Newcastle Knights feel they have more to prove to be contenders
A WIN over South Sydney won’t be a statement to the rest of the competition that the Knights are contenders in 2018, but it will be one more step along that path.
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A WIN over South Sydney won’t be a statement to the rest of the competition that Newcastle are contenders in 2018, but it will be one more step along that path.
The Knights could be forgiven if they were walking tall with their five-three record, having played just two home games this season.
But they’re playing it cool.
Friday night’s return to McDonald Jones will certainly be an advantage as they look to continue that winning run, but stand-in co-captain Aidan Guerra knows his new club has more to do before they stake a claim as the real deal.
“We’ve got a long way to go before we can answer that question, but I think the potential that we have here,” he said, “it’s just a matter of reaching that and doing it week in, week out to measure where we really stand in this competition.”
The Rabbitohs are a good marker for that.
The third-best attack in the league with one of the most fearsome packs, a team needs to be on in every facet to get the win.
Losses to the Dragons, Roosters and Storm have taught Newcastle some lessons though, which they hope will see them through.
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“We’ve got to control the ball. We didn’t do that against Melbourne, we gave them all the run and if you give big fellas the ball and they’re not tackling, well they’re going to be fresh and steaming on to it,” Guerra said.
“For us it’s a simple game plan. Complete our sets, kick well and make them come off their own tryline.”
The way they dug in against Manly gives the Knights hope too.
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But the Knights hung on at Brookvale and took back the lead with just five minutes to play. In doing so, they proved to themselves they can keep pushing forward this season.
“I’m very proud of the way that we’ve come together as a side, especially last week without Pearcey, to show the growth and maturity in some of the players,” Guerra said.
“After eight games to be sitting at five and three, it’s pretty good.
“We’re still a long way off our best and we’re hoping we’re a step in the right direction after this weekend.”