THE bye this weekend has been conveniently timed, and the Klemmer family will be heading to Coffs Harbour to cheer on my young fella, Cooper, in an Oztag carnival.
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He's made the Lake Macquarie rep team and it's nice that I get to watch him have a run around, because usually the roles are reversed.
A few days off to freshen up is pretty much ideal, given it's the halfway point in the season, but to be honest I'd rather be in camp with the NSW boys, getting ready for Origin I next week.
I realise there is no point dwelling on that because it's outside my control. My mindset is that all I can worry about is playing well for the Knights each week, and I know our coach Adam O'Brien has been happy with my form.
I can't do much more than that.
In saying that, I'm my own hardest marker and I'm always looking to improve. Each game, I want to play better than the week before.
It was disappointing that my front-row partner Daniel Saifiti injured his knee in our win against the Warriors last weekend, which ruled him out of Origin contention.
The flip side of that is that his twin brother Jacob came into the extended squad, which was a great reward.
Jacob was our player of the year last season and he'll only benefit from the time he spends in camp.
He gets to train with the best players in the state and watch how they prepare, and he should come back full of confidence. He's also got that little extra incentive now. He's so close to getting picked for his Origin debut and who knows, it might happen later in the series.
It was also great that Tyson Frizell was named in the NSW extended squad. I was a bit surprised he wasn't in the 17, because he's been there, won that for the Blues.
Tyson is such a professional he'll be busting his backside at training and if an opportunity opens up, he'll be ready to take it.
Looking at the two squads, they're very evenly matched and like most Origins, it's hard to pick a winner.
It'll be a bit weird watching it because the only Knights involved are Kalyn Ponga and Dane Gagai, both Queenslanders. I can't be cheering for them, obviously, but hopefully they don't get too bashed up, because we'll need them next week when we take on Penrith.
We'll have to play a lot better against the Panthers than we did against the Warriors.
It wasn't a great performance from us but the main thing was we got the two points. We overcame a bit of adversity, after conceding an early 12-0 lead, and we can take a bit of confidence out of that.
Penrith are obviously the premiers and on top of the ladder, so we know what a tough ask it will be.
But what better way to kick off the second half of the season than by beating the defending champs at home in front of our loyal fans?
