With the players from the club's inaugural 1982 team watching from the stands and dressed in those same lime-green jumpers, the Raiders admitted to being motivated by history. Winners appear to be Brisbane, Roosters, Bulldogs, Sharks who beat Penrith away on Saturday night and New Zealand Warriors. Losers appear to be Penrith, with a single victory, Melbourne, with two consecutive big losses, and the Northern Eagles. Knights coach Michael Hagan disputes his team's inconsistent tag, pointing out that four of the club's six matches have been away and the only embarrassing loss was to Brisbane. Auckland completed 95 per cent of their second-half sets against Brisbane and won by a point.
All coaches say the same thing after games.
Possession is 10 10ths of the law. Now, when you make a mistake, you pay with a try. Yet even that didn't work for the Storm. Their players ran onto the pitch to warm up, some of them like berserkers in Norse mythology, ready to spread terror and devastation. They glared to the northern end as the Knights did run-throughs and high kicks.