Painful defeat driving Knight
THE pain of the Gold Coast Knights’ last-gasp grand final loss in 2017 is driving striker Teddy Watson as the club prepares to take its Premier League bow at Carrara tonight.
Englishman Watson is one of just five remaining players from the Knights squad that fell 2-1 to Broadbeach in last year’s final, after two stoppagetime goals from Dolphins striker Shaun Robinson.
With the Knights to take the leap into the NPL next season, the heartbreaking memory is one the 31-year-old is keen to erase in the teams’ 6.30pm rematch at the Croatian Sports Centre.
“Every time I think about it or someone talks about the grand final, it still burns, because we were a couple of minutes from winning it,” Watson, in his second season at the club, said. “We were the better team and in a couple of minutes it all just turned around.
“It just shows how cruel football can be, so this year we have to make sure there’s no mistakes or switch off for 30 seconds, because that’s what can happen.
“Especially for the people who were here last season, we’re putting everything into this. I think a lot of the new boys know (the importance) and it means a lot to the club.
“Going into next season, this could be the last time we play in one of these finals.”
The Knights appeared to be cruising towards the title double when they went unbeaten en route to a second-straight premiership last month, before Broadbeach burst their bubble 2-1 in the major semi final.
While they fought back to book a grand final ticket with a penalty shootout win over Surfers Paradise last weekend, Watson knows the Dolphins will present the greatest challenge yet.
“They always seem to raise their game in finals and they’ve been here numerous times, so we’re expecting them to raise it even more,” he said. “We’ve just got to match them with the physical side of it, which I think let us down a little bit last game. If we play our game and everyone gives 100 per cent, I think we should do the job.”