NRL Round 16 Preview - Knights v Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium

Newcastle Knights v Canterbury Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium
 
Preview - The Knights will be looking to keep their fading finals’ hopes alive when they host a reeling Bulldogs outfit at McDonald Jones Stadium. The Knights were competitive for periods again the Storm, but ultimately went down 28-10 to slump to their 6th loss from 8 games without Mitchell Pearce. The Bulldogs were pitiful against the Titans as their season from hell reached a new low, losing 32-10 at Belmore, as the wooden spoon looms large over a Club in need of a massive rebuild. 
 
Newcastle Knights’ Scouting Report - Nathan Brown has made just the one change, with Sam Stone to start in the back row for the suspended Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Jacob Lillian recalled from reserve grade on the bench.
 
Canterbury Bulldogs’ Scouting Report - The Bulldogs have a host of changes with Will Hopoate moving to fullback for the departed Moses Mbye. Kerrod Holland starts in the centres, with Lachlan Lewis named to make his debut at five-eighth with Matt Frawley dropped to the reserves and Jeremy Marshall-King shifted to halfback. Rhyse Martin is back in place of Raymond Faitala-Mariner who is injured. Marcelo Montoya shifts to centre, and Brett Morris returns on the wing. David Klemmer starts at prop for the departed Aaron Woods. 
 
Verdict - Knights by 1-12

I think the Knights can win this game at home, as I can’t see any positives around the Bulldogs at the moment. You would expect them to be better after being slammed by Dean Pay for their last performance, however having just lost Moses Mbye they just don’t have any quality in attacking areas. The Bulldogs would kill for a player of Kayln Ponga’s quality, and I expect him to be the difference maker in this game, with the Knights winning by 6-8 points as they try and stay alive until getting Mitchell Pearce back in a week or two.