2007 Round 18 vs Melbourne Storm:
Melbourne 44 defeated Newcastle 0.
Melbourne dominated the Knights from start to finish in round 18’s Monday night clash - the hapless Novocastrians not even being able to notch up a lone point. The Storm moved one step closer to their second successive minor premiership with a commanding display.
It began with a Steve Turner try in the 5th minute. Turner easily made his way over on the end of a string of passes inside the Knight’s 10 - setting the scene for what was to come.
Anthony Quinn scored a try against his own side in the 14th minute, crossing just as easily on the other flank. Ryan Hoffman crossed in embarrassing fashion in the 27th minute, off a short Matt Geyer pass and without a hand laid on him. Then Billy Slater made further mockery of the Knights flakers in the 30th minute to score untouched from close range. The score at halftime was 20-0.
Things didn’t get better for Newcastle in the second half when Matt King scored from a grubber, and Billy Slater, Anthony Quinn and Steve Turner crossed for grubbers. Mid season recruit Clint Newton also scored against his own side, making many an enemy at Newcastle with his over the top celebrations (and post-match trash talk).
Newcastle did receive the rough end of many decisions, with a massive 12-4 penalty count going against them, but there was the feeling that a fairer performance by the referee may only have delayed the inevitable. The Knights now faced a rough road to make the semifinals.
What they said:
Brian Smith:
"We could have come here with machetes and Gatling guns and A. Johns and still run second."
[On his comment about coming in to pull Melbourne's pants down] "I said we only have to go in and do it once. We only had to beat them once. We certainly weren't good enough."
Danny Buderus:
"Nothing's working for me. Now I've done my knee a bit. I'm not enjoying playing injured."
[Does he need a break?] "I don't know. We'll see."
[Did he act angrily at being replaced out of frustration?] "I think so. I don't know. Ask the coach"
Clint Newton:
"It was the bloke who said they were going to pull our pants down. I think our pants are still up. I don't know if he would have made those comments if he was playing. That's something that we obviously drew on as a team. There was (sledging) from a couple of players from the Knights. I'm not sure if they played well enough to sledge me. I just kept my mouth shut, which was hard at times."