‘Can’t worry’: Coach knows Knights are under pressure

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‘Can’t worry’: Coach knows Knights are under pressure

Adam O’Brien says he “can’t worry” about the pressure on his job coaching Newcastle, insisting there is still time for the Knights to salvage their NRL season.

The 15th-placed Knights have scored 52 fewer points than the NRL’s next-worst attacking team, averaging their fewest per game (13.3) in any season since 2016.

That year, they managed only 12.7 a game and finished last with only one win to their name.

Newcastle have won only two of their past 10 games, both against understrength opponents, and could slump to last on the ladder by the end of the weekend if they lose to Manly on Thursday.

The Knights have scored only 28 tries for the season, only two more than the Sea Eagles’ right edge has managed by itself.

Amid their attacking woes, O’Brien said the scrutiny on his job had been obvious.

“There’s always pressure, I’m no different to the players. We hear all the outside noise,” the sixth-year coach said.

“I can’t worry about it, I’ve just got to focus on trying to do my part to help them get out of this. We’re all in it together.

“When you go through periods like this, whether it’s on the footy field or off it, you’re stronger together. As a family or as a footy team, we’re stronger together.”

Despite their struggles, the Knights are only two wins outside the top eight entering the second half of the regular season.

A gap of only four competition points separates seventh place from last on the ladder, smaller than the six-point buffer between first-placed Canterbury and Cronulla in fifth.

Fixturing could also play into the Knights’ hands as they fight for their finals hopes.

O’Brien’s side will leave Newcastle just once in the next seven weeks, to play the Dolphins at a neutral venue in Perth.

“I try and stay really focused on the present but there’s no doubt that it’s a very congested ladder,” O’Brien said.

“If you can get yourself on a roll and a bit of momentum, you can get yourself up there quite quickly this year.

“For us, we’ve just got to make sure we get tomorrow (Thursday) night’s performance as good as we can get it. We’ve got enough time in terms of footy games to play to get ourselves going.”

But adding to the Knights’ woes, Jacob Saifiti and Bradman Best are taking longer to recover from their respective calf and hamstring injuries than originally anticipated.

The pair of NSW representatives had initially been forecast to return in round 15, but O’Brien says they will need more time on the sidelines.

“They’re probably three weeks away. They’re close, I’d like them to be closer, but we’ve gone this far with them, we need to make sure we get it right,” he said.

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