Knights captain Kurt Gidley urged his teammates to keep their heads up and stay positive despite a frustrating 32-6 loss to a Ben Barba-inspired Brisbane Broncos at Hunter Stadium on Friday night.
In front of a crowd of 22,254, the Broncos tackled the Knights out of the game with determined, desperate defence when they were starved of possession early on, then Barba applied the polish as the visitors made the most of their limited opportunities.
The former Dally M Medallist held up Willie Mason and Adam Cuthbertson over the line to deny the Newcastle front-rowers tries, typifying Brisbane's gritty defensive effort, then scored a try of his own and created two others for Matt Gillett and Dale Copley.
Knights coach Wayne Bennett counted four times that his players were held up and prevented from scoring, and Gidley believed the scoreboard did not reflect Newcastle's effort and enthusiasm.
"We can't go around kicking stones. We can't walk around with our heads down," Gidley said. "We've got to work out what we need to do to improve. Momentum's a big thing in our game and we haven't got that at the moment."
Bennett was pleased with his team's effort "but just at the moment, it's the way the season has been for us".
"There's lots of effort in different games and not a lot of luck, but as Kurt said, we've just got to stay at it and hope it will turn," Bennett said.
Newcastle trailed 16-6 at half-time and were still in the game trailing by that score midway through the second half. But in a five-minute stretch, Beau Scott lost the ball trying to offload, Barba held Cuthbertson up over the line, and Joey Leilua knocked on trying to pass on the first tackle in front of Brisbane's posts. The Broncos responded with three late tries, including two in the final six minutes, to blow the final margin out.
"I was just saying to Wayne, I'm in a bit of shock at the moment," Gidley said. "As Wayne said, we were held up a few times, we got repeat sets, we were building some pressure early in the game, and that's what you want, so I didn't really think the scoreline reflected what we did in the first half.
"There's a bit of shock sitting in there in the dressing-room at the moment, with the scoreline, and I guess they were a lot more desperate in defence -- certainly their goal-line defence. We had to chance our arm a little bit at the end, and that's when a few mistakes come in and it gets a little bit frustrating, but we were getting across the line so we were putting the right plays on."
Barba appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury when he fell awkwardly when tackled in the 78th minute but he played the ball and finished the game on his feet. The six tries-to-one victory extended Brisbane's unbeaten streak over the Knights in Newcastle to four matches, after an 18-all draw last year and back-to-back wins in 2011 (26-6) and 2012 (24-10).
The Broncos ended a two-game losing skid and halted whatever momentum the Knights thought they were building after their 26-12 victory over Canberra last Saturday. "Last week [in a 12-8 loss to Gold Coast] I thought we nearly earned a win through our defence and we were a bit unlucky but tonight we definitely did," Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said. "We withstood that first half. I think they had 10 sets more than us in the first half, so to come in 10 in front, I think that was probably the ball game there, or set the win up with that defensive effort."
Former skipper Sam Thaiday was a late withdrawal for the Broncos but they did not miss him, as the likes of Matt Gillett, hooker Andrew McCullough and skipper Corey Parker lifted and led Brisbane's swarming, spoiling defence. Nineteen-year-old rookie Jake Mamo made a successful NRL debut on the right wing, replacing former NSW and Australian winger Aku Uate (knee). "You know he's going to have a long career and I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching it," former Knights captain Andrew Johns said in his role of Channel Nine television commentator.
Mamo was tested several times in the opening minutes but answered each challenge. He bobbled a bomb with his first touch in the second minute but regathered and earned a penalty. Mamo returned a kick at full speed five minutes later only to be quickly stopped in his tracks by an Alex Glenn rib-rattler, but the Gosford junior was quick to his feet and a minute later was on the spot to tackle Barba in-goal.
"I thought he was pretty competent and did a good job," Bennett said. "It wasn't easy out there for him -- it was a quality footy team he was playing against -- but he showed us he has a pretty bright future."
Trailing 16-0 late in the first half, Knights bench prop Korbin Sims crashed over from close range from an Adam Clydsdale pass in the 36th minute to cut the deficit to 16-6. Newcastle appeared certain to pull even closer one minute before half-time but Barba held Mason up over the line to deny the 34-year-old prop a try. Mason was reported for a shoulder charge on Parker in the 51st minute, and the tackle will come under the scrutiny of the match review committee on Monday.
