Squad breakdown: Newcastle Knights 2024 Supercoach analysis

The Newcastle Knights will be out to maintain their hot run of form that saw them make a ruthless charge towards finals footy late last season.



With a blistering attacking brand of rugby league, the Knights were the entertainers of the competition which translated well to Supercoach scoring.



With a largely similar roster to last season, there’s no reason why they can’t do the same again to begin 2024.



They have a decent draw to start the season, including four home games in the opening six rounds at their Hunter fortress.



Let’s take a look at the Knights Supercoach prospects to start the season.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Newcastle Knights predicted team</h2>



1. Kalyn Ponga 2.&nbsp;Greg Marzhew 3.&nbsp;Bradman Best 4.&nbsp;Dane Gagai 5.&nbsp;Enari Tuala 6.&nbsp;Tyson Gamble 7.&nbsp;Jackson Hastings 8.&nbsp;Daniel Saifiti 9.&nbsp;Jayden Brailey 10. Jacob Saifiti 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Dylan Lucas 13.&nbsp;Adam Elliott



14. Phoenix Crossland 15.&nbsp;Leo Thompson 16.&nbsp;Kai Pearce-Paul 17. Jack Hetherington



Unavailable:



Analysis



There’s a few positions still to be sorted before the season opener.



Enari Tuala is a strong chance to replace Dom Young on the wing, while Penrith recruit Tom Jenkins will also compete for the spot.



Jackson Hastings will start at halfback, likely alongside Tyson Gamble, however Penrith recruit Jack Cogger will heap pressure on the pair throughout the pre-season.



Dylan Lucas is likely to start on the edge in place of the departed Lachlan Fitzgibbon.



He’ll be under pressure from English recruit Kai Pearce-Paul who is in doubt for round 1 with a toe injury, while Jed Cartwright will also come into contention.



Tyson Frizell is tipped to shift to the left edge this season.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Draw</h2>



Raiders (H), Cowboys (A), Storm (H), Warriors (A), Dragons (H), Roosters (H), Bulldogs (A)



First five rounds rating: 6.5/10



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Guns</h2>



Kalyn Ponga ($892,800, FLB)



Despite the huge price tag based on an 87 point average last season, there’s an argument to suggest Kalyn Ponga could be undervalued to start the season.



The nice draw to begin helps, he gets a full season at his preferred fullback position after the failed five-eighth experiment and he’ll be goal-kicking fulltime.



At fullback last season he averaged 105 points, which would suggest he’s undervalued.



His lowest score at fullback last season was 47 against the Panthers in Penrith, after that it was a 77 point effort.



In his last 8 games in the No.1 jumper last season he averaged 119 points.



Of course there’s every chance he starts under his average and drops cash, but he’s also capable of exploding out of the blocks and becoming almost unattainable at over $1m if he does fire from game one.



KP is currently in 35% of teams at the time of writing.



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Greg Marzhew ($789,200, CTW)



For years Supercoaches crossed their fingers in the hope Greg Marzhew could lock down a permanent NRL spot and turn into a Supercoach gun.



In 2023, that came to fruition as the bustling winger played 20 games for a 77 point average.



Incredibly, he scored in all but six games, and had two hat-tricks in the season.



Playing on that left edge outside Kalyn Ponga is a gold mine, even more so when you have a finisher of Marzhew’s calibre.



He had a whopping 150 tackle busts last season.



All that being said, at a huge price to start the season I struggle to justify getting him in.



Anything below that 77 point average will see a price drop and hopefully we can pick him up at a discount.



Defences are always tight early on in the season, attacks are always a little clunky, so I’m happy to risk him early.



At 4.4% ownership at the time of writing there’s a huge super POD opportunity, but not for me.



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Dane Gagai ($739,200, CTW)



Gagai was outstanding last season averaging 72 points with just three tries to his name which is incredible.



On that, you’d near guarantee there’s more tries to come this season meaning there could be some value, but the issue is that he’s on the less favoured right edge for the Knights.



With Dom Young gone, it may see even less attacking ball.



Gagai based 40 last season which is about as good as it gets for a CTW, but he isn’t a spring chicken as he turns 34 this season.



Not for me, but you could make a case.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mid-rangers</h2>



Dylan Lucas ($502,300, 2RF-CTW)



Dylan Lucas really interests me if he can nab the vacant edge back-row spot left by Lachlan Fitzgibbon.



He’ll be even more attractive if he plays on that left edge where Ponga struck up such a lethal combination with Fitzgibbon.



There is a bit of word that Tyson Frizell might shift to the left edge, which would actually make him somewhat intriguing.



A major concern is English recruit Kai Pearce-Paul who will fight for minutes and the starting role.



Should Lucas land an 80 minute role he’s very appealing.



He averaged 70.25 in his four 80 minute games last season, with an outstanding 56 in base.



It is worth noting he did have a score of 31 in 74 minutes in his first extended run of the season.



With dual positioning, at just $502k, he presents a strong case.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cheapies</h2>



Jayden Brailey (HOK, $330,000)



Brailey starts the season dirt cheap having missed the majority of 2023 due to an ACL injury.



He looks a great pick-up, but the reality is he has played just 13 games in two seasons, and 37 in the past four seasons.



My expectation is that he’ll have around a 50/30 split of minutes with Phoenix Crossland in the hooking rotation to start the season.



More than likely he’ll build on that to become a 65-80 minute hooker down the track.



He averaged 52PPG in three games last year at 80 minutes.



He averaged 57.75 in eight games after missing the first three quarters of 2022, which elevated to 70PPG in the final five games once back to full match fitness.



He averaged 59 points per game back in 2021.



I’m a bit uncertain on whether or not I want to start with him, but I feel as though he’ll be a really slow burn and not great to play in 17s when required.



Big pre-season watch.



Kai Pearce-Paul (2RF, $345,000)



Pearce-Paul is returning from injury and is likely to be eased into the NRL off the bench.



If he does get time in the pre-season trials which is possible, then jags a starting spot, he’ll be a strong consideration to start.



We’ll discuss him more later in the pre-season if we get eyes on him during the trials.



Jed Cartwright (2RF-CTW, $238,900)



Not likely to be relevant, but Jed Cartwright is worth mentioning on the off-chance he lands the starting edge role which would make him very relevant at the price.

Squad breakdown: Newcastle Knights 2024 Supercoach analysis

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