Newcastle Knights forward Korbin Sims is thrilled to take his place in the run-on side in Saturday’s match against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium.
The 24-year-old started round one on the bench, but had an immediate impact when he entered the match and ended up being voted Players’ Player.
“That’s the game I have to hold myself to now, which is a good thing. I’m pretty excited for it,” Sims said after training on Wednesday.
“If I can play like that week in, week out with improvements in my game, then I can go a long way to helping the Club going forward.”
After a disappointing result in round one, the Knights have shifted focus to Saturday’s match against Souths.
“In years past, they’ve always had a big physical side,” Sims added.
“If we can try to stop their middle and a bit of their go forward and then limit their backs to the ball and space where they have their strike power, we will go pretty close to winning the game.
“They have always had a big pack and have been a smart football Club.”
He said Knights are unfazed by the caliber of the opponent’s big names.
“To put 40 points on a team like the Roosters (in Round 1) just shows the class that they’ve got coming through this year with Sam Burgess back,” he said.
“They have a lot of strike power out wide as well with GI (Greg Inglis) at the back, so it’s going to be a tough task, but I’m confident in our young crew, going down there this weekend, we’ll get the job done.
“He’s just another part if their team that gets their go forward going…you can’t slack off and always want to be mindful of where he is on the field."
The Knights are eager to earn the first of their 2016 competition points and know the challenge begins this weekend at ANZ Stadium.
“This is a new Club, a new year and a new program we have going on so we’re taking this as a fresh start,” he said.
“If we can move on from the last couple of years, then we will and I’m sure we have the pack to do a good job this week.
“It’s going to be a good physical battle, I can’t wait.”
