Coach Nathan Brown and captain Trent Hodkinson fronted the media following Sunday's loss at Mt Smart Stadium.
While happy with his side's improvement in the season opening match, the coach was disappointed with a number of lapses throughout the 80 minutes.
"In the first half we didn’t make them earn the right to be where they were," Brown explained.
"They did some great things to get there but it was off the back of our poor ball control in good field position.
"We didn’t play very smart. We turned the ball over meekly and we were only completing our sets at 50 per cent.
"When you’re completing at 50 per cent against Roger (Tuivasa-Sheck) and (Shaun) Johnson and those blokes, they’re very talented players, aren’t they?
“We need to be a little better.
"I think anyone who watched the game today would agree a lot of the younger players have made some great improvements physically.
"But I think we’ve also shown ourselves that we’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to get to.”
The major injury concern from the match was a knee injury to young fullback Dylan Phythian, who'll require scans after the team returns to Australia.
“Initially, he’s done his cruciate. That’s unfortunate,” Brown added.
The Knights return to Newcastle for round two, hosting the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday March 11 in a three-game fixture.
