The nib Newcastle Knights will be making a trip down the M1 in Round 14, as they take on arch-rivals the Manly Sea Eagles at Lottoland.
It’s also another Friday night match for the red and blues, after last week’s match in Melbourne.
MANLY SEA EAGLES v NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Date: Friday June 9
Gates open: 3.30pm
Kick-off: 6pm
Venue: Lottoland
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played: 44
Knights: 17
Manly: 27
SQUADS
Newcastle
1. Dane Gagai, 2. Ken Sio, 3. Joe Wardle, 4. Peter Mata’utia, 5. Nathan Ross, 6. Brock Lamb, 7. Jaelen Feeney, 8. Daniel Saifiti, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Josh Starling, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 13. Mitch Barnett. Interchange: 14. Luke Yates, 15. Josh King, 16. Tyler Randell, 17. Jacob Saifiti, 18. Brendan Elliot, 19. Jacob Gagan, 20. Trent Hodkinson, 21. Pauli Pauli.
Manly
1. Matt Wright, 2. Jono Wright, 3. Dylan Walker, 4. Brian Kelly, 5 Akuila Uate, 6. Blake Green, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Brenton Lawrence, 9. Api Koroisau, 10. Martin Tapau, 11. Frank Winterstein, 12. Curtis Sironen, 13. Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: 14. Lewis Brown, 15. Lloyd Perrett, 16. Jackson Hastings, 17. Addin Fonua-Blake, 18. Jarrad Kennedy, 19. Shaun Lane, 20. Cameron Cullen, 21. Tom Trbojevic.
TALKING POINTS
The rivalry
It’s been 30 years since the Knights first played the Sea Eagles, and 20 since the Club won it’s first premiership in the 1997 grand final against Manly.
There’s plenty of history between these two clubs, and the Knights haven’t won on Manly’s home ground in 11 years.
While quite a few of the Club’s current players were still babies when the Knights snatched the 1997 grand final from Manly’s grasp, Newcastle junior Anthony Tupou says they still know all about it.
“A lot of these young boys probably wouldn’t have seen that game, but I’ve heard a few of them talking about it,” Tupou said.
“They want to go out there and perform well out of respect for how the Old Boys did it when the rivalry was at it’s strongest.”
