After winning their last two games against competition heavyweights, the NYC Newcastle Knights came were defeated 24-10 by the Cronulla Sharks at Hunter Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Knights TV went into the sheds after the game to talk to coach Troy Pezet and fullback Bryce Donovan.
“We felt pretty good going into it and knew we had players out, but we had a talk and said we can’t use this as an excuse," Donovan said.
"We had all intentions of playing well but it just got away at the end there.
“We started off okay, it was just at the end there we slipped away."
Donovan could find positives in the loss through the enthusiasm shown by his teammates.
“Sam Apthorpe, when he came on he brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm which was what we needed," he said.
“I was pretty happy with how he went in the middle for us."
The side now turns focus to the Knights' clash against the Brisbance Broncos on Friday night.
“It’s a bit of a short turn around playing on a Friday, but we’ll just back," he said.
Despite the loss, coach Troy Pezet was pleased with the cohesion and effort from his depleted squad.
“We hung in there and looked like a chance when we got back to 18-10,” he said.
"We’ve had a few injuries and a few guys playing up so our depth is a little tested at the moment.
“There were just a couple of poor decisions.
“It’s just getting that little bit of continuity back together. We had a few changes today and that made us a bit clunky with the ball, but that’s part of this group.
"We just missed that little bit of finesse and polish on the end of our sets today.
"We can’t sulk about it we just have to move on and have a good week before we play Brisbane in Brisbane."
