Pearce offering Field goal seals finals berth for Knights crushes Titans

Mitchell Pearce slotted a field goal in the final minute to give Newcastle a fifth straight win and some all-important momentum heading into the NRL finals.

The Knights trailed 12-6 against the Gold Coast at half-time on Thursday night, but a try to Pearce, a penalty goal and then a one-pointer from their veteran halfback proved the difference.

“We definitely need to tidy up our attack going into the finals, but I’m just really happy for the club and the town we’ll be playing finals. We just need to keep improving,” Pearce said.

It was a solid game but certainly not sensational.

If we are being fair dinkum, the Knights will be flat out making it past week one of the finals, but they could trouble a team like the sixth-placed Parramatta given the star power they have with Pearce and Kalyn Ponga.

If Newcastle’s favourite son, Andrew Johns, had his way centre Bradman Best would be getting a lot more early ball. Johns could not understand at half-time during the Nine commentary why Best was being starved of the ball.

Mitchell Pearce slots the winning field goal in the dying minutes.Credit:Getty

“We know he’s a weapon, everyone in the competition knows he’s a weapon - but he’s not getting the ball,” Johns said of Best, who finished the game with 11 runs for 102 metres.

Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien was glad for yet another win and saved his biggest praise for his No.7.

“He was huge, he was really good,” O’Brien said of Pearce.

“He shouldered a lot of the frustration with the team last week when we were dissecting our attack against the Bulldogs ... champions stand up in the big moments, and that’s what he did [tonight].

O’Brien was not fussed about suggestions the Knights would likely bow out the first week of the finals, saying: “We’ve got heart, and if you’ve got that it goes a long way to winning rugby league games. I feel like we’ve got the personnel and juice in our legs to get better, so we’ll see where it takes us.”

The Titans looked the better team for most of the night but failed to convert periods of dominance into points.

Pearce knew they could hit back with a bit more of possession, and a player like Ponga never needs an invite.

Ponga was taken out off the ball by Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Newcastle were given a penalty, then Ponga crashed through three Titans defenders - including Fa’asuamaleaui -to score midway through the first half.

Mitchell Pearce is swamped by teammates after his match-winning one-pointer.Credit:Getty

His short ball to Pearce was all class after a similar slick pass to Hymel Hunt the previous play in the second half. Ponga also did well early in the second half to get the ball back into the field of play when the Gold Coast could have forced a repeat set and put Adam O’Brien’s men under serious pressure.

The Titans will be filthy they threw this one away. They were playing for their season and will now be sweating on Cronulla and Canberra crashing to defeat this round. The scores were all locked up with seven minutes remaining.

Patrick Herbert took the first field goal attempt from 41m out but put it short and to the right, while Clifford’s own 40m shot was charged down before Pearce put it straight over the black dot and was mobbed by his teammates.

Pearce also came up with an excellent 40/20 that went close to 60m and put the Knights on the attack, only for their chance to go begging because of a sloppy pass.

Newcastle can make it six straight when they play Brisbane next Saturday, while the Titans should know by next Sunday whether they are still a live chance when they host the New Zealand Warriors.

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Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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