Stuart stunned by rank Raiders meltdown as Knights conquer
Despondent Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has admitted the Raiders have hit a ‘‘rough patch’’ after slumping to a fifth consecutive defeat for the first time in the same season since 2014.
The Raiders gave up a 16-0 halftime lead and failed to score in the second half of their disappointing 24-16 loss to Newcastle yesterday.
Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga starred for the Knights with a try and four goals while star hooker Jayden Brailey was the hero of the match, consoli- dating the result with an impressive try in the 77th minute.
It was the first time in 29 matches where the Knights trailed at halftime and came back to win.
Despite stand-out performances by Raiders prop Josh Papalii and halfback George Williams, Stuart said the Green Machine were unlucky in Wagga Wagga.
‘‘We won games like that last year — we’re just not getting that little bit of luck and not getting a bounce at the moment,’’ Stuart said.
‘‘We just need to keep working to try and get through this rough patch.’’
When asked if he gave his side a spray after the defeat, Stuart added: ‘‘I can’t get fired up over a bunch of blokes who are doing everything they possibly
can to play their best and to win a game of football.
‘‘Things aren’t going (well) for us at the moment but we’ve just got to persevere and stay strong.’’
Stuart said he had some ‘‘concerns’’ for the welfare of his players, especially with the losing streak attracting widespread attention.
‘‘(We’re) just making sure we handle it and stick together,’’ he said.
It was a very different story in the Knights camp with coach Adam O’Brien saying Newcastle’s performance was a ‘‘character building win’’.
O’Brien said the come-frombehind victory was exactly ‘‘what we needed’’ and he was ‘‘really happy for the boys’’.
But he admitted there was
still some improvement needed.
‘‘I still think there’s a lot there to get better at — it was not a clinical performance,’’ O’Brien said.
‘‘We need to get a whole lot better.’’
When asked about Newcastle’s poor showing in the first 40 minutes, O’Brien said the players were ‘‘trying too hard to get the result’’ and some ‘‘were a bit tight’’ after an anxious week.
‘‘We were really impatient — I think we made four errors attacking down their end in the first half.
‘‘When we settled down and just started to get a bit of flow and rhythm to our game, we started to get some joy.’’