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Opinion

Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce won't fix what's wrong with the Knights

20th May, 2021
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20th May, 2021
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The Knights may not have been favourites heading to Townsville last night, but their performance against the North Queensland Cowboys shows the road ahead is a long and very uphill one for the struggling team.

Of course, there are plenty of positives to take out of the game for the Cowboys, but the way the Knights fluffed opportunities all night long and struggled defensively.

Given the messages Adam O’Brien was telling his team all week around defence following their magic round humbling at the hands of the Wests Tigers, to see them concede three very soft tries inside the first 20 minutes would have had the coach ripping his hair out.

While it wasn’t a case of game over, and the Knights did work their way back into the game, some poor attacking decisions, particularly when the Cowboys went down to 11 players following Jason Taumalolo and Lachlan Burr being sent to the sin bin, and during the second half, stunted their run back into the game and they eventually fell by 16 points.

And while Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga’s injuries are stunting their attack and any sort of momentum they might be able to build towards an eventual berth in the top eight, if the Knights can’t fix their defence and somewhat baffling team selections, it’ll be curtains before the dynamic duo can do anything about it.

Kalyn Ponga

(Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)

After making the finals last year, this season should have seen continued improvement for Newcastle, and while the men in red and blue have had the occasional bump in the right direction, their defence in the last few weeks has been abysmal.

The signs were there in Round 5 when they let in 42 against the Titans, but they have now let in scores of 38, 36 and 36 in three of their last four matches, with just the solitary victory against the Raiders in between.

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While that shock win over Canberra might have given fans some false hope, the bottom line is that no team is winning games conceding 36 or 38 points, and that’s the way it’s gone for the Knights who have now slumped to 12th on the table, and potentially a spot lower by the end of tonight if the Tigers manage to hand the Warriors a beating.

Regardless of being 12th or 13th, there isn’t a whole lot of difference. The bottom line is it’s not good enough, and with a defence in the bottom half, but an attack not able to run with it, it’s hardly a surprise to see them at the bottom end of the table.

Defence starts as an attitude first and foremost, and the Knights simply haven’t got it. That much is clear in some of the soft tries they are giving up. The way the Cowboys were able to saunter over for some of their tries on Thursday tells you all you need to know about Newcastle right at the moment.

But it also comes down to the coaching, and while O’Brien arrived at the club with much fanfare as Nathan Brown’s replacement, he really hasn’t been able to do that much better or live up to the expectations places on him, and this year in particular, he is failing badly.

The Knights’ defensive structure seems far too compact, with the side regularly being burnt on the edges – particularly their right edge. The fact they almost always seem to be outnumbered suggests something isn’t right in their set-up.

O’Brien didn’t help himself last night though with a baffling last-minute swap. Blake Green passing fit somehow meant Kurt Mann ended up playing fullback, and while Mann has been in great form, he is simply not a fullback. It was proven when he was at the Dragons, and on occasion since then, and yet O’Brien ran with his number six there last night to absolutely disastrous results, with Mann dropping balls and missing tackles.

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Now, no one is going to be able to fill the role of Kalyn Ponga to the level he does, but Tex Hoy was the better option, and it’s not just hindsight saying that either. It’s history and proof which told us Mann shouldn’t be playing fullback.

Adam O’Brien of the Knights during a press conference

(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

And while the Knights are an absolute rabble, losing three of their last four in horrendous fashion, credit needs to go to the Cowboys who took full advantage.

After a competitive outing against the Roosters last week and some promising results against lesser teams before that, it’s clear North Queensland are starting to turn a corner on the back of the form displayed by Valentine Holmes and Scott Drinkwater, as well as a much more focused effort from their monstrous pack of forwards.

They are starting to turn into a genuine finals contender, especially with a soft run in the draw over the next six or so weeks.

Last night was a contrasting story of teams with relatively inexperienced coaches and contrasting storylines, with one team seemingly floundering on their way down, and another heading up the ladder.

The coming weeks will be critical for both sides, but if the Knights are waiting on Ponga and Pearce to return thinking it might fix everything and take them back to the promised land of finals and winning games, they will be sorely mistaken.

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