Hey Guys, first post here. Been a Knights supporter for a long time and I've obviously been really impressed with how we've started the season.
Was quite gutted by the loss last night in that nature. I'm not going to try and pick it apart too much as at the end of the day we were beaten on goal kicking (and Cleary's experience in tight games). The multitude of errors to start the second half were obviously disappointing, but I think they were reflective of fatigue due to all the effort from the first half. They had Penrith absolutely rattled and probably gave the rest of the comp a blueprint to beating them...we just need to keep developing to be able to keep it up for the whole game.
As gutted as I was by the loss, I actually think we probably gained more from losing that game than if we had won it, as crazy as that might sound. I remember at times over recent seasons we'd be showing good effort and were building but after beating some of the top teams in consecutive weeks their effort and commitment dropped off and so did the performances (reading their own press a bit maybe). They'd suddenly get a lot of praise if they had beaten Penrith where now I'm happy with everyone continuing to think we're a shit side. Keeps the team hungry.
I'm absolutely loving Hastings and Gamble. Not sure what it is but I think they were born to play together. Hastings might not be the best halfback in the game, but he's perfect for us. He's a real competitor and is organising the rest of the team well. I think he really compliments Ponga's weaknesses. He's really gotten behind the club and the fans.
Speaking of Ponga, I think we might have some teething problems when he first comes back. I certainly don't subscribe to the view that we're better without him though. Hoping now that we've shown that we can attack without him we'll keep playing the same style as we have been and Ponga can just chime in when something's on and be the icing on the cake. I think bringing him back in will be a bit of "short term pain for long-term gain" as someone else put it.
Just as an aside, did anyone catch how much Michael Ennis was death riding us in the commentary box last night?You would have thought that the Knights weren't even fit to play in the same game as Penrith and Cleary were by the way he was carrying on, where in reality it was a really even game.
