KNIGHTS coach Nathan Brown said some of his players should "hold their heads in shame" after a 28-26 loss to Wests Tigers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night that has left their finals hopes in the balance.
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Clinging to eighth place before the game kicked off, Newcastle are likely to drop out of the eight this weekend, after their fourth successive defeat.
The Knights led 12-0 after a dream start but Brown was furious with the defensive display that allowed the Tigers to run in five tries between the 21st and 63rd minutes.
He promised that team changes would be made, having shown faith in his troops after last week's 48-10 hammering from Sydney Roosters.
"Our last three to four weeks we've obviously declined in our attitude to defence, our resilience," Brown said. "When we lost five in a row at the start of the season, we were still a very good defensive team.
"At the moment, we've just got different people who are picking and choosing when it's important to tackle well ... there'll be certainly some changes next week."
Asked if dropping out of the eight might spark his players out of their lethargy, Brown replied: "I'd like to think that the table doesn't add urgency. You'd like to think the attitude is to want to do well, for yourself, your teammates, your club.
"You know, today was the Mark Hughes [Foundation] day. It's a huge occasion for our club ... the mark of a person is someone that does something for others for nothing. That's what Mark Hughes does, and there are certainly some blokes that should hold their heads in shame with what they dished up tonight."
Two points behind eighth-placed Newcastle before the game kicked off, the Tigers have now drawn level with six rounds to play.
Newcastle will drop out of the eight if either Brisbane or the Warriors win this weekend.
The Knights enjoyed a dream start, racing to a 12-0 lead after just eight minutes, but the Tigers fought back to hold an 18-12 advantage at half-time.
After a fortuitous Jesse Ramien try and a Kalyn Ponga special gave the crowd of 21,209 reason to cheer, the Tigers hit back with a double from fullback Corey Thompson and a solo Benji Marshall effort seconds before the interval.
The two teams traded tries in the second half, including one from dummy-half by Tigers hooker Robbie Farah, who was appearing in his 300th NRL game.
A Shaun-Kenny Dowall try in the 68th minute left Ponga with a wide shot at goal to level the scores, but his shot hooked to the right of the posts.
It was unfortunate for Ponga, who was easily his team's most threatening player.
Test prop David Klemmer also produced a huge effort with 168 metres and 37 tackles.
The match ended on a controversial note when Ponga was sin-binned for an alleged shoulder charge on Michael Chee Kam as they raced for a kick in-goal.
Chee Kam was taken from the field on a medicab but coach Brown insisted that it was just an accidental collision as both players vied for the ball.
