Knights aim up with 38-4 belting of Titans as fans fail to show
Fans failed to show in the Hunter for Newcastle’s Old Boys’ day, but on the paddock the Knights put on a show after a tumultuous week with a 38-4 belting of the Gold Coast Titans.
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Newcastle are refusing to give up on a finals miracle after conquering a club crisis to flog the Titans.
Less than a week after being accused of giving up on their coach, Newcastle rebounded from the shock of Nathan Brown quitting the club to beat the Titans 38-4 and keep their finals dream alive.
“It has been that sort of crazy season,’’ said Newcastle captain Mitchell Pearce.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we did (make the finals). It will be interesting to see what happens.’’
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In their first match under Kristian Woolf after Brown quit the club on Tuesday, Newcastle recovered from a slow start to score seven tries to one in an “Old Boys’’’ day mauling at McDonald Jones Stadium.
“It is a much better feeling than we had in the sheds last week,’’ Woolf said.
“And I need to give the guys a wrap. Everyone knows it has been a big couple of weeks. We had reasons not to go on with it after having the first try scored against us but that were able to defend their way through and that shows that we had a real commitment about ourselves.
“I am really happy with what they came up with.’’
WOOLF PACK
Woolfe became a first-up NRL winner with the Knights delivering him a victory just five days after being appointed a caretaker NRL coach.
Set to join St Helens at the end of the year, Woolf was thrown into the hot-seat after Brown quit in a shock response to a 46-4 thumping against the Tigers.
“It has been a big week obviously,’’ Woolf said.
“But it was all pretty normal once we got to the back end of the week. We dealt with the rest of it at the start of the week and then got on with football from Wednesday.
“We were able to concentrate on the game and get the job done. We just didn’t want to come away with a performance like last week. Now the job is to come away with another positive performance next week.’’
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SORRY STATE
Pearce apologised to Newcastle’s long line of fans for the thumping that cost Brown his job.
The Newcastle captain hoped Saturday’s thumping helped make up for the loss that saw his side labelled “soft” and “weak”.
“Last week wasn’t acceptable,’’ Pearce said.
“As captain I let the club down and as a group it was unacceptable. We let ourselves down and our town down last week.
“We needed to turn up today and play Newcastle style, which is built on toughness, and we turned up for our mate. I think we got the result today.’’
Newcastle’s season looked like being thrown further into turmoil when the Titans scored just three minutes into the match.
“We had a good steely feel before the match,’’ Pearce said. “And the talk was good after that try. You get a feeling and I knew we would be OK.
“I am just really proud of the boys. They were defensively invested and we came up trumps.’’
TOP EIGHT CHANCE
The Knights are now a mathematical hope of making the finals.
“All we can do is make our own luck,’’ Pearce said.
“We won tonight and we have to do the same next week. We will then have to sit back and see what comes up with the other games.
“I reckon we (could give it a shake if we got there. Yes. With the boys we have.’’
The Titans will finish with the wooden spoon after their latest mauling.
NEWCASTLE 38 (M Barnett B Best L Fitzgibbon H Hunt S Mata’utia M Pearce C Watson tries M Lino 5 goals) bt GOLD COAST 4 (R Jacks try) at McDonald Jones Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Chris Butler. Crowd: 8,274.