Lowrie's men aim for two-from-two against Dogs
Wed 11 Jul 2018, 02:58 PM
Last time they met it was a close encounter, only two points in it!
The Newcastle Knights Jersey Flegg side are confident another win is on the cards Friday evening against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at McDonald Jones Stadium.
This time coach Todd Lowrie hopes it won't be such a nail biter.
"We scored in the last play of the day actually against the Bulldogs, so hopefully that doesn't happen again," Lowrie laughed.
While the Dogs are sitting seventh on the ladder, Lowrie admits he's weary of their opponent.
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"The one thing the Bulldogs showed us and have shown us throughout the year is that are a good footy team. They've got the best defence in the competition although they're only sitting mid table," Lowrie added.
"They're the biggest team that we have played all year and they probably run the hardest too.
"I'm not sure why they don't score as many points as other teams, they may just lack a bit of polish on the end of things, but our attack is certainly going to have to be on."
With a bye for the Knights ISP side this week, a bunch of Lowrie's men will return to the side.
Tex Hoy impressed defensively in his last two matches for ISP, while handy kicker Kurtis Dark and forwards Tevita Alifa and Pasami Saulo also head back to the 20s this week.
"A fair few of them got their opportunity in ISP so we certainly welcome them back with open arms and they've all been a big part of our squad throughout the year, Pasami is probably the only one who has played a majority in ISP," Lowrie said.
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"It's always a good experience for these guys who get an opportunity to go up and you hope they have a go and come back better players.
"It's certainly what I'm looking for, to come back with a bit more experience; but in saying that, the guys that have come in and done a job, have been fantastic for us this year."
Sitting comfortably at the top of the point scoring tally for the 20s competition, Dark has proven he's reliable with the boot.
He slots into the backrow in place of Ben Talty who has been moved to the bench.
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Lowrie admits his number 11 has had an outstanding year.
"Darkey has been outstanding this year, he's far above everybody," commented Lowrie.
"He's not a prolific try scorer so that shows how good his goal kicking has been and he certainly helps our team when we know our four points are going to get turned to six.
"It certainly helps you win footy games that's for sure."
The ones to beat at the top of the table, the Knights have played out an almost perfect season thus far.
But, with a target on their backs, Lowrie has been continuing to push his men to tighten up their skills defensively.
"Defence has certainly been our focus over the last four to six weeks because we've always been able to score the points, but it's been the defence side of things we have needed to work on," Lowrie said.
"Particularly coming in to the back end of the year, defence is something you really need to make sure is switched on.
"Whilst we always do a lot of work on our defence, I think with blokes coming in and out of the team like there are at the moment, particularly around our halves and in the middle, we have been a little bit more dis-jointed so there's been a little bit more talk about attack this week."
1. Matt Cooper, 2. Justin Worley, 3. Heath Gibbs, 4. Mitch Andrews, 5. Elijah Rasiga, 6. Hayden Loughrey, 7. Tex Hoy, 8. Jirah Momoisea, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Pasami Saulo, 11. Kurtis Dark, 12. Brandon Russell, 13. Mat Croker. Interchange. 14. Luke Huth, 15. Henry Fuimaono, 16. Tevita Alifa, 17. Ben Talty.
Newcastle Knights v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Date: Friday, July 13
Kick-off: 5.45pm
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium