Saturday slate: Knights lead grinding contest over Bulldogs

Half-time: The Knights shut out the Bulldogs in the first to take a 16-0 lead into sheds, despite being reduced to 12 men after an early Dylan Lucas sin bin. The visitors were dogged in defence, holding up the Bulldogs over the try line twice and keeping them out on last tackle on multiple occasions. While the home side struggled to make their opportunities count, the Knights built pressure smartly before Harrison Graham entered the game with fresh legs to play havoc with the Bulldogs defence, sparking two late tries.

40th minute: Dylan Lucas extends the lead for the Knights on the stroke of half-time, dragging Lachlan Galvin - who made the error to gift the Knights field position - over the try line after some superb footwork from Fletcher Sharpe to make the space for his backrower. Sandon Smith converts. Knights 16-0.

37th minute: Phoenix Crossland leaves the field for HIA after being caught in a collision in an aerial contest between Jacob Preston and Fletcher Hunt.

35th minute: Harrison Graham makes his mark off the interchange, putting Tyson Frizell over under the posts just moments after the Knights rake made a 50m line break from dummy half. Sandon Smith converts. Knights 10-0.

31st minute: The Bulldogs and Knights go set-for-set forcing each other to work it off their try lines.

25th minute: Pasami Saulo hits back, crunching Josh Curran with a strong tackle with the Bulldogs in sight of the line. After a short delay, Curran is back to his feet, but leaves the field soon after with a rib injury.

23rd minute: The Bulldogs withstand an extended period defending their own line, with Pasami Saulo spilling the ball for the Knights.

19th minute: The Knights earn a glut of possession on attack, with Sandon Smith forcing two line drop-outs to keep the pressure on. Dylan Lucas returns to the field.

13th minute: The desperate Knights defence does it again, holding up Marcelo Montoya over the try line after yet another Bulldogs attacking raid.

10th minute: Viliame Kikau comes within centimetres of scoring on last tackle but the Knights defence is strong enough to hold him out. 

9th minute: Dylan Lucas is sent to the sin bin after obstructing Connor Tracey as the Bulldogs fullback attempted to take a 20m restart.

8th minute: Try time! The Knights throw the ball wide in their own half and Dominic Young races away down the sideline, outrunning Connor Tracey to score the first four-pointer of the game. Sandon Smith hits the upright with the conversion attempt. Knights 4-0.

6th minute: Max King comes close to scoring a play after Fletcher Hunt spilled a trademark Matt Burton spiral bomb,but loses possession over the try line. 

3rd minute: Lachlan Galvin forces a drop-out on the back of a Connor Tracey line break on a kick return, but the Knights recover the restart.

Kick-off: We're underway at Accor Stadium, with the Bulldogs looking for their fourth straight victory against the visiting Knights.

Late Mail

Bulldogs: A late change for Cameron Ciraldo with Lipoi Hopoi starting at prop and Sitili Tupouniua reverting to the bench. Sam Hughes will miss the match after picking up a suspension playing NSW Cup last weekend. Jake Turpin (concussion) and Harry Hayes (delayed concussion symptoms) have also been ruled out as the Bulldogs look to continue their unbeaten start to the year. Logan Spinks and Bronson Xerri were omitted from the squad 24 hours before kick-off. Captain Stephen Crichton has won seven from seven against the Knights.

Knights: Pasami Saulo moves into the starting side 90 minutes before kick-off with Tyson Frizell going to the bench. Justin Holbrook confirmed on Friday that five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe would make his comeback from a knee injury suffered in Las Vegas. Trey Mooney misses the game through suspension. Bench forward Cody Hopwood plays his second NRL game while Wilson de Courcey is in the frame for an NRL debut as part of the six-man bench.

Numbers Game

• The Bulldogs have won their last three games against the Knights.
• Knights halfback Sandon Smith will make his 50th NRL appearance.
• Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has won seven from seven against the Knights.
• Knights centre Bradman Best has scored seven tries in his last six games against the Bulldogs.
• Bulldogs second-rower Jacob Preston has scored six tries in his last six games.

Panthers v Eels at CommBank Stadium

Numbers Game

• The Panthers have won their last four games against the Eels.
• The Eels have won their last four games at CommBank Stadium.
• The Panthers are aiming for a 4-0 start for the third time since 2021.
• Eels winger Josh Addo-Carr has scored nine tries in his last five games at CommBank Stadium.
• Panthers winger Brian To’o has scored 10 tries in his last 10 games against the Eels.

Cowboys v Storm at Queensland Country Bank Stadium

Numbers Game

• The Cowboys have won three of their last four games against the Storm in Townsville.
• Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes has won seven from eight against the Cowboys.
• Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater has scored five tries in his last six games at QCB Stadium.
• Storm fullback Sua Faalogo has scored nine tries in his last six NRL games.
• Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi has scored five tries in five games against the Storm.