Manly Sea Eagles v Newcastle Knights
Date: Friday June 9
Venue: Lottoland, Manly
Kick-off: 3.45pm
SQUADS
Knights
1. Matt Cooper, 2. Mitch Andrews, 3. Cory Denniss, 4. Heath Gibbs, 5. Kainoa Gudgeon, 6. Hayden Loughrey, 7. Jack Cogger, 8. Cameron King, 9. Nash Birch, 10. Pasami Saulo, 11. Jack Johns, 12. Sam McIntyre, 13. Zac Hosking. Interchange: 14. Dylan Clark, 15. Henry Penn, 16. Matt Croker, 17. Jayden Butterfield.
Sea Eagles
1.Luke Polselli, 2. Jade Anderson, 3. Brad Parker, 4. Blake Andrews, 5. Alfred Smalley, 6. Tom Wright, 7. Kurtis Preece, 8. Jaiden Tarrant, 9. Manase Fainu, 10. Taniela Paseka, 11. Billy Bainbridge, 12. Josh Martin, 13. Jesse Martin. Interchange. 14. Haumole Olakauatu, 15. Elia Faatui, 16. Cade Cust, 17. John Tuivati, 18. Bilal Maarbani, 19. Alan Tuigamala, 20. Eddie leremia, 21. Zaan Weatherall, 22. Kaine McQuiggin, 23. Michael Fenn.
MATCH ANALYSIS
The season is past it's halfway mark and the NYC Newcastle Knights are travelling along nicely with a well-earned fourth place off the back of four consecutive wins.
Coach Todd Lowrie says the past six weeks have been a good period for his side.
“It has been a little stop-start, so for the boys to be able to maintain a bit of momentum, back up their performances consistently and put in some good efforts has been pleasing,” commented Lowrie.
“It's a real credit to them and their attitude at training.
“Even when we’ve had weekends off and had time away from training, they’ve been able to pick up where they left off and get the results on the field.”
With impact forward Eddy Tuilotolava out for an extended period, Pasami Saulo gets a start in the number 10 jersey.
“Eddy, who started on the weekend, hurt his knee,” explained Lowrie.
“He is unfortunately going to be out for eight weeks, which is a shame because he has been going really well but in saying that Pasami has also been doing really well so he gets the chance to start for us.
“It is a big opportunity for Pasami, he needs to try and cement a starting spot if he can.”
After a long break from injury, halfback Jack Cogger came back into the side last week and will again line up in the halves.
“He got through the whole game, he came in and said he felt alright,” stated Lowrie.
“Jack was a little bit underdone because he hadn’t played since the start of the year, but he’ll be better for the run.
“He was good defensively and did some good things with the ball in his hands so it’s good for him to get out there and play some footy.
“I will expect a little bit more of Jack this week and hopefully he can lead the team around and bring some of that experience he has from training full time and playing a bit of first grade last year.”
The Under 20s coach knows Manly is always a tough side to control.
“They are not traveling as well as us on the ladder but they’re always particularly tough when you play them at home,” Lowrie said.
“They are always really hard to beat, particularly at Lottoland.”
WHERE IT WILL BE WON
“Our guys have just got to concentrate on doing what we know works, keep improving on what we’ve been working on and hopefully we’ll be okay,” stated Lowrie.
The NYC coach believes wins come with greater ball control.
“We have got to keep holding onto the ball and get our completion rates up a little bit from what they have been,” admitted Lowrie.
“We also need to continue to work on our defensive plays and keep improving.”
