NRL Round 6 Preview and Prediction - Newcastle Knights v Canterbury Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium

Newcastle Knights v Canterbury Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium
 
Preview - The Bulldogs will be looking to cap off the re-signing of Head Coach Des Hasler for two years with back-to-back victories for the first time this year to get the season up and running. The Bulldogs responded to a week of heavy scrutiny with a really gritty and gutsy 10-7 victory against the Broncos in atrocious conditions at ANZ Stadium last Thursday. The Bulldogs trailed 7-0 at the break, before some outstanding performances from their senior players brought them back into the game, and they held on grimly for their second win of the season. The Knights went down in heartbreaking fashion 19-18 at Shark Park where a James Maloney field goal, with 3 minutes to go, won the game for the home side. The Knights have shown plenty of character this year, with 3 of their 4 losses coming by 6 points or less.
 
History - The Bulldogs have won 3 straight against the Knights dating back to 2013, including a convincing 28-14 victory at McDonald Jones Stadium last year. Overall, the record between the Clubs is fairly even, with the Bulldogs winning 22, the Knights 20 with 1 draw. 
 
Newcastle Knights’ Scouting Report - The Knights have a few changes with winger Nathan Roos fit to return after a week out with injury. Danny Levi goes back into the hooking role with Jamie Buhrer reverting to the back row after he played 60 minutes at hooker last week. 
 
Canterbury Bulldogs’ Scouting Report - Despite what I thought was an impressive debut last week, Matt Frawley has been dropped in favour of the returning Moses Mbye. Frawley’s short kicking game was impressive last week and there will be pressure on Mbye to return and get this side around the park with a controlled kicking and passing performance after some underwhelming performances from him in the opening month. The Bulldogs’ senior forwards really stood up last week and found some much needed form. James Graham had his best game of the season, while Klemmer and Kasiano were heavily involved. Josh Reynolds also had his best game of the season, with the off-contract five eight looking to secure his future at the Bulldogs. 
 
Verdict - Bulldogs by 8+ 

I'm going with the Bulldogs here as I think up front they can really dominate this Knights’ pack. Take out the Manly debacle, and 4 of the 5 Bulldogs’ performances this year have been pretty good including a really impressive 10-7 win over the Broncos last week. While the Bulldogs have only scored 64 points this year, three of their games have been heavily rain affected and I think, against this Knights’ side, they might be able to score 4 or 5 tries. There is no denying the Knights have improved a lot as a side this year, however I'm just thinking they put a lot into that game last week and might be struggling to get back up for this one. Crucially, for mine, the Bulldogs are coming off an 8-day turn around, while the Knights are backing up from a 6-day turn around.