Haha.
Knights the worst since 1966
It's official. The Newcastle Knights have made the worst start to a top-grade rugby league season since Eastern Suburbs' winless campaign of 1966.
The Knights' 18-16 loss to St George Illawarra on Saturday night was their 10th straight defeat this year, meaning they have now eclipsed the Newtown side of 1969 for futility, and are now seventh on the list of all-time worst starts in the history of the NSWRL, ARL or NRL.
A closer look at the stats makes even more worrying reading for the Knights faithful, with five of the seven sides who have made worse starts going on to have winless seasons.
Young second rower Reegan Tanner, the only Knights player to have played in every game this season, said he was confident the side would come up with a win before long.
"We're putting the effort in, just not coming up with the results," Tanner said today.
"We haven't had our strongest side on the field for the last two years. That makes it pretty tough with new guys coming in all the time.
"We're not far away. We're not going into matches thinking we're going to lose. We're going out to win every time we run out there."
Tanner said morale in the camp was still high despite the horror stretch.
The Knights have endured a shocking run with injuries, with skipper Andrew Johns (broken jaw) and hooker Danny Buderus (ankle and shoulder) both spending extended periods on the sidelines.
Coach Michael Hagan has been forced to a call on 32 players already this season.
Tanner said this weekend's bye would give everybody the chance to get away from the game for a while, while also giving a few injured players extra time to recover.
"It'll be good with the weekend off, hopefully we'll come back refreshed," the 22-year-old said.
"Plus we should get a few players back next week with Johnsy and maybe Kirk Reynoldson back from injury. Plus 'Bedsy' (Buderus) will be available (after State of Origin)."
Despite the losing run, Novocastrians have continued to come out in force to support their side.
Saturday night's game against the Dragons was robbed of seven players due to Origin commitments, but 19,018 fans still turned up to EnergyAustralia Stadium to cheer on their team.
They currently have the sixth best home attendance in the NRL with an average of 17,465 a game.
"They've been great, even though we've been losing we've still packed the ground," Tanner said.
"We couldn't ask for more from them, they've been really supportive."
Despite the possible return of Johns, Buderus and Steve Simpson for their next match, the odds would be against the Knights breaking their losing run, with top-of-the-table Brisbane travelling to Newcastle in round 13.
*cringe*
It's official. The Newcastle Knights have made the worst start to a top-grade rugby league season since Eastern Suburbs' winless campaign of 1966.
The Knights' 18-16 loss to St George Illawarra on Saturday night was their 10th straight defeat this year, meaning they have now eclipsed the Newtown side of 1969 for futility, and are now seventh on the list of all-time worst starts in the history of the NSWRL, ARL or NRL.
A closer look at the stats makes even more worrying reading for the Knights faithful, with five of the seven sides who have made worse starts going on to have winless seasons.
Young second rower Reegan Tanner, the only Knights player to have played in every game this season, said he was confident the side would come up with a win before long.
"We're putting the effort in, just not coming up with the results," Tanner said today.
"We haven't had our strongest side on the field for the last two years. That makes it pretty tough with new guys coming in all the time.
"We're not far away. We're not going into matches thinking we're going to lose. We're going out to win every time we run out there."
Tanner said morale in the camp was still high despite the horror stretch.
The Knights have endured a shocking run with injuries, with skipper Andrew Johns (broken jaw) and hooker Danny Buderus (ankle and shoulder) both spending extended periods on the sidelines.
Coach Michael Hagan has been forced to a call on 32 players already this season.
Tanner said this weekend's bye would give everybody the chance to get away from the game for a while, while also giving a few injured players extra time to recover.
"It'll be good with the weekend off, hopefully we'll come back refreshed," the 22-year-old said.
"Plus we should get a few players back next week with Johnsy and maybe Kirk Reynoldson back from injury. Plus 'Bedsy' (Buderus) will be available (after State of Origin)."
Despite the losing run, Novocastrians have continued to come out in force to support their side.
Saturday night's game against the Dragons was robbed of seven players due to Origin commitments, but 19,018 fans still turned up to EnergyAustralia Stadium to cheer on their team.
They currently have the sixth best home attendance in the NRL with an average of 17,465 a game.
"They've been great, even though we've been losing we've still packed the ground," Tanner said.
"We couldn't ask for more from them, they've been really supportive."
Despite the possible return of Johns, Buderus and Steve Simpson for their next match, the odds would be against the Knights breaking their losing run, with top-of-the-table Brisbane travelling to Newcastle in round 13.
*cringe*