Captain Mitchell Pearce says he and Newcastle teammates let coach Nathan Brown down and must take responsibility.
Knights management have reportedly knocked back an offer by Brown to leave immediately in the wake of his team’s 46-4 NRL capitulation to the West Tigers on Saturday.
That humiliation came just five days after the coach announced his end-of-season departure amid speculation the club was sounding out a replacement.
It was the Knights’ worst defeat of 2019 despite being in finals contention, leaving them 11th on the ladder and prompting a stinging rebuke of the management by club great Andrew Johns.
With Brown seemingly set to oversee the Knights’ final two games against the Gold Coast and Penrith, skipper Pearce says the players need to shoulder the blame for their performance.
“We really let our coach down, let our fans down and as a team it’s unacceptable,” Pearce said on Monday.
“All the criticism that’s coming is warranted. There’s no excuse from our end with the week leading into it.
“It had nothing to do with the coach. We need to keep each other accountable. We let our mates down.”
The Knights are now tasked with regaining some pride before many of their club greats when they play the last-placed Titans during Saturday’s old boys’ day celebrations.
The occasion to honour past greats has become a tradition in the Hunter and is held during the club’s final home game of the year.
“It’s going to be a massive day,” said Pearce.
“All I can say as captain as I wasn’t good enough on the weekend, as a team we weren’t good enough.
“We’re all responsible. It’s an emotional time, a lot of guys would be hurting.
“I let the boys down on the weekend. I need to take responsibility for that and lead from the front. As a group we let each other down.”