Round 26: Knights v Titans preview
The Newcastle Knights finals dream remained alive after the win last weekend against South Sydney. They will also benefit this week from having the two teams above them, who they are also competing with for the final place in the finals - the Broncos and Dolphins, will be playing each other, potentially knocking one of them out of the race.
This weekend, there are a lot of variables going on which the Knights will be looking at. Aside from securing victory against the Titans, they'll be hoping the Eels will be determined to avoid the spoon and record a win against the Dragons; the Dolphins score a maiden win against the Broncos and the Roosters to beat the Raiders.
Then next weekend, The Knights will be looking to defeat the Dolphins, while banking on a Raiders win over the Dragons to ensure them eighth place on the ladder. There's a lot of moving parts. Either way, they've got enough on their plate focusing on scoring back-to-back wins against sides that can score plenty of points but also have defences that frequently leak a lot of points as well.
The Knights have been performing rather consistently solid football over the past month, suffering an 8 point loss to the defending Premiers Penrith, accounting for the last placed Wests Tigers, going down in golden point to top 4 side Cronulla and then last weekend comfortably winning against the Rabbitohs.
The Knights have won their last 5 games at home against the Titans, scoring 186 points at 37.2 points per game, scoring at least 30 points each time. They'll be welcoming back Bradman Best at centre for this match, while Thomas Cant finds himself on the bench. Tyson Frizell and Kai Pearce-Paul will both miss this game in what will be a huge blow to the Knights back row and their edge attack on both sides.
The Titans had rallied well after losing their opening 7 games, winning 8 of their next 13 games to keep their slim hopes of finals footy alive, but have been soundly drummed out of the finals race in the last 3 weeks, letting in 122 points, in what has become a far too common theme over the past 3 years for the Gold Coast outfit. The Warriors have a bye in Round 27, which means the Titans need a win in order to stay above the Warriors. It is possible for the Titans to sink as low as 15th on the table, which they would be keen to avoid.
Phillip Sami comes into the side to replace centre AJ Brimson. Josiah Pahulu moves onto the bench in an otherwise unchanged line-up for the Titans.
Last meeting: Round 11 2024 - Titans 24 Knights 28
Who to watch: Despite another wonky season from the Titans, winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira is a phenomonal try-scorer, racking up 43 tries in his 43 NRL games to date. He's 4 tries clear of the next best, Dom Young, on the season try scoring list.
Expect Bradman Best, Dane Gagai and Greg Marzhew to be more involved on the edges to try and minimize the loss of their back rowers while also taking advantage of the Titans weak edge defence.
FAVOURITE: The Knights with so much more to play for, with home ground advantage and even dominance over the Titans at McDonald Jones Stadium will be favourites here, and rightfully so.
MY TIP: Titans with not enough to play for and the Knights have everything to play for. Knights by 20.
