NYC Newcastle Knights v Gold Coast Titans
Venue: Hunter Stadium
Date: Saturday August 20
NYC Kick off: 10.40am
Teams:
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
1. Nick Meaney, 2. Kainoa Gudgeon, 3. Cory Denniss, 4. Henry Penn, 5. Matthew Soper-Lawler, 6. Nick Newman, 7. Jack Cogger, 8. Tyrone Amey, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Jayden Butterfield, 11. Zac Hosking, 12. Sam Stone, 13. Braden Robson. Interchange: 14. Joe Morris, 15. Heath Gibbs, 16. Cameron King, 17. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, 18. Eddy Tuilotolava.
GOLD COAST TITANS
1. AJ Brimson, 2. Fred Keil, 3. Phillip Sami, 4. John Olive, 5. Christian Mika, 6. Josh Rogers, 7. Josh Ralph, 8. Max King, 9. Jordan Scott, 10. Nathan Watts, 11. Simione Fatafehi, 12. Sam Swift, 13. Apiata Noema. Interchange: 14. Ethan Roberts, 16. Kurt Bernard, 17. Kobe Tararo, 18. Brett Stratton.
Match Analysis:
It’s a match between two NYC teams desperate to keep their finals hopes alive on Saturday when the Newcastle Knights take on the Gold Coast Titans at Hunter Stadium.
The 10th placed Knights’ impressed last weekend with a 32-24 win over the top-of-the-table Panthers and look to harness the confidence from that victory to continue their trajectory into the top eight.
“They did everything we asked them to do, and to their credit they played tough and played well,” coach Todd Lowrie said.
“We needed a win and that’s what they did to beat Penrith.
“We have spoken about the fact we need to keep winning and how we are going to do that and the things we need to put in place to make sure that happens.
“The boys are all pretty switched on and seem like they are up for it.”
While the Knights are resolute on continuing their winning ways as they approach the pointy end of the season, he knows the Titans will feel the same kind of urgency.
“The Titans are sitting at 11th place have been a bit similar to us and have been a bit up and down,” he said.
“From watching their last few games, they look like they like to throw the ball around a bit and have some quite talented players.
“We will need to be defensively good and on our game and try to limit what they come up with. They are certainly throwing the footy around lately and have some good wins."
The presence of NRL experienced players Cory Dennis (centre) and Jack Cogger (half back) is likely to be a benefit for the young Knights.
“Those two were great for us last week,’ he said.
“Just to have a couple of those more experience blokes at this time of the year is great on top of a couple of guys who are playing all year.”
Where it will be won:
Energy.
“I think we need to bring the amount of energy we had last week and our defence will have to be really good as they like to throw the ball around a lot,’ Lowrie said.
“They have plenty of offloads and like to ask us plenty of questions.
“I’m confident we can score enough points.”
