Building pressure at the end of sets has been a major focus point for the Newcastle Knights in the build up to Sunday's clash against the Parramatta Eels.
According to halfback Tyrone Roberts, a strong partnership with Jarrod Mullen will be crucial to the side establishing the upper hand against their opponent.
“Training has been good, we’ve gone back to basics and have trained hard,” Roberts said after Thursday’s training session.
“(Rick) Stoney has ripped into us and has told us to train hard and work on our last plays, and that’s what we have done.
“It’s our last plays, we haven’t gotten many repeat sets this year and we need to build that pressure and get that back into our game."
While attention has been leveled on the side’s playmakers, Roberts assured the additional pressure does not effect on him or 28-year-old Mullen.
“When we got the three wins, I’m not sure if we got the praise there…as soon as we lose we get the top end of that,” he said.
“We have to take that... it’s on us to lead our team around, it always comes back to the halves.
“It all comes back to building pressure. Our last plays are the main area for building pressure.
“That’s the emphasis this week.”
Roberts believes effective communication between his halves partner will be the Knights’ edge in attack.
“I think it’s all about getting ourselves in a good position to get a kick away and making it a contest,” he said.
Roberts predicts Parramatta to test the Knights’ resolve but is confident his side will be ready.
“We are two teams that have started well and want to get that back,” he said.
“They are a great side and have a lot of attackers, so we just have to aim up and get back to the defence we had at the start of the year.
“It’s always good to play a home game in front of our fans and we need to put in a good performance for the fans.”
Sunday April 19 – Round 7
Newcastle Knights v Parramatta Eels/Wentworthville
Gates open: 11.30am
NSW Cup: 11.45am
NYC: 1.45pm
NRL: 4pm
Venue: Hunter Stadium
Tickets: CLICK HERE
