NEWCASTLE players were left shattered on Sunday afternoon when Brock Lamb shanked a last-minute kick at goal to condemn his side to a two-point loss to the Bulldogs at Belmore.
The Knights were 10 points ahead with five minutes remaining but Canterbury fought back to give favourite son Josh Reynolds the perfect send off from the Dogs’ spiritual home, albeit not without a few heart palpitations.
Newcastle fans will have been happy with the fight shown by their players but are again left to rue another missed opportunity to claim two points. The Novocastrians are last on the ladder with just two wins from 16 games.
Perhaps coach Nathan Brown’s troops were inspired to put up more resistance this weekend after copping an almighty spray from Newcastle legend Andrew Johns before kick-off. Joey — speaking about his former club’s dismal season that last week saw it lose 33-12 to a Wests Tigers outfit that’s been dreadful all year — said the players weren’t even up to reserve grade standard in that clash.
His comments came in response to remarks made by Knights chairman Brian McGuigan, who said he had “lost faith” in the side and questioned the work of coach Nathan Brown.
“They’ve directed it at the wrong man,” Johns told Channel Nine. “They (McGuigan’s comments) should be directed to the players who are on the field. Last week they had 20,000 people turn up to watch them play the Wests Tigers who have been struggling.
Johns just wants what’s best for the Knights.Source:AAP
“The Wests Tigers lapped them. The scoreboard didn’t reflect how much better they were.
“I felt sorry for the people. It’s not acceptable. But Nathan Brown is doing a good job. He’s the man for the job and hopefully he will lead them out of the dire straights were they are.
“The players are the ones that have to take responsibility because some of their performance last week wasn’t up to local league or reserve grade standard.
“They’ve got to understand what this club was built on from day one and they’ve got to go back there and understand the principles this place was built on, and at the moment they’re not showing that.
“It’s not acceptable and it’s embarrassing to the community.”
Newcastle is facing a long road ahead to return to its former glory. Brown has often repeated this and given the club boasts such an inexperienced roster, wins were always going to be hard to come by in 2017.
Rugby league icon Phil Gould says he can’t see a ready-made solution to the Knights’ woes and while sympathetic to McGuigan, believes he should have expressed his frustration internally rather than via a public statement.
“It’s hard to get a short-term result out of a long-term plan,” Gould told Channel Nine.
“Everyone knows the Newcastle Knights are on a long-term plan. Personally, I think it’s going to take them 8-10 years to get back to being competitive in this competition. It’s a long, hard, painstaking journey.
“Every now and then a result comes along which really hurts and I think last week hurt, to be beaten by the Tigers the way they were.
“That was a statement of frustration (from McGuigan). I think that’s a statement that’s better said in-house if that’s the way he felt.”
Brock Lamb missed the opportunity to send the game into extra time.Source:Getty Images
Newcastle admitted to blundering the decision over who would take the crucial penalty kick which could have sent its game against the Bulldogs into golden point.
After the Dogs snatched the lead with a minute remaining thanks to a Moses Mbye runaway try, the Knights had a chance to save it after the bell when Josh Reynolds was penalised for pushing Chanel Mata’utia off the ball from the restart.
Trent Hodkinson had kicked three from four but decided to hand over the resulting attempt at a penalty conversion to Brock Lamb. Hodkinson — who has been plagued with chronic knee issues throughout his career — was worried he couldn’t make the distance.
He revealed he had misunderstood how far out the kick was to be taken from, thinking the penalty had been blown 40m from the goals posts, a distance he didn’t think he could make.
In fact the mark was 30m out, a range he felt he could make comfortably. Afer Lamb’s shocking kick sailed low and left of the uprights to cap a memorable Bulldogs win, Hodkinson said he was wrong not to pull rank and step back in to take the shot.
Trent Hodkinson regrets not stepping in to take the kick.Source:Getty Images
“I thought the penalty was on the 40m line and obviously Lamby has the bigger boot,” Hodkinson told Triple M. “He slots them over at training all the time.
“When he lined it up it was on the 30 (metre line) and I didn’t want to take it off him. He was zoned in.
“I probably should have taken it. I’m filthy I didn’t.”
Lamb has kicked at 82 per cent this year and is considered a reliable boot. However, the 20-year-old seemed to suffer a case of the yips under the extreme pressure after coming up with the kick which led to Mbye’s game-winning try just minutes earlier.
“My message was if Hodko thinks he’s got the distance in him then take it, if he doesn’t then go with Lamby,” Nathan Brown said. “Lamby actually strikes the ball really, really well.
“What happened before probably played a part in how he struck the ball. He’s kicking goals at nearly 90 per cent.
“As hard as it is to take, it’s just part of the journey these kids are on. I can see the makings of a really good side.”
— with AAP
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