Knights coach Nathan Brown says it's impossible for players to be at their peak physically every week but expects the challenge of taking on defending premiers Sydney Roosters will bring out the best in his squad at the SCG on Saturday.
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Brown blamed a lack of energy across the board for his side's shock loss to the Bulldogs in the last round but expects a refreshed and far more settled squad to really test the Roosters.
"I thought as a whole, our squad was a bit down in energy last week," he said.
"It wasn't any one person in particular, I thought a lot of blokes were a touch down. It's been a tough sort of run where we've had Origin and a fair few injuries as well and we had one of those days.
"But you can't be at your height all the time physically, it's impossible. They're not cars you put petrol in and you can't stick them in a power point. What we need to get better at is when we are not at our best, to get some execution things right and making sure we are doing enough to win some games during that period which is what the top sides do."
Brown admitted he would have preferred not to back up his Origin players against the Bulldogs but after the loss to the Warriors, decided to "run the gauntlet". It didn't pay off and now, after three defeats from their past four games, the Roosters clash takes on even more importance.
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"To have five Origin players shows how far we have come as a club and we are still in a reasonable spot on the ladder," he said.
"But like all sides that are on 16,18, 20 points, everyone looks at one or two games and thinks what could have been if we'd done a little better in the close results.
"The Roosters squad is very powerful and everyone is expecting them at some stage to go on a bit of a run.
"But we'd like to think we got a fair bit of confidence from that good run period we had and whilst the last two games were not where we'd like them to be, this is going to be the first time we have put a team on the field for four or five weeks where we have roughly got the blokes in the position that they are best served at our club."
They're not cars you put petrol in and you can't stick them in a power point.
- Nathan Brown
Brown believes having the spine of fullback Kalyn Ponga, halves Mitchell Pearce and Kurt Mann and hooker Danny Levi back together again is a huge bonus leading into such a big game.
"We had some good performances in that six or seven game run that we had and beat some very good sides and Kurt, Pearcey, KP and Danny, that combination, certainly appeared a very good combination for us with Connor somewhere in amongst it," he said.