Newcastle Knights captain Kalyn Ponga has opened up on with a brutal admission about his side’s 40-10 loss to the New Zealand Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
The game was lost just as quickly as it started for the Knights, conceding three tries in the first 11 minutes and failing to match the rapid intensity of the Warriors.
A handful of first half errors plagued Newcastle’s afternoon and despite a slight comeback in the second half, the rampant Warriors blew them off the park in the second half.
Speaking on his side’s first half performance, Ponga admitted the start let Newcastle down and that it was an unacceptable opening stage for a finals game.
“You can’t start games like that, let alone finals. Last week we got away with it but this week, off the back of their crowd, they were just too good,” Ponga said.
“They won the field position battle and it just felt like that the whole second half... Shaun (Johnson) won the field position with his kicking and we were starting sets inside our 10 and by the time we were able to get our shape on, we didn’t earn the right.”
Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien agreed with his captain’s assessment of the game revealing his side put unnecessary pressure on themselves.
“It’s funny because we didn’t deserve to end like that, but we deserved to end like that,” O’Brien said.
“The way we started the game applied way too much pressure to ourselves.
“It’s hard at the moment because we’ve set such high standards, so for us to just be ok with that performance given what we’ve done for the last 11 weeks, well that wouldn’t mean progress for the club at all.
“I’m glad it’s hurting all of us.”