The post-Mitchell Pearce era at the Newcastle Knights is off to the perfect start, as they defeated the Manly Sea Eagles.
With Pearce facing a lengthy lay-off due to a pectoral injury, many questioned the Knights ability to win.
In the face of adversity, it was Kalyn Ponga who shone through. The young star setting up the winning try for centre Nathan Ross.
It only further dampens the mood for Manly, however, who are dealing with off-field dramas at present.
To further complicate matters, Lachlan Croker (suspected ACL) and Jack Gosiewski (thumb) face time on the sidelines.
Even before half-time itself, Manly were down to just 15 fit men.
It was the Knights who took a 6-4 half-time lead, as the lead then changed three times across the match.
All eyes and thoughts were with Croker, however, after a normal tackle led to the innocuous incident.
Running the ball, Croker’s leg jarred in the turf and he immediately fell to the ground in pain.
Although Manly now face a halves crisis, coach Trent Barrett is reluctant to pick the seemingly outcast Jackson Hastings.
“[Manly CEO] Lyall [Gorman] will be considered [to play] this weekend, so will Mickey Mouse … if that answers your question,” he said.
Although his side did lose, Barrett thought there were positives to take out of the game and he wants to build on those.
“We can call on our development list – there’s a few of them – so it’s something we’ll consider over the weekend because we’ve got some decisions to make,” he said.
“It’s been extremely difficult. But I’m a half-glass-full sort of person and I can take a lot of positives out of how hard they fought for each other – and it’s been a difficult week.
“We put ourselves in a position to win the game, against all odds. That’s what I’m going to focus on and keep the group together. We can’t change what’s happened.”
Manly have now lost four in a row and six in the season, languishing near the bottom.
The win was made sweeter for the Knights, recording their first win at Lottoland since 2006.
Brown lamented the loss of Pearce but was impressed with how his players stepped up to perform.
“To lose a player of Mitchell’s ability – and I think people would agree he’s been one of the form players in the comp to start the year – it doesn’t make things easy,” the Knights coach said.
“Thankfully Coggs (halfback Jack Cogger) came in and he’s got parts of his game that are good, but then as a group, we have to look at our kicking game.
“We’ve certainly got a lot of work to do without Mitchell with our kicking game. We didn’t kick the ball well at all.”
Player of the Game:
3. Kalyn Ponga
2. Martin Taupau
- Jack Cogger