Home

Newcastle Knights won’t shy away from Melbourne Storm challenge

Jasper BruceNCA NewsWire
Adam O’Brien is trying to dig the Knights out of a hole. NRL Imagery
Camera IconAdam O’Brien is trying to dig the Knights out of a hole. NRL Imagery Credit: Supplied

The Melbourne Storm’s Anzac Day demolition of the New Zealand Warriors won’t play on the Newcastle Knights’ minds as they look to bounce back from a thrashing of their own.

The Warriors became the first NRL team since 2008 to concede 70 points when they met the Storm on Monday.

Melbourne’s next opponents, the Knights, were big losers on the weekend themselves but won’t be focusing on the Storm’s terrifying potential ahead of round 8.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

“We know what sort of team is coming into town,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said.

“If we sit there and think that the mountain’s not conquerable then it won’t be.

“Regardless of who we play, we need to rectify what happened on our home ground last week.

“We’ve just got to get us right.”

The Parramatta Eels embarrassed the Knights on their home turf last Sunday, holding the side tryless in front of more than 25,000 fans.

“There’s still a fair bit of hurt in the room,” O’Brien said.

“We can sit around feeling sorry for ourselves or we can get on with it. That’s what tough people do, they get on with it.”

The Knights sat atop the NRL ladder after two rounds but have now dropped their last five games.

O’Brien said the Knights’ strong start would give them confidence as they looked to get their season back on track.

“It was only three or four weeks ago that we had a team that everybody was talking about,” he said.

“This week’s about trying to get that back.”

Adam O’Brien is trying to dig the Knights out of a hole. NRL Imagery
Camera IconAdam O’Brien is trying to dig the Knights out of a hole. NRL Imagery Credit: Supplied

O’Brien said the Knights needed to focus less on returning to the winners’ circle and more on improving their attitude.

“The No.1 priority is to restore some pride, individually and as a team. The result will take care of itself if we put enough effort into our performance,” he said.

“This town will be proud of us regardless, they just need to see us put in a lot more effort than we did last week. That’s the No.1 focus for me.”

Originally published as Newcastle Knights won’t shy away from Melbourne Storm challenge

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails