This weekend the red and blue travel down to Sydney to take on the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium.
The Knights have struggled to find their defensive flair recently that had gotten them across the line at the beginning of the season, and with back-end of the season fast approaching, a tough run home may make or break their season.
In the Eels camp a 2-10 record hangs over their heads, a clear sign that things need to change at Parramatta.
PARRAMATTA EELS V NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Date: Saturday, June 2
Gates: 5.00pm
Kick-off: 7.35pm
Venue: ANZ Stadium
Referee: Chris Sutton
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played: 49
Knights: 27
Eels: 21
Draw: 1
TEAMS
Knights: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Sione Mata'utia, 4 Cory Denniss, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Connor Watson, 7 Jack Cogger, 8 Jacob Lillyman, 9 Slade Griffin, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Mitchell Barnett, 13 Aidan Guerra (c) Interchange: 14 Danny Levi, 15 Chris Heighington, 16 Jamie Buhrer (c), 18 Josh King Reserves: 18 Luke Yates, 19 Brent Naden, 20 Nicholas Meaney, 21 Patrick Mata'utia
Eels: 1 Bevan French, 2 Josh Hoffman, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Brad Takairangi, 5 George Jennings, 6 Clint Gutherson (c), 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Daniel Alvaro, 9 Cameron King, 10 Siosaia Vave, 11 Manu Ma'u, 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Peni Terepo Interchange: 14 Will Smith, 15 Suaia Matagi, 16 David Gower, 17 Marata Niukore Reserves: 18 Nathan Brown, 19 Kirisome Auva'a, 20 Jaeman Salmon, 21 Kane Evans
Kurt's Call: Regaining confidence and Origin memories
A BATTLE ON THE EDGE
Cory Denniss makes his long awaited return to first grade, and who better to stack him up against than former NSW Blues gun Michael Jennings. Whilst his days of representative footy are over, Jennings is far from hanging up the boots and will pose a threat for Denniss on the edge, having scored 10 tries against the Knights in the past 11 games.
TROUBLE ON HOME TURF
The Parramatta Eels will be facing the Knights without a host of faces, including Corey Norman, out with a minor foot injury. Norman has also faced scrutiny off the field this week, fined by the club for disciplinary issues. External noise over the Norman incident is the last thing the Eels need, as they will look towards this weekend as a final shot to turning their form around this season.
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