Round 19: Knights v Roosters preview
Friday night Rugby League heads to the Hunter once again as the Newcastle Knights will look to emulate their round one heroics when they play host to the Sydney Roosters.
Back in Round 1, the Knights stunned many when they pulled off a surprising upset of the Roosters when the Novocastrians scored a 20-6 victory when things looked good for Newcastle. Fast forward to round 19 and the Knights have only won three games since their back-to-back wins in rounds one and two.
Last weekend, the Knights had moments of joy but were heavily defeated against Manly going down 42-12 at Brookvale Oval. The Knights were in touch with the Sea Eagles last week trailing by just 8 points at half-time but an off-the-pace second half from Newcastle saw them completely outplayed by the home side who looked a class above the Knights.
The Knights will welcome back Hymel Hunt into the starting side for his first game of 2022 while Dom Young is named in the reserves with him in doubt with a rib injury. Newcastle have named Tyson Frizell and Edrick Lee despite injury concerns though Simi Sasagi is ruled out. Kurt Mann returns to the side after missing last week.
The Sydney Roosters have had an up and down season and find themselves outside the top 8 but a big win over the Dragons last week in Gosford will give them the confidence they can potentially match the top teams still despite a mounting injury crisis.
Losing three players last week to serious injury didn't stop the Roosters as they cracked the half-century running out 54-26 winners over the Dragons. In what was a points fest, the Roosters looked impressive during the second half despite losing three players to injury. The performance showed that despite sitting outside the top 8, there is still plenty of fight in the boys from Bondi.
Injury concerns still have an effect on the Roosters team list with Luke Keary and Jared Warea-Hargreaves back into the side. Joey Manu was named despite an injury concern out of last week's contest. Matt Lodge makes his starting debut for the Roosters while Terrell May returns to the bench.
Last meeting: Round 1 2022 - Roosters 6 Knights 20
Who to watch: Having been one of the more impressive players for the Knights since joining up, Anthony Milford has played a big part in the Newcastle attack this season. Having settled his future last week with it being announced that the Samoan international will join the Dolphins next season which means that drama is over. Milford needs to have a big game if the Knights want to get past the Roosters.
A lot of pressure has been placed on Sam Walker's shoulders in recent weeks trying to get the Roosters out of their form slump without key playmaking partner Luke Keary. Walker has been quiet in his performances this season and to me personally has been on the disappointing side and needs to step his game up for the Roosters to get over the Knights.
The favourite: The Roosters are considered heavy favourites for the contest which may not be the case come kick-off time.
My tip: This game will be closer than what the expectations in the market are at the moment because the Knights at home could be an extra factor in their performance. The Roosters should be able to do enough to take the victory. Roosters by 10.
