Paul Green admits questions surrounding his side's pride in the Cowboys jersey have had an impact, with the premiership-winning coach urging his players to respond against the Knights on Saturday.
Green has begun to face increasing criticism for the Cowboys' mixed start to the year with questions surrounding his future as coach beginning to circle.
Last weekend's 36-20 loss to the Tigers failed to reflect how the Cowboys actually performed, with Green's side only avoiding an ugly situation with a half-spirited second-half fightback after succumbing to a 34-0 half-time deficit.
They've now just managed a round three win over the Gold Coast since the NRL returned from its COVID-19 hiatus, currently on a three-game losing streak entering tomorrow night's showdown against the in-form Knights.
MORE: The untold stories from Friday's NRL press conferences | Gold Coast not hiding interest in Fifita
While a victory will help dilute some of the pressure on Green, he's urged his players to re-instill pride in the Cowboys jersey.
"It [criticism] doesn't worry me. It is part of the game these days, not to say that I like it," Green said.
"Tthat first half [against the Tigers] is not what we want to be about.
"That should be motivation to make sure we don't ever have anyone question us as a team and how much the jersey means - that is what stings the most."
From what he's seen at training this week, GReen is confident his players are ready to respond.
"I have seen a change in urgency and intensity in training this week which is what you want to see," he said.
"Where we have been questioned the most has been attitude and pride in performance.
"We can only answer that on the footy field but training has been good this week."
Despite the heavy slump in form and having only won two games, beating the Titans and Bulldogs, Green insists panic around the club's season, and by extension, his job is yet to surface.
"A win fixes a lot of things in footy but it will be more how we play," he said.
"[And] we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves either - the season is far from being a disaster for us.
"A good win on the weekend and it [criticism] will stop for a week at least.
"If we string a few wins together who knows what might happen."
The Cowboys will face Newcastle at 3:00pm (AEST) on Saturday afternoon, before they meet ladder-leading Parramatta next Friday.
