Roar Guru
The Newcastle Knights thumped the Gold Coast Titans 30-2 on Sunday afternoon.
>>MATCH REPORT: Gagai suffers heart scare as Knights win
The five-tries-to-none victory was overshadowed by concern for Dane Gagai, who was taken to hospital with an irregular heartbeat.
Newcastle 30 def. Gold Coast 2
Two struggling teams will go head-to-head at Hunter Stadium, as the Newcastle Knights take on the Gold Coast Titans. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm.
Newcastle have been bad this year. There’s no other way to explain it. After winning their first four games of the season, the Knights have lost 11 of 12 games to fall to the foot of the table.
They weren’t terrible last weekend against the Raiders, but they still showed they were well off the pace in a 36-22 loss. Blake Austin scored a hat-trick in the first 20 minutes against the Knights, showing the main issue that has plagued the Novocastrians this season.
The Titans have been stuck in the bottom half of the season all season long, and a 38-6 loss to the struggling Sea Eagles last weekend compounded their problems.
With their well-publicised gain (and subsequent loss) of Daly Cherry-Evans, the Titans haven’t been able to concentrate on playing good footy in a while, and their long injury list makes the struggles even worse. They do have some class in their side, but they’ll need to put together a complete performance to knock over the Knights in Newcastle.
The Knights have a big in this weekend, as Beau Scott will return from suspension. This pushes Paterika Vaivai out of the squad, while Jeremy Smith will regain his spot at lock. Joe Tapine moves on to the bench, while the aforementioned Vaivai has been named in the number 18 jersey. Kurt Gidley is the Knights captain.
The Titans also get a key forward back from suspension, as Greg Bird’s eight week break ends this weekend. He’ll replace Eddy Pettybourne in the starting 13, dropping the incumbent lock to the bench.
Beau Falloon and Dave Taylor have both been named to start, meaning Chad Redman and Agnatius Paasi will come off the pine. Lachlan Burr has been dropped completely, while Ben Ridge is named in the 18 jersey.
Prediction
It’s been a terrible season for both these sides, so this is only a game for pride at this stage. I think the Knights looked better last weekend, so I’m backing them for a rare victory.
Newcastle by 4