Newcastle Knights enjoyed one more win in 2022 than they did last season, but their slide down The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup ladder would have been tough to accept for the club.
The Knights finished fifth – in finals position – with six wins and six losses and a draw last year, when the competition was truncated in July due to COVID-19.
A full 24-round competition in 2022 had the Knights register seven wins, but 15 losses saw them finish a disappointing 10th.
The guiding hand of True Blue and former Test forward Mark O’Meley – he moved up to NSW Cup in 2022 from Harold Matthews Under 17s in 2021 – wasn’t enough to overcome the number of injuries for the NRL team.
There were eight regulars from the NSW Cup side who helped plug holes in the NRL squad, including Leo Thompson, Oryn Keeley and Krystian Mapapalangi who were making their NRL debuts.
The Knights seven wins were over the Magpies in Round Two, Bulldogs in Round Six, Mounties in Round Eight, Dragons in Round 11, Panthers in Round 12, Rabbitohs in Round 17, and Sea Eagles in Round 18. They scored 439 points over 22 games (two byes) but conceded 571.
Read more: Sea Eagles season review, Magpies season review
Season highlight
The 36-26 win over eventual premiers Penrith Panthers in Round 12.
This match was just prior to the Origin period with Penrith at full strength. In fact, 11 members of the team that won The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup trophy against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in September took the field that day in late May.
NSW Cup Highlights | Knights v Panthers Round 12
All seven tries by the Knights came from different players, whereas the Panthers had doubles to Christian Crichton and Mavrik Geyer among their five.
It ended up being the Knights highest score all season.
Simply the best
The Knights missed the grunt of Thompson, who ended up playing 16 games in his debut NRL season, but centre Heath Gibbs left his mark after topping the top try scorers list for the club with eight, while making 236 runs from 20 games.
The positional kicking games of rookie five-eighth Floyd Tighe and seasoned halfback Dylan Phythian kept the Knights in the hunt – they lost six games by four points or less.
Hooker Luke Huth was the Knights top tackler with 554 in 19 games, along with seven tries. That kind of work ethic helped him earn two end-of-season awards: Player of the Year and Players’ Player for NSW Cup.
Top Five Tries | Newcastle Knights
By the numbers
The Knights had the second-highest set completion ratio at 77 per cent behind the Panthers and the Eels (78 per cent) in the top five for offloads.
But they were second-worst for ineffective tackles in the 12-team competition and did not figure in the top five for line break assists, or try assists.
This suggests they could mount some pressure with possession and second-phase play, but couldn’t back all that up with sustained attacking runs. They also undid their good work with poor defence.
