Newcastle playmaker Adam Clune will have a new halves partner against Canterbury-Bankstown on Friday night after Knights coach Adam O'Brien again left Jake Clifford out of his side.
Clune appears to have overcome a knee problem that kept him out of Newcastle's 36-16 loss to North Queensland after being named yesterday to return to the No.7 jersey.
He will play alongside Tex Hoy, who has been retained at five-eighth with Jake Clifford not selected in the 24-man match squad for a consecutive week.
Phoenix Crossland, who played halfback last week, moves back to the bench.
Clifford was left out last week following a poor performance in the side's 50-2 loss to the Melbourne Storm.
Without going into any detail, Knights coach Adam O'Brien said that the 24-year-old had a number of personal things to work on.
Prior to the team announcement yesterday, O'Brien was pondering whether to recall Clifford for the Magic Round clash with the Bulldogs in Brisbane.
"I'm going to judge [and] see how Cliff is over the next 24 or 48 hours, but if he needs another week than we will go that way," O'Brien said on Monday.
"I thought Tex did a pretty good job the other day."
Hoy, who started his first game in the halves at NRL level against the Cowboys, helped spark the Knights to a 16-12 halftime lead.
He recorded two try-assists and two line-break assists in a crafty showing before the side struggled in the second half and let in four unanswered tries.
As expected, back-rower Mitch Barnett has been named to start against the Dogs after the end of his six-game suspension for a high shot on Penrith forward Chris Smith in round three.
The 28-year-old, who recently announced he will depart the club at season's end to take up a three-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors, has reportedly benefited from a pre-season style fitness campaign during his time on the sidelines.
Barnett rejoins Lachlan Fitzgibbon in the back-row, who made a lively return last week after missing six games with a knee injury.
Fellow back-rower Tyson Frizell was left out of the squad after missing the past two games with illness. Young forward Mat Croker has kept his place on the bench, as has Pasami Saulo.
Winger Edrick Lee was picked in the side but will need to pass tests this week following a head knock that forced him from the field midway through the second half against the Cowboys.
Despite alluding to the potential return of strike centre Dane Gagai and lock Kurt Mann, O'Brien did not name either player in the squad.
The Knights are equal with the Bulldogs, Tigers and Titans on four competition points, but placed last on for and against. Having lost their past seven games, a loss to the Bulldogs would leave them with a record of two wins from 10 games this year.
Friday's game, part of the NRL's Magic Round where all 16 NRL teams play at the one venue, is scheduled for 6pm at Suncorp Stadium.
Starting side
1. Kalyn Ponga (C)
2. Edrick Lee
3. Enari Tuala
4. Bradman Best
5. Dominic Young
6. Tex Hoy
7. Adam Clune
8. David Klemmer
9. Chris Randall
10. Daniel Saifiti
11. Mitchell Barnett
12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
13. Leo Thompson
Interchange
14. Phoenix Crossland
15. Jacob Saifiti
16. Pasami Saulo
17. Mathew Croker
Extended bench
18. Simi Sasagi
19. Sauaso Sue
20. Brayden Musgrove
21. Jaron Purcell
22. Krystian Mapapalangi
23. Kobe Rugless
24. Ben Talty
