After a disastrous season in 2022, Newcastle Knights had a point to prove to themselves and their fans.
After losing Dominic Young before the season begun, the media reports putting pressure on the Knights, so many closes losses, games they had but let slip, a demolition from the Parramatta Eels and Adam O’Brien’s job on the line, it looked all but certain Newcastle’s trip away to Canterbury had everything on the line.
Newcastle recorded their biggest win ever on that day, 66-0. I won’t deny I was beginning to have some doubts on the coach but still preferred him not to be sacked. He deserves an extension.
After that monumental win, the Knights would win another seven on the trot to defeat Cronulla at home on Old Boys Day to lock up a home final, the following week they defeated St George Illawarra 32-12 to seal fifth spot.
Week 1 of the finals – Newcastle defeated Canberra 30-28 in a tight extra time thriller. After a back and forth battle, Kalyn Ponga kicking a penalty goal in the 89th minute sealed the deal there.
Week 2 of the finals – Warriors defeated Newcastle 40-10. After an error from the opening set from the Knights, Warriors made them pay and went out to a 16-4 lead at the break.
Dylan Lucas with his second half try early gave the Knights come hope at 16-10 but Warriors quickly snuffed it out and blew the game away. Well done to the Warriors, they deserved that win.
I am very proud of how much of a turnaround we managed from last season and even the opening half of this season. An unprecedented 10 consecutive wins in a single season. They did their town proud, they exceeded my expectations, and they showed on their day, they can cause some serious damage to anyone who they play.
Unfortunately, that fountain ran dry. While I am proud of how far they went, I’m still disappointed that they didn’t go the distance. I hope they take what they learned in finals footy as a learning experience. What they brought on and off the field to me is something they can build on for next season.
Now that’s all out of the way, I’ll drop some regular season stats from Fox Sports:
Tries: scored 114 and conceded 78 = 36
Points: scored 626 and conceded 451 = 175
Tackles broken: 910
Tackles: made 7,245 and missed 672 with a percentage of 91.51%
Sets: Completed 760/980 = 77.55%
Penalties: received 135 and conceded 123 = 12
Linebreaks: made 142 and conceded 107 = 35
Run Metres: 34,953 ran and 34,267 conceded = 686
Offloads: 195 made and 201 conceded = -6
Kicking metres: 13,251 made and 11,932 conceded = 1,319
Overall: 14 wins, 9 loses and a draw.
That is a massive improvement from 2022 and I hope our players can build on that for next season. However, for now let them enjoy the off-season and hope our NRLW Knights go back to back.
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