Team list: Round 1
nib Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown has named his extended squad for the Round 1 match against the Manly Sea Eagles at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Nine players are set to make their Club debuts, while for the first time since 2015 there will be no players making their NRL debuts.
Herman Ese’ese (Player #289), Slade Griffin (Player #290), Aidan Guerra (Player #291) and Jacob Lillyman (Player #293) are all set to start in the forward pack, while Tautau Moga (Player #294), Mitchell Pearce (Player #295), Kalyn Ponga (Player #296) and Connor Watson (Player #297) have been named in the backs.
Chris Heighington (Player #292) is the single debutant set to start from the bench.
In other team news, Brock Lamb has secured a place on the bench after impressing this pre-season, while Mitch Barnett has been named to start the game at lock.
While the Club’s 2017 Player of the Year underwent off-season shoulder surgery that saw him miss both trial matches during the pre-season, coach Brown has shown his confidence in the 23-year-old by putting him right back in the starting side.
Get your tickets to our Round 1 match against Manly HERE.
SQUAD
1. Kalyn Ponga
2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
3. Sione Mata’utia
4. Tautau Moga
5. Nathan Ross
6. Connor Watson
7. Mitchell Pearce (c)
8. Herman Ese’ese
9. Slade Griffin
10. Jacob Lillyman
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
12. Aidan Guerra
13. Mitch Barnett
14. Brock Lamb
15. Chris Heighington
16. Jamie Buhrer (c)
17. Daniel Saifiti
18. Ken Sio
19. Jacob Saifiti
20. Danny Levi
21. Luke Yates
Friday March 9 – Round 1
Newcastle Knights v Manly Sea Eagles
Kick-off: 6pm
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
