Reserve Grade match preview: Round 11
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Newcastle Knights
Date: Sunday, May 20
Location: North Sydney Oval
Time: 1pm
Team
1. Brent Naden, 2. Tom Hughes, 3. Matt Allwood, 4. Brayden Musgrove, 5. Cory Denniss, 6. Jack Johns, 7. Jack Cogger, 8. Tyrone Amey, 9. Chris Randall, 10. Jacob Lillyman, 11. Sam Stone, 12. Brodie Jones, 13. Luke Yates. Interchange: 14. Christian Hazard, 15. Pasami Saulo, 16. Pat Mata'utia, 17. Zac Hosking, 18. Tori Freeman-Quay, 19. Faitotoa Faitotoa.
The nib Newcastle Knights Reserve Grade side is hoping they've got their winning formula back after finally recording a draw and a win in the last two weeks.
New coach Rory Kostjasyn has welcomed back handy try scorer Tom Hughes from injury, and believes he'll be a valuable inclusion for their clash with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Sunday.
"It's good to see Tom back from injury and he'll be very keen to get back on the field and hopefully score some tries," Kostjasyn said.
Jack Cogger and Jack Johns will again pair in the halves after a polished performance last week.
"I thought last week they were really good together, Coggs really steered the ship for us and Jack (Johns) really backed his ability because he is a good runner with the footy," added the ISP coach.
"It's good to see those guys combining together well and I'm looking forward to them building on that this week."
Luke Yates will also make his way back to Reserve Grade to start at lock, after a couple of games in first grade.
"He provides a lot of energy and a fair bit for us defensively and is very good in his first contact," Kostjasyn commented.
"He probably wishes he was still in first grade at the moment but if he works hard enough, I'm sure he'll earn his opportunity back."
Sitting fourth on the table, the Bulldogs will be a tough challenge defensively.
"They're going pretty well, they have a very big forward pack and (Michael) Lichaa at nine so it will be a big job for us defensively and on the back of that, they've got (Fa'amanu) Brown who has played a fair bit of first grade and is a dangerous outside back."
