Knights shock Cowboys
The Newcastle Knights snapped a three game losing streak against the North Queensland Cowboys despite a host of injuries.
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So much for Plan A.
Wayne Bennett's preferred option of partnering Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen as his long-term halves combination may have reached its expiry date after Newcastle's 34-6 victory against North Queensland at Hunter Stadium last night.
With his skipper a late withdrawal because of a calf-muscle problem, Bennett was compelled to hand Tyrone Roberts a starting position as Mullen's play-making sidekick.
Knocking on the door: Tyrone Roberts celebrates his try. Photo: Ryan Osland
But even if Gidley had been fit, it appeared the master coach was leaning towards Roberts as his first-choice first receiver, as the game's top utility player spent a number of sessions last week training at dummy-half, a role he has filled capably at club and representative level.
Bennett said in the pre-season that he would consider switching Gidley to hooker, while champion Danny Buderus was recovering from back surgery.
But Buderus returned ahead of schedule last night,complicating Bennett's selection quandary.
Roberts dummied his way over for Newcastle's opening try, gift-wrapped one for James McManus with a pinpoint grubber, landed four goals from six attempts and generally reaffirmed the theory that he is ready to establish himself as an NRL regular.
Mullen initiated two tries with cut-out passes and another with a kick, steered his team around the field and outplayed Johnathan Thurston.
Buderus entered proceedings off the bench in the 22nd minute and immediately made an impact by jolting the ball loose in a tackle on Test prop Matt Scott. He produced 38 minutes of non-stop toil.
All of which raises the question of where Gidley will slot in when he is fit to resume, possibly in Sunday's clash with Canberra at Hunter Stadium.
You would assume Gidley has to be somewhere in the starting line-up.
But it is hard to imagine Bennett dropping Mullen or Roberts on the strength of last night's showing.
Fullback Darius Boyd is one of the game's elite custodians and Gidley will only wear the No.1 jersey again if the Queensland and Test regular is unavailable. Possibly Bennett will consider a job-sharing role for Gidley and Buderus.
Undoubtedly Gidley's greatest asset, however is his versatility. Wherever he plays, he is effective. Throughout his career, he has established himself as the ultimate Mr Fixit.
And right at this point, Bennett's resources appear most stretched in the centres, as Dane Gagai will be sidelined for several weeks with an ankle injury and Timana Tahu is yet to play this season because of a similar ailment.
Gidley might not be as accomplished a centre as his elder brother, Matthew, once was but he is good enough to have played there in a Test match for Australia.
Last night, Alex McKinnon played right-side centre for Newcastle, scoring a try and throwing the final pass for another, but he may be required in the back row after Beau Scott left last night's match with a groin injury.
Whatever Bennett has planned – if indeed he has turned his attention to it – he was not shedding much light at the post-match press conference.
"The good part is we don't have to rush him [Gidley] back, so that's point number one,"' Bennett said.
"After that I'll have to sort something out. But I'd rather have those problems than [be] looking for guys, and you get them back in the team too early because the guy in his position's not doing the job."
Asked if Roberts had done enough to hold his spot, Bennett replied: "I just answered your question for you."
But if that seemed like a trademark Bennett sidestep, he was more forthcoming when asked to assess the contribution of 21-year-old Roberts.
"He's a talented player, we all know that,"' he said.
"It's just good that what he went through last year has helped him be the player that he's going to be this year. We'll see a lot more of him."
And in the process, that suggests we should see Bennett's Plan B.
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