Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien hopes a tough win in Wagga is just what his side needed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Knights have now won four of their first nine games, and face three rivals below them on the ladder in the next three weeks, after stealing a 24-16 win over Canberra Raiders at Equex Centre on Saturday.
Trailing 16-0 at half-time, O'Brien labelled their second half performance as character building.
He hopes it can spark the team's season.
"I felt in the first half we only had a few chances down there and we were really impatient," O'Brien said.
"We made four errors attacking down their end in the first half so I thought we were probably trying too hard to get the result.
"It has been an anxious week and sometimes the players will play a little bit tight.
"I felt we were doing that but when we settled down and just started to get a bit of flow and rhythm to our game, which we did in the second half, we started to get some joy in the middle."
READ MORE
Newcastle came to Wagga under plenty of pressure after a 38-4 loss to the Roosters last week.
Despite their first half showing, O'Brien was pleased with their response in the end.
"It wasn't a clinical performance but it was a performance that we needed," he said.
Kalyn Ponga sparked plenty of the best attacking forays in the clash.
A try he set up for Enari Tuala was denied for an obstruction in the first half but the star fullback responded with a pinpoint kick to help set up their first and last tries, scored the second himself and provided plenty of opportunities.
"In the second half in particular I thought if he wasn't touching the ball three times a set it would have been four," O'Brien said.
"I thought he was really busy at the end and he saps energy out of the opposition when he is just in and around that middle.
"He done a good job for us and kicked well."