NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS v MANLY SEA EAGLES
Round 17, 2015 NSW Cup
Date: Sunday July 5, 3pm
Venue: Newcastle No. 2 Sportsground
Teams:
KNIGHTS
1. Nathan Ross 2. Honeti Tuha, 3. Pat Mata’utia, 4. Chanel Mata’utia, 5. Kerrod Holland, 6. Carlos Tuimavave, 7. Jaelen Feeney, 8. Sam Mataora, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Paterika Vaivai, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Clint Newton, 13. Marvin Filipo, 14. James Elias, 15. Damian Sironen, 16. Tama Koopu, 17. Luke Yates.
SEA EAGLES
1. Dom Reardon, 2. Ben Fritz, 3. Brayden Wiliame, 4. Tony Satini, 5. Delroy Berryman, 6. Jack Littlejohn, 7. Kurt Aldridge, 8. Siosaia Vave (c), 9. Jayden Hodges, 10. Tyson Andrews, 11. Dylan Kelly, 12. Michael Chee Kam, 13. Jesse Sene-Lefao, 14. Manaia Rudolph, 15. Jordan Latham, 16. Uiti Baker, 17. Todd Wilson.
Match Analysis:
The NSW Cup Newcastle Knights take on the Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday on home turf boosted by the return of its most experienced players who were promoted last week to the NRL.
With the absence of its regulars, the NSW Cup Knights dished out a gutsy and admirable display at Ringrose Park the previous week succumbing to the Wentworthville Magpies 16-12.
“I thought those guys that have come through the NSW Cup system over the last four to six weeks really stood up," coach Matt Lantry said.
“I think it showed we have some good depth locally and have guys willing to put up their hand for an opportunity.”
“Honeti Tuha has been a part timer who has been a shining light and has been in our team consistently. He’s playing some good footy and probably played one of his best games on the weekend.
“Although we didn’t get the job done, I though the effort was great.
While the Knights will savour the home ground advantage, Manly is viewed as a formidable test with the ability to unsettle some of the strongest teams in the competition.
“They are a really good team and I don’t say that lightly,” he said.
“They have pushed most of the teams that they’ve played and just have been really unlucky through the year.
“It will be an interesting competition and we will need to play well to get the points.”
Among the line up is Brayden Williame who returns to Newcastle to face his former team.
“He’ll be primed to play well against his own club. He went down there for an opportunity and has played a couple of NRL games,” he said.
“There’s a good mix of NRL experience in their team with the likes Williame, Jack Littlejohn, Jesse Sene Lefao and Michael Chee Kam.
"They have a decent team that’s going to roll out for them on the weekend."
Lantry says the fact the players are returning to NSW Cup after time with first grade gives them the opportunity to back up their quality performance on Friday night.
He says a win on Sunday will set the Knights up well approaching the bye.
“My biggest concern was the lack of cohesion we lacked in attack and that just comes back to a lot of new guys and new faces in the team,” he said.
“While they have been around, they haven’t specifically trained as a team.
“What they did from an effort sense was really good.
“We had enough opportunities to win the game, we just couldn’t get across the line.
“We need to learn from that and this week it’s pretty important because we’ve lost five of our last six.
Where the game will be won:
Defence.
“I’d like us to improve on our defensive effort from last week,” Lantry said.
“I thought we were really good in that area for the majority of the game.
“We made a concerted effort to make sure we were improved and we really need to keep improving.
“If we can get that right, we can worry about our attack.
“And if we can pick up a win going into bye, that will be really important for us.”
