Round 1: Knights v Wests Tigers @ Hunter Stadium

Pick the margin for Knights v Wests Tigers

  • Total voters
    54
Who's seen the email from the Knights this morning? It says Buderus, Hilder and Tahu will be working in the Knights shop this week ... which sorta gives me the impression Tahu is injured, like the other two are, and that the word on Quinn starting round one in the centres was correct.
 
Knights are looking at appealing the BJ ban.
He got the ban after being cut by the roosters, and he didn't have a club to contest the ban till his contract was registered with the Knights last week.
 
jamesgould said:
Who's seen the email from the Knights this morning? It says Buderus, Hilder and Tahu will be working in the Knights shop this week ... which sorta gives me the impression Tahu is injured, like the other two are, and that the word on Quinn starting round one in the centres was correct.
Click to expand...

was reported on Twitter this morning. Tahu not at training and Quinn taking his place.
 
josh2010 said:
was reported on Twitter this morning. Tahu not at training and Quinn taking his place.
Click to expand...

Oh, my investigative journalism was a bit wasted then. :lol:

I wonder what Tahu's done? We're lucky to have someone of Quinn's quality to step in.
 
Akuila Uate eyes new Fijian thriller Marika Koroibete

By Barry Toohey
255309-marika-koroibete.jpg

Many good judges regard beefed-up Tigers winger Marika Koroibete as the fastest man in the NRL.

AKUILA Uate can see a lot of himself in the Wests Tigers' Fijian wing sensation Marika Koroibete.

"I got to talk to him at a Fijian dinner we had in Sydney last weekend," Uate said. "He is very quiet. Doesn't say much. He talked Fijian more than English.

"I just wished him luck for the game and he said the same thing to me.

"I think I'll be up against him on Monday night, but I haven't thought about it too much.

"I've just been thinking about my own game and what I have to do."

The clash of the two explosive Fijian wingers will be one of the highlights of tomorrow night's showdown between the Newcastle Knights and the Tigers at Hunter Stadium.

Uate is a proven match-winner and is rated by many as the most damaging runner of the ball in the game.

Koroibete, 20, could turn out to be the heir apparent. He grabbed the headlines when he scored four tries in only his second NRL game last season.

With a full off-season under his belt, he will start 2013 six kilos heavier at 95kg after a summer spent in the gym.

He is also considered by many to be the quickest player in the game.

That all adds up to a mouth-watering match-up against Uate.

Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett has been at pains to warn his players not to get too wrapped up in all the action from the other NRL games in the opening round. He doesn't want them burnt out before tomorrow night.

Much has been made of the Knights' added muscle in the pack with the addition of noted tough guys and former premiership players Jeremy Smith and Beau Scott to the forward pack.

But while even Bennett has been gushing about the squad's trial form, it means nothing if his side don't bring their A-game against a Tigers side out to impress new coach Michael Potter.

Wests have had their own distractions in the build-up with the death of Toyota Cup star Mosese Fotuaika a week ago, which rocked the tight-knit club.

More than 100 players and officials attended his funeral in Brisbane on Thursday.

The major question mark over the Tigers centres around their forward pack and whether they can lay the type of platform superstar five-eighth Benji Marshall is going to need to work some of his old magic.

If they can crack the Knights up the middle tomorrow night, that question will be answered very quickly.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...marika-koroibete/story-e6frexnr-1226593969650
 
WOO HOO 1 more sleep , except for seeing my kids faces .....THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN XMAS LOL
 
This wait till Monday night is terrible. :( Still a day's work to get through until our first game, argh!!!
 
So pumped to see the boys get out there! Don't want to sounds too overconfident but I'd like to see us get up by 20+
 
**** i hate Channel 9. Mondays are so ****. And we have to go through another one soon. Can't wait for the heap of Sunday games following. We play our best footy on sunny Sunday games at Hunter Stadium!
 
Cant bloody wait to see the mighty knights run out onto the field gonna give the tigers bit of a touch up I think its been a long wait everyone but finally the time has come....UP THE KNIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Bennett's Knights ready for Round 1

00062323-leadimage.jpg


Coach Wayne Bennett has finalised his team for the Knights’ season opener on Monday night against the West Tigers at Hunter Stadium.

The Knights will run out 1-17 as named, with veteran Neville Costigan getting the nod ahead of new recruit David Fa’alogo.

“I have gone for the best players in the Club at the moment, (based on) reputation and pre-season form, they are the best 17 but it is now up for them to maintain that,” Bennett said.

“There wasn’t much between Neville and David but you couldn’t fit 18 into 17.”

With injuries to Danny Buderus and Matt Hilder, new signing Travis Waddell is the starting hooker for Monday night’s game.

“Travis has prepared well this week but he also spent time with us during the pre-season,” Bennett said.

“I am really confident he will be good and he won’t let us down.

“The boys like him, it is a good group of guys here who have welcomed him, which is half the battle.”

Monday’s game sees the return of inspirational leader Kurt Gidley, who spent most of last season sidelined with a shoulder injury. Bennett expects his captain to ease into the halfback position.

“Kurt now needs playing time in the position after a good off season but what he brings out there as a leader is outstanding,” the coach explains.

“If he can catch and pass at halfback for a little while that will be good too, and he can grow into the position.”

The Knights started last season with high expectations following the arrival of Bennett but the coach is adamant the team is better prepared this season.

“I think it will be a big night on Monday and we are all excited about being there,” he said.

“I have a lot of experience in that group now and that helps handling that pressure enormously.

“It is important for us to just get out there and to play like a team and do the things the good teams do.

“If we start there tomorrow night and we get beaten that is okay because we will win the next week or the week after.”

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/news-display/Bennetts-Knights-ready-for-Round-1/69649
 
I was pumped reading that article from Bennett until I saw “If we start there tomorrow night and we get beaten that is okay because we will win the next week or the week after.”

 
red and blue from ACT said:
I was pumped reading that article from Bennett until I saw “If we start there tomorrow night and we get beaten that is okay because we will win the next week or the week after.”
Click to expand...

It's true though. Nobody has ever lost their first game of a season and though "Bugger it, next year's our year." Sure a good start is great for confidence but it's rarely an indicator of season long form.

Half of the teams that won this round probably won't make top 8.
 
can't wait for tonight. As for predictions

FTS Uate
LTS Mullen
MOTM Mason
Score Knights 32-10
Crowd 23 456
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top