nib Newcastle Knights winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall has been at the Club for nearly two months now, and says he's already feeling at home in the red and blue.
“I feel really comfortable now, they’re such a good bunch of boys up here,” Kenny-Dowall told the media this week.
“The morale here is high and everyone is happy with three-in-a-row.”
He is also enjoying playing in front of Newcastle’s die-hard supporters.
“They are definitely a vocal crowd and they turn out in numbers,” he smiled.
“I can’t wait to see how many are out there on Saturday because we've won three-in-a-row and we’re up against the front runners in the comp... so hopefully it's a fine day and a packed McDonald Jones Stadium.”
It may be first plays last on the ladder, but Kenny-Dowall knows the Melbourne Storm won’t be taking a backwards step.
“At this time of the year, you want to be playing your best style of football and minor premiership aside, they have the finals just around the corner where every team wants to be peaking at this time of the year,” explained Kenny-Dowall.
“We know they’ll be ready this weekend and we’re really looking forward to testing ourselves against them.
“It is going to be a really tough game and if we go through the process and apply ourselves, we’ll be competitive.”
The 29-year-old is fully aware of the fire power he’ll be facing on Saturday.
“They have got lightning (Josh) Addo-Carr, he’s very fast and (Suliasi) Vunivalu can come up with magical plays at any time,” stated Kenny-Dowall.
“Of course, Billy Slater, anyone that has Billy in their team is a definite threat.
“You can’t give them any time or space because they can create opportunities out of nothing so we’re going to have to be on with our defence and not give them opportunities."
Coming back from a niggling hamstring injury, Kenny-Dowall thinks he’s not far off peak condition.
“I think I am getting there slowly, I'm better for the runs,” commented Kenny-Dowall.
“I had a couple of minor tears in my hamstring so the performance staff have been really good at looking after me and I’m definitely feeling comfortable out there.”
Three grades are in action this weekend, NYC kick-off at 10.45am before ISP at 12.40pm and NRL at 3pm.
