2 weeks Ago By Max McKinney
TYSON Gamble won't feature in Newcastle's Anzac Day clash with the Warriors, the Knights playmaker ruled out following nose surgery. Login or signup to continue reading Gamble, who only returned from an extended injury lay-off last week, suffered a broken nose in Newcastle's 34-14 loss to Cronulla but was named to play halfback again in the 6.05pm (AEST) match in Christchurch.
Jack Cogger, who has missed the past two games himself due to a finger injury, was promoted from the extended match squad to halfback on Thursday. Whether he starts remains to be seen. The Knights have kept Matt Arthur as their 19 th man.
He came onto the bench in a 20-4 loss to Wests Tigers a fortnight ago, when Phoenix Crossland moved from hooker to halfback. Gamble is only expected to miss a week. Dylan Lucas, however, is set to play his first game since round two.
The back-rower suffered a hamstring injury at training following Newcastle's 26-12 win over the Dolphins - their last victory before a four-game losing streak they carry into this game. "Obviously any injury is frustrating, we love to play footy, so when that's taken away it's pretty frustrating," Lucas told the Newcastle Herald . "But I'm just focused on getting back into that form now, and picking up where I left off.
"A few things haven't been going our way recently. "The boys have been tearing in, so I'm just excited to be back out there this week and to be able to actually give more input to the team." Lucas, 24, had backed up his Prime Minister's XIII and Indigenous All Stars selections by making a strong start to the NRL season, scoring a try and playing back-to-back 80-minute games.
He should help Newcastle pose more of an attacking threat on the left edge. The Knights have spent the past few days in Christchurch. They used the training facility of Super Rugby club the Crusaders and even bumped into a group of Merewether junior rugby union players who are on tour.
The Knights are wearing a specially-designed playing kit for the match , which honours the 35th Battalion, who lost hundreds of largely local men during World War I. The jersey, featuring green and brown colours mirroring those worn to identify many Novocastrians on the battlefield, has proven popular with fans with the club selling hundreds over recent weeks. The Australian War Memorial even took one to place on display .
Lucas, only 30 games into his NRL career, said it would be an honour to play in the jersey and on Anzac Day itself, which is a rarity for Newcastle given since 1993 they have only had two games on the day of remembrance, in 2015 and 2016. "I'm very excited to be playing in this Anzac game, you never know how many you're actually going to get to play in in your career," he said. "It's a special day for my family.
My pop's old boy and eight of his brothers actually went to one of the wars, so it is something he is very passionate about. My dad's side of the family, they've got a bit of a history there, so to go out there and represent my family, it will be good." The Warriors welcome back fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and centre Rocco Berry, but are without pack leader James Fisher-Harris.
Former Knight and Wingham product Mitch Barnett captains the Auckland-based side. Max McKinney is a sports reporter with the Newcastle Herald. He previously worked in news, covering mainly local government and transport.
Max mostly reports on the Newcastle Knights, but also covers a mix of local sport. Max McKinney is a sports reporter with the Newcastle Herald. He previously worked in news, covering mainly local government and transport.
Max mostly reports on the Newcastle Knights, but also covers a mix of local sport. Daily Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update.
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