PENRITH PANTHERS v NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Round 26, 2015 Holden Cup
Date: Saturday September 5, 10.40am
Venue: Pepper Stadium
Last time they met:
The NYC Newcastle Knights ran out 34-8 winners over the Penrith Panthers at Hunter Stadium in Round 4.
Teams:
PANTHERS
1. Brent Naden (c), 2. Fuimanu Enese, 3. Corey Harawira, 4. Maliko Filino, 5. Christian Crichton, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Oliver Clark, 9. Dylan Edwards, 10. Moses Leota, 11. James Fisher-Harris, 12. Corey Waddell, 13. Tyrone May. Interchange: 14. Cowen Epere, 15. Kaide Ellis, 16. Dylan Fuad, 17. Reed Izzard.
KNIGHTS
1. Bryce Donovan, 2. Jacob Gagai, 3. Josh Birch, 4. Braden Robson, 5. Fuaimamao Uta, 6. Brock Lamb, 7. Jack Cogger, 8. Josh King, 9. Jack Kelly, 10. Daniel Saifiti, 11. Bradie Smith, 12. Ben Stone, 13. Faitotoa Faitotoa. Interchange: 14. Jake McNamara, 15. Noah Easton, 16. Jayden Butterfield, 17. Tyrone Amey, 18. Ryan Glanville.
Match Analysis:
The NYC Newcastle Knights strive to deliver a much-needed win after last week’s loss at home in their Round 26 match against the Penrith Panthers.
The young Knights didn’t fare well with the emotion and hype of the Old Boys Day occasion and the short turnaround suffering a comprehensive loss to Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs last Saturday.
“We certainly built it up to be a must win for us, and that may have had an adverse effect on the boys and tipped them over the line,” strength and conditioning coach Mick Reid said.
“We prepared well, but we just didn’t put our plans into play.
Yet, after a win over the opposition in Round 4, the U20s Knights are confident they have what it takes to earn two points again this time around.
“We have had a look at the Panthers and we beat them earlier in the year, so hopefully we have trained well all week and will bring something to the game because it’s the last game,” he said.
According to Reid, the key to Saturday’s clash will be in the Knights’ defensive effort and work around the middle off the ruck.
“They have some big boys and a lot of offloads, so we’ve been working a fair but on that,” he said.
“We know what they bring to the table and hopefully we can attack them a little bit and get a little fracture around the edge of their ruck and get some joy."
Reid is hoping for a big effort from the Knights’ forward pack with Daniel Safaiti, a stand out this year, expected to bring his usual impressive form.
“I’m looking for those guys to set the foundation and get us moving forward,” he added.
“They will need to be tough and ruthless.
Sitting at ninth place on the competition ladder, a win for the Knights could still see the possibly of finals football pending the results of other Round 26 games.
“We are going one game at a time and if we’re lucky enough to get there, we’ll reassess,” he concluded.
Where it will be won:
Sticking to the game plan.
“We need to finish our structures and ends of sets properly. If we do that we’ll go a good way to matching them and getting a win,” Reid said.
“I think it is going to be an even matched game, but we have to play our game plan and not worry about what they bring.”
