The North Queensland Cowboys and Newcastle Knights have confirmed their 17-man line-ups ahead of their Round 8 Telstra Premiership clash.

Ben Hampton is out for the Cowboys with Ray Thompson joining the bench.

With Trent Hodkinson dropped, Sione Mata'utia moves to halfback for the Knigths, with Luke Yates starting in the second row and Jaelen Feeney joining the bench.

‌North Queensland Cowboys
 
1 Kalyn Ponga
2 Kyle Feldt
3 Justin O'Neill
4 Kane Linnett
5 Antonio Winterstein
6 John Asiata
7 Michael Morgan
8 Patrick Kaufusi
9 Blake Leary
10 Scott Bolton
11 Gavin Cooper (c)
12 Coen Hess
13 Jason Taumalolo
 
Interchange
15 Ethan Lowe
16 Ben Spina
17 Corey Jensen
19 Ray Thompson

Coach: Paul Green

Newcastle Knights
 
1 Brendan Elliot
2 Ken Sio
3 Dane Gagai
4 Peter Mata'utia
5 Nathan Ross
6 Brock Lamb
11 Sione Mata'utia (c)
8 Daniel Saifiti
9 Danny Levi
10 Josh Starling
14 Luke Yates 
12 Sam Stone
13 Mitchell Barnett
 
Interchange
15 Anthony Tupou
16 Jack Stockwell
17 Jacob Saifiti
18 Jaelen Feeney 

Coach: Nathan Brown