Finals footy is a step closer for the NYC Newcastle Knights as they jump to sixth spot on the ladder after a 66-point drubbing of the New Zealand Warriors.
“At this time of the year, that’s when you want to be winning,” said Under 20s coach Todd Lowrie.
Their biggest win for the season was a much needed points differential booster with just four games for the season remaining.
“We needed it,” admitted Lowrie.
“Our for and against isn’t fantastic so we did need to get a good win, but we still need to win some more games if we want to be in the finals.
“We will enjoy the win like you should do and then we’ll be looking forward to coming up against Parramatta (Eels) on Friday.”
Lowrie praised his side for showcasing some classy football on Saturday.
“When you’re winning and coming up against an opposition that is a little bit off, you want to be able to put the nail in the coffin and that’s what we did,” explained the NYC coach.
“It was really good to see we actually stuck to what we were doing well and what we spoke about during the week and it paid dividends.”
Lowrie admits their hard work holding the ball paid off.
“We have worked pretty hard on actually holding the ball and getting a fair rate of possession,” said the Under 20s coach.
“Then when you’ve got it, actually getting through your sets and that’s what we did in the first half.
“I think we made our first error with four minutes to go so that certainly helps and the Warriors were a bit off, they have had a tough year so it is good to be able to capitalise on that.”
With ten individual try-scorers on the day, Lowrie was pleased to see the load shared.
“It was good, there were some guys that scored a few but it’s great to be able to share it around,” he said.
“There was certainly a lot of space around the ruck and we took advantage of it so it would be unfair to single anybody out, it was a good team effort.
“They were probably all worried about having to do a nudie run at the end of the year.”
Talented forward Pasami Saulo, who made a return to the side after a stint in Reserve Grade, was able to put down the first points of the match.
“Pasami (Saulo) was really good for us, especially his first half efforts,” Lowrie added.
“He ran the ball hard like we know he can and coming back from Reserve Grade, you want blokes to bring that confidence and he certainly did that.”
NYC take on Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium on Friday.
