Sione Mata’utia spoke to Knights TV in the sheds after the Newcastle Knights’ loss to the Canberra Raiders.
Plenty hung on the Round 13 match that offered the potential to relieve pressure and build confidence as the team trailed into a bye in Round 14.
“The boys were talking about that this could be a four point win and it was important for us to get this win to get a bit of pressure off us,” Mata’utia said.
“At the end of the day, Canberra won, they really rolled through the middle.
“I know this coming bye, we’re going to be working hard on middle defence.
The Raiders proved challenging in attack with five-eighth Blake Austin scoring a damaging double in the second half of the match.
“He was always going to be their strike player and someone that we named dropped a bit. He’s in hot form at the moment and really caught us on our tails,” he said.
“We always spoke about fighting until the end and I think we never gave up until the end.
“After the second 20 minutes of the first half, we sort of looked alright and played a bit of good shape.
“I guess we just shot ourselves in the foot giving them piggy-backs.
“I’m looking forward to next week and some extra training and hopefully we can fix up our defence."
A sentiment shared by the team was the regret not to earn a win in front of their home crowd at Hunter Stadium.
“Sorry we couldn’t get the win today, we hope we can keep getting your support because it really does a lot,” he said to the Club’s Members and fans.
“We really, really try hard to get you the win and for us as well.
“I’d like to thank you for your support so far and would like to see that continue.”
