“If I can say one thing, it’s don’t give up on us yet.”
That’s the message from inspirational backrower Lachlan Fitzgibbon, ahead of the four biggest games of his career.
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The first of those games is on Saturday, when the nib Newcastle Knights face the North Queensland at McDonald Jones Stadium.
A game Fitzgibbon believes the Knights can take out.
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“I go out there every week thinking we can win every game,” Fitzgibbon said.
“As results panned out over the weekend, our season isn’t over as everybody probably thought.
“So, if we win these next four games, we’re within every chance of getting in there.”
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Reflecting on last Saturday’s tight loss the Eels, Fitzgibbon pin-pointed the side’s defence as the key area they must get right if they’re to feature in the finals.
The Knights’ defence was much improved against the Eels, with the 20 points they conceded being the lowest in over a month.
“It’s a funny one isn’t it, because the way we played against Parramatta on the weekend would probably win the last month of footy, probably three of the five games,” he said.
“They only scored a couple off kicks.
“If we show up with that kind of energy and that kind of commitment in defence… then we can go a long way into winning the next month of footy.”
Fitzgibbon believes the next month of football will determine whether the Knights deserve a finals spot, with tough away trips against the Wests Tigers and Penrith awaiting them in the run home.
“We’ll be tested over the next month of footy because the three teams we play, besides the Cowboys, are in front of us,” he said.
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“If we can’t beat the teams in front of us then we don’t deserve to be in the finals.
“If we go out and beat these three teams, then we deserve to be there.”
With mathematical equations now paramount in the minds of Knights fans, Fitzgibbon assured them the mere chance of playing finals footy is all the motivation the squad needs.
“I can feel from the fan side of things, they have every right to be upset, and if I can say one thing it’s don’t give up on us yet, we’ve got another month of footy and hopefully we can make the most of it,” he said.
“Like I said, we’re still in with a fighting chance because results went our way.
“It’s a silver lining in it all.”
