Round 20 NYC Preview: Knights v Warriors
Warrick D. Nicolson
Friday 20 July 2012 12:00 PM
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS v WARRIORS
Round 20, 2012 NYC Premiership
Saturday, July 21, 2012
NYC Kick-Off 5:15pm (NZ Time)
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
Round 20, 2012 NYC Premiership
Saturday, July 21, 2012
NYC Kick-Off 5:15pm (NZ Time)
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
ROUND 20 GAME PREVIEW
Coming In To Round 20
Newcastle Knights are 0-4 in their last four games, and are coming off a 17-16 loss to Manly in Round 19.
They sit 8th on the competition ladder, in the Top 8 on points differential.
Warriors are 4-0 in their last four games, and are coming off a 38-22 win over Brisbane in Round 19.
They sit 1st on the competition ladder, ahead of the Panthers on points differential.
Newcastle Knights are 0-4 in their last four games, and are coming off a 17-16 loss to Manly in Round 19.
They sit 8th on the competition ladder, in the Top 8 on points differential.
Warriors are 4-0 in their last four games, and are coming off a 38-22 win over Brisbane in Round 19.
They sit 1st on the competition ladder, ahead of the Panthers on points differential.
Last Time They Met
Qualifying Final, 2011 - The Knights were eliminated from the Finals by the Warriors 54-6 last year.
Qualifying Final, 2011 - The Knights were eliminated from the Finals by the Warriors 54-6 last year.
Team Changes and Late Mail
Find all the Newcastle NYC Team and Injury News from Tuesday and full Round 20 Lineup here
Find all the Newcastle NYC Team and Injury News from Tuesday and full Round 20 Lineup here
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
K Mann, C Mata’utia, A Pewhairangi ©, J Allison, L Shipard, W Smith, T Randell, P Vaivai, A Clydsdale, K Sims, N Clarke, A Gadd, C Redman.
Bench: D Clacherty, K Perkins, K Warden, K Barber, M Steele.
Jnr Warriors
P Hiku, V Lolohea, N Laumape, N Hukatai, T Likiliki, C Tuimavave, M Lino, L Sao, S Havili, N Peteru, R Faitala-Mariner, J Palavi ©, D Bhana.
Bench: T Bishop, S Fotofili, A Vete, A Tuimavave-Gerrard, E Malu.
K Mann, C Mata’utia, A Pewhairangi ©, J Allison, L Shipard, W Smith, T Randell, P Vaivai, A Clydsdale, K Sims, N Clarke, A Gadd, C Redman.
Bench: D Clacherty, K Perkins, K Warden, K Barber, M Steele.
Jnr Warriors
P Hiku, V Lolohea, N Laumape, N Hukatai, T Likiliki, C Tuimavave, M Lino, L Sao, S Havili, N Peteru, R Faitala-Mariner, J Palavi ©, D Bhana.
Bench: T Bishop, S Fotofili, A Vete, A Tuimavave-Gerrard, E Malu.
Bottom Line
Boom NYC prop Korbin Sims brings some much needed punch to the Knights as they look to arrest a worrying slide down the ladder due to five straight defeats. In fact the young Novocastrians haven’t tasted victory since Round 13 against the Broncos.
Sims has been playing NSW Cup for the past fortnight and a matchup with the resurgent Junior Warriors shapes as a huge challenge for the team.
“We have lost a few games coming into the end of the year, “ Sims told Knights TV this week. “It doesn’t feel like we have been doing anything different, our preparation and coaching has been the same leading into our games.
“The second halves have been killing us and we need to work on a few little things if we want to be a Top 8 side.”
The Knights are still in the Top 8 but only due to a superior points differential than the Dragons who are also on 21 competition points.
They trail the NYC table topping Junior Warriors by 8 points and the Auckland team have been boosted by the returns of NYC veterans Eko Malo and Siliva Havili in recent weeks. Plu huge winger Toka Likiliki has been unstoppable lately so the job is well and truly ahead of the NYC Knights.
