On a Sunday afternoon full of positives for the Newcastle Knights, things ended on a massive negative as captain Kurt Gidley was sin-binned and the club subsequently went down 23-20 to the Wests Tigers.
Though it would end up costing his team dearly, Gidley was adamant that his barge on Tigers captain Robbie Farah - as he went to take a quick tap following a brilliant 40/20 from halfback Luke Brooks - was not deliberate.
"I was just trying to get back there as quick as possible from my point of view. I knew the 40/20 was happening. I was trying to gather our troops and try and get back there as soon as possible but the referee didn't see it that way," Gidley said.
Though it would end up costing his team dearly, Gidley was adamant that his barge on Tigers captain Robbie Farah - as he went to take a quick tap following a brilliant 40/20 from halfback Luke Brooks - was not deliberate.
"I was just trying to get back there as quick as possible from my point of view. I knew the 40/20 was happening. I was trying to gather our troops and try and get back there as soon as possible but the referee didn't see it that way," Gidley said.
"To start off with I didn't think it was a 40/20 and I think there were a few of us in that boat and obviously when they got on their bike and started travelling down field pretty fast, we were just doing the same thing."
Watch the NRL LIVE with a 2-week free trial.
Get the NRL Digital Pass now!
"I think they picked up nine points after that. It was still pretty close but we did a lot of good things with some good pressure and some good field position for long periods of time," Bennett said.
"They chanced their arm and managed a result out of it and that probably happened three or four times today. Even that 40/20 kick, we had them down in the corner there and didn't have much going for them and they pulled off a great kick.
"Our effort's there and you can see they are out there putting a lot of effort into it, so we just have to keep turning up and doing the best we can and see what happens."
With Darius Boyd playing his 200th first-grade game, the fourth youngest player to do so in the history of the game, and Akuila Uate securing the club record for most tries, Bennett was complimentary to both men's efforts.
"[Boyd] had a great game but he had other great players out there with him, Darius wasn't by himself," Bennett said.
"[As for Uate] it's been a bit hard for him this year to score some tries, so he swapped positions today and that worked for him and he's an exciting player.
"Everyone loves to see him playing like he did and getting the opportunity's that he did today which haven't been as forthcoming as we would've liked.
"Just sometimes I think he was struggling down that right hand side there, so I thought the change would do them the world of good."
With the Knights' Round 14 opponents, the Sydney Roosters, coming off a bone-crushing 32-12 win over the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon, the task does not get any easier for the Knights in the coming weeks.
