Newcastle Knights v Manly Sea Eagles
Ausgrid Stadium, 3:00pm
Knights $2.75, Sea Eagles $1.45
Knights: Wes Naiqama, James McManus, Junior Sa’u, Keith Lulia, Akuila Uate, Ryan Stig, Jarrod Mullen (c), Richie Fa’aoso, Isaac De Gois, Evarn Tuimavave, Chris Houston, Neville Costigan, Joel Edwards. Interchange (from): Matt Hilder, Antonio Kaufusi, Cameron Ciraldo, Dan Tolar, Mark Taufua, Steve Southern, Adam MacDougall
Sea Eagles: Brett Stewart, Michael Robertson, Jamie Lyon (c), Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jason King (c), Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Joe Galuvao, Glenn Stewart. Interchange (from): Vic Mauro, Jamie Buhrer, George Rose, Tim Robinson, Darcy Lussick
Rivalry round moves to Ausgrid Stadium in Newcastle where the 1997 grand final contestants go head to head once again. That grand final was famously won by a Darren Albert try for Newcastle in the final minute of the game giving them their first of two premierships. (1997, 2001).
Unfortunately for the Knights one of their main men in Kurt Gidley won’t be playing after succumbing to a hamstring injury last week. It seems since then it has just gotten worse with Evarn Tuimavave in doubt with his own hamstring injury and Richie Fa’aoso suffering the flu. The Knights were pretty dull in their loss to the Cowboys in front of their home crowd last week and the growing list of injuries has made things worse.
The Sea Eagles were impressive last week in the fact that once again when threatened on the scoreboard, they can effectively ramp up their intensity and reap results in the form of points. If they can produce the form that they have shown consistently all year then they should be able to suppress a Knights team riddled with injury.
Mike’s Best Bet: None
Starting Bank: $2000, Current Bank $2478.42
(Team lists sourced from nrl.com.au)
