Season Review: Newcastle Knights

Predicted Finish: 10th Actual Finish: 7th This year was all about returning to the finals for the Knights. I didn't think they'd do it, but happy to be wrong here. 7th could probably be seen as a little disappointing after their tremendous start, however the building blocks are now in place. Highlights - Brilliant start to the season: The Knights started the season in supreme form. They bounced the Warriors 20-0 in the opener before putting 42 points on the Tigers in Round Two. A 14-14 all draw in ridiculous circumstances followed against eventual Minor Premiers the Panthers. The Knights had no right to be in this game after trailing early, losing their halfback Pearce in the fourth minute and Connor Watson in the eighth minute. Newcastle would then beat 2020 Grand Finalists the Raiders by 34 points to 18. To sit three wins and a draw from four, against two top teams, was beyond expectations. After six games they'd sit 4-1-1 with their only loss coming to the Storm. [caption id="attachment_59867" align="aligncenter" width="696"] NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 26: Connor Watson of the Knights appears injured during the round 11 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the Canterbury Bulldogs at McDonald Jones Stadium on July 26, 2020 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)[/caption] - Incredible home form: Newcastle has traditionally been a difficult place to travel, although sadly it had become the easiest away trip on the calendar. 2020 righted those wrongs when the Knights went an incredible 7-3 at home in 2020. One of those three "home" losses would come at Central Coast Stadium too. The Eels and Dogs were the only teams to escape a trip to Newcastle with the points. That's a more than solid base to build on and something all good teams have in common. Good home form is very important. Looks like McDonald Jones Stadium is once again a tough place to visit. - Return to finals: To say the past few years have seen some lean results is putting it politely. The Knights hadn't tasted finals since 2013 prior to this year. All that is resigned to history now as the club returned to finals footy. The fans travelled in big numbers to watch their side run out under sudden death circumstances. Again, this felt like a year where building blocks were put into place. A return to finals footy was a pass mark and they achieved it fairly comfortably. If anything they should have hosted a final. Regardless of the result, you can tick this important goal off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbHS26DNQS0&t=120s Watch Zero Tackle's own Dan Nichols over at Rugby League Outlaws Lowlights - Defence went missing late: The Knights defence completely went missing at the most important part of the season. Across their final four games of 2020 the best defensive effort was conceding 18 to the Dragons. That's ok when you score 42 points, but 42 points conceded to the Roosters, 36 to the Titans and 46 in a final's game make for horror reading. Most teams lock down their defence in the final few rounds and prepare for finals footy. The Knights looked all at see when playing in form competition. They smashed the broken Sharks and trounced the disinterested Dragons but against the top sides they spent far too much time under the posts watching conversions. - Stuttering Attack: The Knights were far from the worse attacking side in the competition in 2020 with 421 points, however only the Eels (392) scored less than them for finals teams. The Knights defence was better only than the Sharks, so their attack needed to be elite levels to worry the top sides comes finals time. I feel like I'm nitpicking here but you never got the feeling Newcastle could win a 'shootout' game between two sides who cared only for scoring points. Turns out they needed that in Round One of the serious stuff. [caption id="attachment_46165" align="aligncenter" width="696"] NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 29: Mitchell Pearce of the Newcastle Knights looks to pass the ball during the round 15 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the Brisbane Broncos at McDonald Jones Stadium on June 29, 2019 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)[/caption] - Finals Bomb: At the 14th minute mark in their first round final's game against the Bunnies, Newcastle lead 14-0. They lead 4-0 after a minute. Two tries inside six minutes. This game could, and probably should have been over inside the opening 15 minutes, yet the Knights would go on to lose 46-20. Only an 80th minute try made this game somewhat respectable after conceding eight straight tries. The Bunnies were good, real good, but the Knights outside that opening blitz looked as though they didn't belong there. Sad end to a promising season. Star Player Kalyn Ponga I never quite know how to rate young Ponga. You always know when he's had a below par game because everyone is talking about it. I thought he was more than good in 2020 and was pretty easily Newcastle's best. 10 tries, 14 try assists, 12 line breaks, 184 metres per game and an almost unbelievable 112 tackle breaks prove he was just as good as everyone expected. If he can just cut down those errors he'll be a top three fullback. An absolute no brainer for Origin, he would have been there for Game One if not due to injury. [caption id="attachment_55969" align="aligncenter" width="696"] SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 07: Kalyn Ponga of the Knights scores a try during the round four NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and the Newcastle Knights at Campbelltown Stadium on June 07, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)[/caption] It's worth remembering that Ponga is still only 22 year's of age and has had the pressure of being the game's next megastar on his young shoulders since debuting, out of position, in the finals at the Cowboys. There wasn't much more he could have done for his side in 2020. Season Grading B- The Knights were never going to win the title in 2020, making finals seemed the goal. They achieved just that, so I'm giving them a high mark here. That said, they were wiped off the park against the Bunnies despite a fast start. Injuries really hurt the Knights in 2020 with young Brailey's season ending early. At no stage did Pearce have a genuine halves partner for any long stretch of games. Overall if you're wearing blue and red then you have every right to be very proud of your side's efforts in 2020. They achieved exactly what was expected of them in returning to final's footy. Tyson Frizell is a big in, while the club hasn't really lost anyone major. Mata'utia's exit was unexpected and Andrew McCullough returns to Brisbane having put in a brilliant season in the Hunter, but otherwise they're unscathed. A brilliant building year for Newcastle in extremely difficult circumstances. Fair to say that Adam O'Brien looks the man to lead Newcastle back to becoming finals regulars once again.