nib Newcastle Knights forward Mitch Barnett believes the team will continue to improve if they can learn from their mistakes.
He feels they let another game slip after last week’s 24-18 loss against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
“We beat ourselves,” explained Barnett.
“We lost it earlier on in the piece with little individual mistakes... we’ve all looked at video to try to fix it for this weeks’ match against the Penrith Panthers.
The Round 3 clash saw Barnett receive Players’ Player for the second time this season, although the 22-year-old with mixed reactions about his performance.
“It was an up and down game for me, I wasn’t too happy with my attack but I got through a bit of work which I was happy with,” he said.
“If I can keep getting bigger minutes out each week, I’ll be happy.”
Despite two losses this season, the Knights forward admits the boys continue to give 100 per cent each week.
“We’re ripping in right to the end. Just a few individual mistakes are costing us but the more we improve, the less mistakes we’ll get,” Barnett said.
The back rower it’s going to be a tough task against the Panthers this Friday but is confident the squad is well prepared.
“We have trained pretty well, we have the Captain's Run on Thursday, and we’re all looking forward to it.
“All the boys have pulled up pretty well, there were a few bumps and bruises but we’re confident going in Friday night that we’ll do the job.”
He did note that one thing to be weary of was Penrith’s talented outside backs.
“They are really powerful, they have a lot of skill,” said Barnett.
“They are a side that move the ball around a bit and they have some individual brilliance out wide with (Tyrone) Peachey who can break tackles left, right and centre and then you add (Matt) Moylan with all his skills.
“You’ve got to play the game up the middle, we’ll need to win it there first before anywhere else.”
The Knights Round 4 clash will be played at Pepper Stadium in Penrith, NRL kick off is 6pm.
