrod Sammut coming into the team and joining me in the halves, it added plenty to our dynamic as a team,” Dallas said.

“I was happy with how I contributed, but was mindful to just try and bounce of Juz [Sammut] as best as I could – he's a full-time footballer coming straight over from the London Broncos, who are in the Super League in England, so it was good fun getting a game in with him. 

“Manny [Sultana] was solid as he had been all tournament  – he spent the first three games at fullback but was shifted to the centres for the final, and showed again, his ability to adapt quickly.”

Reflecting on the game and whole ENWC experience, Dallas was ecstatic he had the opportunity to do his family proud.

“Its very exciting for my mum's side of the family especially – my grandparent's on that side are Maltese, so any opportunity to respect their heritage has been great fun for me,” he said.

“It was a fantastic couple of weeks – I’d been able to play a couple of one-off Test matches for Malta over the last 12 months, but being a part of a tournament like this, where we played consistently over a couple of weeks, begins to build the comradery you're used to in footy, which obviously makes any success so much sweeter. 

“We'd set a goal to make the final and were always confident with the group we had that we could win but to end up winning the whole championship is certainly pleasing. 

“There are a number of people behind the scenes who have worked hard for Malta Rugby League for over a decade to try and improve and develop the set-up and this win is clearly their top achievement so far – I'm really happy for everyone involved.”

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