After last weekend’s slow start against the Manly Sea Eagles, the Knights are determined to come out of the blocks firing this weekend against the Bulldogs.
The Knights conceded 700 more run metres than themselves in the first half last weekend, missed 27 tackles, made 80 more tackles than the Sea-Eagles and trailed 26 nil at half-time.
The Knights have spoken all week about the disappointment of their defensive effort in the opening 40 last weekend and it’s an area they have addressed as a group.
“It wasn’t up to the standards where we need to be,” co-captain Trent Hodkinson said about Sunday’s loss to the Sea-Eagles.
“Although we got a couple of points in the second half, it’s still not good enough.
“Defensively we were quite poor and weren’t controlling the ruck.
“We need to improve this week against the Dogs.”
Meanwhile, front-rower Daniel Saifiti believes solid defence and showing intent is key for the home side against the Bulldogs.
“Our ruck defence wasn’t up to first grade standard to be honest,” Safiti said.
“We paid in the end by losing for so much.
“We need line speed and aggression and I think we need to show some intent this weekend.
“They are big boys, really mobile, have plenty of go forward and if we don’t get in front of them and tackle like we did last weekend, they’ll make twice as many metres as Manly.”
The Knights have lost their last 13 games and with four of their final five games to be played at home, hooker Danny Levi is hoping the side can turn around the disappointment of last weekend in front of their home fans.
“It has been a pretty tough season,” Levi said.
“It will be good for us to get a few wins moving on to next year and get a bit of confidence up before then.
“They are a big pack and we will definitely have to do a lot better than we did on the weekend through the middle.
“That’s what our main focus will be on, stopping their big boys.”
