Courageous Kurt Mann produced his best performance since linking with the Knights in their 26-12 win over Brisbane off the back of just one training session during the build-up after learning the devastating news his mother Jane has terminal liver cancer.
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The heartbreaking diagnosis was made five days after the Knights' loss to the Storm in Melbourne a fortnight ago.
Mann immediately rushed to be with his mum and sister in Toowoomba during the bye week and only got back to Newcastle in time for his side's final training session last Friday, the day before the Broncos clash.
Given the circumstances, Knights coach Nathan Brown was prepared to leave Mann out altogether before it was decided he would come off the bench with Mason Lino to start at five-eighth. But those plans changed at noon on the day of the game when Mann took a call from his coach telling him fullback Kalyn Ponga was a late scratching with a calf strain.
"Browny had been pushing for me not to play at all because of what was going on off the field with mum," Mann told the Newcastle Herald.
"Than I was just going to start on the bench and sort of fill in if needed. But Kalyn pulled out and he rang me about 12 and asked if I would be up to it. Even then, he didn't push it."
But Mann wanted to play and what made it special was the fact his mum and sister, who had travelled down to Sydney to see another liver cancer specialist for a second opinion, came up to Newcastle to watch him in action for the Knights for the first time live.
"I told Browny I wanted to play, especially with mum being here so he gave me that opportunity which was good. I was playing for her and that made it pretty special."
The utility star, who has made the five-eighth position his own since being moved there several weeks ago, could hardly have been more impressive at the back in Ponga's absence, having a major hand in the Knights opening two tries in the first half.
Attacking near the Brisbane try-line just nine minutes into the game, Mann angled across field and swotted away two would-be Brisbane defenders before lobbing a pass to an unmarked Edrick Lee who planted the ball down in the corner.
Then, midway through the half, he held up a beautiful pass for Lachlan Fitzgibbon to charge over after Connor Watson and Mitchell Pearce had handled following a superb Tim Glasby off-load. The tries gave the homeside a 12-0 lead and the early ascendancy which they never relinquished.
Mann said his mother's illness had rocked the family.
"Leading into the Melbourne game, I knew she was crook but we didn't really know how bad at that stage," he said. "But then the Thursday after that game, we got the bad news so I've been away up in Toowoomba pretty much all week. I haven't really trained at all since. I got back for the captain's run and that's it."
Mann said his mother had been diagnosed with a rare type of terminal liver cancer that was incurable and inoperable.
"Generally, they give you less than 12 months with treatment but in rare cases, people have been known to go a bit longer," he said.
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But there is a glimmer of hope after the Sydney trip.
"She came down to get a second opinion in Sydney earlier this week. She is going to have chemo but it [the cancer] is 6.5 cms in her liver and all her lymph nodes are infected as well," Mann said.
"But if the treatment can shrink the liver mass down to 1.5 cms, the specialist says he'd be willing to operate. He's had a handful of cases where it has shrunk it but that's rare. It's a bit of hope though and it's been good for mum to give her some hope and something to go for."
Mann said his mother usually only made it down from Toowoomba to see him play once a year.
"She usually only makes it down for one game a year and it was really special to get the chance to play in front of her tonight. She has seen me play for Melbourne and the Dragons but it's the first time she has seen me play live for the Knights and to get the win as well was great."
With Ponga expected to miss the club's next two matches at home against the Warriors and the Bulldogs with his calf strain also ruling him out of next Wednesday week's Origin decider, Mann is almost certain to again full the fullback role with Lino, who was outstanding against the Broncos, to hold his place in the halves.
The only thing that may throw a spanner in the works is if halfback Mitchell Pearce is picked for the Blues in Origin III.
"I'm pretty comfortable there at the back," Mann said."I've played a few games there now and played a fair bit growing up there and with Origin, I'll probably be there again." Lino's pin-point goal-kicking was a feature of the Broncos win.
