KNIGHTS coach Adam O'Brien admitted his team weren't willing enough to "get into a scrap" and paid the price with a season-opening 28-12 loss to Canberra Raiders at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night.
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In the re-match of last year's memorable play-off at the same venue, which Newcastle won 30-28 after a golden-point thriller, the Raiders enjoyed sweet revenge with a comprehensive boilover win.
The Green Machine out-muscled and out-hustled the home team, leading 10-6 at half-time and adding four second-half tries to send a crowd of 22,378 home disappointed.
"Our game lacked any sort of grit," O'Brien said. "We were impatient.
"It felt like we wanted the highlights reel, where the other mob, when you score four tries or whatever on the last play, and they were scrappy tries, but that's what they wanted.
"They wanted to come here and get into a scrap, and I don't reckon we did, and we got a lesson in what wins the first month of footy.
"That's high completions and working hard all the way through to the back end of the set and not looking for the easy way out.
"So it's pretty easy to dissect it."
The Knights made 15 errors to Canberra's seven, allowing the visitors to dominate possession and field position, leaving O'Brien less than impressed.
"The other mob were good," he said. "They've spent their summer dreaming about coming back here, and we've been happy with our summer. I've probably told them too many times how good a summer we've had, so I don't need to do that anymore."
Newcastle's cause was not helped by a quadriceps injury that forced Enari Tuala out of the game at half-time and left O'Brien with Dylan Lucas playing at right-side centre and Dane Gagai is on the wing.
Tuala is now in doubt for Newcastle's trip to Townsville on Saturday week, which will be followed by similarly daunting clashes against Melbourne (home) and the Warriors (away).
Tuala, recalled to the starting line-up after the departure of Dominic Young to Sydney Roosters, was hopeful that scans would clear him of any long-term damage.
"They think it's just a low-grade strain, so hopefully it's only a couple of weeks," he said.
"I'm trying to stay positive but, yeah, it's disappointing. Especially being round one."
Tom Jenkins, who joined the Knights from Penrith at the end of last season, would appear the leading candidate to replace Tuala, although young tyro Fletcher Sharpe scored two tries in Newcastle's 38-22 loss to Canberra in NSW Cup on Thursday.
