Knights wingers on red alert for Roosters bombardment
BY ROBERT DILLON
NEWCASTLE Knights wingers James McManus and Cooper Vuna will have to deal with the pain barrier as well as the NRL's most deadly tactical kickers in Sunday's showdown with Sydney Roosters at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
McManus and Vuna have spent 22 consecutive games as Newcastle's wingmen, but both are nursing injuries after Monday night's 30-18 win against North Queensland in Townsville.
Vuna, who hobbled off after 60 minutes against the Cowboys with a calf strain, had scans yesterday and faces a fitness test tomorrow.
McManus, who has not missed a game since his NRL debut in round one last season, suffered a suspected broken bone at the tip of the middle finger on his left hand.
Both flankers are confident they will be fit for Sunday's high-profile clash, and their availability is crucial against a Roosters line-up featuring the pinpoint kicking games of Braith Anasta and Mitchell Pearce.
The Roosters have created 23 of their 53 tries this season with the boot more than any other team in the competition.
At the other end of spectrum are the Knights, who have set up only six of their 46 tries this season with kicks the fewest in the NRL.
Anasta and Pearce have made an art form of the cross-field kick that isolates an opposition winger something that McManus and Vuna remember all too clearly from the last time the two teams met, at Gosford on April 20.
On that occasion, the Roosters scored three tries from kicks in the first half, but the Knights rallied to claim a memorable 34-20 victory.
Both are expecting a similar barrage of kicks on Sunday.
But they are confident they can counter whatever weapons Anasta and Pearce lob in their direction.
"Their kicking is that accurate, but you've also got to defend the runners as well as the kick," McManus said yesterday. "That makes it tough.
"We've just got to get numbers around the ball, and when you do that, most times you'll come down with it.
"I think I've done pretty well with the bombs this year. But they [the Roosters] scored a couple of tries on us with kicks last time, so I'm sure we'll have a bit of action coming our way this weekend."
Vuna said he had been studying videos of Anasta and Pearce and was expecting to be targeted.
"They've got a good kicking game, and I'm sure we'll get a lot of work on Sunday," he said.
"The main thing is to be positive. I'm looking forward to it."
Vuna said he would have intensive physiotherapy on his calf but predicted he would be "sweet" by tomorrow.
McManus said he would not bother having X-rays on his finger because "there's not much they can do whether it's broken or not".
"I heard it crack during the game, and I've broken a finger before, so I know what it feels like," he said. "It's a bit sore, but I'll wear a splint on Sunday and possibly get it needled, so it won't stop me playing."
Knights coach Brian Smith said yesterday that veteran Adam MacDougall would be likely to switch from centre to wing if either Vuna or McManus was ruled out.
Centres Junior Sau and Keith Lulia would be the leading candidates to win a recall, as Smith was wary of handing young winger Akuila Uate such a daunting debut.
Smith said coping with the Roosters' kicking arsenal would be a team effort, and not just left to the back three.
"We need to undertake to cover that by all means not just by wingers catching the kicks, but by everyone putting pressure on their kickers," Smith said.
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