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Adam O’Brien doesn’t want sympathy, he just wants his Knights playing to their potential again after slumping to last spot after a sixth straight loss, a 50-2 flogging at the hands of Melbourne at McDonald Jones Stadium.
On another sorry afternoon for Newcastle, halfback Jake Clifford was hooked after 53 minutes in the worst loss in O’Brien’s tenure as Knights coach.
While Clifford eventually returned through a HIA for Tex Hoy, there was never any sign of life for the hosts as they failed to break the Storm’s line even once.
Melbourne’s demolition job made them just the sixth team in history to score 120 points in two weeks, backing up for the 70-10 demolition of the Warriors on Anzac Day.
“No one is going to feel sorry for us and we don’t want people’s sympathy,” O’Brien said. “We don’t want to be kicked unnecessarily. The only answer is to stick together and fight our way out.
“I think sometimes people look at us and think we don’t care. They’re tough. We’re playing busted but we don’t have a choice at the moment.”
While the Warriors were able to rebound this week, there is no such light for the Knights after a sixth straight loss.
O’Brien said a string of injuries meant he had little choice but to stick with the current line-up when they travel to Townsville on Saturday for a clash with the in-form Cowboys.
A week after O’Brien apologised for their poor loss to Parramatta, the Knights were arguably worse from the outset on Sunday.
They put the opening kick-off out on the full, were down 10-0 by the time they first had their hands on the ball in the 12th minute and completed just 15 sets and made 13 errors.
“People are going to think I’m off my head if you look at the scoreboard and think there was [improvement from last week] but there was some response,” he said. “Take away that [first 10 minutes] which really took a lot of gas out of us, some individuals showed they cared but they were soft in some parts out on our edges.”
Their only points came from a penalty goal while down 26-0 on the stroke of half-time.
Typifying the afternoon, Newcastle watched a Storm kick-off go dead in the first play of the second half to hand over possession.
Xavier Coates had another field day on the right wing for Melbourne with his hat-trick making it seven tries in two games, while Harry Grant set up three tries out of dummy-half.
Cameron Munster had a hand in two tries and scored one himself, as the Storm again made light work of the Knights’ flimsy right-edge defence and Justin Olam claimed a double.
No better was that dominance shown then when Olam shrugged off four defenders in the lead-up to his second try, after crossing with ease for Melbourne’s first.
Coates, meanwhile, had far too much pace for Newcastle and set up a try for halfback Jahrome Hughes when he kicked back in-field after an ugly last-tackle play.
In comparison, Newcastle’s halves struggled. Adam Clune battled a knee injury, while Clifford had a dog of a day from his opening kick-off.
He later put the ball out on the full after the Knights’ first set in attack, while he and Clune ended with seven missed tackles between them.
Already battling a hefty injury toll, Newcastle lost Sauaso Sue in the fourth minute to a concussion, while Hoy was also hurt late and Kalyn Ponga appeared to be carrying his right arm.
It dropped the Knights below Canterbury to sit bottom for the first time since their last wooden spoon in 2017.
“I think there was a lot more effort than last week and that hurts more,” Ponga said. “We just have some areas and last plays that just weren’t good enough, especially against the Storm.”
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he believed Newcastle would recover from their horror stretch.
“The one thing Newcastle has always been famous for is it’s a tough town and they always fight their way out of the difficulty they’re in,” he said.
© AAP
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