THE final result was Brisbane 34 Newcastle 22 - but the Knights were a lot closer to winning this game than the score suggests.
I'm not taking anything away from the Broncos' victory. It was a mighty effort to play in Newcastle without Darren Lockyer and still get on the plane home to Brisbane with two competition points. They deserved their win, but I'm sure they'll admit the margin was no indication of how close the Knights came to succeeding.
I'm not even sure if the young Knights players know how close they were, but if they can learn from this experience, they'll cause their fair share of upsets this season.
The difference was 12 points, but with the Broncos kicking seven goals from seven attempts and the Knights landing only one from five, that's almost your winning margin right there.
The Knights also finished well ahead on many of the stats.
NRL Stats show the Knights made a total of 1217 metres with their forwards during the contest compared with only 1060 by the Broncos.
Usually such dominance over the advantage line leads to success on the scoreboard. It didn't yesterday, but the Knights can take heart from the fact their forwards had little trouble advancing the ball against a very good Broncos pack. They must learn to turn this into points.
The Knights also produced more than double the offloads of their opponents, indicating both their improved skill level and an admirable desire to keep the ball alive and play some football.
Many will say the Knights' defence around the play-the-ball area let them down at crucial times.
This was particularly evident in the five crucial minutes before half-time where the Broncos split the Knights through the middle of the field, scoring two tries and extending a six-point lead to 18 points in the twinkling of an eye. It was brilliant attack from the Broncos but a painfully poor defensive lapse by the Knights.
In the final wash-up, though, the Broncos actually missed more tackles than the Knights. The Broncos missed 38 tackles compared with the Knights' 26, another statistic that usually suggests the Knights should've gone on to win. It's just that the Broncos punished the Knights' errors when they had the chance.
I don't think anyone would question the fact the Knights created a lot of scoring opportunities. Their rapid ball movement to the edges of the field, even from deep in their own territory, looked highly impressive. They seemed to have little trouble getting around the Broncos' defensive line and into space.
They targeted the left side of the field, with fullback Kurt Gidley, five-eighth Chris Bailey and big back-rower Cory Paterson creating havoc.
They utilised a number of different plays and running angles, and when they held on to their passes, looked great.
Alas, they kept dropping the ball! Mostly with no good reason.
Several times during the match they spoiled scoring chances with unforced errors. I think these dropped passes were more as a result of over-excitement rather than lack of concentration, but in big games you need to get these basics right and take your chances.
Then again, the stats will show that while the Knights made nine errors with the ball, the Broncos committed more errors - 13 in total.
It just seemed that when the Knights made an error, it was a real clanger, and it seemed to play on their minds. The Broncos, however, recovered quickly when they made a mistake and denied the Knights any easy points. This is a sure sign of inexperience versus experience and something the Knights have to go through while they still have the training wheels on.
The big statistic though was the 6-2 penalty count in favour of the Broncos. With the vast majority of tries in rugby league these days coming in the set of six after a penalty, the more disciplined teams are winning the day.
Better discipline and attitude, and scramble defence, after making an error is where the Broncos won the game yesterday. They are very hard to beat.
I see great potential in the Knights. They just need to learn the importance of discipline and a strong attitude.
