Anthony Seibold tackles his critics as Newcastle Knights defence improves

While the side's struggling attack has been the focal point of criticism in recent times, it's been the Knights improvement in defence that has helped them win six of their past eight games to sit seventh on the ladder, four points clear of a chasing pack with two matches remaining.

A win over the Gold Coast Titans on the Sunshine Coast tomorrow night will guarantee the side a finals berth.

Seibold has been a controversial figure at the club ever since his appointment as a consultant to coach Adam O'Brien in the pre-season.

Maligned by sections of the media and fans after his controversial exit from the under-performing Brisbane Broncos last year, he has been an easy target for the critics when things haven't gone right for the Knights this season.

O'Brien greatly values his input however and it was his decision to give Seibold a more hands-on coaching role over the past two months that has coincided with a marked improvement in the side's defence.

In the eight games Seibold has been working closely alongside defence coach Eric Smith, the Knights have conceded 156 points at an average of 19.5 points a game. Almost a third of those points came in one game - a 48-4 hammering from the Melbourne Storm six weeks ago.

By comparison, prior to his involvement, the Knights had let in 366 points in the opening 14 games at an average of more than 26 points a game. Overall, Newcastle has the equal eighth best defence in the competition but they have been the biggest improvers in that area over the past eight weeks.

Not surprising, the Storm are the standouts over that period, letting in just 100 points at an average of 12.5, ahead of Penrith [131], Souths [143] and Manly and Sydney Roosters [150]. The Knights are next best.

Seibold's expanded job description coincided with O'Brien "re-setting" his side's season with 10 games to go after round 14 back in June.

At the time, Newcastle was sitting 14th on the ladder, just four points ahead of the bottom-placed Bulldogs and Brisbane Broncos after consecutive losses to the Parramatta Eels [40-4] and South Sydney [24-10].

The re-set has proved pivotal. They won their next two games before big losses to the Storm and Roosters prior to a run of four straight wins.

"With some key players coming back into the side from long-term injuries, I just told the players to forget about what had gone down in the opening 14 games and focus entirely on the 10 games we had left," O'Brien told the Newcastle Herald.

"Part of that re-set was getting Seibs more heavily involved alongside Eric with the defence. Eric runs our edge defence and Seibs has played a big part in really driving all the effort areas of our defence overall like our kick chase, kick pressure, line speed and the one percenters that really make a big difference to the end result.

"He is presenting all that sort of stuff to the team now during the week which he wasn't before and one of Seibs' biggest strengths is his ability to teach.

"He is the best coach I have seen from the whiteboard to the training field. He can articulate a message better than most and does it in a way that keeps the boys engaged and I can see the result of that on the field."

Knights centre Kurt Mann has no doubt Seibold has played a big part in their defensive improvements.

"He presents those [effort] areas for us in meetings and does our review in that area and that's probably our biggest area for improvement - I think we've improved massively in that area," Mann said.

"We've been defending really well. We've been defending like a top eight team."

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