Justin Holbrook is confident his side can produce another strong performance when they face the Storm, despite the club’s poor record in Melbourne.
The Newcastle Knights coach admitted Craig Bellamy’s men remained a dangerous opponent.
That’s in spite of the Victorian outfit being “unusually lower” on the table than previous seasons, especially given the quality of players in their squad.
“We know it’s a big assignment,” Holbrook said.
Newcastle sits fourth on the ladder halfway through the season.
While that’s surprised many pundits, the mentor said he believed in the group from the start.
“I was confident from pre-season,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.
“I’m happy where we’re sitting… and we’ve got to keep going.”
Holbrook said one reason for his optimism was the time it took for a side to settle into the year and build combinations.
With the Knights still finding rhythm in parts of their game, he feels there’s plenty of improvement ahead, too.
“The more you get familiar playing with each other, the more you’re going to understand timing and what each other wants,” he said.
“I believe we’re one of the teams that can improve the most.”
Last week’s win over Parramatta wasn’t Newcastle’s best performance, but Holbrook said the result showed the value of finding a way to win even when the team was not at its sharpest.
“The main thing is everyone went home happy that we won,” he noted.
“The rest will fall into place.”
The Knights now face the test of backing up that result with a much better showing against the Storm.
“We know we’ve got to go down there and play a lot better if we’re going to win [tomorrow],” Holbrook said.
“So, we’re embracing that challenge.”
Newcastle tackles Melbourne at AAMI Park from 6pm on Friday 5 June.
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- Mai-Wel, Maitland Blacks Charity Day raises $12,000 for Hunter community
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