The Raiders will have taken plenty of heart from their fightback against the Warriors and return to familiar surroundings in Canberra to confront a confident Knights side riding a three-game winning streak.
Newcastle's impressive victory over the Storm moved them to within one point of the top eight, filling the Knights faithful with hope that a return to the finals is a very real possibility.
With Kalyn Ponga in supreme form and their forwards rumbling through the middle of the ruck, Newcastle have piled on 126 points in the past three games to take their points differential into positive territory at +42.
The Raiders sit inside the top four despite their golden point loss to the Warriors but their -55 differential needs a major boost in the run home, with games against Wests Tigers and Bulldogs providing an opportunity to rack up a big score.
When the sides clashed in Newcastle in Round 4 it was the Knights saluting 24-14 to square the ledger at 21 wins apiece in the NRL era.
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Team news
Raiders: The Green Machine will take the field as named mid-week, with no changes from the side who came close to producing a miraculous comeback against the Warriors in Round 21. Matthew Frawley is the replacement player.
Knights: Daniel Saifiti will miss the game due to a thigh strain and is replaced in the front row by brother Jacob in the only change to the side that beat the Storm. Brodie Jones joins the bench. Adam Elliott was charged with a careless high tackle but received a fine and will take his place against his former club. There were no late changes an hour from kick-off.
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Stat Attack
- Knights halfback Jackson Hastings has come up with five try assists in 2023 while Canberra No.7 Jamal Fogarty has come up with 11.
- The Knights have scored 75 tries this season, the Raiders 59.
- The Raiders have conceded 100 points in their past three games at GIO Stadium.
- The Knights have won only one of their past six games at GIO Stadium.
- Raiders second-rower Hudson Young has scored a try in four consecutive games against the Knights.
- Dominic Young requires two tries to equal the Knights’ record for most tries in a season, which stands at 21.
- Raiders forward Elliott Whitehead has the chance to claim his 100th victory in the NRL.
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Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the