NYC Round 1 Preview
Gold Coast Titans v Newcastle Knights
Date: Sunday March 6
Gates open: 3.05pm
NYC: 3.10pm
NRL: 5.30pm
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium
Teams:
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
1. Nick Meaney, 2. Kainoa Gudgeon, 3. Cory Denniss, 4. Henry Penn, 5. Matt Soper-Lawler, 6. Jake McNamara, 7. Jack Cogger (c), 8. Tyrone Amey, 9. Joe Morris, 10. Jamaybe Taunoa-Brown, 11. Eddy Tuilotolava, 12. Braden Robson, 13. Jayden Butterfield. Interchange: 14. Nick Newman, 15. Zac Hosking, 16. Viko Puliuvea, 17. Jordan Pinnock, 18. Ryan Glanville.
GOLD COAST TITANS
1. Brayden McGrady, 2. Phillip Sami, 3. Greg Leleisiuao, 4. Brian Kelly, 5. Tyronne Roberts-Davis, 6. Josh Rogers, 7. Josh Fauid, 8. Kurt Bernard, 9. Jordan Scott, 10. Nathan Watts, 11. Morgan Boyle, 12. Jed Cartwright, 13. Sam Swift. Interchange: 14. Ethan Roberts, 15 – Max King, 16. Jerome Veve, 17. Simione Fatafahi.
Match Analysis:
The start of the 2016 season heralds fresh opportunity for the NYC Newcastle Knights with the Round 1 team comprising of some familiar faces as well trialling players who have impressed during the pre-season.
Former Knight Todd Lowrie is head coach of the Under 20s team and says the squad is in a good place after investing plenty of hard work over the pre-season.
“They’ve been going well, everyone has trained hard and has earned their spot,” he said.
“There are guys who are playing who were trialling over the pre-season and some of them have only just found out they are staying a couple of weeks ago and all of a sudden they have been named in Round 1 which is great."
Joe Morris is one of those players who arrived at the Club to trail for the Under 20s team and captured enough attention to earn a starting spot at hooker this weekend.
“He came in this year to have a crack and has been one of our standouts all pre-season,” Lowrie said.
“He’s one who has quite a big responsibility and hasn’t played at this level, but has been doing a good job so far."
Meanwhile halfback Jack Cogger will return to the team after competing fulltime pre-season training with the NRL squad.
“He’s one to keep an eye on,” Lowrie added.
The experience of the side’s returning players like Braden Robson, Matt Soper-Lawler, Tyrone Amey and Jack Cogger is set to be a valuable asset in the opening round match.
“I’ll be looking for those guys who have played before to calm us down and lead from the front,” Lowrie said.
The young Knights will exude plenty of enthusiasm in their long-awaited first hit-out against the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday.
“It’s a good way to start the year, to get away and head up to the Gold Coast together after a long pre-season,” he said.
“It will be good to get together as a team and focus on their footy."
Where it will be won:
Sticking to the basics.
“We have put some pretty simple things in place we are looking for the boys to do,” Lowrie said.
“It’s just about holding on to the footy and trying to do the little things right and not worry about the fancy stuff at this time of the year."
