Apr 22nd, 2019

Apr 22nd, 2019

Paul Gallen has dropped a truth bomb on the Knights after their horror NRL slump hit five consecutive losses.

Gallen's Cronulla side lost to Newcastle in Round 1 but the Knights haven't won since. Coach Nathan Brown and forward Lachlan Fitzgibbon bit back at past criticism from Gallen after the first-up win, yet their words have fallen flat during an ongoing losing streak.

Gallen, whose team is 3-3, succinctly nailed the situation during a 100% Footy discussion of the Knights on Monday night.

"I just copped it on the chin. It's them blokes who lipped up who haven't backed it up," he said. "That's the issue for the Knights at the moment."

Paul Gallen. (AAP)

Gallen wrote in an exclusive Wide World of Sports column after Round 1 that the Knights should be a finals team, having added Test prop David Klemmer to a fast-improving squad including Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce.

"If Browny is that interested in my opinion: I think they should make the eight with this Knights team. It’s a fair squad he’s got," Gallen wrote.

"If they don’t, it would be a major disappointment for the club, the coach and a proud rugby league town."

Nathan Brown and Paul Gallen. (Getty)

Yet Newcastle are rooted to the bottom of the table and look a distant hope of making the finals, barring a drastic form reversal. The pressure is now on Brown, who has nurtured the team through difficult seasons but is expected to deliver far better results this year.

Nine NRL reporter Neil Breen noted that Brown was on an unusual open-ended contract with Newcastle.

"It doesn't have an end date and it doesn't have payout clauses and stuff like that," Breen said.

"So if a decision was to be made by the Knights board, it can be made fairly easily without a massive financial cost. I don't think they'll pull the trigger right now, but I think they'll be looking at it.

"They got the team they wanted in the end. I think Klemmer was a very key signing for them, they got Kalyn Ponga, the most promising player in the game, and Mitch Pearce.

"The knocked off Gal's team in Round 1 and celebrated like they'd won the premiership, so people thought something was going on ... [but] it's been five losses since then. I just think the disappointment would be extremely deep."

NRL Highlights: Titans v Knights - Round 6

Brown on Tuesday backed himself to revive Newcastle's form.

"I've been in this situation as player and a coach. I've been 1-5 with the Dragons and finished equal first, I've lost five on the bounce at St Helens (in the English Super League) and gone on to win the grand final," Brown said.

Panthers football boss and premiership-winning coach Phil Gould said the on-field signs were concerning for Newcastle. Their 38-14 loss to the lowly Titans on Sunday was a new low.

"Week by week, there's been deteriorating signs there and it sort of culminated [Sunday]," Gould said.

"Three of the first four tries, Newcastle dropped the ball and they [the Titans] just picked it up and well pass-pass and scored. There was no desperation in anything they [the Knights] did.

"It was nothing that Gold Coast had to do brilliantly to get the points and after the scoreboard went against them, there wasn't a great deal of fight left there, either.

NRL Press Conference: Nathan Brown - Round 6

"They're things that can be turned around quickly but at the moment, they just can't seem to be able to get themselves into a contest and have any confidence that they're going to go on with it.

"There was some nice touches from Kalyn Ponga [Sunday], some of their forwards do some good work, but it's all individual stuff. I don't feel like they're together as a unit."