Round 2: Knights v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval

[Deanoknights]

That is true, but when he does play he is tough and quiet classy...
And Quinn doesn't have that toughness to put Matai in cruches anyway....
Btw, last year when Gagai was against Matai, stepped him and left him for dead to score! Loved it..
Hope it happens again against Lyon!

Gaigai is in the opposite side to Lyon yeah? It'll be good to see him stand up Matai again and hopefully more than once ;)

 

[red and blue from ACT]

Mattai classy? .............. He 's a big sook who spends half his time laying on the ground pretending to be injured............ Take a look at the number of times he has to leave the ground for treatment.

No I said Lyon was classy, you're right, Mattai is a big sook and hopefully he does go off injured but I think he'll try and monster gagai but gagai has the better footwork so it should be a great matchup.

 

[James Bluntus]

I rate Matai, but his discipline is something to be desired. I wonder how he'll go with not being able to shoulder charge?

 

[rhugh89]

I rate Matai, but his discipline is something to be desired. I wonder how he'll go with not being able to shoulder charge?

He wont know what to do now

Matai is a good player but yeah he is a bit of a sook and IMO a bit of a cheap shot merchant at times on another note I just hope Quinny can step up to the challenge of defending Lyon because if he doesnt could cost us 2 or 3 tries maybe more really needs to be switched on come sunday night

 

[Ballsout]

For the first time in a long time I look down the Knights V Sea Eagles team lists and feel confident of bringing home the bacon
Hope the Newcastle old boys are initiating Beau and Jeremy into the "Hate Manly" tradition

Aku is gunna terrorise Williams

Choc is playing with a rib injury.......Beau and Smith say HI

 

[rhugh89]

For the first time in a long time I look down the Knights V Sea Eagles team lists and feel confident of bringing home the bacon
Hope the Newcastle old boys are initiating Beau and Jeremy into the "Hate Manly" tradition

Aku is gunna terrorise Williams

Choc is playing with a rib injury.......Beau and Smith say HI

Absolutely Chocs gonna have a massive target on him now those guys gonna tear him apart

 

[Junior11]

I can imagine us being just behind at half time and going on and either winning or us falling to pieces at the end but I also wouldn't rule out us putting on some points early and having a nice lead after 40 minutes. We have the forward pack to rock them and the backs to outshine theirs, it'll all come down to the halves imo and how well we can tire them out while staying in control.

I just can't wait to be able to get an indication of where we're at.

 

[Joshhh]

Newcastle Knights half-back Jarrod Mullen faces mentor Andrew Johns

By Barry Toohey

Jarrod Mullen in action against the Wests Tigers in round one.

JARROD Mullen has never hidden his admiration for the man who has had a bigger influence on his career than anyone else.

Ask the Newcastle playmaker about Andrew Johns' impact on his game and Mullen tells it as it is.

"He taught me a fair bit of my skills," Mullen says without the slightest hesitation.

Mullen even suggests he put on weight during the off-season in the same place Johns used to put it on - around his backside.

Johns was a mentor on the training paddock and a sounding board off it as Mullen battled to emerge from the shadow of one of the game's greatest players.

Few players have had a harder act to follow.

Yet Mullen has come out the other side a fantastic player in his own right and a key component in the Knights' 2013 campaign.

Ironically, he goes to Brookvale Oval to take on Manly on Sunday night knowing Johns will again be scrutinising his every move.

Only this time, there'll be no timely advice from the former champion halfback. Not on game day at least, now that Johns is firmly in the Sea Eagles camp as assistant coach.

In fact, the Knights legend will more than likely have spent the past week trying to pick to pieces Mullen's game and that of halfback Kurt Gidley to give the Eagles any advantage he can.

Not that it's concerning the Knights' No.6 too much.

Asked did he find it strange Johns was now working for arch-rivals Manly, Mullen said: "He lives down there on the northern beaches now.

"It's probably only right he stays down there and helps them a bit.

He'll have a lot of insight into our play but if we get ourselves in order, I think we can still win the game."

JOHNS

League great Andrew Johns.

The Knights could not have been more impressive in sweeping past the Tigers last Monday night but know Manly at home will be a far greater challenge.

"It's a good test - I haven't won there since 2006 so it's been a while between drinks," Mullen said.

"Brookvale on a Sunday night, you can't get much better. There's a good rivalry there and I'm really looking forward to the game to test ourselves and see where we are at."

Can the Knights make a real statement by beating the Eagles on their home ground?

"We don't have to make a statement this time of year," Mullen said.

"We've just got to go about our own work and we want to sneak under the radar more than anything.

"We weren't even in the NRL ad so no one is thinking of Newcastle. So if they're not thinking of us, that's OK.

"We'll keep sneaking under the radar and hope to be there at the back end of the year."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...tor-andrew-johns/story-e6frexnr-1226597634261

 

[Joel]

He isn't a halfback... Kinda funny how he brought up the ad snub.

 

[Wagyu Patty]

I think some people are getting ahead of themselves. The Tigers have never been renowned for defence, and we dominated possesion, which lead to the big win. I'm predicting a close one.

Newcastle 16 - 12

 

[jamesgould]

I think some people are getting ahead of themselves. The Tigers have never been renowned for defence, and we dominated possesion, which lead to the big win. I'm predicting a close one.

Newcastle 16 - 12

Have you read the thread? Everyone's been very conservative with their predictions and comments.

Personally I reckon we're not getting enough credit for our performance on Monday. If we play like that again, Manly won't stand a chance.

 

[rhugh89]

Yes the tigers were poor and yes we had massive amounts of possession but we still performed brilliantly if we maintain that high standard through the season we will definately win more games then we loose and we can beat anyone

 

[Junior11]

Yeah I don't think anyone is really getting ahead of themselves, if we're not nervous about a loss we're excited to see the boys get tested by Manly. Tigers sucked but we made them look like that, it was our dominance in the forwards and attack on the edges that left them looking like duds. You don't get 70% of possession by accident. Up against a much better side we'll see how well we go, one thing that needs to be looked at is goal line defence imo.

 

[Joshhh]

Yeah I don't think anyone is really getting ahead of themselves, if we're not nervous about a loss we're excited to see the boys get tested by Manly. Tigers sucked but we made them look like that, it was our dominance in the forwards and attack on the edges that left them looking like duds. You don't get 70% of possession by accident. Up against a much better side we'll see how well we go, one thing that needs to be looked at is goal line defence imo.

If you're talking about the 2 tries we let in, i wouldn't be so worried. Houston's miss on Blair was a shocker but Moltzen got in when everyone's minds were a few seconds away from walking over & shaking hands, plus it was after defending the line for those last few minutes. Everything else was brilliant, Smith & all the guys in the middle of the field did a great job stopping guys from getting really close to the line. Last year we would have conceded maybe 1 or 2 tries more when the Tigers kept running it up the middle infront of our goal-post.

 

[Junior11]

Yeah that's true! Thanks for putting those worries of mine to bed lol I think we deserve to be underdogs but boy I have a good feeling about this game

 

[Levil Kinevil]

Good teams are supposed to smash the bad ones. If the game was close then I would of been worried.

 

[Beaumont]

I hope the ref keeps an eye on Manly they're bound to be milking for penalties.

 

[rhugh89]

I haven't felt this confident going up against Manly since Joey was playing It will be a test no doubt Manly are a quality outfit but I think the boys are well and truly up to it

 

[Joshhh]

Certainly the first time i've felt like we can match them. Not confident of us beating them, but not confident of us getting destroyed as usual either.

 

[Junior11]

Yeah same I'm confident we're not going to lie down and take a beating, if they're going to win they're going to have to play like world beaters, the team we have this year isn't going to let sides walk over them ever again.

McKinnon is in doubt btw, would like to see Faalogo come in if Alex is out. I don't think Cuthbertson would be the right option against that pack.