Newcastle Knights

With the Knights’ casualty ward at capacity, the last thing they needed was to lose a key player through suspension. Lachlan Fitzgibbon last night challenged his crusher tackle charge at the judiciary and lost – doubling his time on the sideline.

The NSW Blues are wary of Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga, with the squad mindful of the attacking threats the new Maroon poses. The network’s Danika Mason is in the Blues camp.

Billy Slater is tipped to start at fullback for Queensland, while Kalyn Ponga is likely to make his debut off the bench. His club coach, in no doubt he’s ready for Origin.

Nathan Brown has opened up about his revolutionary deal at the Knights – a contract with no finish date. Instead, it’s entirely performance-based, but the coach – who’s just completed a painstaking rebuild – says he knows exactly where he stands.

Newcastle has just extended coach Nathan Brown’s tenure – and in what’s believed to be an NRL first, it’s an open-ended timeframe… with the deal based entirely on performance. The Knights have picked up two wooden spoons under Brown’s watch… but the club has rewarded him for overseeing an extensive rebuild, and planning for the future. The indefinite contract has been the subject of negotiations for months… and could see Brown become Newcastle’s longest-serving coach. (VISION ONLY)

While they took plenty of heart out of pushing the Roosters last weekend, Knights skipper Aidan Guerra says only a win should satisfy them. That task won’t be any easier this week, up against the Storm on Sunday afternoon.

Some much-needed good news from the Knights casualty ward, with Jamie Buhrer cleared of rupturing his ACL. He underwent surgery last night and is expected to be back in six to eight weeks. And there’s a boost for Kalyn Ponga, with Maroons coach Kevin Walters giving his strongest indication yet he’ll feature in Origin Two.

Around 20,000 tickets have already been sold for tomorrow’s Knights-Roosters clash, on what is the Voice for Mining Family Day. It’s a big occasion, and the hosts will have to dig deep with Daniel Saifiti ruled out with injury.

He’s a passionate Blues fan, but Knights coach Nathan Brown is hoping the Roosters’ Origin stars don’t bring their winning form back to the NRL. The sides go head-to-head on Saturday afternoon in Newcastle’s Voice For Mining round.

Newcastle will host a Roosters outfit on Saturday night likely to have plenty of bumps and bruises from Origin One. Not that the Knights are counting on it – they know the key to winning is repeating their approach against the Eels.