Crafty Bullfrog: Peter Moore. Perhaps not as discreet as the Knights' efforts were Warren Ryan's tactics when coaching Western Suburbs in 1991. In a bid to minimise the attacking exuberance of St George flyers Ricky Walford and Martin Offiah, Ryan had the groundsmen hose from the sidelines to 20 metres in-field. ''The 20-metre to sideline, it was like you were playing in quicksand,'' former Wests captain Paul Langmack said. ''The only way to stop Saints was trying to get them to play in the middle of the field. Walford and Offiah were too good so we had to try something.'' The tactic worked, with neither side scoring a try in the 6-6 draw. Water hasn't been the only offence. Newcastle and Canberra haven't always been happy hunting grounds for travelling teams, but for different extremes. Knights officials would notoriously hose down the opposing dressing rooms, while heaters were placed in away sheds in Canberra before players would run out into cold conditions.

Slippery customer: James Graham. Former Cronulla utility Alan Wilson recalled the road trips. ''Newcastle used to hose the dressing sheds and they were cold,'' he said. ''You'd always turn up there and it was in a concrete grandstand, they were wet and they were cold. There was no way of drying out. I got told later on that it was one of their ploys. When we used to travel to Canberra, they'd have the heaters on in the dressing rooms.'' In recent acts of gamesmanship, Canterbury prop James Graham was banned from coating the back of his legs in petroleum jelly last year, and Wests Tigers goalkicker Brett Hodgson had his kicking tee confiscated after a match in 2005. SIX OF THE BEST 1. James Graham’s slippery legs

The Canterbury prop made headlines last year when he coated the back of his legs in globs of petroleum jelly. The NRL ordered the England captain to stop, following claims the action went against the spirit of the game. The tactic was designed to not only make it hard for opponents to tackle him, but also leave them with greasy hands, making it difficult to hold on to the ball. 2. Illegal kicking tees Wests Tigers were hit by a breach notice by the NRL for using an unofficial kicking tee in 2005. The tee — a sawn-off witch’s hat disguised in black tape — was confiscated by the NRL ground manager. Fullback Brett Hodgson kicked three from four in the Tigers’ 34-22 loss to Melbourne. 3. Shortened fields Melbourne’s first home ground Olympic Park was six metres narrower and had a two-metre shorter in-goal area, playing havoc with the kicking game of opposition teams. The Storm were alleged to have attempted to repeat the dimensions of the reduced field when they hosted Parramatta in a 2007 semi-final at Etihad Stadium, before the NRL intervened.

4. Watering down the rooms In the 1990s, Newcastle’s old Marathon Stadium was not a happy hunting ground for opposition teams when they faced the Knights. Cold showers were the norm while dressing sheds underneath the old concrete grandstand were watered on the morning of the game to ensure a reception colder than that from the Knights’ faithful who greeted the travelling team. 5. Ball boy tactics Loading Canterbury supremo Peter ‘‘Bullfrog’’ Moore was never one to miss an opportunity and even had ball boys helping his side to wins during the 1980s. If the Bulldogs were in front late in the game, the youngsters were told to fetch the balls slowly, particularly if the opposition were on the attack.

6. Keeping the heat on Matches in Canberra have long caused great discomfort for visiting sides. Some teams have fined players in the past for mentioning the weather in the nation’s capital. But it is the Raiders who have looked to keep the comfort level of their opposition high by having heaters on in the away dressing sheds.