Time for Knights prop to stand up and be counted
BY ROBERT DILLON
THE moment of truth has arrived for Danny Wicks.
After 15 games in the blue and red, the Knights desperately need the former St George Illawarra giant to put his best foot forward in Friday night's crucial showdown with Penrith at CUA Stadium.
Trailing the eighth-placed Panthers by three points, Newcastle's season is effectively on the line.
A loss could leave them five points adrift of the top eight and praying for a miracle in their remaining eight games.
For the Knights to have any chance of upsetting the in-form Panthers, the big men in their pack need to contain human steamrollers Petero Civoniceva and Tony Puletua.
If Newcastle are outmuscled up front, then the Panthers could well blow them away with pace out wide.
Newcastle's engine room is well below full capacity.
NSW Origin enforcer Ben Cross and Jesse Royal will be sidelined for several weeks through injury, and veteran Mitchell Sargent was released last month to play in England.
In their absence, Knights coach Brian Smith yesterday named Dan Tolar and Mark Taufua as his starting front-rowers.
Tolar has been playing wounded and needs painkilling injections in his ribs to get on the field each week.
Taufua has only three NRL appearances to his credit and has not been sighted in the top grade this season.
The onus is on Wicks, one of Newcastle's main off-season signings, to start making an impact, as he did in the early rounds.
The 22-year-old's statistics over the past seven or eight games suggest his form has tapered off.
Last week against St George Illawarra he made only four hit-ups and 16 tackles in 36 minutes on the field. Worse still, he missed six tackles, and over the course of the season has missed 41 more than any other Newcastle player.
It was interesting to note that, after last week's game, St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown said the Knights were "getting good value" out of former Dragons Chris Houston and Wes Naiqama. Brown made no mention of Wicks. Maybe that was just an oversight, or maybe it was not.
There is little doubt that Wicks has the raw ingredients size and speed to become a dominant figure in the NRL.
And front-rowers, admittedly, invariably take time to mature.
But time is a luxury the Knights cannot afford.
Friday night, at CUA Stadium, is the ideal time and place for Wicks to start repaying the faith that coach Smith has invested in him.
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