Actions, then words: Frizell inspires Knights into top-eight race

Tyson Frizell used actions then words to inspire Newcastle to a 34-24 victory over the Warriors at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday, pushing the Knights into the NRL top eight for the first time in a year.

Epitomising the effort and energy the Knights showed for much of the night, the former NSW back-rower and fullback Lachlan Miller turned and chased down a runaway Edward Kosi to deny the Warriors a try in the 10th minute and protect Newcastle’s early 6-0 lead.

Frizell scored a try in the 29th minute, pouncing on a Jackson Hastings bomb, as the Knights built a 22-6 advantage against the Warriors, then he kept a cool head early in the second half as the visitors mounted a comeback similar to the one they produced to pip the Sharks 32-30 seven days earlier.

“That’s the good thing about the leaders at the moment, they’re doing,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien told reporters after the game, highlighting the significance of the tackle.

“It’s not so much tell me, it’s show me, and that’s what he’s doing. That was a massive play, and we actually spoke about that after the game... our leaders are doing a real good job.”

Frizell, who ran for 105 metres and made 36 tackles, explained he wanted to make amends for Phoenix Crossland’s wayward pass that Kosi intercepted close to the Warriors’ line.

“I guess it was just a point in time where we had an opportunity to score, and we probably needed to ice a couple of those opportunities that we got down that left-hand side,” Frizell said.

“Big games are built on moments and I guess that was a moment in time that me and Lachie took the opportunity to save a try, and anyone in our position would have done that too.

“It wasn’t just that play, there were plenty of moments in the game where we turn up for one another and we’re trying to build something within this team of being able to save tries. It’s not always going to be pretty with our defensive systems, but we just need to find a way.”

Taking a 22-6 lead into the second half, the Knights looked like coasting to their second straight win at home and avenging a 20-12 loss to the Warriors in Wellington on March 3.

But just as he did against the Sharks last Sunday, Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson sparked a comeback by setting up two tries in six minutes to cut the deficit to 22-18 by the 56th minute.

The Knights repelled the rally, and hit back with converted tries to Kurt Mann and Greg Marzhew five minutes apart to regain the ascendancy and establish a 34-18 lead in the 70th minute.

“I thought Shaun Johnson in particular came at us really hard in the second half,” O’Brien said.

“He was playing some good footy in that first 10 or 15 minutes, and kicking to good positions, and I think at one stage they had 92% completions to our 60% and [all] the possession, and I thought we just had to hang tight.

“And I thought we defended our try-line fairly well there in consecutive sets but came up with an error at the back and they scored two tries off the scrum.

“But talking to ‘Friz’, there was no panic behind the line. The talk was instructional and quite calm, so I’m really proud of the fact they were able to wrestle back that momentum in the second period.”

The Knights lost hooker and co-captain Jayden Brailey to a knee injury in the 62nd minute and he will have scans this week to confirm or rule out suspected meniscus cartilage damage.

Preparing for Tyson Gamble to return from concussion when the Knights host the Panthers next Saturday, O’Brien plans to rotate Mann and Crossland at dummy-half until Brailey returns.

The looming shadow of the back-to-back defending champions ensured O’Brien was not getting carried away with his team’s encouraging start to the season after their miserable 2022 campaign.