- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Knights
38
Match Complete
Titans
4
| L. Fitzgibbon |  | 77 | ||
| M. Lino |  | 52 | ||
| S. Mata'utia | | 51 | ||
| B. Best | | 45 | ||
| M. Lino | | 38 | ||
| C. Watson | | 36 | ||
| M. Lino | | 33 | ||
| H. Hunt | | 32 | ||
| M. Lino | | 30 | ||
| M. Barnett | | 28 | ||
| M. Lino | | 13 | ||
| M. Pearce | | 12 | ||
| 3 | | R. Jacks |
| 7 | Tries | 1 | ||
| 5 | Conversions | 0 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Show Preview
After a week from hell, the Newcastle Knights have rallied in front of their old boys to put 38 unanswered points on a lacklustre Gold Coast Titans side at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.
The weather and the sacking of coach Nathan Brown during the week seemed to keep the crowd away, with plenty of empty seats all over the place.
However that didn’t stop the Knights, led by five-eighth Mason Lino, putting on a clinic in the first game of 2019’s penultimate Super Saturday.
Lino was instrumental for the home side. He had a hand in several tries throughout the game, forced plenty of line drop outs and kicked five from six off the tee.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, it was actually the Titans who started the stronger of the two teams. They dominated possession and field position in the first 10 minutes of the game, with Ryley Jacks opening the scoring with a try from close to the line in the third minute.
It was ill-discipline and errors from the Knights that allowed the Titans to dominate early. However Newcastle were able to tighten up these areas of their game, allowing them to hit back through Mitchell Pearce in the 12th minute.
From there it was one-way traffic, the Knights scoring six more tries in the match while the Titans barely looked like threatening.
Newcastle took a 24-4 lead into the halftime break, with tries to Mitch Barnett, Hymel Hunt and Connor Watson as well as a perfect first half off the kicking tee from Lino.
There was no sign of a drop in intensity from the Knights when they returned for the second half. Bradman Best scored the first try of his young career, with an early ball from Kalyn Ponga putting him one-on-one with English international Kallum Watkins who, despite his 256 Super League games and 25 tests, was unable to handle the 18-year-old close to the line.
Tries to Sione Mata’utia and Lachlan Fitzgibbon saw the score blow out to 38-4 in the end, the Titans looking absolutely bereft of ideas every time they had the ball.
For the Knights, they’ll be wondering where that effort was last week against the Tigers when they still had control over their own finals destiny. For now, all they can do is cross their fingers and pray for a Cronulla loss tomorrow in order to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Final score
Knights 38
Titans 4
It’s Old Boys’ Day in the Hunter, and the Newcastle Knights will be hungry to restore some pride against the Gold Coast Titans, who are destined to walk away from 2019 with the Wooden Spoon. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 3pm (AEST).
With no shortage of drama both on and off the field it’s certainly been a week to forget for the Knights. The announcement last week that coach Nathan Brown would be departing the club at season’s end came with the side still well and truly still in contention for a finals spot.
However, a disastrous loss to the Wests Tigers (who put 30 unanswered points on them in the first half) washed away any hopes of a finals berth this year. This was followed by the immediate departure of coach Brown, as he handed the reins over to his assistant and Tongan national coach Kristian Woolf. Woolf will take charge of the side for the remainder of 2019.
Despite the heavy defeat at the hands of the Tigers, Woolf has stuck with the same 17 that played so poorly last week, barring one forced change with Connor Watson coming into the starting side at hooker to replace the injured Danny Levi.
While the Knights have had a week to forget, it’s been a season to forget for the Titans, who last week sealed their fate as 2019 wooden spooners with a loss to the table-topping Melbourne Storm.
Despite the result there were some positive signs for the Titans during the game. They led 8-0 early, and only lost by 24-8 in the end – a somewhat positive result given that many pundits were expecting a cricket score in favour of the Storm.
There are several changes for the Gold Coast. Jarrod Wallace returns from injury in the front row, pushing star forward Jai Arrow to his preferred position of lock. Nathan Peats moves back to hooker due to the suspension of Mitch Rein, and Will Matthews is the new man on the bench.
Interestingly enough, Ash Taylor has been named in the reserves, although it remains to be seen whether he will play or not.
Prediction
The Titans will like their chances in this one given they jagged a rare victory last time the two sides clashed in Round 6 earlier in the year. They put in a much-improved performance against the Storm despite the result, while they know that the Knights are a club in crisis at present.
On the other hand, history shows that teams generally respond well to the sacking of a coach (in the short term at least), although that didn’t happen for the Titans when Garth Brennan was sacked earlier in the year.
It’s really hard to back either team to be truthful. If this was a week ago, I’d say Knights for sure. Given the immediate departure of Brown in the week, plus the hype surrounding Old Boys’ Day, I’m still going to pick the Knights – but not with much confidence.
Knights by 10.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3pm (AEST).
Where: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
When: 3pm AEST
TV: Fox League
Streaming: NRL Digital Pass, Kayo Sports
Knights
1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Bradman Best 3. Sione Mata’utia 4. Hymel Hunt 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6. Mason Lino 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. David Klemmer 9. Connor Watson 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 12. Mitchell Barnett 13. Tim Glasby 14. Jacob Saifiti 15. Herman Ese’ese 16. Josh King 17. Aidan Guerra 18. Kurt Mann 19. James Gavet 20. Tautau Moga 21. Chris Randall
Titans
1. Michael Gordon 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kallum Watkins 4. Brian Kelly 5. Phillip Sami 6. Tyrone Peachey 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Nathan Peats 10. Moeaki Fotuaika 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Sam Stone 13. Jai Arrow 14. Alexander Brimson 15. Jai Whitbread 16. Bryce Cartwright 17. Will Matthews 18. Anthony Don 19. Jack Stockwell 20. Ash Taylor 21. Tanah Boyd
Hide Preview
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.