{"id":323282,"date":"2023-08-13T20:57:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-13T20:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=323282"},"modified":"2023-08-13T21:58:47","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T21:58:47","slug":"obriens-bold-declaration-amid-late-finals-blitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=323282","title":{"rendered":"O'Brien's bold declaration amid late finals blitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the Knights<\/a>' second big win over the Bulldogs<\/a> this season, coach Adam O'Brien<\/a> declared much of the pressure he has been under has been released.<\/p>\n

Only six weeks ago in round 18, the Knights put 66 points on the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium.<\/p>\n

In the return fixture on Sunday, the Knights put another 42 points on a "disappointing" Dogs side<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THE MOLE: <\/strong>Awkward decision facing Sharks coach after victory<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Why Matildas star apologised to fans after epic win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Crap': Star's retirement question avoided after loss<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

That massive round 18 victory was the spark the Knights needed to kickstart their push for a finals berth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To that point, they were languishing 14th on the ladder with only five wins to their name. They were only a point clear of the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

Having finished 14th last season and staring down the barrel of another disappointing finish, pressure was undoubtedly building on O'Brien.<\/p>\n

But since that Bulldogs mauling, the Knights have gone on a tear. They've won each of their last six matches and claimed some big scalps \u2013 including the Storm and Raiders \u2013 to rise to seventh with three rounds to go.<\/p>\n

"I was always proud to be their coach and I was always invested," he told media on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

"Twelve months ago even when we were going through tough times, I thought \u2026 whilst it wasn't nice to go through that season, there were a lot of things that we had to contend with that weren't in our control, and there were some things that were.<\/p>\n

"And we definitely learned from some stuff as well.<\/p>\n

"But \u2026 it was only six or seven weeks ago where I was under a bit of pressure and a lot of speculation, but I don't think I'm any different today than where I was six weeks ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"It's just that we've got (wins) stacked up next to the column and it changes the narrative."<\/p>\n

The Knights' run to finals features home clashes against the Rabbitohs and Sharks, before finishing the season against the Dragons at Kogarah.<\/p>\n

A win against the Rabbitohs next Sunday afternoon would all but lock the Knights into the eight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the Knights' second big win over the Bulldogs this season, coach Adam O'Brien declared much of the pressure he has been under has been […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=323282"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323284,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323282\/revisions\/323284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}