Knights coach Adam O’Brien insists his team won’t be blindsided at Campbelltown on Friday night, despite having had no chance to put the Wests Tigers’ new halves pairing of Jarome Luai and Lachlan Galvin under the microscope.
Luai has been the most high-profile transfer of the NRL off-season after leaving Penrith, the team he helped win four consecutive grand finals, to join the incumbent three-time wooden spooners.
The NSW Origin playmaker is set to form a potentially electrifying partnership with 19-year-old five-eighth Lachlan Galvin, who was one of the brightest prospects to emerge in the NRL last year.
Luai, however, did not participate in the Tigers’ pre-season trials, leaving O’Brien and Newcastle’s coaching staff to ad-lib this week when it came to video analysis of how the Tigers are likely to operate on Friday.
“We’ve seen enough of Jarome over the years,” O’Brien said. “We know what’s coming there. We know what sort of player he is.
“We’ve actually prepared. We’ve looked at some Penrith stuff from him as well, just to get the guys dialled in, so we’ll be prepared.”
Jarome Luai makes his much-anticipated debut for Wests Tigers on Friday night.
Credit: Steven Siewert
Luai has been a left-sided specialist in his career to date, while Galvin played predominantly on the left edge during his debut NRL campaign.
That leaves O’Brien relying on educated guesswork when it comes to predicting the Tigers’ possible formation, and whether their halves will share the playmaking duties, or whether Luai will assume a more dominant role, playing on the ball.
“It’s hard to tell … we haven’t got the trial vision to show the players those two [Luai and Galvin],” O’Brien said. “Yeah, that’s impossible to do.
“But we’ve played Jarome a lot and we’ve played Lachie Galvin a fair bit, so we understand the way that they’re going to play.
Wests Tigers five-eighth Lachlan Galvin.Credit: Getty Images
“The thing that we noticed from the trials is they were conservative coming out of their own end. They made sure they got to their kick and they’ve got some players there that can kick a 40-20. So we’re prepared for all the stuff that we’ve seen in the past.”
While O’Brien is unsure how the Luai-Galvin show will function, he has no doubt that his own new-look halves pairing – journeyman Jack Cogger and young tyro Fletcher Sharpe – will give as good as they get.
Cogger, who replaced Luai when he was injured in the 2023 grand final, will play halfback after sealing his spot with an impressive display in Newcastle’s 48-10 trouncing of the Roosters in their last trial.
Injuries to Tyson Gamble (back) and Jackson Hastings (leg) left Cogger as the only realistic option to steer Newcastle around the field.
Alongside him will be Cessnock-born Sharpe, who scored 11 tries in his first 12 NRL games last season – including four in one game, and a hat-trick a few weeks later – playing as fullback and a makeshift winger.
The 20-year-old spent his formative years in the halves, and a training session before Christmas, when he was wired for sound, convinced O’Brien he was capable of making the transition to five-eighth.
“When we miked him up at training, I knew then … he understands the game and articulates it really well,” O’Brien explained. “That was evident when I listened to that training session.”
Sharpe’s two tries in the hit-out against the Roosters suggested O’Brien’s hunch bet was on the money.
Jack Cogger will start the season at halfback for the Knights.Credit: NRL Images
Perhaps even more impressively, the 86-kilogram stringbean was successful with 29 of the 30 tackles he attempted in the trials, reaffirming O’Brien’s faith that he won’t be a defensive liability.
“You can’t question his toughness,” O’Brien said. “He puts his body on the line and in front for us. So, yeah, I’ve had no question marks about his ability to knock a bloke over.”
Galvin created a huge impression in his debut NRL season, prompting Phil Gould to declare he “might be the best teenage player I’ve ever seen”.
O’Brien holds a similarly high opinion of Sharpe, whom he describes as “an exceptional talent”, evoking memories of a young Cameron Munster.
“He’s similar to Munster when he came to Melbourne,” O’Brien said. “He was good at cricket, good at footy, and in between that, they can swing a golf club. He’s the same.”
Cogger is hoping to nail down the Newcastle No.7 jersey he first wore in a 62-0 hammering by Cronulla in 2016.
Since that inauspicious debut, Cogger spent time at Canterbury, Huddersfield and Penrith, before returning to the Knights last year.
Now 27, he will be hoping O’Brien is more inclined to pick and stick than he was last season, when Newcastle used five different players in the halves.
Asked if he was hoping for a chance to settle in the team, Cogger replied: “I think everyone would, but at the same time you’ve got to perform, and results normally determine that.
“But as players we can control that a little bit by our performances. If we can perform and string some back-to-back games together, I think that’s only going to help us.”
Given the expectation as the Tigers prepare to unleash Luai and fellow recruits Sunia Turuva, Terrell May, Royce Hunt and Jack Bird for the first time, the Knights are content to fly under the radar as they chase a seventh successive win against the joint-venture outfit.
“We have a game model that we believe can compete against the best teams,” Cogger said.“We’re happy with our game model. We take a lot of pride in our defence.”
Meanwhile, O’Brien said Hastings, who has been in hospital this week to treat an infection in his leg, remains a top-grade option. The 29-year-old hasn’t featured in Newcastle’s NRL side since round 20 last season.
“He can play nine, he can play 13,” O’Brien said. “We’re giving him reps everywhere.”
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