Rugby league: Jazz Tevaga gives scathing review of Warriors performance in NRL loss to Newcastle Knights

When it comes to honest reviews of the Warriors' loss to the Newcastle Knights, look no further than Jazz Tevaga's scathing account for indications to where it went so wrong.

The Warriors got off to a phenomenal start in Redcliffe, scoring twice early to see their score match the clock through 10 minutes. But after leading comfortably through 20 minutes, unforced errors crept in, the Warriors faded, and the Knights were let back into the game.

The Warriors were outscored four tries to one after the 20 minute mark, and speaking to Sky Sport after the match, Tevaga gave his view at to where things went wrong.

"F***. Excuse my language, but the first half, first 20 minutes, we had them. Our game cycle was working well for us, we were completing sets, we were getting down their end then, it's been the story of our season really, concentration, errors, and it compounds, then the next thing we're on our line under the posts.

"It's just concentration. I'm not putting the blame on anyone, but we've got to defend our areas. Two of our halves kicked the ball out on the full, [Reece Walsh] kicked the ball out on the full, we had [Jack] Murchie drop the ball – that's just concentration errors. We can take the ones where we're playing footy and having a crack at them, but those ones it's just not good enough."

When Sky presenter Goran Paladin asked about the occasion of playing in Indigenous Round and the significance of the special round-specific jersey the team wore, Tevaga noted it was special to be able to celebrate the various cultures within the team, before bringing the attention back to the matter at hand.

"It's a special jersey we've got on, but we've got more jerseys than trophies."

Coming into the match, there had been plenty of attention on the Warriors middle forwards, with starting props Addin Fonua-Blake (foot injury) and Matt Lodge (released) unavailable. Tevaga, usually a lock or hooker, was drafted into a starting role at prop alongside recent injury returnee Ben Murdoch-Masila and both stepped up to the requirements of the role.

But for all the good work that was done, there was always a simple error that undid it all; be it a bad handling error or a poor defensive read inviting pressure or allowing Newcastle to score points.

"We've got to learn how to respond after errors," Tevaga told Sky Sport. "We spoke about that the last couple of weeks – we've got to respond to errors, we've got to defend them, but tonight we just weren't good enough."