After defeating the New Zealand Warriors 28-22 on Sunday at Hunter Stadium, and recording the team's sixth win from eight games, Newcastle Knights' forward Korbin Sims admitted the team reflected on missing this year's finals series.
The 23-year-old forward attributed the Round 23 victory to the fact the team stuck to the game plan and executed well however, concedes there’s a trace of disappointment finding form when the finals are out of the equation.
“We know what we can do and we know what we can achieve, so it’s a shame that we’ve come into some good form at the end of the year with no real finals hopes for us,” Sims told the media at a press conference at Wests Mayfield.
“We were joking around in the sheds last night saying there should be a wild card for us to get into the finals."
There were no new injuries to report from Sunday's match, but some sore bodies arrived for recovery on Monday morning.
“It was a tough game, it probably didn’t look it because we were on top for most of the match, but it was a really grinding game,” Sims said.
“I’m a little bit sore, they’re always hard to play, the New Zealand Warriors, they are a big, physical side.
"A few of the boys will be pretty sore this morning I dare say.
Sims commended brothers Chanel and Sione Mata’utia on both playing an outstanding game in the six-point win.
“It was unreal, Chanel had a really good game last night, on his birthday aswell and Sione, he’s a really good prospect to watch and he’s going to do big and great things for this Club," he said.
Despite it being mathematically possible for the Knights to scrape into the finals, the team’s drive will come from the desire to finish the season strongly.
"All we have to do is what we did yesterday in the game, we just have to stick to our game plan and execute our plays," Sims said.
“We’ve had enough rockets from Wayne (Bennett) this year and we’ve finally pulled our head in.
“It’s a shame we’ve pulled our heads in a little bit too late.”
The Knights have Tuesday off before returning to training on Wednesday as they turn their focus to Saturday's match against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
