Team Lineup for Round 8 - Brisbane vs. Newcastle

1. Josh Hoffman
2. Denan Kemp
3. Ben Te'o
4. Israel Folau
5. Jharal Yow Yeh
6. Darren Lockyer
7. Ben Hunt
8. Shane Tronc
9. Alex Glenn
10. Mitchell Dodds
11. Dunamis Lui
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Corey Parker

Bench

14. Lagi Setu
15. Scott Anderson
16. Corey Norman
17. Steve Michaels

Another round of NRL action which means more changes to our side. The injury curse is still raging on as we see McCullough out with a torn pectoral muscle. This leaves us somewhat exposed at Hooker - even though he hasn't been playing 80 minutes recently he still provided a true hooking option for the majority of the game. Enter stopgap Alex Glenn - as usual he'll bust his gut out of position like a true utility. It's not a foreign position to him so I expect a solid performance from him. A quick mention about Tronc - glad to have him on board for his first home game and I'm sure he appreciated the week to acclimatise.

This week also sees the return of Denan Kemp and Steve Michaels. Kemp provides much needed attack power out wide and also gives us a bit of experience (yes he's young but more experienced than Winterstein) in defence. Anyone who knows myself or Jim will confirm that we are among the most vocal Michaels haters around. Many man hours have been spent hurling abuse at the sideline or the television about his complete inability to choose the correct option between passing and running. Most will expect us to continue with the trend. Sorry to disappoint - I'm happy to see his return. This is because, unlike Beale in my opinion, he actually knows how to defend at Centre. Agreed that he's a horror to watch in attack but we've been leaking way too many tries out wide and this has to stop.

The last thing I want to touch on is Henjak picking two backs on the bench. Not entirely sure what the go is here. I can only assume that it's a strategy to use when Te'o starts running out of puff. Personally I'd much prefer to see Michaels start, Te'o slot in to the back row and have Lui come in off the bench to hit the fringes. I haven't lost faith completely in Ivan yet so we'll see what happens.

My prediction? Tough game to predict. If the Knights play similar to last week we are in with a shot. With Pearce being out for the Roosters and probably NSW, maybe Mullen will turn it up but I can't see this happening. Home advantage to get us home, 24-18.