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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National

David Klemmer: We've got to learn from the Panthers

OUT OF ANSWERS: Newcastle Knights players looking dejected after conceding a try against the Penrith Panthers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday. Picture: AAP
OUT OF ANSWERS: Newcastle Knights players looking dejected after conceding a try. Picture: Jonathan Carroll

We've had some tough losses at home this year, and on Sunday it wasn't any better.

We had the day off after the game before coming in for a debrief on Tuesday.

It's always tough going into a review after a defeat like that. Not just for the players, but the coaches, trainers and everyone involved. You can feel in the room how disappointed everyone is.

Penrith are a very good footy side; so clinical.

You don't want to be like another team, you want to have your own way, but they're obviously doing something right.

Losing isn't nice, but for us to move forward as a group, we can take a leaf out of their book. What do they do so well that we can do better?

We've got to just try and learn from it.

We've copped it a bit this year in some of our reviews, yelling and screaming.

But we're trying to find another way to improve and get out of the hole we're in.

Our next couple of games are against teams similarly placed to us, but it's going to be a challenge. We're fighting for our season.

I sometimes look down the road and think about how many games we've got to play and how many we can afford to lose or need to win, but as a group and a club, I think our whole focus has just got to be on the next game. Just week to week.

We start on Sunday with Canberra, who haven't been going too bad recently.

I don't mind playing down there, it's a great footy field.

It's always tough in the cold but we might be acclimatised to it. It's been pretty cold up here lately.

But we know we're going to be in for a fight.

We played the Raiders last year in Wagga Wagga and came away with a 24-16 win.

Even though we were 16-nil down at halftime, I remember walking into the sheds thinking we would win. I think we were all pretty confident. We rallied after the break and got the win, which was pretty inspiring.

But we can't expect to do that again, Canberra will be fighting for their season too.

Hopefully Kalyn is right to play after putting his body on the line against Viliame Kikau. He put his head right into the big Fijian's shoulder.

That would be like getting smashed by a wrecking ball.

Kalyn weighs 80-odd kilos, Kikau would be 120-plus.

It was pretty brave, and it was massive losing him given how well he played for Queensland last week.

After the game on Sunday, I tried to stay on the field and sign a few autographs. I was one of the last in the sheds, but I think everyone wanted to get in their pretty quick.

In the past I've been one of the first off after a belting, but this year I've tried to stick around as much as I can.

I had a bit of a look at what I was doing and wanted to be better in that department, I've got my own kids so I know what it's like.

But it is pretty hard after a loss like that.

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