PEARCE ACCEPTS OFF FIELD ISSUES MAY HAVE KEPT FANS AWAY

The Knights salvaged some pride, thanks to that 34-point demolition of the Titans – in front of the smallest Newcastle home crowd since 1997.

The weather was awful, but skipper Mitchell Pearce concedes there’s a possibility fans stayed away because of recent events at the club.

“I can’t blame them if it was we’re the only ones to blame for that the club is not in the best place at the moment as far as the last couple of weeks obviously there’s been some changes and a lot going on as a playing group all we can do is go out and put in a performance like that and do ourselves proud and the team proud and earn back respect,” said Pearce.