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‘We’ll move on’: Coach unfazed despite double blow to Knights’ finals hopes Newcastle Knights coach Justin Holbrook has remained upbeat about his side’s finals position despite suffering another disappointing loss. Forced to play with 12 men for much of the match after Jacob Saifiti was sent off inside the opening 15 minutes, the Knights were left facing an uphill battle against the Warriors in New Zealand. Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Although they showed plenty of fight and refused to go away, multiple lapses allowed their opponents to build momentum and ultimately punish the Knights on the scoreboard. “(We) had a player sent off early and made it very hard,” Holbrook said post-match. “We obviously started well, started the game really well and then we didn’t handle that period just before half-time. “That’s what I was sort of most disappointed in. We sort of panicked and they had about eight sets in a row against us. “Then we come out hard and competed hard in that second half and last-play tries hurt us. “I’m really proud of what we had to do with a lot of chaos out there, a lot of disruption and we worked hard for the 80 (minutes). We need a week off and we got one.” The defeat means the Knights will now head into their bye with their finals position to be determined by next weekend’s result Currently sitting seventh on the ladder, Newcastle had been hoping to secure a home final with victory over the Warriors. However, they will now need the Sydney Roosters to defeat the sixth-placed South Sydney Rabbitohs next weekend to boost their chances of securing a home final at McDonald Jones Stadium “We’ll be better for it now. We get the bye and our position may not change whether we’ve won or not tonight,” Holbrook added. “We wanted to win to secure our home final but now we just have to wait till next week on other results, but we’re in there. “To be honest, I’m not fussed if we finish home or away. I’m really confident. We need the week off and our position may not change. “That’s why I’m upbeat with the players about it. “We competed hard in that second half. We made a lot of line-breaks with 12 players which is hard to do. “There’s a lot to like in a weird sort of way. We could be playing at home anyway after next weekend’s game. “If that’s the case, then we’ll really see this game as long as we can get those injuries right. It won’t matter and we’ll move on.”