The New Zealand Warriors will take on the Newcastle Knights at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night. It could help seal the Warriors’ place in the top eight.
TEAM FORM GUIDE
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors bounced back from their dismal performance against the Titans with an important victory against fellow finalists St George-Illawarra. The Warriors’ efforts away from home have improved from previous seasons, and they are the second team to beat the Dragons on their own turf.
Newcastle Knights
Newcastle dropped their last two games and haven’t been playing at their best. They did well to work their way back into the contest last week but will be looking for a much better performance across the ditch.
SQUAD NEWS
New Zealand Warriors
Bunty Afoa is heading to the judiciary to challenge his possible one-match ban for dangerous contact with the head. Sam Lisone has accepted his two-week suspension for his dangerous contact with Tariq Sims, with Peta Hiku coming onto the bench.
Newcastle Knights
The Knights’ big concerns are Mitchell Pearce (corked thigh), and Kalyn Ponga (ankle). Conner Watson – the likeliest replacement in the halves – faced his own injury concerns. Josh King is battling an injury, making way for Herman Ese’ese to return to the starting team and debutant Pasami Saulo is named on the bench.
PREVIEW
This is the first time they’ve played this year; their last match was a 26-10 victory to Newcastle last year. Both teams have had a change in roster and attitude, which means that previous year’s results won’t be much to go off. The concerning statistic is the Warriors’ 4-5 home record (compared to 8-3 away), going up against a Newcastle team that has performed admirably on the road with a 4-5 record.
Much of last week’s success for the Warriors came off the back of fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. In attack he got them on the front foot and in defence he helped prevent several try scoring opportunities. He will be looking to repeat his effort against Newcastle. There surely can be no coincidence that the Warriors were able to get the two points with the return of some key players. None more so than Isaac Luke, who will be looking for a massive game in his 250th.
Ponga will be crucial for the Knights in this match, especially if Pearce doesn’t play. The positive for the Knights was when Pearce left the field and Ponga took over, they still performed well, making a late charge in the second half. The battle between these two fullbacks – and who can gain control of the match – will go a long way to deciding who will win this one.
KEY STAT
If Pearce takes the field he will join Warriors rake Isaac Luke in playing their 250th NRL match.
SQUADS
Warriors: 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c), 2 David Fusitu’a, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Agnatius Paasi, 11 Isaiah Papali’i, 12 Adam Blair, 13 Simon Mannering.
Interchange: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Leivaha Pulu, 16 Bunty Afoa, 17 Peta Hiku
Knights: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Sione Mata’utia, 4 Cory Denniss, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Jack Cogger, 7 Mitchell Pearce (c), 8 Herman Ese’ese, 9 Danny Levi, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Mitch Barnett, 13 Aidan Guerra.
Interchange: 14 Jamie Buhrer (c), 15 Chris Heighington, 16 Pasami Saulo, 17 JJ Felise
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: 10 August 2018
Venue: Mt Smart Stadium
Kick-off: 8:00 (NZ time) 6:00pm (AEST)
WHO WILL WIN?
The Warriors are a very inconsistent team at the moment and Newcastle will be looking to return to form after some poor showings. The Knights ended last week showing signs of improvement, and they’ll come into this match looking to continue that form.
Knights by four.
https://nothingbutleague.com/2018/08/08/nrl-predictions-round-22/
