The last time Manly came to town as Premiers was in 1988 for the Herald Challenge Cup – the Newcastle Knights first ever game.

22 years later the Sea Eagles return to face the Knights at home for Round four of the NRL competition and competing for the Malcolm Reilly Challenge Trophy, recognising a contribution to both club’s by one of the game’s greats.

Newcastle Knights © Newcastle Knights

Adam MacDougall and Malcolm Reilly

“It’s a great trophy to play for and I’m honoured to be the only player left at the club to play under Malcolm and he’s the reason I was able to achieve so much in the game,” said dual Premiership player, Adam MacDougall.

The Great Britain and Manly Great who went on to the Coach the Knights to their historical 97 Premiership will present his namesake trophy to the winning side on Sunday but won’t be drawn into predicting the outcome.

“It’s going to be a tough game physically and I’m looking forward to a tough contest,” Reilly said.

“I have a lot of history with both clubs and I’ll be sitting firmly on the fence and applauding good football.

“It’s going to be aggressive and whoever digs deep mentally will come away with the spoils and both teams are capable of doing that.”

The Knights wrapped up preparations at Balance this morning but Coach Brian Smith said he’s no closer to deciding his final line up.

Playmaker, Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson also trained today and will be given until the 11th hour to prove their fitness.

Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson have both done a bit of work with us today which gives us some hope they may play but I’ll see them again tomorrow before we make up our minds,” he said.

If there’s one guarantee, it’s the assurance of a blockbuster game as two sides desperate to grab two competition points face of at 3pm on Sunday.

“It’s our home ground so the crowd will play a bit of a part in that,” said Smith.

“I hope they get on the backs of our young boys and give them a lift.

“We’ve still got a very young and inexperienced team and we’re playing the defending Premiers, it’s a massive day for our first home game of the year and I think everyone in Newcastle will be pumped up about it,” he said.

“We’re very excited about the first home game of the year and obviously it’s a great honour, all the boys are looking very forward to running our at EnergyAustralia Stadium in front of our home crowd on the weekend,” MacDougall said.

Tickets are still available at the Knights Kingdom Supporter Store, on the Knights website and at all PROticket outlets.