Knights to host Roosters in top-of-the-table match: NRLW round 8

The 31-year-old NRLW journeywoman joined the Knights this campaign in search of opportunity and has been won over by the "club culture" and community "passion".

Newcastle and the Roosters are locked at the top of the ladder on 12 points as the competition reaches its penultimate round.

A win for either side would put them in the box seat to secure the minor premiership with one game remaining.

Both are on five-game winning runs and, while the Roosters have scored more points and conceded less than the Knights, little separates them in terms of statistics.

The Knights, however, have made McDonald Jones Stadium their fortress with record NRLW crowds turning up for their past two outings.

"We know they're fast, they're athletic and they're really skilful, so we want to make it that they can come and play our style of game," Maynard said.

"We haven't lost here in Newcastle ... the crowd and town, they get around the whole team.

"So, I think it's going to be a big ask for them to come up here and try to topple us, because this is our home and we take real pride in that.

"We've come from behind in victories, so I think it's up to them if they want to come up and play Newcastle."

The quick and crafty dummy-half has played NRLW since its inception in 2018 with stints at the Roosters, Brisbane and Parramatta before signing on for Newcastle.

Maynard, who is based in Mascot and travels to Newcastle to train and play, has been used off the interchange bench as hooker in all seven games this season.

"I had a conversation with [coach] Ronny [Griffiths] and I just really liked the approach he was taking with the team and his idea around being a person before a player," Maynard said.

"That really intrigued me and I felt that I needed to come up here and experience that because they were running such a successful program, after being so successful last year as well.

"I'm enjoying my time here. I love the culture of the club ... I think I've taken my opportunities when I've had them and I've been fortunate enough to have played the last seven rounds, and I just want to keep playing consistent football and make sure that I'm adding value to the team out there."

The Knights will be going head-to-head with Roosters prop Millie Boyle, who is one of the biggest names in the game and helped guide Newcastle to championship glory last year.

"She's a great player, no doubt ... they've got great talent across the board," Maynard said.

"But we've been more focused on ourselves and trying to get our processes right.

"We've got some absolute strike weapons and I think if we can start to integrate players like [fullback] Tamika Upton a bit more, because you can see what she does when she gets her hands on the ball during broken play. Even just early on in the sets, she's unstoppable sometimes.

"In that second half last weekend, she was just running riot."

The Knights staged a stirring second-half comeback to beat the Raiders 20-12 in Canberra last weekend after trailing 10-0 at the break.

They won't be able to afford a slow start against the firing Roosters.

"We know that they play such a great brand of footy, but I don't think we can really focus too much on them," Maynard said.

"I don't think we've hit our straps yet, so for us, we just want to play some consistent footy.

"We haven't quite been able to put together a 70-minute game yet. There's not too much pressure because it's a top of the table clash but we're just trying to be a bit more consistent across the board, across the 70 minutes."

The match kicks off at 1.30pm and is the second game of an NRLW double-header with the Broncos playing the West Tigers at 11.30am.

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