NYC coach Troy Pezet expects the NYC Newcastle Knights to pick themselves up and aim for improvement this week after the 46-36 loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday.
After building a solid foundation at the start of the game, the Knights relinquished the lead in the second half to eventually go down to a determined Dragons side.
“I think the boys are really disappointed in their second half,” Pezet said.
“We had enough ball in the first half and we completed well and struck to our game plan.
“It got a bit loose in the second half and we lost momentum and it swung the other way and we got punished.
“The harder they tried the worse things got in the end.
“They used too much energy late in the game and weren’t going to be able to climb back.”
In the lead up to Friday’s game against the Sharks, Pezet says the side will focus on an improvement in completion rates and a willingness to stick at things as a team.
“We have a short turn around next for Cronulla, so they will work hard again during the week and I’m sure they’ll bounce back.”
Faitotoa Faitotoa, who played in the centres for the first time, scored in the 64th minute which momentarily levelled the scores before the Dragons had their late run.
“I was pretty lucky, (Jack) Cogger put a grubber through and the fullback dropped it so I put the ball down,” Faitotoa said.
“It was pretty tough in the wet weather and the ball control wasn’t too good.
“That’s my first try of the season so I’m pretty stocked.
"We want to move on from this, it’s a loss so we have to take it on the chin. Bring on next week.”
The Knights’ goal kicker Brock Lamb was challenged by the inclement weather at Hunter Stadium on Saturday.
“It was a lot harder than it was the last couple of weeks,” Lamb said.
“I pride myself on my goal kicking so that’s something I can really work on this week and hopefully do a bit better next week."
Despite the loss, Lamb believes the Knights will be looking for redemption when they take on the Cronulla Sharks on Friday.
“As a team, there were some highlights there and we stuck in the game…and we had a lot of effort there which is good going into next week,” the five eighth added.
“It’s not so much effort based, it’s just the little things like discipline, ball penalties and hitting and sticking in our tackles.”
