2025 R1 Fri - Wests Tigers v Newcastle @ Campbelltown

[League Unlimited News]

NRL 2025 - Round 1
Wests Tigers v Newcastle Knights
Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Leumeah / Dharawal (TICKETS)

Friday 7 March 2025
Kickoff 6:00pm AEDT
Live on Fox, Kayo

1. Heath Mason 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Adam Doueihi 4. Solomona Faataape 5. Jeral Skelton 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Jarome Luai 8. Terrell May 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Fonua Pole 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Alex Seyfarth 13. Alex Twal
14. Tristan Hope 15. Royce Hunt 16. Jack Bird 17. Sione Fainu
18. Latu Fainu 19. Charlie Staines 20. Kit Laulilii 21. Tony Sukkar 22. Reuben Porter

1. Kalyn Ponga 2. James Schiller 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Jack Cogger 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Leo Thompson 11. Dylan Lucas 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Tyson Frizell
14. Jayden Brailey 15. Jack Hetherington 16. Brodie Jones 17. Mathew Croker
18. Thomas Cant 19. Will Pryce 20. Logan Aoake 21. Jackson Hastings 22. Adam Elliott

Referee: Liam Kennedy​ Sideline Officials: Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski, Jon Stone​ Video Referee: Kasey Badger​

HEAD TO HEAD - 2000 - 2024​

	TOTAL	WST	NEW	DRAWN
ALL MATCHES	38	17	21	0
C'TOWN	10	6	4	0

LAST FIVE MEETINGS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
2022	Round 21	NEW 14-10	Campbelltown	9621
2023	Round 2	NEW 14-12	Leichhardt	13214
2023	Round 20	NEW 34-18	McD. Jones	18470
2024	Round 10	NEW 20-14	Scully	10107
2024	Round 23	NEW 34-18	McD. Jones	22183

BIGGEST WINS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
2001	Round 10	NEW 56-6	Marathon	15105
2019	Round 23	WST 46-4	Campbelltown	11107

NEXT FOUR MATCHES​

	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
WESTS TIGERS	PAR (A)	DOL (A)	WAR (H)	BRI (A)
NEWCASTLE	DOL (H)	GLD (A)	BYE	CBY (A)

 

[Valheru]

Wests need to take advantage of their early draw to stay in touch with the top 8 and I think they will do just that here and win by 8.

 

[JamesRustle]

An early contented for tard game of the year.

Ponga to lead the Knights to a handsome victory. Knights 32-22.

 

[mozza91]

Tigers will improve this year but it’ll take time. We should win this one pretty comfortably.

 

[This Year?]

It is so unfair that is the 6pm game. Will the newly recruited smug lift Benji's Bastards out of the gutter?
Will the Knights potential signing of the Double Bay chest massager make Kalyn want to go and get a strawberry milkshake?
This game is going to be as epic as the 2023 spoon battle.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Tigers will improve this year but it’ll take time. We should win this won pretty comfortably.

After seeing the teams named I agree. Already with 5/6 of our 17 out including 2 of our spine. Knights have swung in betting from $2.10 to $1.71

The Knights are a bad match for us, their biggest strengths attack our biggest weakness. Their left side of Sharpe/Ponga/Best/Marzew will have a field day. Doouihi and Fataape are the worst defensive centre combo in the comp. I mean you know youre struggling when youre upset Toa and Naden are injured.

To me the only place we're better then them (apart from Luai) is the middle forward rotation. If we're going to have any chance we need to turn it into a forward slog with Luai and Galvin (whos long kicking game was great in the trials) to kick them to death. Minimal errors/penalties and win field position. Id be moving Hunt/May a bit wider in the 20 to try and isolate Sharpe.

Overall though I think it will Knights by 2-3 tries

 

[Woody90]

After seeing the teams named I agree. Already with 5/6 of our 17 out including 2 of our spine. Knights have swung in betting from $2.10 to $1.71

The Knights are a bad match for us, their biggest strengths attack our biggest weakness. Their left side of Sharpe/Ponga/Best/Marzew will have a field day.

To me the only place we're better then them (apart from Luai) is the middle forward rotation. If we're going to have any chance we need to turn it into a forward slog with Luai and Galvin (whos long kicking game was great in the trials) to kick them to death. Minimal errors/penalties and win field position. Id be moving Hunt/May a bit wider in the 20 to try and isolate Sharpe.

Overall though I think it will Knights by 2-3 tries

The predicted weather might help the Tigers a bit. Will likely slow the Knights backline down a bit.

 

[Speedy Gonzales]

Knights will have a field day on our edges … we’d have to have the worst centres in the NRL

I hope Luai can work miracles

 

[Marshall_magic]

Hard to be missing 2 of the 4 spine players in round one but the teams looks better than it has in years. Even if we lose we need to have a strong showing a really dig in. A surrender would kill all the optimism around the joint in one game.

 

[Speedy Gonzales]

Tigers will improve this year but it’ll take time. We should win this one pretty comfortably.

I feel the same way.

unless our centres have pumped peptides the last couple weeks they’re fringe at best. Knights would be silly not to attack them all night

anyways our biggest hope is knights have the round 1 wobbles and play like crap because Best and Ponga scare me

 

[perverse]

If we had a halfback I'd really like our team this year. Strong across the park and a good mix of experience and youth, with our main man coming into his prime. We should account for the Tigers here. I'm not sure how much they'll improve but as others have said, the improvement will take some time.

Our edges are really dangerous, especially on the left. If we get our share of the ball, we'll score points. The fact that I have all of this confidence should be the first red flag that I'm in for some disappointment.

 

[gerg]

I don't understand the Seyfarth selection. Surely tigers have a better backrower? I think he's okay but quite limited.