A “disgraceful” first half showing from the Knights has led to yet another lopsided result and sparked speculation that a regular had been hooked at half-time against the Eels.
Eels star Dylan Brown broke through for the first of seven Parramatta tries in the opening minute of the match, with the Knights’ defence listless throughout the night as they succumbed to a 43-12 loss.
The Knights trudged into the sheds at half-time having already conceded five tries, and eyebrows were raised when they returned to the field minus veteran Kurt Mann, leading to speculation that he’d been made the “scapegoat” for Newcastle’s horror show by coach Adam O’Brien.
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O’Brien’s apparent call on Mann initially left Tigers icon Steve Roach stunned on Fox League’s coverage.
“It’s very hard to call out just one player,” he said.
“They were disgraceful in the first half, the defence, they missed 22 tackles and lots of one-on-one hits. That’s a big call.”
“It looks as though he’s paid the price and been made the scapegoat if you like for the defensive frailties they showed left, right and centre during that first half,” added lead caller Warren Smith.
However, the mystery over Mann’s disappearance was solved shortly afterwards, with the 30-year-old revealed to have been dealing with an abdominal injury.
“It’s something around the hip flexor, but it has gone deep into the abdominal area,” O’Brien revealed after the match.
“It was in the opening exchanges. It was really early on because I could tell. He’s a solid defender and he was a little bit loose around the middle, so I knew something wasn’t right.
NRL Highlights: Eels v Knights – Round 9
“We were just trying to see if he could run it out a little bit, but it got too much. At half-time it was pretty bad.”
Nevertheless, it was another disappointing showing for the Knights, who slumped to 13th on the NRL ladder.
In contrast, it was a dream outing for the Eels, as skipper Clint Gutherson scored a hat-trick.
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Gutherson crossed over in the 22nd, 34th and 46th minutes of the match, adding to tries from Brown, Sean Russell and Junior Paulo.
The Knights will have some brief respite with a bye in round 10 before hosting the Titans in round 11, while the Eels will take on the Titans next weekend.
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