The Newcastle Knights showed enormous spirit to fight back from an 18-6 deficit at the break to charge home and win against the Cronulla Sharks at Remondis Stadium on Sunday.
Coach Wayne Bennett was thrilled with the win, even joking that his halftime speech was one for the ages.
"Oh it might have been my best," said Bennett, who was celebrating his 700th career game as a coach.
"They turned it around and played with a bit more intensity in the second half and played a bit smarter.
"They (Cronulla) had been down 24-0 at the break in their last couple of games, but got up to beat the opposition. So I didn’t want to be leading at halftime (laughs).
"So to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t overly disappointed in one sense. I’d hoped we lured them into a false sense of security, but we weren’t playing well and we weren’t playing with a lot of intensity.
"But we picked it all up in the second half and got it right. I’ve got no doubt at 18-0 they thought it was all over and they had the game.
"But that try before halftime was crucial."
Captain Kurt Gidley concedes his side were outplayed in the first half, but found their groove in the second.
"Our first half we were out enthused, which is the disappointing thing, but we spoke about it halftime how we wanted to play more simple," he said.
"We probably played too lateral in the first half and we completed our sets and that just builds a bit of confidence and momentum in the second half.”
The Knights' attention will now shift to Sunday when they host the Gold Coast Titans at Hunter Stadium in RiseForAlex Round.
Gidley says the team is keen to put in a strong performance for their injured teammate and close friend.
"We are just focused on next week now and next week is the big week for Alex and probably one of the most important games of the year to win for us," Gidley said.
Coach Bennett concurred with his skipper, saying the entire Club is looking forward to honouring McKinnon in style on Sunday.
"It’s Alex’s day," Bennett said frankly.
"I can’t add too much more than that, because everyone knows what Alex means to all of us at the Knights.
"They wear his name on their chest and jerseys every week, so it’s all about Alex next week.
"We want to just give him the best day we possibly can."
