Knights v Bulldogs preview

Newcastle Knights v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Hunter Stadium - Saturday 5:30pm

All the emotion of Old Boys Day, but against a formidable opponent...

This is perhaps one of the more interesting clashes involving a team outside finals contention in recent memory - while Canterbury are heavily favoured to win, there's plenty of reasons to put a sneaky few dollars on the home side for this important game.

For the Knights it's all about the annual Old Boys Day and sending their skipper Kurt Gidley out a winner in his final home game - incidentally also his 250th in first grade. There will be plenty of emotion both in the stands and out in the middle for the boys in red and blue, and there's every chance that will be enough to counter a rampaging Bulldogs side.

Yep - you read correctly - a rampaging Bulldogs side. After a patchy season, the 'Dogs have now strung together four wins from their last six outings - and those losses were close-run against top four sides the Roosters and Cronulla. In the past few weeks they've done away with Brisbane and the Rabbitohs alongside a comfortable win over cellar-dwellers the Gold Coast. Des Hasler has the blue-and-whites firing at the right time of year (as always), and it will be on him to ensure his charges aren't over-awed by the occasion and celebration in the Novocastrian city.

Last meeting: Round 8 2014 - Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16 Newcastle Knights 12

Who to watch: It would be remiss of us not to focus on Kurt Gidley in his final game at Hunter Stadium, but to be fair, he was among Newcastle's best in last Monday's shock upset win over the Melbourne Storm. Newcastle now have back to back wins for the first time since the start of the season and are looking set to avoid the wooden spoon and plenty of that owes to Gidley finally sticking to the #6 jersey, where he is far more valuable to the side. His combination with Tyrone Roberts will be sorely missed next year after both head for more northerly climes.

Speaking of Newcastle halves, Trent Hodkinson will be gaining plenty of attention from the home crowd - Canterbury's current number seven is bound for Hunter in 2016 and the Knights faithful will be watching closely to ensure they're in good hands once Gidley and Roberts move on. More importantly though, the Belmore faithful will be watching to ensure his mind and focus are on the immediate future - if results fall in the Bulldogs favour and Hodkinson helps guide the side to a fourth straight win, last year's Grand Finalists may find themselves in the top four with a week to go in the competition.

The favourite: Despite the home crowd advantage, Canterbury are heavily backed in this one.

My tip: As romantic as the idea of the Knights sending out Gidley out a winner is, one feels that Hasler won't let the 'Dogs get complacent this close to the finals. A big Newcastle crowd set to go home disappointed this evening. Bulldogs by 20.

1. Jake Mamo 2. Nathan Ross 3. Sione Mata'utia 4. Dane Gagai 5. Akuila Uate 6. Kurt Gidley 7. Tyrone Roberts 8. Kade Snowden 9. Adam Clydsdale 10. Korbin Sims 11. Beau Scott 12. Tariq Sims 13. Jeremy Smith
Interchange: 14. Tyler Randell 15. Joseph Tapine 16. Chris Houston 17. Clint Newton

1. Brett Morris 2. Curtis Rona 3. Josh Morris 4. Timoteo Lafai 5. Sam Perrett 6. Moses Mbye 7. Trent Hodkinson 8. Sam Kasiano 9. Damien Cook 10. James Graham 11. Josh Jackson 12. Frank Pritchard 13. Greg Eastwood
Interchange: 14. Lloyd Perrett 15. Shaun Lane 16. David Klemmer 17. Tim Browne 19. Danny Fualalo

Referees: Adam Devcich, Chris James; Sideline Officials: David Ryan, Jon Stone; Video Referees: Steve Clark, Daniel Irvine;

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