For Nathan Ross, the nib Newcastle Knights clash against the Melbourne Storm was an eye-opener.
“It shows where we need to get to as a Club,” he said.
“Melbourne are a team that continually do the little things right.
“We need to start focusing on doing those little things right for longer periods.”
Despite Friday’s result, the Knights winger said their record against the ladder leaders has been commendable in previous years.
“In my last two years I’ve won one and narrowly lost one down there,” explained Ross.
“I would say this team would probably be the better of the three teams that we went down there with but Melbourne are a classy team.
“They had some Origin players back up but you can see through their system when Cameron Smith is out they bring (Tim) Glasby and (Brandon) Smith who just fit into their roles.
“We can only take it as a stepping stone heading in the right direction.”
As the Knights turn their focus to the Manly Sea Eagles this Friday, Ross is expected to mark up on former teammate Akuila Uate.
“I have done a lot of training against Aku in previous years, you won’t meet a more kind, humble person than Aku,” stated Ross.
“He is a man of God and is very respectful of his peers and his family, so there won’t be any banter... we’ll just be letting our football do the talking.
“He is pretty hard to tackle... he has that low centre of balance so I’m going to have to fly in as hard as I can.
“Pete (Mata’utia) and I should be able to solve what they throw at us, I am quite confident in what Peter and I do, we shut down most edges.”
The Knights winger maintains there’s always need for improvement in his game.
“If there’s an area of my game that I’m not quite happy with, I’ll make sure I stay out there for an extra ten to fifteen minutes and nail that on the head so when we’re moving into next week I’m on top of it," he said.
“I am going to go out there and do my best.”
