Newcastle are no easy-beats
PLAYING the Knights could be seen as the perfect opposition for the Warriors as they look to win the opening game of a new season for the first time since 2009.
The Knights had only one win last year.
However, the Knights can also see today’s fixture as the best time to play the Warriors. They’re up against a team that’s notoriously slow starters, who’ll be without one of their most important players in Kieran Foran and, after a good pre-season, the Knights players will be full of confidence.
Last year the Warriors beat the Knights 40-18 and 50-14. While they were one-sided contests, Knights coach Nathan Brown says he’s not anticipating anything similar this time.
‘‘I’m expecting us to be far harder to beat than we were last year when we played them on the two occasions,’’ Brown said.
Knights hooker Danny Levi has similar thoughts and is expecting his club to have a better year, helped by a couple of key signings in Jamie Buhrer and Josh Starling, both from the Sea Eagles.
‘‘We had a lot of rookies in first grade last year and this season we all know what to expect and what’s required in the NRL,’’ the Wellington-born Levi said.
‘‘Last year gave a lot of the guys a confidence boost for this year. Having a season under their belts is going to do a lot for them and you’re going to see a lot of big improvements.’’
It has been a slow rebuilding process for the Knights, who have had to recover from the mess Wayne Bennett left them in, before rejoining the Broncos in 2015.
Brown knew what he was letting himself in for when he took the job as Rick Stone’s replacement last year, but he’s optimistic that this season they’ll start to reap some benefits from the pain they went through in 2016.
‘‘I’d like to think that all the younger guys that got to play last year, when everyone who saw them play against Canberra [in the Knights’ recent trial which they won 44-0], saw they got some benefits out of it.
‘‘I’m sure this time next year they’ll be better off again. They are only young, but they’ve certainly improved a lot and our expectations of the younger kids is a lot higher this year, than what it was last year.’’
Clearly, Brown is happy not to be going up against Foran today, but he holds his fill-in, Ata Hingano, in high regard.
‘‘There’s no doubt a fit Kieran improves any team, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Warriors, Broncos or Newcastle Knights,’’ Brown said.
‘‘When he’s fit and sound in his mind he’s an outstanding player. For us, Kieran won’t play, but we know Ata Hingano is an outstanding young talent who is wanted by plenty of clubs in the NRL.’’