Newcastle Knights dig deep to earn draw against Penrith Panthers

With their backs up against the wall, the Knights dug in and clawed their way to a draw against Penrith.

Newcastle fullback Tex Hoy attempts to drive through the Penrith defence during their 14-all draw at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday evening. Picture: AAP

Mitchell Pearce only played four minutes but his words resonated in a Newcastle dressing room filled with equal parts liniment and hubris on Sunday afternoon.

“He just gave one of the greatest speeches I have seen given to the team – just about being proud of themselves and they didn’t wait to become a leader today,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said after his side’s 14-all draw with Penrith at Campbelltown Stadium.

“They dragged each other along. Really proud of those players and the kids. The adversity wasn’t late in the second half – it was from five minutes in.

“I am super proud. We just tackled. They were out on their feet. They were digging deep to try to defend their tryline.

“The toughness was something we spoke about in the pre-season, that if you want to feel good you are playing the wrong game.

“You are not going to feel good. Look, it is the third game. You can only pat them on the back.”

A pat on the back was the least they deserved.

Penrith were without their talisman as well, Nathan Cleary serving the first week of a two-match suspension for lying to the NRL integrity unit. Yet the Knights were shorn of Kalyn Ponga through suspension and when Pearce went down, Connor Watson was forced to play halfback.

Then Watson went off with an ankle problem. In the blink of an eye the Knights were down 14-0 with Pearce and Watson helpless on the sideline.

They were battered, but far from beaten.

Newcastle’s Mitchell Pearce suffered a concussion that forced him out of the action very early on against Penrith at Campbelltown Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

“I was trying to work out who was going to play where,” O’Brien said.

“That hit me in the face pretty quick.”

Rather than capitulating, the Knights dug in, gritted their teeth and found something when all hope looked lost as Pearce and Watson settled into their plastic seats and took on the role of highly paid cheerleaders.

The pair cajoled their teammates from the sidelines. At times, Pearce appeared to be screaming out plays for his teammates to enact.

O’Brien had led his side to consecutive wins prior to the intervention of COVID-19 but it is hard to believe either of those victories was as satisfying as taking a point from Penrith on Sunday.

The Knights were 14 points down through 23 minutes but didn’t concede another point after that. Instead, they replied with three tries of their own, two to teenage centre Bradman Best.

His second with 11 minutes remaining levelled the scores and proved the prelude to the game going into golden-point extra time.

Both sides had field goal attempts go wide. Penrith five-eighth Matt Burton took five shots and missed them all. His last attempt hit the post.

Rather than lambaste his young half, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary lavished him with praise.

“I gave him a rap,” Cleary said.

“I thought he was really brave out there. He kept standing up. I figured the more he took, the closer he was going to get.

“He is pretty disappointed. That is the way it goes.”

The Knights got through a mountain of work. Fullback Tex Hoy provided the guile when it was needed for Newcastle while the grit was shared among everyone.

Rookie hooker Chris Randall was thrust into the action early on and finished with 71 tackles. Another rookie – Brodie Jones – had 51.

The old stager in the forward pack, Tim Glasby, chimed in with 59. The Knights kept turning up as they maintained their unbeaten start to the year.

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Head of football Danny Buderus, one of the club’s most celebrated players, spoke afterwards about inspiring the people of Newcastle during a time of crisis brought on by COVID-19.

His phone was pinging with messages from former players after fulltime.

Meanwhile, Cleary was bemoaning a game that got away.

He need look no further than his own son when looking at what cost the Panthers. Had Nathan been playing, he would likely have steered his side home with a 14-point lead.

Instead, the Panthers need to find a way to win without him again next week.

“It was definitely a lost opportunity in that sense,” Ivan Cleary said.

“I felt like we put ourselves in position right through the game to take advantage of dominance, but we just couldn’t land the knockout blow.

“We backed off a bit. I thought we created enough opportunities. Credit to the Knights.”