Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett and captain Kurt Gidley have vowed to keep fighting this season but both concede the Knights are their own worst enemies with too many basic errors.
That's the emotional message in the wake of Sunday's disappointing 38-18 loss to the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium.
In a highly competitive match against the Warriors, the Knights had their chances but let themselves down with simple errors when it mattered most.
As difficult as two wins from the opening 12 rounds is though, a determined Gidley told reporters his side would continue to battle on.
"The message I can give is that we are not going to give up that’s for sure," Gidley said in the post match press conference.
"There’s been a roller coaster of emotions at the moment. From frustration to sadness and all sorts of things.
"At the moment after today I just feel a bit empty, I think that’s the word.
"But we are not giving up that’s for sure."
Bennett backed up Gidley's thoughts but said he wouldn't put up with any lack of effort if it were to occur within the playing group.
"Well it’s not in my nature to ever give up," Bennett said.
"They wouldn’t have dug in as long as they did today if I had given up.
"Because there has been many times that I’ve been down and in tough situations but I’ve never given up.
"So I know that isn’t going to happen and if they do they won’t be in the team.
"You can’t tolerate that.
"I’ll tolerate the rest of it but I won’t tolerate that."
Gidley conceded his side's lack of urgency on their last-tackle plays proved costly.
"We put plenty of effort into it and plenty of fight but those last play tries are really frustrating," he says.
"If you’re prepared to work hard for five tackles but not the last one it just wears away at you.
"Three tries of last plays is just not good enough."
Bennett supported winger Josh Mantellato after the Italian World Cup representative experienced a difficult afternoon marking the likes of New Zealand man mountain Manu Vatuvei.
"I just talked to him in the change room there, it was tough for him," he says.
"But if you look back at our season we’ve given up a lot of tries on that tap back play.
"So I couldn’t blame anyone.
"He did all the training and all the work with us and I was confident in his ability to catch.
"But we need to support him more in that position.
"It’s not just about one player in that position, it’s about more support and guys being in better positions than we are right now.
"It’s just all part of the mix for us right now.
"I’m certainly not blaming him. He needed more support."
The Knights return to Newcastle on Monday evening and will have to quickly turn their attention to the Wests Tigers at Hunter Stadium next Sunday.
