Knights coach Adam O’Brien refused to give his halves blind loyalty after their 10-8 victory over the Tigers amid concerns he chops and changes his halves to regularly.
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Fletcher Sharpe and Jack Cogger had a mixed night in the first up win, but while O’Brien backed them to play next week he wouldn’t guarantee them any amount of time in the playmaker roles.
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“Certainly, I know a lot has been said about it and obviously I need to get some consistency there,” O’Brien said.
“But as I said, there will be come a point in time if we’re not performing, the number one job is to try and get as many wins for Newcastle, for our club, for our town, for our sponsors.
“So it’s up to the guys that get the jersey to perform in the jersey. Same as it’s my job to perform as the coach and do my job too. But right now, they’ll be the halves next week.”
O’Brien was pleased with certain parts of Sharpe’s game at five-eighth, but knows he will get better with more time in the saddle.
“Fletcher’s a competitor,” O’Brien said.
“He’s a footy nut. He’s been playing since he was four-years-old. He never had a heap a different interests, just cricket and footy.
“And he sees the game. He’s intelligent. And he’s only going to get better. He’s two games in basically in the halves. He’ll get better.
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“Tonight he put himself in some situations that are really beneficial for the team, so he doesn’t run away from the challenge.”
O’Brien was forced to sweat on the victory and was notably animated in the box.
“I’m not happy with the antics in the camera going on me, but just a sign that was similar to the players who were nervous, frustrated, anxious,” O’Brien said.
“It’s good to get the two points and get some lessons. We can play better than that. We know that.”
However, O’Brien was proud of his charges for fighting back after a poor first half.
“Well, you make your own luck,” O’Brien said.
“We worked hard in the second half, but certainly we can play a hell of a lot better and we need to.
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“But I think it was 53 per cent completions in the first half to keep them at only one try and then to keep them scoreless in the second half.
“And I think we got it up to around 73 per cent without throwing even numbers at you. It’s still not acceptable and we can play better.”
O’Brien was pleased his team found a way to win a game they were not in during the first half.
“There were some individual moments that I thought pulled us out,” O’Brien said.
“A couple of individual runs, Schiller’s run. I thought he had some moments in the second half that really shone. Lucas’s run, Fletcher’s run.
“So there was some individual stuff, but it only gives a very good, complete team performance. We’re better than that.
“But we could have easily lost that game. 53 per cent at half time completions against a pretty opportunistic side if you energise that sort of team with their players in there, then they’re going to throw a bit of stuff at you.
“So we found a way to win. And as I said, to have the two points coming home with us and then still know that you can play better and make the improvements, that’s the challenge right now.”
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One of the Knights’ best was Dylan Lucas who set the tone for the Knights in their comeback.
“He was massive,” O’Brien said.
“I thought he was outstanding with a couple of moments there, a couple of key runs.
“But even defensively how he talks as a leader, he’s been at the club, come through our pathways.
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“He’s everything that we want our team to be about. Dylan works hard and makes his own luck through working hard.”
Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga was just pleased to get the two points after a scratchy first outing.
“I think the style we played in the first half probably wasn’t right,” Ponga said.
“But first four or five games of the season, you win games on effort and completions.
“We created some opportunities, but at the same time, those turned into errors and then those probably compounded.
“I thought once we found our groove in the second half, and we can still be better, but our footy came.
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“That’s the lesson from us. We could easily be sitting in here without the two points so we’ll take them. But there’s a lot of lessons and room for growth.”
O’Brien gave an update on the return date for Tyson Gamble after he underwent surgery this week.
“I think initially the doctors were thinking anywhere from four to six weeks,” O’Brien said.
“It seems to be around that mark, so we’ve got a couple of games and a bye, so that’ll help.
“But he’s been pretty good in the past. He’s had a couple of different other injuries and he’s got over them pretty quickly.
“He’s back home at Newcastle and they expect him to be moving about by the end of the week, so we’ll see how we go.”
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