Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O'Brien has admitted his is "relieved" at his side's first win of the season after downing the Melbourne Storm 14 points to 12 on Sunday evening.
The win at home for the Knights came after a losing start to the season, but also as a shock with Melbourne having gone into the game as favourites despite a number of injuries.
The Knights raced out of the gates though, quickly getting ahead by 14 points to 0 in the contest at halftime. The Hunter-based side did their best to let the Storm back into it during the second half, but eventually held onto the win.
O'Brien simply said relief was the overwhelming feeling coming out of the contest.
"Relieved at the end of the day. We needed to win," O'Brien said during his post-game press conference.
"I thought our first half in particular was excellent. I thought we made it hard on ourselves in the second half and credit to the opposition, but at the end of the day we needed to find a way to win one."
The win came after a big call in the Hunter during the week, with O'Brien electing to dump Jackson Hastings to reserve grade. It saw Tyson Gamble joined by off-season recruit Jack Cogger in the halves.
The coach said he was impressed by his new halves combination.
"I thought led by this guy [Kalyn Ponga] I thought we were quite dangerous with the ball especially in the first half. Things got a bit wild in the second half, but all in all, for the first week, I'm pretty happy with the way it went and we will only get better," O'Brien said on his new halves pairing.
"I just want to enjoy that win. I don't want any headlines about chopping and changing. We will enjoy that win and look at the video."
Despite the win, the coach said he would be happier with three from three, with the club still having plenty to work on.
"Happy is three from three. We just needed to win tonight. Round 2 we were better than Round 1 and tonight we were better than we were last week," O'Brien said.
The Knights face a difficult trip across the Tasman next week where they will face the New Zealand Warriors, the same club who ended their campaign last year in a semi-final.
