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Opinion
It’s no secret I’m very passionate about the Knights. It’s more than just the Knights tattoo I have, all the gear I wear to game day or even all the travel I do for my team. It’s how much I love to back my team and not just watch them play, watch them win.
We have lost five games this year and a draw. We had six games (including the tie) we didn’t win and every game we played from Rounds 1-8, we were competitive and if things went our way, we would have entered Round 9 at 7-1. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. 3-4 with a draw. 157 scored and 162 conceded. Better than last year after eight.
The Round 9 nightmare we endured. Going to Parramatta to get an extra two points on top of the guaranteed two points we will get for the Magic Round bye sounds like a perfect plan. The result says it all. Lost 43-12.
We played such atrocious football from the onset with an error in the opening set of the match, failure to defend after the error and letting Parramatta run riot in the first half to lead 30-6. By halft-ime, we gave away 10 line breaks – that’s embarrassing. In the second half, we showed a bit more fight in a game that was already lost.
A big issue we’ve got to resolve is Kalyn Ponga. I’m not trying to bash the guy, I’ve always been a fan but he was so damn awful and played perhaps his worst game to date. He was missing tackles like crazy and didn’t show any required leadership.
I get it, he’s only young and still got a long way to learn the ropes of being a skipper. To me, it seems the players are just playing with the whole “let Ponga run the show” attitude and that’s not a good attitude.
Kurt Mann had a shocker tonight and his poor pass which led to an error in the first set pretty much set the tone for the game.
We have the bye up next and during that time, I really hope our players are grinding it in. With that said, I also think the whole attitude of letting KP run the show needs to stop. I remember when he was set to return, there was talk saying we play better with KP and that to me is saying “let him carry us”.
Our team needs to remove that mindset and focus on running out on the field not just to play, but to win. Everyone needs to bring their own best to the field each game.
We didn’t look like the team who took Penrith to the wire in golden point or even put up a fighting battle with North Queensland. We just played like a group of guys who didn’t want to be there. Us fans wanted to be there, whether in attendance or watching the game on television and for some like me and others from the Hunter who traveled, it seems like they made more effort.
We’ve got plenty of time to turn the season around and show more competitiveness, compassion and the will to win so let’s do it.
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