Opinion
Newcastle Knights suffered their first loss of the season against the reigning premiers.
Down 38-20 and to 12 men for 60 per cent of the game, the Knights never gave up but let the game slip through their fingers.
Overall, I do admire how they never quit and I don’t like to take digs at our players but Mitchell Barnett’s running elbow and send off knocked us down several levels.
Now, Barney, I’m a massive fan of yours but there was no need for any imitation of the Street Fighter games on the field. I won’t deny I was pretty pissed off in the crowd when he was sent off but looking back on it, it was the right call.
What I will not deny from the Knights is their will to never give up. We had fewer errors, better tackle efficiency, better completion rate and more line breaks but letting the game run past us will hurt us. I do admire how they never quit. I believed things could have been different if it was 13 on 13 but we’ll never know. Both teams played their game well but Penrith were the better team and congratulations to them.
Next week, we’re on the road again against Cronulla and the Sharks are on a red-hot roll with two back-to-back wins, Nicho Hynes running riot and brilliant attack.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The Knights cannot let this result haunt them for the upcoming game. We need to bounce back just as we know how to. I will definitely be there as a proud Knights supporter. I will not get ahead of myself and make any predictions.
What I want to see from the Knights is them to play their game as well as they can, keep in control and bloody win.
The idea of a winning attitude isn’t just aimed on winning or succeeding every team, it’s more to bounce back when things don’t go to plan. Our intentions with our trip to Bathurst was to come away with the win, we didn’t get it the job done and now it’s in the past, we can’t change that.
Instead of focusing on what if, we can focus on what we can do. We can win, we know how to win and we know not to give up. The winning mentality isn’t just in football but also in life in general. If you have a bad day, it doesn’t mean you have a bad life, focus on turning it around the next day and make the best of it.
The winning mentality of the Knights is close to a mirror image of the winning culture we once had. We have shown some signs of that since Adam O’Brien walked in the door and we’re building on it. We are going to where we aim to be and I will not give a prediction or a supposed timeline to when we should win the big one. After all, how long is a piece of string?
As supporters, we’re allowed to voice our anger, frustration and disappointment. I do stand by saying that we’re a long way from being a premiership force. We are going in the right direction and we’re playing to win, not just hoping to win but win at all costs.
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