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First Grade
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Knights v Storm Preview
NRL.com
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Saturday 5.30pm
http://nrl.com/News/Latest/tabid/10244/default.aspx?id=52593
IT’S a simple equation for the Knights: keep winning and the finals beckon, lose and it will be one hell of a fight to stay in the top eight.
It’s also a simple equation for the Storm: keep winning and a third straight minor premiership is theirs, lose and the Sea Eagles or even Sharks could steal it away.
Quite simply this is the biggest match of the Knights’ season. It is their final home game, which means it’s the ‘Old Boys’ game where a packed house includes players of the past.
It’s the official farewell of captain and legend Danny Buderus whose time at the Knights was tragically cut short by injury last weekend (seems to be a theme at the Knights… just ask Andrew Johns and Paul Harragon) and it’s against the reigning premiers and current competition leaders Melbourne.
A win for the eighth-placed Knights would go a long long way to cementing a finals berth (although not guaranteeing it) and could have them as high as sixth if other results go their way while a loss could potentially see them slip to 11th – not a good place to be with just one round remaining.
After last week’s win over the Cowboys the Knights have made a few changes. Buderus is gone due to his bicep injury which sees Matt Hilder move to hooker and Mark Taufua come in at lock.
Steve Simpson returns to the second row which moves Chris Houston to the bench. Richard Fa’aoso (concussion) and Danny Wicks (back) are out with Matthew White and Akuila Uate added to a five-man bench.
For the Storm it’s the same side that defeated the Panthers on Monday night, with the addition of Aiden Tolman onto a bench of five.
Watch out Knights: Cooper Cronk is the man to shut down if you are looking to put a chink in the Storm’s offence. With 16 line-break assists (fourth in NRL) and 30 try assists (first in NRL) Cronk is where the action is.
Obviously if you target him too heavily Cam Smith takes control so it will take a concerted all-round effort by every member of the Knights team to limit Cronk’s effectiveness.
The Knights need to get physical with Cronk and knock him down as he passes to ensure he has to pick himself up for each and every play he is going to be involved in.
They need to send plenty of traffic his way to get him tired. As the main kicker for the Storm, a poor effort by Cronk can mean a big swing towards the opposition.
Watch out Storm: Brian Smith likes to find weaknesses in the opposition’s armour and there is no doubt he has come across the fact that the Storm are ranked last in the NRL for defusing chip kicks, banana kicks and cross-field bombs.
A massive 67 per cent of banana kicks and cross-field bombs aren’t being taken care of by the Storm, while 47 per cent of chip kicks are getting a result for the attacking team. Look for Jarrod Mullen, Scott Dureau and Kurt Gidley to weave these kicks into their games.
Where it will be won: Discipline with the referee and discipline in kicking and kick-chase. For the Knights to win this game they will almost certainly need to come out on top in the penalty count, something they’ve struggled to do this season as the NRL’s most penalised team.
The Storm aren’t much cleaner than the Knights, just 10 penalties behind on the list and they have also had some run-ins with Shayne Hayne, the whistleblower for this one.
The Knights need to have better field position to compete with the star-studded Storm and penalties will not help this cause. It is also imperative they maintain their advantage in terms of kicking to space.
Newcastle finds space on 65.5 per cent of occasions to be one of the NRL’s best teams while the Storm are running at just 54.4 per cent. Jarrod Mullen and co need to ensure this percentage remains high and the kick-chase of the Knights has to be perfect to take advantage. There is no point finding space if Billy Slater eventually picks it up and returns it 20 metres anyway.
They also need to get more metres from the boot as they currently sit 127 metres a match shy of the Storm.
The History: Played 20; Knights 10, Storm 10. The Storm have now won seven of the past eight against the Knights, including the past five straight. Earlier this season they prevailed 18-4 at Olympic Park in a bruising encounter. Of the 10 matches played at EnergyAustralia the Knights have won seven but the past two went to Melbourne. In the past five matches the average score has been 32-8 to the Storm.
Conclusion: The absolute grit the Knights have played with this year almost makes you feel they deserve to be in the finals but the reality is the Storm should be good enough to win here. However there are some factors working in the Knights’ favour. The big home crowd, full of emotion for Buderus, is one. The fact the Storm played Monday night is another. And the fact the Storm is out of its usual routine and has spent the week on the central coast rather than in Melbourne is another. An upset is possible, but still not probable.
Match officials: Referee – Shayne Hayne; Sideline Officials – Bernard Sutton & Paul Holland; Video ref – Paul Simpkins.
Televised: Fox Sports 2 – Live 5.30pm.
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
NRL.com
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Saturday 5.30pm
http://nrl.com/News/Latest/tabid/10244/default.aspx?id=52593
IT’S a simple equation for the Knights: keep winning and the finals beckon, lose and it will be one hell of a fight to stay in the top eight.
It’s also a simple equation for the Storm: keep winning and a third straight minor premiership is theirs, lose and the Sea Eagles or even Sharks could steal it away.
Quite simply this is the biggest match of the Knights’ season. It is their final home game, which means it’s the ‘Old Boys’ game where a packed house includes players of the past.
It’s the official farewell of captain and legend Danny Buderus whose time at the Knights was tragically cut short by injury last weekend (seems to be a theme at the Knights… just ask Andrew Johns and Paul Harragon) and it’s against the reigning premiers and current competition leaders Melbourne.
A win for the eighth-placed Knights would go a long long way to cementing a finals berth (although not guaranteeing it) and could have them as high as sixth if other results go their way while a loss could potentially see them slip to 11th – not a good place to be with just one round remaining.
After last week’s win over the Cowboys the Knights have made a few changes. Buderus is gone due to his bicep injury which sees Matt Hilder move to hooker and Mark Taufua come in at lock.
Steve Simpson returns to the second row which moves Chris Houston to the bench. Richard Fa’aoso (concussion) and Danny Wicks (back) are out with Matthew White and Akuila Uate added to a five-man bench.
For the Storm it’s the same side that defeated the Panthers on Monday night, with the addition of Aiden Tolman onto a bench of five.
Watch out Knights: Cooper Cronk is the man to shut down if you are looking to put a chink in the Storm’s offence. With 16 line-break assists (fourth in NRL) and 30 try assists (first in NRL) Cronk is where the action is.
Obviously if you target him too heavily Cam Smith takes control so it will take a concerted all-round effort by every member of the Knights team to limit Cronk’s effectiveness.
The Knights need to get physical with Cronk and knock him down as he passes to ensure he has to pick himself up for each and every play he is going to be involved in.
They need to send plenty of traffic his way to get him tired. As the main kicker for the Storm, a poor effort by Cronk can mean a big swing towards the opposition.
Watch out Storm: Brian Smith likes to find weaknesses in the opposition’s armour and there is no doubt he has come across the fact that the Storm are ranked last in the NRL for defusing chip kicks, banana kicks and cross-field bombs.
A massive 67 per cent of banana kicks and cross-field bombs aren’t being taken care of by the Storm, while 47 per cent of chip kicks are getting a result for the attacking team. Look for Jarrod Mullen, Scott Dureau and Kurt Gidley to weave these kicks into their games.
Where it will be won: Discipline with the referee and discipline in kicking and kick-chase. For the Knights to win this game they will almost certainly need to come out on top in the penalty count, something they’ve struggled to do this season as the NRL’s most penalised team.
The Storm aren’t much cleaner than the Knights, just 10 penalties behind on the list and they have also had some run-ins with Shayne Hayne, the whistleblower for this one.
The Knights need to have better field position to compete with the star-studded Storm and penalties will not help this cause. It is also imperative they maintain their advantage in terms of kicking to space.
Newcastle finds space on 65.5 per cent of occasions to be one of the NRL’s best teams while the Storm are running at just 54.4 per cent. Jarrod Mullen and co need to ensure this percentage remains high and the kick-chase of the Knights has to be perfect to take advantage. There is no point finding space if Billy Slater eventually picks it up and returns it 20 metres anyway.
They also need to get more metres from the boot as they currently sit 127 metres a match shy of the Storm.
The History: Played 20; Knights 10, Storm 10. The Storm have now won seven of the past eight against the Knights, including the past five straight. Earlier this season they prevailed 18-4 at Olympic Park in a bruising encounter. Of the 10 matches played at EnergyAustralia the Knights have won seven but the past two went to Melbourne. In the past five matches the average score has been 32-8 to the Storm.
Conclusion: The absolute grit the Knights have played with this year almost makes you feel they deserve to be in the finals but the reality is the Storm should be good enough to win here. However there are some factors working in the Knights’ favour. The big home crowd, full of emotion for Buderus, is one. The fact the Storm played Monday night is another. And the fact the Storm is out of its usual routine and has spent the week on the central coast rather than in Melbourne is another. An upset is possible, but still not probable.
Match officials: Referee – Shayne Hayne; Sideline Officials – Bernard Sutton & Paul Holland; Video ref – Paul Simpkins.
Televised: Fox Sports 2 – Live 5.30pm.
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
