Sea Eagles wary of struggling Knights
Thursday, August 9, 2007
http://news.leaguehq.com.au/sea-eagles-wary-of-struggling-knights/20070909-sg7.html
Manly know all too well not to underestimate the troubled Newcastle Knights in Friday night's NRL clash at Bluetongue Stadium.
The odds are stacked in the Sea Eagles' favour ahead of the match, with the Knights battling poor form, a stack of injuries and now a player revolt against coach Brian Smith.
But the Eagles are wary, thanks mainly to the lingering memory of their round 12 loss to the struggling Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium.
The then-competition leaders were shocked 22-16 by the Panthers, who had lost six of their past seven matches.
Ten weeks on, centre Steve Bell says Manly haven't forgotten the loss and they're firmly taking the "anyone can beat anyone" mentality into this match, despite facing the Knights on a four-game losing streak.
"Everyone was writing them (Penrith) off and they played really good and beat us," Bell said.
"So any team on their day is capable of anything.
"It's going to be a tough one at Gosford and we're expecting (Newcastle) will turn up and be ready to play."
Bell suggested the fact the injury-ravaged Knights had used an NRL-high 36 players this season could even work in their favour.
"There's a few new faces there and you're not too sure what everyone does each week," Bell said.
"It's hard to prepare so the best we can do is get our game right and work on the things that we do well."
The Knights were rocked this week when captain Danny Buderus went public with the growing player dissent about the direction of the club under Brian Smith.
Buderus said the decision to axe so many players for next year had upset the playing group and left morale at rock bottom.
But stand-in captain Steve Simpson said the group was already looking to put the controversy behind them and keep their faint finals hopes alive.
"It's obviously been a tough week this week and I suppose in the past few weeks because we haven't had a win for a while," Simpson said.
"But in saying that we trained really well on Tuesday night and hopefully we can get a win and put all this behind us.
"(Morale) is a little bit low, obviously there's been a little bit going on but as far as we've trained ... I think we've taken a step in the right direction, everyone had a lot of energy and is looking forward to the game."
Newcastle are still without injured Buderus (knee) and last week lost Luke MacDougall for the season to add to the club's injury woes.
Manly, meanwhile are at near full strength and biting at Melbourne's heels in the NRL minor premiership race.
They come off a relatively short turnaround from Sunday's 21-8 win at Brisbane but prop Brent Kite said the side flew back on Sunday night to ensure the best recovery.
"Rehab and just staying mentally fresh is something I give (coach) Des (Hasler) and the guys in the training staff a big rap on," Kite said.
"(This season) is the best I've felt week in week out and that's a credit to them.
"We will be going in off only two days running and we will be better served for it."
