Buderus a happy hooker - but still guarded
April 01, 2008
NEWCASTLE skipper Danny Buderus is refusing to get carried away with his side's rousing start to the season, admitting "it can go pear-shaped very quickly".
The Knights have defied the predictions of just about everyone by winning two of their opening three games, with their only loss a golden point heart-breaker against Parramatta last Friday night.
With a touch more composure against the Eels in the closing stages, the Knights could well be unbeaten and sitting on top of the competition ladder with Brisbane.
Even Buderus admits he is surprised at how quickly his new-look side has come together after a player clean-out.
"Our defence is probably the surprising thing. It's been pretty good given the number of new players we've got," he said. "We're going OK.
"There's a good attitude and commitment among the boys and the combinations in attack are only going to get better the more we play together.
"But we aren't getting ahead of ourselves. We can't afford to look too far forward because it can go pear-shaped very quickly. It doesn't take much for things to go wrong."
The Knights face a tough three weeks leading into the bye, with games against the Warriors in New Zealand on Sunday followed by Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters.
"It's going to be a tough period for us," he said. "If we can get at least one of our next couple to be three (wins) from five, it would be a good start for us," Buderus said.
"But it's going to be a testing period. Our forward pack is doing a good job for us up the middle but the Warriors are always a good test up front, particularly over there."
The Knights have few injury concerns, with coach Brian Smith tipped to name the same squad that played against Parramatta for the Warriors clash.
Forwards Dan Tolar (shoulder) and Cory Paterson (calf) will be restricted to light training duties this week but are in no doubt for the game.
Veteran centre Adam MacDougall could be an outside chance of forcing his way into the 17 if he recovers from a knee injury which has kept him out of the the Knights' past two games.
Injured prop Ben Cross, who is yet to debut for the Knights after breaking his wrist in a pre-season trial, will see a specialist late this week and is expected to be cleared to play against the Broncos next week.
Meanwhile, Knights operations manager Warren Smiles will meet winger Cooper Vuna today to try to finalise a new two-year deal, which has taken longer than expected to seal.
"His manager has actually asked us to meet with Cooper to see what has to be done to get it over the line and I'll be doing that (Wednesday)," Smiles said.
