Round 18 Team News: Ciraldo finalises line-up to face the Knights

Head Coach Cameron Ciraldo has finalised his line-up to tackle the Newcastle Knights at Accor Stadium this Sunday.

Club Captain Raymond Faitala-Mariner makes a return to the first grade line-up since being ruled out by illness in the lead up to the Bulldog's Round 12 fixture against the Gold Coast Titans.

The forward replaces Franklin Pele on the interchange bench, with the latter featuring in today's NSW Cup line-up to tackle the Newcastle Knights. Reece Hoffman has been named as the NRL side's 18th Player Replacement.

Kyle Flanagan, Corey Waddell and Braidon Burns were earlier omitted from the side 24-hours out from kick off.

The Bulldogs side are bolstered by the return of some senior leaders in Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Burton, while Khaled Rajab has been called upon to make the first start of his NRL career.

Fellow five-eighth Karl Oloapu drops out from this week's line-up as he recovers from a neck injury sustained in Round 16.

NSW Cup Captain and star feature, Jackson Topine returns to the bench for this Round 18 match up. 

Each side currently sits on a 33% win-rate in 2023, with both teams conceding four of their past five matches. The Bulldogs will however, enter Sunday's match fresh from some much-needed rest, while the Knights were toppled by an understrength Panthers side.

The home ground advantage of Accor Stadium could prove a tipping point for this fairly evenly-matched clash, given Newcastle has won just one away game all season (over the Tigers in Round 2).