NRL’s new Englishman has ‘point to prove’ as he issues Broncos warning

1 month ago 4

Dolphins recruit Morgan Knowles has slammed suggestions England’s Super League competition was an inferior product to the NRL, as he issued a warning to the Brisbane Broncos ahead of the World Club Challenge.

Arriving at Redcliffe to reunite with his former St Helens coach Kristian Woolf, Knowles admits he touches down with a point a prove, having long felt the Super League had been looked down on abroad.

Knowles won three-straight premierships under Woolf, with the 29-year-old lock managing 246 caps before hunting “a new challenge”. He is no guarantee to walk into the Dolphins’ starting side – Tom Gilbert, Max Plath, Thomas Flegler and Daniel Saifiti are all set to make their injury comebacks early in the season.

Morgan Knowles pictured during Dolphins training.

England greats Sam Burgess and James Graham both became bona fide NRL stars upon relocating to Australia, while Morgan Smithies has become a mainstay of the Canberra Raiders’ forward pack.

While hopeful of achieving “even a quarter” of what those men have done, Knowles was determined to eradicate beliefs that the Super League failed to produce the same calibre of talent – insinuations which only intensified after the Kangaroos produced a 3-0 Ashes whitewash late last year.

But the “proud Cumbrian” issued a warning to the Broncos ahead of their clash with Hull Kingston Rovers on February 20, believing the latter had the ability to shock the NRL champions as he and St Helens did against the Penrith Panthers in 2023.

“Hull KR, if they’re playing their best, they’re a red-hot chance. Super League gets put down a fair bit, and that definitely annoys us England blokes over there,” Knowles said.

“It was the same back in ’23 when I came over with St Helens, everyone was asking why I’m in Australia, and when I said we’re playing Penrith they would laugh and say it was going to be a cricket score. But we were quietly confident in ourselves.

“We’ve always got a point to prove. We beat Penrith, and Wigan beat Penrith over in the UK as well … the English boys will be confident, and I hope the Broncos will take them lightly.”

Brisbane’s battle with the reigning Super League premiers may also serve as another audition for coach Willie Peters, who has been lauded a future NRL honcho after spearheading 43 wins from Hull’s past 54 games.

England clubs have triumphed in 15 of the 29 instalments of the concept, including the past two since its return from two cancelled games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Broncos prop Corey Jensen insisted Brisbane would not be treating the fixture as a preseason warm-up in pursuit of consecutive titles.

“We strive to win trophies, and that’s been our motto since Madge [Broncos coach Michael Maguire] has come to the club,” Jensen said, before the squad ventured to Toowoomba for a two-week camp.

“An Australian team hasn’t won it for a while. They take it personally as well, so it’s up to us to go over there and match it with them.

“We’re under no illusions, we know the hard work pays off at the back end of the year. It’s a very similar squad that we’ve had for a number of years now … we’ve played a grand final [in 2023] and then bombed out, so we’re a bit smarter and have a bit more knowledge.

“We’re not talking about going back-to-back, it’s about getting better on what we did last year, and we feel we’ve got a lot more growth ahead of us.”