Mitch Barnett was named Players' Player in the nib Newcastle Knights' first hit-out of the 2017 season.
Starting at lock and then switching to the second row as part of the shuffle following Dylan Phythian's unfortunate injury, Barnett registered a mammoth 49 tackles in his 63 minutes on the field.
After pushing out towards the left edge, Barnett also showed some playmaking ability when he burnt Shaun Johnson by collecting his own grubber and then setting Nathan Ross up for a try.
STATS
. 63 minutes
. 49 tackles
. 15 runs
. 126 run metres
. 2 tackle breaks
. 1 try assist
