Hard yards: Knights winger trending in right direction after slow start

By his own admission, Marzhew made a pedestrian start to 2024.

The powerhouse winger had scored just two tries for the campaign before a double in the 34-26 triumph over Parramatta at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.

At the same stage last season, Marzhew had crossed the stripe 15 times on the way to a career-high 22 tries - fourth in the NRL.

"I felt like I was a bit slow at the start of the season," Marzhew said. "In the past few weeks I have been finding my stride.

"Tries are the cherry on the top. I just run off the back of Braddy [Bradman Best]. It is that simple. He does all the tough work. I just put the ball down.

"My game is more about how I can start the set for the boys."

Marzhew punched out 210 running metres, including 55m post-contact, against the Eels. Most of the yardage was from the Knights' end early in the tackle count.

"I have been working with the coaches," Marzhew said. "We looked at the small details. Where I got the ball, the angles I run. Making sure I can get some momentum running forward before I get the ball. Small tweaks I needed to do."

Knights coach Adam O'Brien agreed that Marzhew's form was "trending in the right direction".

Best also scored two tries on the left edge against the Eels as the Knights recorded their biggest scoreline of the season.

The Knights' attack will be further strengthened for the trip to Canberra to take on the Raiders on Sunday with the surprise return of Kalyn Ponga at fullback.

Ponga's inclusion means rookie Fletcher Sharpe moves to the bench.

In other changes from the Knights' win over the Eels, Jayden Brailey starts at hooker instead of Phoenix Crossland (concussion).

Dylan Lucas (hamstring) and Leo Thompson (Achilles) return from injury.

Lucas, who was lethal on the left edge before missing the past two games, has been named on the bench.

Thompson partners Daniel Saifiti in the front row.

O'Brien had high praise for the hard yards done by the back five against the Eels and wants a repeat against a desperate Raiders outfit, which have lost three games on the bounce and sit alongside the Knights on 18 points.

"Canberra pride themselves on the physical nature of their game," O'Brien said. "They are a big team. They want to win the middle third, so we need to get the physical part of the game right.

"They have had a tough month, but I know Ricky [Stuart] will have them really well prepared. They got us [28-12] up here in round one."

The Knights were in a similar position on the table after 17 rounds last season and won 10 straight, including 28-6 and 30-28 triumphs over the Raiders, to progress to the second week of the finals.

The turnaround was forged on aggressive, in-your-face defence. In turn, the backs cashed in with tries. There were signs of that same starch in defence against the Eels.

"One feeds the other," O'Brien said. "The boys kicked well. Where we turned the ball over, we front loaded a lot of energy into our defence, which naturally allowed more energy for our attack.

"I thought the back five worked really hard in the first three plays to gain momentum. Naturally your forwards, who are doing most of the defensive work, can get on the back of that.

"That cycle worked really well for us. Then you make your own luck.

"While we weren't getting the results, there was a sense that we were headed in the right direction against Penrith [28-18 loss] and Melbourne [36-28 loss]. We were stringing together some good patches of play. We just have to keep working at it and getting better."