Matchday Details
Sunday, August 24 – 2:00 pm (AEST) – McDonald Jones Stadium
📺 Broadcast: Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Todd Smith | Bunker: Ashley Klein
Knights
1. Connor Votano 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Jakob Arthur 7. Jack Cogger 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Leo Thompson 11. Jermaine McEwen 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Tyson Frizell 14. Jayden Brailey 15. Mathew Croker 16. Thomas Cant 17. Elijah Salesa Leaumoana
Broncos
1. Reece Walsh 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Deine Mariner 6. Billy Walters 7. Ben Hunt 8. Corey Jensen 9. Cory Paix 10. Payne Haas 11. Jaiyden Hunt 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Ben Talty 17. Jesse Arthurs
Match Preview
The Broncos were up and about after winning the ‘Battle of Brisbane’ over the Dolphins last week. It wasn’t an easy game for the Broncos, as they had to come from behind to win, but players such as Reece Walsh and Billy Walters stood up. Walsh played his best game of the season by far, which is a good time to be firing since it’s a few weeks from the finals.
The only person missing from last week’s team is Jack Gosiewski, who is out with a collarbone injury. Jaiyden Hunt comes into the starting side and Jesse Arthurs is the new player on the bench.
To say the Knights were bad against the Cowboys last week is an understatement. The Novocastrians gained a stat last week that nobody wants: 11 times this year they have gone scoreless in the first half. The 2014 Wests Tigers are another side with that unwanted stat. They made the Cowboys look like a top-eight side. Scott Drinkwater was probably pretty happy with some good plays to put on his highlight reel.
Phoenix Crossland has been named at hooker, making a return from a concussion. Jayden Brailey moves to the bench, with Matt Arthur dropping to the reserves. Brodie Jones is out of the side, and Elijah Salesa Leaumoana is the new face on the bench.
It was a baptism of fire for fullback Connor Votano last week, and it doesn’t get any better this week, taking on a red-hot Broncos side led by Walsh. This game will be a steep learning curve for the young fullback, but he will come out the other side a better player, despite the Knights being in the hole they’re in.
These two teams have the best centre pairings in the game, and it will be interesting to see which pairing gets the upper hand. All four men have played representative football at some stage of their careers. Gehamat Shibasaki has had a great season so far, and he will want to put a stamp on this game. Both teams are missing their first-choice halves, but the pairing of Walters and Ben Hunt will better serve their centres with better ball than the pairing of Jack Cogger and Jakob Arthur.
It will be interesting to see how Michael Maguire will use Arthurs on the bench. Arthurs usually is a back, so if a forward goes down, there will have to be either a reshuffle somewhere, or Arthurs will become a forward for a game. But it may not happen at all.
It will be a big game for Hunt this weekend as he brings up his 350th game. Hunt found himself back at the Broncos after parting ways at the Dragons in a split that was anything but amicable. However, both sides are better off without each other, as you can see the difference in Hunt; he is back enjoying his footy, and Broncos fans are no doubt happy about that.
Usually, home grounds are fortresses for teams. The term ‘home ground advantage’ was given for a reason, and some teams could rack up the wins at home. Unfortunately for the Knights, they have lost nine of their last 10 games at McDonald Jones Stadium, and it will most likely be 10 out of 11 games this weekend.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Broncos by 20.
See our full Round 25 Predictions (live Wednesday 12pm) here: 2025 NRL Tipping: Round 25 Writer Predictions
Have your say: Who wins? Drop your tip in the comments or vote in our poll.
Related Links
- Round 25 Late Mail
- 2025 NRL Round 24 Injury List
