Prior to their clash against the Warriors on Sunday night, Knights coach Adam O’Brien referred to some “honest conversations” that had taken place within the four walls at Newcastle.
After a Round 3 thrashing at the hands of the Dolphins and two losses from their opening three games, change was certainly required and immediately.
Now, after addressing effort and the putting aside of the absence of superstar Kalyn Ponga, the Knights have since found inspiration and form.
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The turnaround has been remarkable and based on little more than a work ethic and determination for which Knights fans have been longing for many a recent season.
All of a sudden, the Knights look like a competitive and threatening unit. Dominic Young looms as an NRL superstar, Jackson Hastings has achieved a level of control in the middle of the field that the team needed and the forwards are holding their own against the biggest and most dominant of packs.
It was hard to wipe the pleasure and satisfaction from O’Brien’s face in the post-game press conference.
“That was a really important performance for us today, not just to get the win but in front of our supporters. Whilst I wasn’t completely satisfied with the second half performance, I thought our start was great….happy but not content.”
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The Knights had indeed opened themselves up to a Warrior comeback, yet steeled in a way the club has not in recent times.
“I thought Shaun Johnson came at us really hard, we had to hang tight and I thought we defended our try line fairly well. There was no panic, I’m really proud of the fact that they wrestled back the momentum.”
Whilst the absence of Ponga could well have been interpreted as a sign the Knights were destined for yet another year of struggle, the leadership group appears to have stepped into the void and O’Brien could not be more pleased with the model they are providing for the younger and less-experienced players.
“That is the good thing about the leaders at the moment, it is not so much tell me, it’s show me. Our leaders are doing a really good job.”
Newcastle Knights Press Conference | 09:09
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Seemingly determined to start afresh, O’Brien referenced the visit of NRL heavyweights Penrith in Round 7. “I’m sick to death of talking about last year, it is a different group, new players, staff, we are having a crack. We have to get better, we’ll review and we’ve got a pretty handy team coming to town next week.”
Tyson Frizell also engaged with the coach’s vision. “We are trying to build something in this team, we knew they were going to come hard in the second half, we knew we needed to get some sets back to back. We completed three in a row before we got our next try.”
It appears that despite a rocky start to the season and growing injury concerns that now include Jayden Brailey, after the hooker succumbed to a knee problem in the second half, the Knights are heading in the right direction.
The journey is being fuelled by a guts and determination typical of the Hunter, one absent for some time, yet now being rediscovered under O’Brien.
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