AS former Knights hitman Joel Edwards prepares for his return to Hunter Stadium with the Canberra Raiders tomorrow, one of his old teammates knows how he feels.
In just his fourth appearance for the "Green Machine", Edwards has been named to start in the second row against the home-town club he left at the end of last season to sign a three-year deal with the Raiders.
The Cessnock-born 24-year-old, who played 45 NRL games for the Knights between 2010 and 2012 and won the club's Old Boys "Gladiator" award in 2011, put a media ban on himself this week to sidestep the issue of his first game back in Newcastle wearing enemy colours.
Knights centre Timana Tahu can empathise with Edwards, having endured the same experience with Parramatta in 2006 and 2010.
Tahu was on the losing side in both games, and in 2010 he lost his cool and subsequently served a four-game suspension for a high tackle on Ben Cross. That came after he hit now teammate James McManus in the head with a swinging arm just a few minutes earlier and started an all-in brawl.
The 32-year-old dual international, named on the bench to return tomorrow from a pre-season ankle injury, is in the second season of his second stint with the Knights after leaving at the end of 2004 to join Parramatta and, eventually, rugby union's Waratahs and Wallabies.
"There's a a few emotions when you come home, because this is the place you grew up playing and you followed the Knights all your life," Tahu said.
"It will probably be hard for him but it's something the people at Canberra will be telling him not to get too emotional about it.
"I think a lot of players, it doesn't matter if it's your first time or your 10th time, you'll always find it hard to come back to Newcastle because of how special the place is.
"We're just going to see how he performs, you know - if he's going to perform on emotion or stick to the game plan - so that's something that hopefully Canberra have talked about with him."
Knights coach Wayne Bennett will check the condition of captain Kurt Gidley and prop Willie Mason at training today before settling on his squad.
Gidley and Mason were not named to play tomorrow after missing the team's 34-6 victory over North Queensland on Monday night due to strained calf muscles.
If Gidley is not a late addition to share the dummy-half duties with Danny Buderus, second-rower Chris Houston will captain the Knights in his 100th game for the club.
Knights high-performance manager Jeremy Hickmans said back-rower Beau Scott was still being assessed after stirring up a chronic groin injury against the Cowboys.
He was in Sydney on Thursday seeking further medical opinion to help him decide whether to rest or have surgery because an operation could rule him out for up to eight weeks.
As they try to stop their dramatic form fluctuations of the first three rounds, Tahu said the Knights were expecting the unexpected from the Raiders tomorrow.
Canberra won the corresponding game 32-16 on June 9 last year, then the Knights returned the favour with a 36-6 victory in the national capital on July 29.
The Raiders rebounded from that loss to win six straight games, not losing again until Souths beat them 38-16 in week two of the finals.
Tahu said the Knights had to hold Canberra's big pack and contain fullback Reece Robinson, who has been handed the Raiders' No. 1 jersey after the club sacked troubled former NSW custodian Josh Dugan two weeks ago.
"When they turn up, they're a hard team to beat, so I really don't know what's going to come on Sunday," he said.
"It's a big advantage being at home, and we have had two massive wins.
"But at the moment we're on a roller-coaster ride and we want to be a consistent team, not a team that wins one week then gets flogged the following week."
The Raiders hope to welcome back second-rower Joel Thompson from a shoulder injury.
Source:
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1398076/raider-set-for-tough-homecoming/?cs=12
Topic: Raider set for tough homecoming
