It’s just three days until the nib Newcastle Knights’ season opener against the Manly Sea Eagles, and forward Herman Ese’ese admits the team can’t wait to take the field.
“It’s been a tough pre-season so far but all the boys are looking forward to Friday night,” Ees’ese said.
“We want to lift up our intensity… all the boys are refreshed and rejuvenated from the weekend off and ready to go.”
The 23-year-old maintains with a list of new players added to the squad in 2018, perfecting new combinations has been the focus leading into Round 1.
“It’s been pretty tough sussing out those combinations,” Ese’ese explained.
“It’s been a long pre-season and we’ve done really well testing those combinations, and I think all the boys are now used to playing with the different combos.”
While it’s a new season, Ese’ese knows Manly has a well-established side that will be dangerous on all accounts this season.
“Manly was one of the top form teams last season so they’ve got a good roster across the paddock,” he said.
“We’ve been doing a lot of homework on their key players and it should be a good test for us in the first round.
“They’ve got the likes of the Trbojevic brothers, Marty Taupau and Daley Cherry Evans controlling the team so they’re a pretty stacked team and we’ve just got to do a good job on them.”
The Knights forwards admits he’ll be working hard to contain the danger men.
“My job is to run hard, tackle hard, get quick play-the-balls and make those metres so I’ll just try and do my job well,” stated Ese’ese.
“Hopefully I do keep the 13 jersey for Friday, so I’m really looking forward to a bit of ball playing and playing longer minutes.”
But Ese’ese is certain with a red and blue crowd behind them, it will help to push them over the line on Friday.
“Obviously there’s going to be a big crowd for the season opener with a lot of hype around the new signings,” Ese’ese commented.
“The fans should be excited with this new side, and I think we can do a lot of good things throughout the season.”
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