It’s only been two weeks since Mitch Barnett became a Knight, but the hard-hitting edge forward says he is already feeling at home.
“The boys have been really good to me, helping me out around training and just learning plays,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“They’ve helped me feel really settled.”
Originally from Wingham, a town nearly 200 kilometres north of Newcastle, Barnett has been staying at a hotel since his signing.
“I’ve found somewhere to live now, hopefully I’ll move in in the upcoming days,” he explained.
“Newcastle’s a great place to live, and I got to go home for the first time in a while during the bye break.”
Despite winning the plaudits of many fans in his Club debut in Round 14, Barnett was not particularly happy with how it panned out.
“I was disappointed with my personal performance, but I thought the team showed some real fight in the first half there,” he said.
“In the second half we didn’t get the rub of the green, and we just need to work on those second half starts.”
Although Barnett made ten runs and three tackle busts in only 60 minutes, he wasn’t satisfied with his contribution in defence.
“I thought with my defence I could have been a little bit better,” he said.
“I fell off some tackles, but hopefully I’ll improve week to week the more minutes I get to play with these boys.
“It’s a few technical issues, but I’m working really hard with the coaching staff and hopefully there’ll be a lot of improvement.”
With Barnett again named in the number 12 jersey for this Saturday afternoon’s match against the Dragons, he will have the opportunity to put in a performance that he can hang his hat on at Hunter Stadium.
