After a season of highs and lows, lockdowns and coronavirus, mid-season signings and enough injuries to fill an entire hospital ward, the Newcastle Knights have locked in their spot in finals footy after seven years.
Granted, Parramatta’s win over Warriors is what sealed the deal however, our win against Cronulla was the set up.
Friday night footy saw the Knights in front of their home faithful put Cronulla down with a convincing 38-10 win after their shock loss to Warriors. Despite conceding the opening try, Newcastle looked set to win the game playing with hardcore ruthless aggression.
Nothing could stop them, which includes Chad Townsend with the flying shoulder to Kalyn Ponga.
We saw the young KP floored more frequently than Kenny in South Park, only to get back up with a smile on his face and not an absolute fuck to give to deliver his first career hat trick.
His third try was the 100th try by a Newcastle Knights player against Cronulla in Newcastle. I also want to give an honourable congratulations to Josh King who after 59 games and debuting all the way back in 2016 finally scored his first.
Let’s look at the ladder from fourth to ninth:
Fourth: Sydney Roosters – 24
Fifth: Canberra Raiders – 22
Sixth: Newcastle Knights – 21
Seventh: South Sydney Rabbitohs – 20
Eighth: Cronulla Sharks – 18
Ninth: New Zealand Warriors – 14
Theoretically, Newcastle can still make fourth, which will require Knights to win all three with Sydney and Canberra posing their next two of three, meaning we will have to beat Roosters next week. I wouldn’t rule that out, anything can happen on the footy field.
For seventh and eighth, it’s Triple Threat between South Sydney, Cronulla and Warriors. Without Chad Townsend, I think Cronulla will miss out.
Now with the Knights, anywhere from fourth-sixth will guarantee them a home game of footy in front of their beloved Novocastrians. What us fans want is to see them play a home final for the firs time in 14 years.
Here’s a fact, the last three times we made the finals was in 2009, 2011 and 2013. What do all those years have in common? We had to win a game in Round 26 to crack finals footy.
With three rounds left to go, we have a chance to show exactly what we’re made of leading into the finals. What I do know is next week, we will be getting Edrick Lee and Daniel Saifiti back with Sione Mata’utia being 50/50.
Next week will be a test of will for the Knights as they take on Sydney Roosters at the SCG. In their last four wins, the Knights showed just how damaging they can be and that’s what they need to do against the Roosters.
To all my fellow Knights fans, let’s rejoice for we have convincing made the finals after all the struggles.
We are showing that we’re nowhere near that team who only won one match and conceded 800 points/142 tries in 2016.
Our team has been rebuilt since we shed the wooden spoon in 2018. Now our team is playing finals footy once more.
Christopher McArdle
Guest
youve got your wires crossed saying knights have to play both roosters and raiders among last 3 games. Its roosters saints and titans in that order. Knights biggest problem is consistency. 2 reasons in my view. Their a new team set up by a new coach. Will take time to gel. Injuries arent helping of course. Second reason which is contributing to their inconsistency is their ability to adapt from week to week. Other teams change to suit, even lowly ones, so until they can do that they will struggle. I am sure the obrien has told them this but so far to no.avail. next year may be theirs but i think further down the track. Been a devotrd knights follower since beginning and hope they click sooner rather than later.
PGNEWC
Roar Rookie
It's great to see my Newcastle with a reasonable coach in O'Brien. Don't think he can take us all the way this year and his inexperience shows in that he still can't get the knights up to win more than one game in a row often but he will learn and at least he has set us up defensively and our forwards are not just relying on Klemmer. If we manage to nab a good five-eight and some hard working forwards for next season we are in with a shot.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Yes they may well play finals footy this year and good luck to them, it has been a long time coming. How far they go will be limited. My observations without wearing my Roosters cap whilst doing so and conceeding a soft spot for the Knights. The Knights looked good against the Sharks and it was a total reversal of form for both teams, in fact the Sharks were pretty ordinary and lacked any resemblance of cohesion which helped the Knights look better than they were. On the other hand a very determined and slick outfit in the raiders threw everything they had at the Roosters and Sticky tried to do an interchange with a kitchen sink because they threw everything else they had at them and could not dent the defence so why not. The stand in hooker did a great job for the Roosters (everybody did actually) but Jake Friend gives them more strike up the middle with his runs. Now the Raiders defence was also pretty solid but the Roosters found a way around, through & over it and this is what the knights face next Saturday night at the SCG .
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Happy for Knights fans given the years of torment. It is probably worth holding off the full blown celebrations though. I would say they may only win 1 of their last 3 with their last game against a Titans team at CBUS - potentially playing for 5 straight wins and a 9th placed finish. Dropping to 8th means playing away at the Raiders, dropping to 7th is away to Souths. Both scenarios could result in a pretty quick finals appearance. But still, happy for the Newcastle fans who have endured a tough few years,
Tony
Roar Guru
I love your optimism but I don't see the Knights doing much damage when the finals get underway. Too many players go missing at key moments and injuries aren't helping. I might be convinced otherwise if they can beat the Roosters but I'm not feeling it. If they can retain the nucleus of their squad, particularly their young stars, they may threaten for a premiership next year.
The King of the World
Roar Guru
It’s meant to say Sydney and Canberra losing two of their next three. My mistake.