Both Trent Barrett and Adam O’Brien expressed pride and frustration in their teams’ bravery in their tight round 15 losses against top-tier teams and their lowly position on the ladder.
The Eels have not lost to the Knights for five years. They have won the last six-straight against the Knights and last three-straight in Newcastle.
During that dominant period, the Eels average winning score has been 30 - 9.
The last time the Eels lost to the Knights was back 2019 (R7, 28-14) at McDonald’s Jones Stadium, Newcastle.
Before then, for a decade from 2010 the Eels struggled there winning 2 from 9 (22%).
Coming off byes, over the last five years since 2019, the Eels have either had large wins (34-12 v Dogs, 26-8 v Titans, 30-18 v Tigers) or heavy losses (10-46 v Warriors, 4-34 v Dogs).
The last time the Eels met the Knights after a bye was in 2018 (R18) - when the Eels were also running last - and the Eels lost a tight 18-16 clash.
Knights' coach Adam O'Brien, overall, was happy with the direction the team was heading, despite the close round fifteen 26-18 loss that was only sealed by the Panthers in the 65th minute.
“I’m proud of the fighting spirit," he noted.
“We’ve never content with losing, but it’s a marked improvement on last week.”
Foxlab Stats reveals the Panthers had a whopping 55% possession, 70% of territory advantage, and 43-13 tackles in the Knights’ red zone.
It’s unfathaomable how the reigning triple-peating premiers, did not demolish the Knights with that amount of ball on the Knights line. The Knights fought hard to almost pull off a miraculous come from behind win, against the odds and reality.
Trent Barrett was both encouraged and frustrated by the Eels' 28-18 loss against the Roosters and also commended the Eels' bravery.
"In the first half, we were down to 12 men, and to keep them to twelve points was a really big effort. And then to get back from 16-nil and to lead them was a really good effort from them."
"They were very brave and committed to each other, and have been for the past three or four weeks.
"But a couple of moments got away from us where we probably needed to nail them."
"I am encouraged to see how much they care about each other and how much they care about the club. Really encouraged about that."
"Again, we played three good sides in the last three weeks (Sharks, Dogs, Roosters) and been in every game, and beat Cronulla."
"But, we've just got to learn that the NRL is a tough competition, particularly when you play good sides. You need to nail those big ones."
"We needed a bit of luck there in the end, too. We couldn't quite get it. That tends to happen when you're in this position (struggling)."
"We can take a lot from it."
Worryingly, for some Eels' fans who picked up on it - there was the "we need luck" theme that we saw in the dying chapter of Arthur's reign from club captain, Junior Paulo.
This will be a tough game, and both will be desperate.
Sportsbet have drawn a line through the Titans' and Tigers' hopes of reaching the finals, but are still offering up the Eels at $1.01 to miss the eight, and the Knights not that much better at $1.08.
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