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Newcastle Knights
38
Match Complete
Gold Coast Titans
12
| T. Hoy |  | 78 | ||
| D. Young |  | 78 | ||
| A. Milford | | 75 | ||
| E. Lee | | 73 | ||
| E. Lee | | 64 | ||
| 58 | | J. Isaako | ||
| 57 | | G. Marzhew | ||
| 53 | | J. Isaako | ||
| 52 | | A. Brimson | ||
| E. Lee | | 40 | ||
| D. Young | | 27 | ||
| T. Hoy | | 25 | ||
| E. Lee | | 23 | ||
| E. Lee | | 19 | ||
| D. Young | | 10 |
| 8 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
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The Newcastle Knights will be desperate for a win when they host the Gold Coast Titans on Friday evening. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6pm AEST.
Desperation will be the order of the day in this one. With just seven wins between them, the season is quickly slipping away for these two sides. The Titans are bringing up the rear, now anchored to last place after a season that promised so much after a finals berth last year. The Knights aren’t doing too much better, down in 12th and a few wins out of the top 8.
The Knights were beaten in a heartbreaker a fortnight ago in Canberra. In a spirited performance they led into the dying stages, only for the Raiders to steal the win out from under them. The Titans were similarly gutsy before rep round in pushing the Sharks. They would go down by 8 in the end, but it was an improvement from a team that hasn’t won since magic round.
The big team news is of course, Kalyn Ponga, who will miss this one for the Knights with concussion. Tex Hoy takes his place at fullback. The Knights have a few big names on the extended bench in Bradman Best, Daniel Saifiti and Lachlan Fitzgibbon. They could yet come into the side before gameday. The Titans have David Fifita back in a big boost, he comes back via the bench but given he has played some of his best footy from there it may work for them. Kevin Proctor and Corey Thompson are amongst the reserves.
The Knights are 1 from 6 at home this year, their only win coming against the Tigers. The Titans only have a 33% win record in Newcastle. Their last win at the venue came back in 2016. It is pretty even recent history between the two, results split evenly in the last six games. The Knights won the last fixture between the two 15-14 in August of last year.
Prediction
The biggest factors here are the loss of Kalyn Ponga, and the Knights woeful home record this year. When the Knights are competitive, it is so often off the back of their man at the back. Without him it is always hard to know where exactly the points are going to come from. It is a big boost for the Titans to have David Fifita back in a game that they just have to win.
This isn’t going to be a classic contest by any stretch. Rather it is likely to be a fairly scrappy affair between two teams that are desperate for a win. They should be fairly fresh after most players had a week off over rep round. I think Titans get home in a close one.
Titans by 4
Kick-off: 6:00pm AEST
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
TV/Stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, Nine Network
Odds: Knights $1.78, Titans $2.05 – odds via PlayUp
Newcastle
1. Tex Hoy 2. Edrick Lee 3. Dane Gagai 4. Enari Tuala 5. Dominic Young 6. Anthony Milford 7. Adam Clune 8. David Klemmer 9. Chris Randall 10. Jacob Saifiti 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Mitchell Barnett 13. Kurt Mann 14. Simi Sasagi 15. Leo Thompson 16. Mathew Croker 17. Pasami Saulo 18. Jake Clifford 19. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 20. Bradman Best 21. Hymel Hunt 22. Daniel Saifiti
Gold Coast
1. AJ Brimson 2. Greg Marzhew 3. Brian Kelly 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Jamayne Isaako 6. Paul Turner 7. Toby Sexton 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Erin Clark 10. Isaac Liu 11. Sam McIntyre 12. Beau Fermor 13. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 14. Tanah Boyd 15. Moeaki Fotuaika 16. Jaimin Jolliffe 17. David Fifita 18. Corey Thompson 19. Herman Ese’ese 20. Aaron Booth 21. Kevin Proctor 22. Sosefo Fifita
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