Brian Smith: It's all on the line in race for finals
BY BRIAN SMITH
What a finish footy fans for almost every club in the NRL are in for over the next three weekends, and none more so than our Knights.
The Cowboys arrive on Saturday night at EAS trying like mad to shake off the wooden spoon tag with their key playmaker, Johnathan Thurston, back from injury.
They will be trying to knock us out of the play-off race and we will be striving to keep our dream alive.
We will have Adam MacDougall back after missing last week's trip to Canberra, and Doogs, like Danny Buderus, may be playing for his last tilt at the NRL play-offs.
I am sure everyone in our club wants our two most senior players to achieve that goal after all they have done for our sport and club over distinguished careers.
There is sure to be some desperate football being played by both teams as well as those individuals within.
That's what we have been working hard at from those November pre-season training sessions where we all started getting to know each other.
It's been a credit to all those blokes who have performed for us in the NRL this season that we have managed to blend together so many guys from different footy backgrounds and at both ends of the experience spectrum.
Bedsy and Gids [Kurt Gidley] have led the way with outstanding seasons for the Knights and at rep level, and Simmo [Steve Simpson] and Doogs have pulled out some special games with man-of-the-match performances too.
Likewise rookies like Junior Sau and Aku Uate have made great contributions when given their chances to join in with the big boys as others like Jimmy Mac [James McManus], Pato [Cory Paterson] and Mullo [Jarrod Mullen] have continued to grow in the season '08.
But for me, the overwhelming achievement made so far this season has been the teamwork all the squad has developed.
It's what the people within the club and the many supporters I met on arrival in the Hunter nearly two years ago have consistently repeated that they wanted to happen.
"Get us working as a team. Make it hard for the opposition to come to Newcastle. Let's get that pride back in our defensive line."
I heard it everywhere I went. It's what I love to do, and there is no better feeling as a coach in team sport than to see your team working hard for each other, especially under the pump when the opposition is having a full-on crack at you, as the Cowboys will surely be doing on Saturday night.
We have made enough progression this season to be in there fighting for a place in the big end-of-season games.
Not enough to be cruising in at the top of the ladder, but I think that might have been pipe dreaming for anyone who was thinking like that.
No, we are about where we wanted to be at this stage, but a little short of completing the job. At this time of season the pressure begins to mount on almost everyone associated with a footy club. For some it becomes more difficult than for others to deal with the disappointments, hold their nerve, continue to do the things that have been successful, not worry about the outcomes but treat every day as the only opportunity to prepare for the next, so that game day arrives with a feeling that we are all ready to go.
Nothing can be left undone through lack of attention or distraction for coaches or players.
Knowing who to listen to and who to ignore can be a valuable tool also at this time of year.
Quite a number of Knights fans have become regular, valued contributors to my pool of weekly evaluation and assessment on all things footy.
While we don't always agree, obviously because they often have opposite thoughts to each other as well, I really appreciate the manner in which they transfer their thoughts, hopes and disappointments to me.
I know they will continue to do so as I welcome their inputs.
I have not found it hard to tell a disappointed but loyal and supportive fan from those who have little concept of the team values we are building, or the place real club supporters have in helping us achieve what we all desperately want.
A Knights win on Saturday will do for starters!
And we will know and appreciate all of those people who have assisted in making it happen.
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