Just a week away from season kick-off, nib Newcastle Knights recruit Slade Griffin is glad to finally be getting back to footy.
“It’s been a long but enjoyable pre-season,” Griffin after the team's final training session in Port Stephens.
“We’re all bonding, I’ve got to know everyone and all the boys are really excited to play some footy.”
While the Club’s trial match against the Parramatta Eels didn’t go to plan, Griffin says the team has got the structures in place to start the season in good stead.
“I think we got a free lesson from Parramatta on how to play rugby league… run hard, tackle hard, complete and discipline.
“We’ve just got to stick to our structures and systems that we’ve put in place through pre-season.
“A lot of combinations have looked alright at training but now we’ve got to transfer that into the game, and Manly have a lot of dangerous players so we’re going to have to try and contain them.
“If we can do that and we get the fans behind us, I’m sure we’ll put up a good fight.”
The hooker maintains combinations have formed well and is confident the hard work will pay off come game time next week.
“Mitchell (Pearce) is an amazing player and all we’ve got to do is build a platform for him,” he said.
“We’ve got Kalyn (Ponga) and Connor (Watson) who are dangerous runners, so as long as we hold the ball and give them a chance, we should be right.”
