They've made an encouraging start to their campaign but the Newcastle Knights are facing a frustrating slide down the NRL ladder if they lose to Parramatta this week.
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The Knights take on last year's grand finalists at CommBank Stadium on Friday before a bye next round.
Should they lose to the Eels, who have had indifferent form in 2023, the Knights will at least drop from 11th to 12th but depending on other results could fall to 15th.
That outcome would leave them only one position higher than where they were at the same point last season.
The grim predicament comes just two games after they almost jumped into the top four, had they beat Penrith, but after consecutive losses they are now at risk of joining the likes of the Bulldogs and Tigers at the bottom end of the points table.
"That's the cruel reality of rugby league," Knights playmaker Tyson Gamble said.
"You've got to be winning games. It doesn't matter how close you are, whether you get within one point or two points, you don't get anything for that.
"We need to win games and every game counts."
Avoiding a third-straight loss will be no easy task considering Newcastle's recent record against the Eels. They've lost the past five encounters and haven't won in Parramatta since 2018.
A win would allow them, however, to remain just one point outside the top eight heading into the bye.
But after Saturday's 18-16 loss to North Queensland, a game when poor ball-handling resulted in a completion rate of just 66 per cent, Knights coach Adam O'Brien was left pondering whether his players had got ahead of themselves in light of their improvement this season.
"We're scoring points ... we scored three tries in the first half last week, but whether or not we're listening to a few pats on the back," he said.
"The only way you'll get it [better ball-handling], is to train it out of us and hold each other to a higher standard.
"There's no doubt tonight, that with the amount of ill-discipline with the ball, it changes because you add fatigue and your shape is not as efficient when everyone is tired. It was sort of a double-edged sword for us."
The loss continued a poor record in Townsville.
Newcastle have now lost 10 of their past 11 games in the city, including seven straight, and haven't won there since 2015. Gamble was at pains to use the heat as an excuse for their performance, but said it was a contributing factor.
"I don't want to blame the heat, but it was hot up there. We're not really used to that," he said. "But it's more individual onus on your game.
"We had a lot of errors there as a spine and back-five. We went away from the game plan a little bit that first half ... but we're not far off.
"Both the teams we've played the last two weeks finished in the top four last year and we've been thereabouts at the end of the game.
"We've got a lot of positives to take out of how we're playing, but it's just the attention to detail in certain things that we're lacking ... I'd rather be doing that at the start of the year, than at the end."
Gamble said the team was desperate for a win before their break during the bye.
"You could say it's a four-point game," he said.
"We wanted to win three of ... four games in this period, but we've dropped two.
"It's a massive focus for us to win this game.
"We've got to stay in touch with that top eight."
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