Knights v Eels preview

Newcastle Knights v Parramatta Eels
Hunter Stadium - Sunday 4:00pm

Newcastle travel back home and will be very keen to snap a two game losing streak against an equally desperate Parramatta outfit who have also lost their past two.

Newcastle started the season with a bang, winning their opening 4 games, but have been brought down to earth with convincing losses to both The St George Illawarra Dragons and a rejuvenated Cronulla Sharks. Both these games have been played in the wet, so it will be inteesting to see if the Knights can get back to their winning ways if the rain holds off on Sunday.
Both sides are 1-17, with only Richie Fa'aoso coming in at 18th man for the Eels.

Parramatta were plain dreadful last week against the Gold Coast Titans. After keeping things close up until half time, they completely folded in the second half as speedy James Roberts ran away with the game (quite literally!) Brad Arthur will want a big improvement on their missed tackles (34) and errors (12) this week.

Last meeting: Round 25 2014 - Newcastle Knights 42 Parramatta Eels 12

Newcastle have shown domination over Parramatta of late having won the last 7 clashes between these clubs. Things don't look much better for Parramatta at Hunter Stadium either, they have won only 6 out of 23 games there, including 17 losses. The odds are stacked against them in this clash.

Who to watch: All eyes will be on Fijian Flyer Akulia Uate who continued his strong start to the season in 2015. He ran for 162m, a try, two tackle busts, one offload and a linebreak in a losing effort. If he can be given any space then he will create a lot of scoring opportunities for the Knights. Considering the Knights lack of points in the last two weeks (6 points) they will be relying heavily on a sterling effort from Uate.

For Parramatta they need more from talented halfback Chris Sandow. After showing glimpses of the man that Parramatta forked out 500K a season for, he has slipped into his old habits of missing tackles and not taking on the line.

Sandow needs to run at the line with purpose and get the Knights defenders backtracking, which in turn will give opportunities to his outsode men who work very well in space. Especially look for Sandow's kicks to Semi Radradra and Will Hopoate.

The favourite: Knights athome have the money going in their favour.

My tip: Tipping the Knights in this one. Their home advantage is huge and they will be desperate to get back to their winning ways. If the weather is dry, the Knights will be able to play their normal attacking footy out wide. Parramatta are far too inconsistent and just can't see them getting the points up in Newcastle considering their poor form there in the past. Knights by 12.

1. Kurt Gidley 2. James McManus 3. Dane Gagai 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Akuila Uate 6. Jarrod Mullen 7. Tyrone Roberts 8. Kade Snowden 9. Adam Clydsdale 10. Korbin Sims 11. Chris Houston 12. Tariq Sims 13. Jeremy Smith
Interchange: 14. Tyler Randell 15. David Fa'alogo 16. Joseph Tapine 17. Jack Stockwell 18. Sione Mata'utia

1. William Hopoate 2. Bureta Faraimo 3. Ryan Morgan 4. John Folau 5. Reece Robinson 6. Corey Norman 7. Chris Sandow 8. Darcy Lussick 9. Nathan Peats 10. Tim Mannah 11. Manu Ma'u 12. David Gower 13. Anthony Watmough
Interchange: 14. Isaac De Gois 15. Joseph Paulo 16. Danny Wicks 17. Peni Terepo 18. Richie Fa'aoso

Referees: Adam Devcich, Dave Munro; Sideline Officials: Brett Suttor, Phil Henderson; Video Referees: Steve Clark, Luke Phillips;

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