Round One of the 2020 Telstra Premiership is almost here and for many of the fresh faces who will run out as a nib Newcastle Knight for the first time this Saturday, veteran forward Tim Glasby advises it’ll be a moment to savour.
Having made his debut for the club in Round One last year, Glasby has experienced first-hand the electricity that is generated from Knights fans when you run out onto McDonald Jones Stadium.
New hooker Jayden Brailey, and outside backs Gehamat Shibasaki and Enari Tuala are all eyeing off spots in coach Adam O’Brien’s first team list but have already impressed Glasby during pre-season.
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He suggested that the newcomers should strap themselves in for a big experience.
“It’s really exciting to see how some of these guys go,” Glasby said.
“We’ve obviously got Jayden who trained really well during the pre-season and played really well in the trials. I think he’s a really handy pickup for us.
“Gehamat and Enari too in the centres, I thought they trained really well through the pre-season and in the trial games, they were fantastic.
“In Round One last year, the stadium was electric. It’s an amazing crowd to run out to. It’s very vocal and passionate and for those guys who are getting a run this week for the first time, they’ll really enjoy it.”
For Glasby himself, he’s still unsure of the exact role he’ll be tasked to play this weekend against the Warriors but made the assurance that he was ready for whatever was asked of him.
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The Queensland State of Origin representative admitted he hasn’t paid too much attention to this weekend’s opponents, but is aware he’ll need to put in a strong effort to be competitive.
“Honestly, I haven’t looked at them [Warriors] yet,” he said.
“I guess we’ll have a look at them over the next couple of days.
“They’ve got big outside backs, a fullback with great footwork and their forwards are big guys that run hard. They’ll be a good opposition for us this week.
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“I guess I’ll just slot in wherever Adam wants me too. If he wants me to come off the bench, that’s fine, I did that for years in Melbourne so I’m quite comfortable playing that role, but if he wants me to start, I’ll do that as well.
“I want to play good, consistent footy which I know is a bit of a cliché, that’s just what I want to do.”
While there’ll be new signings playing on the field for the Knights, another man who will get his first taste of a Newcastle home-game will be that of O’Brien.
With the introduction of new philosophies and approaches to the Knights game for 2020, Glasby squashed any queries that the side may not be able to gel and adhere to O’Brien’s game plans asserting he and the side were prepared.
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“I think we’re ready to go for Round One,” he said.
“We’ve had three or four months to train it [new gameplan] and we’ve had a couple of games to play it.
“Early games in the season can be a bit scratchy in terms of attack or the shape you’re throwing at teams, but the one thing we’ve worked on more than anything is our defence and our resilience. You can expect that to come out pretty quickly.
“Every game is important…You don’t want to walk away and think ‘we let that one slip’. It’s a big game for us.”
