Newcastle Knights coach slams half-time boos following dramatic Golden Point win

Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O’Brien has slammed the half-time booing from supporters in their Golden Point victory over Manly Sea Eagles.

The Knights were trailing 16-0 on home soil come the interval, but managed to claw their way back into the contest after the break and eventually secured a 26-22 victory.

Star man Kalyn Ponga was instrumental in the win as he crossed the whitewash just one minute into the first period of Golden Point extra-time to cement the win.

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‘The people that booed don’t know anything about rugby league’

Speaking to members of the media after the game, O’Brien provided an honest assessment of the fans’ half-time reaction.

He said: “It’s really disappointing.

“I know the scoreline is not what they want, but to boo the effort that went into that first half from a really young team… the people that booed don’t know anything about rugby league.

“They’re probably the ones who cheered at the end, too.

“It disappoints me that they’d do that. I thought the first half, we defended our hearts out, and you’ve got to remember it’s a really young footy team there against very good opposition.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half. We made a few errors leading into half-time, which gassed us a little bit and led to the last try.

“We could have been going into the sheds at 12-0 down, but it was a tremendous effort in the second half as we only made the two errors, and there was plenty of ball movement.”

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‘I’m a bit hurt by the booing. We don’t want to let anyone down, but I don’t think I’d seen that’

The victory now takes Newcastle up to 14th on the NRL ladder, but they could drop as low as 16th come the end of the weekend’s action should results go against them.

Currently propping up the table, Gold Coast Titans are just two competition points worse off than the Knights.

O’Brien continued: “I know with the booing and that, I know people are disappointed with us… but they are trying their backsides off.

“We don’t have a play one or play two front-rower available and to lose Friz (Tyson Frizell) straight away, I thought it was a bit harsh.

“I’m a bit hurt by the booing. We don’t want to let anyone down, but I don’t think I’d seen that.

“I’ve seen bigger losses here over the years and I’m not sure they’ve booed.”

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