Round 1 Team News: Barrett finalises match day line-up

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs will field a vastly different side to the one that finished last season when they kick off their campaign against the Knights in Newcastle on Friday night at 6:00PM AEDT.

Tui Katoa and Chris Smith drop out of the final 17 line-up in the lead up to kick off.

Brandon Wakeham and Ava Seumanufagai were previously omitted from the 21-man squad named on Tuesday.

A number of new recruits will make their NRL debuts for the Bulldogs with Corey Allan, Nick Cotric, Kyle Flanagan, Jack Hetherington and Corey Waddell all pulling on the blue and white for the first time.

In addition, 26 year-old Train and Trial hooker Brad Deitz has been named on the bench after being given an injury exemption by the NRL due to Jeremy Marshall-King being unavailable because of a foot sprain sustained while playing for the Maori team in the All Stars match. Deitz is not currently in the Bulldogs Top 30 squad.

Dylan Napa has recovered from a knee injury and will take his place on the bench, while Luke Thompson will serve the first match of his four game suspension.