Newcastle Knight Pete Mata’utia feels he has begun to build momentum after making a return to the field following an ankle injury.
The injury occurred in his first game back with the Club in Round 8 after he re-signed in April. The eldest of the three Mata’utia brothers is now set to play his third game on Sunday post his recovery.
“I’m feeling really good,” he said on Monday after the Knights’ first training session of the week at Knights HQ.
“I’m a couple of game back now.
“I’m still trying to get rid of some cobwebs and hopefully I can get a few more runs this week and work on my defence.
“It’s a credit to the rehab staff who I have done a lot of hard work with, so it’s good to be back with the boys.”
He hopes the intensity and desire shown in last weekend’s golden point match against the Canberra Raiders will be a permanent feature of the Knights’ during the remainder of the season.
“That game against Canberra, we set the bar for ourselves and we are hoping to keep that as an average game for us,” he said.
“The mood is great. We should take a lot of confidence out of our last game against Canberra.
“(Coach) Browny challenged us to have a great start and I thought we all did that.
“We are a young side and we are getting better by the week.”
The added confidence will be valuable as the side prepares to play the Melbourne Storm back on home turf on Sunday.
“They are a great side and have been a top four side for the past ten years and have the three best players in the comp,” Mata’utia said.
“We know where we are at the moment and will just take it week by week.”
The Newcastle Knights take on the Melbourne Storm on Sunday at Hunter Stadium. Kids come free to the game. Buy your ticket today.
