Round 18, 2018: Newcastle 18 Parramatta 16

NRL.com

Knights v Eels: Round 18 preview

Both these sides are desperate for a win after enjoying a week off in the bye round, after blowing winnable matches last time out.

Newcastle were outclassed by Canterbury on home soil in arguably their worst performance of 2018, while Parramatta were run down by St George Illawarra in frustrating circumstances last start at WIN Stadium.

Both teams are out of contention for the semi-finals, so expect a points avalanche at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Key match up: Mitchell Pearce v Mitchell Moses. Nathan Brown knew his team was in trouble when his star halfback limped off with a pectoral injury in round seven against the Tigers. Victories have been hard to come by since, but expect the hosts to pumped off with the return of their prized off-season recruit. Moses has endured a tough year, but the playmaker always competes until the final whistle.

For the Knights to win: Give Connor Watson as many touches of the Steeden as possible. After an inconsistent start to his career in the Hunter, the past few weeks the pivot has displayed his class. Also look for Danny Levi to carve up the Eels' middle from dummy half.

For the Eels to win: Their under-fire forward pack must follow the lead of Nathan Brown. The lock never takes a backward step on the field, but he needs some support. Look for Daniel Alvaro to continue his encouraging recent form.

Knights stat attack: Despite sitting in 12th spot on the ladder, Newcastle boast the best set completion rate (80 per cent) in the competition. Winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall has chalked up the most intercepts (3).

Eels stat attack: Given where they sit on the ladder, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Brad Arthur's men have made the most tackles in the league (5638). Prop Daniel Alvaro has been an ironman without the ball in hand, making 640 tackles.

And another thing: Long-term Knights fans don't mind facing the Eels - overall they won seven more head-to-head games than Parramatta stretching back to 1988. One of those victories happens to be the 2001 grand final, where Andrew Johns engineered a second club premiership for the club.

Newcastle Knights v Parramatta Eels, Friday 7.55pm at McDonald Jones Stadium

Head-to-head: Played 50; Knights 28 wins, Eels 21, 1 draw
Previous result: Knights won 30-4 at ANZ Stadium in round 13
Points per game: Knights 17.6; Eels 14.8
Points conceded per game: Knights 26.8; Eels 23.4
Televised: Live on Nine, Fox League

Petero Civoniceva's prediction: Both teams are playing for pride, but I think the return of Mitchell Pearce will be the catalyst behind a Newcastle win at home. The Eels just don't seem to know how to win at the moment, losing has become almost a weekly habit. Tip: Knights by 6

NRL.com

Returning Pearce guides Knights to narrow win over Eels

Newcastle Knights' star halfback Mitchell Pearce has made a successful comeback from injury, helping his team to a 18-16 win over Parramatta Eels and ending a run of six losses at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The former NSW Origin No.7, who was playing his first game since round seven, finished with a try and an assist – as well as some dangerous kicks, which the Knights have been dearly missing over the last nine rounds.

Desperate to avenge the heavy 30-4 round 13 defeat to the Novocastrians, the Eels made a perfect start racing to 10-0 in 10 minutes.

The opening try Siosaia Vave came in just the third minute after the visitors were gifted great field position on the back of two penalties.

The explosive start from Parramatta continued with Jarryd Hayne masterminding their second try. A scintillating 50 metre run out of dummy half was backed up with a pass to Bevan French, who put a kick infield for Mitchell Moses to extend the lead to 10 points.

Then, after 14 minutes, the sight Newcastle fans have been waiting nearly three months to see – Pearce engineering the Knights response.

A perfectly weighted grubber kick, that could not be cleaned up by the Eels, eventually lead to a try to Connor Watson.

Both sides created opportunities with the ball throughout the first half, but handling errors let the Eels down - Parramatta's set completion down to just 58 per cent.

It proved costly, as a dropped ball from Peni Terepo gave the Knights an opportunity to attack from inside the 20 metre zone, and an offload from Nick Meaney to Shaun Kenny-Dowall levelled the scores [10-10] just before half time.

In a frantic finish to the opening 40, there was a nervous moment for Newcastle as Bevan French nearly chased down a long range Mitchell Moses kick, coming up centimetres short of grounding the ball cleanly.

In the 80th minute it was French again trying to ground a Corey Norman grubber kick near the corner post.

Pearce appeared to cop a heavy knock while making a tackle early in the second half, but after a few moments with the trainer to catch his breath, he played on unaffected.

The star halfback scored the home side's only try of the second half when he took advantage of a huge midfield gap by running onto a Chris Heighington pass at speed to score under the posts.

But anything Pearce did, Hayne was doing just as well. A zig-zag run down the eastern touchline, put a flying Norman into space. The five-eighth sprinted 55 metres to get the score to 16-16.

In a see-sawing match, a penalty for Nathan Brown stripping the ball, allowed Ken Sio to kick the goal to put the Knights back in front.

Connor Watson threatened to put Newcastle further ahead, when he streaked into open space, only to be chased down by Moses.

Herman Ese'ese let the Eels off the hook a few plays later giving away a penalty for not playing the ball properly. He was facing the Andrew Johns grandstand on the eastern side.

Sione Mata'utia missed the final nine minutes of the game, after he was forced off with a HIA when he copped a knock to the head from Moses.

News & Notes:Corey Norman played his 100th game for Parramatta (that's on top of the 63 he enjoyed with the Broncos)... Cameron King had his right knee strapped twice during the second half but remained on the field... the Knights have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Eels.