Knight lapping up confidence as he racks up games

Liam Knight has played 12 NRL games in half a season with the Rabbitohs, which is now more then he played in his two previous years with the Raiders and Sea Eagles.

The young Rabbitohs prop feels a quiet but immense satisfaction in the fact he's been able to string first grade games together uninterrupted.

On Thursday night it will be lucky game number 13 for the Rabbitohs forward, when Wayne Bennett's men take on Michael Maguire's Wests Tigers at Bankwest Stadium.

"It is something I'm very proud of myself. I've had a couple of tough years off the field and on the field as I've been in and out of NRL sides," Knight told NRL.com.

"That fringe kind of stuff really messed with my head. You're not sure where you stand," he said of his one game with Manly in 2017 and the nine with Canberra in 2018.

"it's a bit of pressure-cooker way to live. But now I feel like I've found a spot for myself, got some confidence back, with the backing of the coach and the boys. I've really found a home here at Redfern and I absolutely love it.

"I get to test myself every week while at the same time feel stable."

Knight is also proving very effective in the Rabbitohs' go-forward.

He has made 22 tackle breaks and scored two tries in his 12 matches 12 offloads. And that's all averaging between 35 to 40 minutes off the bench at prop or lock.

In last round's match against Penrith, Knight started in the front row with the absence of both Burgess twins – Tom through ankle clean-out surgery and George with a stomach illness.

It's been his one and only starting side appearance – the other 11 at Souths and the previous nine at Canberra and Manly have all been off the bench.

"I'm happy in the team even if I get one minute, 40 minutes or 80 minutes," Knight said.

"Everyone wants to start but I won't be kicking stones if I don't. With this team I'm happy to do any job.

"We're almost full strength this week with George and Reyno (halfback Adam Reynolds) back. We've still got Sam and Tom to come but we need to stop the bleeding [after three straight losses].

"We can't blame all the changing personnel. Whoever is on deck is there to do the job regardless. We should have got the job done last week. In all three losses we were in positions to win.

"This week we've got to get back to business and obviously get a win."

In between counting the competition points as the 2019 Telstra Premiership heads into the back end of the season, Knight is taking stock of all he's learning about being a top-line prop.

"It's not just carry the ball hard and get the metres," he said. "It's about managing your energy – it's obviously hard work – so you don't fatigue too quickly.

"I'm obviously not used to the week-in, week-out grind of the NRL so I'm learning heaps about coping with that too – about my preparation for each week.

"I've got a lot of experienced boys here I can lean on and see what I can pick up from them."

Two he admires most for their energy and skill are two NSW Origin players, hooker Damien Cook and lock Cameron Murray.

"I learn something off everyone but those two are freaks," Knight said.

A Blues jersey could well be in Knight's future since he played NSW Under-20s in 2015.

"Possibly, but I just want to play as many games as I can for Souths this year and hopefully win the comp. I'll see what lies ahead after that."