Press conference: Lachlan Fitzgibbon on Round 7
nib Newcastle Knights second rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon has used the tough loss against Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park as an opportunity to learn, and admitted that while his game had a few highs there were plenty of lows, including a penalty that led to Fitzgibbon spending ten minutes in the bin.
“It was a bit of a mixed bag... no one likes to get ten in the bin and leave their side a man short,” Fitzgibbon stated.
“It’s something I’m looking to rectify this weekend.
“The rules are the rules. Outside of their ten, players are allowed to take a quick tap, and I put a hand on Slater… the most disappointing thing about it was that they scored off the back of it.
“I go out there every week trying to do my best and now that this has happened, we know what not to do in that situation and hopefully we aren’t put into that circumstance again for the rest of this year.”
Despite his defensive errors last weekend, the second rower has had an impressive attacking season thus far, scoring four tries in six games and leading the Knights in tries scored.
Fitzgibbon credits his star teammates Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga for putting the ball in the right place at the right time, and for bringing out the best in his game.
“They are quality players… Mitchell (Pearce) has been a star for the last ten years in Origin, and KP (Kalyn Ponga) is well on the way up there and will probably play Origin for a very long time. Having quality players around me really brings out the best in my game.
“With any quality player as Kalyn is, he is really hard to shut down. It doesn’t really matter who it is… whether it is the G.I’s (Greg Inglis) or the J.T’s (Jonathan Thurston) of the game they still manage to get it done more times than not against different defensive structures. As long as Kalyn keeps doing what he is doing, I am sure he will be hard to shut down.”
Fitzgibbon said that although the team took a battering against the Storm, they have rebounded well in training and are focused on bringing a high level of consistency to upcoming games.
“Melbourne are a quality side and if you play well against a quality side, you can do that (win) against pretty well any side. I’m focused on doing that every week and turning up with the same mindset and goals each week.
“We’re raring to go this weekend and I’m sure we’ll put in a better performance.”
