First half Knox had all the territory and possession, but Joeys burnt them on turnovers. Pat Broe at fullback was sensational and scored a first half hat trick.
Second half saw a frenetic arm wrestle and Knox hung in as Joeys threatened to run away with it, and the turning point came when Pat Broe came off with what looked like a bad knee injury with Joeys up 33-15.
As the Joeys emptied the subs bench they lost all defensive shape, had no talk at the back, and got the defensive numbers all wrong especially on the right side defence where the Knox left winger was brilliant in the last 10 with long range tries.
Knox were rewarded for keeping at it, cutting mistakes, and making no subs in the final 20 to maintain cohesion despite being tired. Their 8 was fantastic, and the 7, 3, 11 and 15 played very well.
For Joeys, losing their captain Pat Young at half time and Pat Broe in the second half changed everything in relation to talk, go forward and confidence. Hwi Sharples was terrific but couldn’t do it on his own.
Set piece will need a lot of work and game smarts and exiting their own end is a big work in progress. Two games running they have suffered from making mass substitutions. In the end, they were outsmarted and out-disciplined in the final 15mins and it cost them dearly when they were in a dominant position.
