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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Max McKinney

Knights opt for a look in the mirror, rather than at the Storm

CHALLENGE: Test forward Tyson Frizell has been one of Newcastle's standouts this season and will be a key man in Sunday's clash with Melbourne Storm. Picture: Peter Lorimer

RIGHTING their wrongs has been the focus for the Knights this week, rather than focusing on how to bring down the red-hot Melbourne Storm.

Back-rower Tyson Frizell said the club's preparation for Sunday's game had been almost entirely about themselves after the humiliating 39-2 loss to the Eels in front of 25,169 fans at home.

"Our week has been a little bit different," Frizell said.

"No disrespect to the Storm, they are a quality side - we know what they are going to throw out - but we need, as a group and as a team, to really look at ourselves individually and we need to get ourselves right.

"We need to be at our best to be able to push these guys."

Frizell said the players were keen to rectify last week's poor performance and were pleased to have a chance to do so at home.

"It was a performance that we didn't see coming [against the Eels]. It's not what we really want to ever happen again, that type of loss," Frizell, 30, said.

"You can use it as motivation to put in a performance, but we know as a group that we're a lot better than the side that ran out last week.

"We get to do it again and hopefully, we obviously want to get a win, but we want to play the type of footy we know the Knights can play."

The Knights have lost their past five games and been beaten in their past 10 encounters with the Storm, who are coming off a club-record equalling 70-10 victory against the Warriors.

Frizell said while his side could be overawed by the Storm given the amount of points they piled on, he believed their game last week offered key takeaways heading into Sunday's clash.

"They're not an unbeatable side. They just play a consistent style of footy week-in, week-out," Frizell said.

"We need to play for 80 [minutes]. Last week, the Warriors were in it for 40 minutes of the game and then [the Storm] put on nearly 60 points or so.

"We need to be competing right to the death and get some enjoyment back in our footy. If we do those things, we will be a good chance."

Frizell, a 203-game veteran who has also played for the Dragons and Sharks, has experienced a few losing runs similar to the Knights' five-game streak and said there was "no secret" to bouncing back other than hard work.

"You tend to lose a little bit of belief in the group, but it's a part of footy," he said.

"I've been through it before and hard work usually gets you out, and restoring a little bit of confidence in the group.

"We're trying to do that this week as best we can, doing as much as we can on and off the field together to restore that.

"It's not easy, but it's easy to fix too."

The Knights head into the game with eight first-graders unavailable and are sweating on fellow back-rower Brodie Jones being fit enough to play after hyper-extending his elbow against the Eels.

Jack Johns is likely to come into the side if he withdraws.

The Knights are offering a free child's ticket (under 16) redemption for every adult ticket purchased in advance, and children will be allowed onto the field at full-time.

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