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Luke Yates powers hard against the North Queensland Cowboys' defence during the side's last match up in Round 2 at Townsville.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS v NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Round 8, 2015 NYC Holden Cup
Date: Saturday April 25
Venue: Hunter Stadium

Last time they met:

The NYC Newcastle Knights’ last match up with the North Queensland Cowboys was in Round 2 earlier this year which saw them defeated 42-22 despite a strong first half effort.

Teams:

KNIGHTS

1. Bryce Donovan, 2. Fuaimamao Uta, 3. Josh Birch, 4. Braden Robson, 5. Ken Tofilau, 6. Brock Lamb, 7. Jack Cogger, 8. Josh King, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Daniel Saifiti, 11. Bradie Smith, 12. Jacob Saifiti, 13. Luke Yates. Interchange: 14. Jake McNamara, 15. Ben Steven, 16. Faitotoa Faitotoa, 17. Ben Stone, 18. Tyrone Amey.

COWBOYS

1. Yamba Bowie, 2. Gideon Mosby, 3. Akeripa Tia Kilifi, 4. Conor Carey, 5. Scott Schulte, 6. Ty Carucci, 7. Cooper Bambling, 8. Viliame Kikau, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Braden Uele, 11. Coen Hess, 12. Andrew Niemoeller, 13. Kieran Quabba (c). Interchange: 14 Jordan Kenworthy, 15. Bill Cullen, 16. Ross Bella, 17. Jack Brock.

Match Analysis:

Newcastle Knights' NYC coach, Troy Pezet expects his side to leave last week’s loss behind and reconnect with a more controlled brand of football at Hunter Stadium against the North Queensland Cowboys.

A major positive for Pezet has been in the team's show of effort and willingness to improve from week to week.

“We need to freshen up after the weekend and concentrate on this week ahead of the bye,” Pezet said.

“I have been pretty happy with our forward pack and our halves have been good as well.

“If we get some continuity in our backline, that will help us.”

“Our problem at the moment is our ball control, so if we can control the ball a bit better and give ourselves a bit more of a chance, I think we can stay in the game a bit better."

The Knights remain cautious of the Cowboys after their Round 2 defeat but are confident in their ability to this time unearth a positive result on the back of well executed plays.

“They are a good side. We had a really good first half up there in Townsville last time we played them, but we fell away in the second half to result in a loss,” he said.

Both sides are trailing off tough games in Round 7, the Cowboys a 28-28 draw against the Warriors and the Knights a loss against the Eels.

“I’m expecting this week to be pretty tough,” he said.

Where will it be won:

Ball control.

“If we can control the ball and finish our sets, I think we give ourselves a pretty decent chance,” Pezet said.

“We aren’t playing great at the moment but we are mindful we are only up to Round 8 and have a long way to go.

“We are improving and there’s no lack of effort. We are still trying really hard and our execution at time is poor and its something we can improve as the season goes on.