THEY care, they're still trying ... and they understand the disappointment their fans are feeling.
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That was the message on Monday from Newcastle players after Saturday's 46-4 humbling from Wests Tigers, which has effectively killed any hopes they had of sneaking into the play-offs for the first time since 2013.
The performance, which rated as one of the worst in the Knights' history, has prompted a savage response from disgruntled supporters and the media.
"I think all the criticism that is coming is warranted," Newcastle skipper Mitchell Pearce said, adding that the team let down their fans, coach and themselves.
Knights lock Tim Glasby said "fans should know that the players are just as disappointed as they are", but disagreed with the theory that some of his teammates "didn't try" against the Tigers.
"Sometimes it's a bit like the harder you try, the worse it gets," he said.
"Certainly the attitude wasn't there on the weekend, I'll give you that. The boys were trying. We just lacked some resilience in some tough periods. A couple of tries in a quick period and it just seemed to go downhill even faster.
"Good footy teams will stem that momentum and stop the flow, and try to win back the momentum itself.
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"We're just not at that stage, or we weren't at that stage the other night, and there have been plenty of examples of it this year, in a situation where everything is against us."
Prop Josh King said Newcastle's players would try to make amends on Saturday when they host Gold Coast Titans in their last home game of the season.
"We understand that the fans are hurting, and so are we," he said. "That's probably the big message.
"We're not happy with the performances we're putting in, and we can understand that they're disappointed.
"But one thing I will say is that the fans definitely don't go unnoticed.
"We know they turn up every week. We have one of the best fan bases, if not the best, in the league.
"So I'd urge them to keep on turning up, because we need them."
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Glasby acknowledged that the Knights needed to learn how to cope with pressure situations but such a transformation was "not going to happen overnight".
"We've had a similar problem during the year," he said. "When things are going against us, we tend to not cope well, and it turned into a bit of an avalanche the other night."
Glasby said that regardless of the talent in Newcastle's roster, they had repeatedly paid for their lack of resilience.
"There were very high expectations at the start of the year that this was a top-eight team, or the top four," Glasby said.
"At the end of the day, the squad that was put together, there have been a lot of new faces over the last year or two at this club.
"Certainly we have a roster that could be top eight.
"But there are a lot of things that come into play in a season."
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