NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS V CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Sunday April 26, 2015 NSW Cup
Kick off: 3pm
Venue: Morrie Breen Oval, Wyong (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE)
Last time they met:
The last time the sides met was in Round 15 last season, when the Knights defeated the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 38-12 at Newcastle’s No. 2 Sportsground.
Teams:
KNIGHTS
1. Jake Mamo, 2. Kerrod Holland, 3. Nathan Ross, 4. Pat Mata’utia, 5. Chanel Mata’utia, 6. Carlos Tuimavave, 7. Jaelen Feeney, 8. Sam Mataora, 9. Chad Redman, 10. Paterkia Vaivai, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Marvin Filipo, 13. Clint Newton (c). Interchange: 14. Danny Kerr, 15. James Taylor, 17. Ben Tupou, 20. Tama Koopu.
BULLDOGS
1. Jaline Graham 2. Tyrone Phillips, 3. Levi Dodd, 4. Jacob Loko, 5. Jarrod McInally, 6. Matt Frawley, 7. Lindon McGrady, 8. Herman Ese’ese, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Danny Fualalo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Adam Elliott, 13. Jason Schirnack. Interchange: 14. Dane Chisholm, 15. Vince Rennie, 16. David Minute, 17. Brad Clark, 19. George Tsikrikis.
Match analysis:
While the NSW Cup Knights are becoming well known for their down-to-the wire wins, coach Matt Lantry is looking for a more consistent performance from his side in their Round 8 match against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
“They are a decent team on paper,” Lantry said about the opposition.
“I see Jacob Loco comes back and he is a decent opposition at centre for us.
“In their halves they are probably missing Moses Mbye, who certainly adds another dimension.
“If he doesn’t play with the NRL Bulldogs then we'd expect him to play with the NSW Cup.”
This week the Newcastle Knights’ preparation has focused on defence and controlling the ruck.
“Canterbury is a decent sized pack that will try to roll through the middle,” he said.
“It will be a bit similar to Wentworthville last week. If we get an even share of possession and can control their middle third, we give ourselves a chance to hopefully win the game."
While the Knights stole a late win at Hunter Stadium last week, Lantry acknowledges areas of improvement still remain.
“Execution was a bit disappointing. I thought we failed to show enough patience with the footy to build pressure,” he said.
“When we get to certain points on the field we need to execute a bit better.
“We were a bit flat on the weekend and our lines weren’t genuine enough.
“They were individual things were we took some shortcuts.
“We know we have points in us, it’s just about building pressure and executing our plays with the set effectively to ensure we can capitalise on the things that come our way.”
The Hunter Valley has been battered by wild and wet weather this week resulting in many of the area’s sports grounds being closed.
The Round 8 clash, originally to be held at No. 2 Sportsground has subsequently been moved to Morrie Breen Oval at Wyong on Sunday with kick-off remaining at 3pm.
“The NSW Cup Knights are used to moving around to different venues, obviously Hunter Stadium is our preference but at the end of the day all we need is a park, some grass and some goal posts and we’ll play anywhere," Lantry added.
Where will it be won:
Perseverance.
“Our patience and our ability to build pressure will be the same for us this weekend," Lantry said.
“Our play five options need to be a lot better because we can’t afford to consistently affording the opposition with seven tackles and 20 metre restarts.
“That will give us some value this week.”
