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Wayne Bennett admits he's embarrassed by his Newcastle side's poor recent run of form, following Saturday's loss at home to the Gold Coast.
Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett says he's "embarrassed" by his struggling side's current run of form after the Knights slumped to a dismal 24-14 NRL defeat to lowly Gold Coast on Saturday.
On a cold evening in Newcastle, Bennett's side produced another limp performance, handing the Titans their first back-to-back victories in almost two years.
It was the fourth time this season the Knights have lost at home and the seven-time premiership-winning coach admits it will be a huge challenge to get the team into the finals.
"My greatest difficulty right now is that I have to pick the teams," Bennett said.
"If everybody's doing their job, then the team picks itself."
Many of the 15,792 crowd vented their frustrations at the final siren, with two late tries giving the scoreline a flattering look, in a game the Titans dominated for large periods.
Bennett has urged supporters to be patient, but admitted he understood their frustrations.
"They can get impatient as much as they like, but it isn't going to help anybody," he said.
"Nobody is more impatient than myself. I am embarrassed by the way we're playing.
"But if we could just wave a magic wand and get it right we'd do that.
"That's not going to happen. I understand their frustration, it's no greater than mine."
However, the 62-year-old said he would get things right and turn the situation round.
"I've been here before, so I know what is in front of me and I know what I've got to do," he said.
"My coaching career has been long, but a lot of people forget where I came from and they look at the results.
"But there has been a lot of indifferent stuff over a long period.
"But at the end of the day, I always get where I want to go and it's no different here."
Titans coach John Cartwright was full of praise for the performances of his State of Origin stars Greg Bird, Nate Myles and Ashley Harrison who all produced strong displays just three days after Wednesday's clash in Melbourne.
NSW back-rower Bird and Queensland star Myles both scored tries and Cartwright said he was delighted with the way his side overcome a slow start that saw them concede a try to Akuila Uate after four minutes.
"I thought there were patches in that game that is the best we've played this year," Cartwright said.
"I thought Birdy was one of our best and Nate and Harro were great. It is a tough ask to ask them to back up from Origin and the signs are great."