Newcastle Knights coach Adam O’Brien insists the club has moved on from Mitch Barnett’s hit on Chris Smith that left the second-rower banned for six matches and cruelled Newcastle’s chance of victory against the reigning premiers.
Late in the first half of Newcastle’s round 3 loss to Penrith, Barnett drilled his elbow into Smith’s jaw off the ball, leaving the Panthers forward in agony on the ground.
Barnett was sent from the field and later became the first player referred directly to the NRL judiciary under the current judiciary structure.
On Tuesday night, the judiciary banned Barnett for six matches.
O’Brien remained tight-lipped on the hit immediately after the game but on Thursday he weighed in.
“At the end of the day, (the judiciary) wanted (to prove the hit was) intentional and wanted eight or 10 weeks and we wanted four, so we landed in the middle,” he said.
“It’s in the past now. ‘Barnie’ had a good session yesterday, he’s already back into training.”
Barnett underwent groin surgery in the pre-season, so his upcoming stint on the sidelines will give him the chance to make up for lost time at training, according to O’Brien.
“The beauty of it is that he’ll get a large block of training done that he did miss over Christmas, so we get that back,” the coach explained.
“I expect him to be back in really, really good condition for the team in round 10.”
The Knights led the reigning premiers 6-4 before Barnett was sent off for his hit but eventually lost the game 38-20.
O’Brien said he was pleased with Newcastle’s ability to stay in the fight a man down.
“I was definitely happy with it,” O’Brien said of his side’s effort.
“The scoreline wasn’t an indication, there were two late tries in the last five minutes, which has been a trend, but I’ve cut them a bit of slack there.
“To do it for that long against that opposition with 12 men on the field, I thought we were outstanding.
“There were two ways it could’ve gone; we could’ve packed up shop and given up, and we didn’t. I was really proud of them. We need the same sort of effort with 13 this week.”
The Knights will look to return to the winner’s circle when they meet the Sharks on Friday night.
Newcastle forward Tyson Frizell will be playing his 200th NRL game and O’Brien said it was important his teammates rose to the occasion.
“There’s an honour in being a part of someone’s milestone. It’s a game that they will remember for a long time,” he said.
“It’s really important that you put in a performance that we can be proud of.
“It’s 200 tough games of foxjmtzywotball from Tyson. He does that week in and week out.”
The Knights will be bolstered by the inclusion of captain Kalyn Ponga, who has recovered from a knee injury.
“Last week he was really close, just not close enough for my liking,” O’Brien said.
“He’s good to go, he’s trained really well this week. It’s great to have him back on deck.”
