Hands up who thought the Wests Tigers or Newcastle Knights would be sitting in equal first place on the NRL ladder at the end of six rounds.
Anyone? Anyone?
That is the remarkable scenario that awaits the winner of Sunday’s clash at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
The Tigers and Knights are far more used to scrapping for the wooden spoon, having collected seven between them in the past 11 years. Their clash in round one last year at the same south-western Sydney venue was so bad that the only winner was the AFL.
To illustrate how much these two clubs have struggled over the years, you have to go back almost two decades to find the time they last met when both teams were in finals contention. Going into that fixture, in mid-2007, the Tigers were fifth and the Knights sixth.
It is a breath of fresh air to finally be talking about a couple of clubs outside the usual premiership suspects.
Only time will tell if both teams run out of steam (or coal, in Newcastle’s case) but, right now, coaches Benji Marshall and Justin Holbrook have instilled belief and resilience into their respective squads.
Marshall could easily have been talking about his Tigers when asked about the clash with the Knights this week.
“Given they’ve lost two of their marquee players, they’re fighting for each other,” Marshall said of Newcastle.
The coach was referring to glamour pair Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown, but the Tigers have prospered without key duo Jarome Luai and Taylan May, both of whom are out injured.
“They have a team that is showing a lot of resilience themselves. Their coach is doing a great job putting confidence into his players. They have guys competing on every play. That’s a dangerous combination.”
The similarities between the sides do not end there. Opposing fullbacks Jahream Bula and Fletcher Hunt are young and blessed with speed, silky skills and excellent awareness.
Halves Jock Madden and Sandon Smith both have cool heads and good kicking games, and are clearly enjoying the chance to call the shots while their more established playmaker teammates are recovering.
Wingers Tino Tavana and Dominic Young are worth the price of admission alone, just to see what they can do under the high ball on their respective right wings.
Locks Alex Twal and Mat Croker are crowd favourites who have big engines and are causing havoc with offloads and footwork.
One player especially looking forward to the weekend is Kai Pearce-Paul, the towering English back-rower who spent two seasons in the Hunter before swallowing Marshall’s Kool-Aid and switching clubs.
“Belief” is a word Pearce-Paul continually uses when asked about his start to the season in Tiger Town, which has now featured 10 offloads in four games. He had 16 offloads in 22 games for the Knights last year.
“It will be a good game – it will be a weird one for me, and it will be the first time I play against an old club,” Pearce-Paul said. “I’ll be keen to get out there and play against some old mates.
“They’re a great team, they’ve found some really good form, and they’ve had a lot of changes with their style of play.
“When we played well, we played really well. But I feel like under Benji, I’ve been able to express myself more, and use my personal tools with things like the offloads.
“I feel like being in this system suits me better. One of the major moving points when I had a few conversations with Benji, it was what he wanted out of me for the team, and what he wanted me to do on the field.
“He told me exactly where he sees me, and said, ‘If you want to be a part of that, this is where I see the team going, and if you want to fit into the puzzle here, and play how you want to play, this is what I can offer you’.
“I was sold pretty quickly after speaking to Benji. It was something I wanted to be a part of.”
When you ask Marshall what has impressed him most about Pearce-Paul, he replies: “His defence. I know what he brings in attack, but what he’s done for our right edge defensively, it’s more important to me than what he is doing with the ball.
“Whatever he said about being sold on the dream to come here to play is what I tell everyone. You find a way to fit their strengths into the game plan. One of Kai’s is his offloading. It’s also a confidence thing – you need to give him the confidence to play his style of footy.
“We practiced a lot in the pre-season, and we know whenever he’s got the ball, play is never dead until it’s dead.”
Holbrook has hit the ground running in his first season in Newcastle and was impressed by how quickly the players had adjusted to the new attacking and defensive structures.
He described the Tigers as “a young athletic side full of confidence”, while Pearce-Paul, who had signed with the Tigers before Holbrook finalised a coaching deal with Newcastle, was naturally a player to look out for.
“He [Pearce-Paul] has started really well for them; he’s getting a lot of offloads and creating a lot of their attack for them,” Holbrook said. “He probably needed a fresh start down there.
“Sometimes you need to find the right club or the right fit for you, and it seems for him, it’s the Tigers. I’m really happy with Jermaine McEwen who has slotted in there for us, and doing an outstanding job.
“Jermaine is very raw and young, worked extremely hard on the details of the game in the pre-season, and he’s now reaping the rewards.”
The Knights are reaping the rewards. So are the Tigers. Equal first place this time in four months’ time, anyone?
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