Newcastle Knights’ NYC coach Matt Lowrie spoke in the sheds after his side’s disappointing loss to the Canberra Raiders on Saturday.
The side started well and established a decent lead at Hunter Stadium, before crumbling in the back end of the game, which resulted in the 46-28 scoreline.
“I think we were just really costly in our middle today,” he said.
“We started the game pretty well and completed our sets and got down the other end and got some tries.
“But then when the tide turned a little bit and we had to defend our line for a while, we turned our toes up a little bit and let in a few tries, then the flood gates opened.
“It wasn’t very good.”
The side featured a number of players new to the U20s competition who Lowrie thought performed admirably under pressure.
“We had a couple of guys who were playing their first or second game for us and they did quite well,” he said.
“Some of our guys certainly stood up and did a good job, but as a team it was pretty disappointing.
“I think they have to take a bit more pride in their goal line and realise that when we are playing at home it’s even more special."
Meanwhile, winger Matt Soper-Lawler gave his opinion of the loss.
“We started so well and ended up shooting ourselves in the foot," he said.
“We were inconsistent with our defence and have to work on that through the week.
“Defence is a big part of that game. We just leaked 48 points in front of our home game. We wanted to start the day off in a really good manner.
“We scored 28 points so we have attack in us.”
Though a personal highlight for the local junior was scoring two tries for the Knights while playing on the left edge.
“They both popped up for me and I was the right place right time and was lucky really,” he concluded.
The young Knights take on the Warriors in round four at Mt Smart Stadium.
