IT was a game that encapsulated the Newcastle Knights' season.
A slow start.
A seemingly unassailable deficit.
A belated never-say-die fightback and moments of scintillating attack just when all hope seemed lost.
A brief surge of belief among the Novocastrian faithful that a miracle might be about to unfold.
And ultimately a disappointing anti-climax. A reality check that reminded everyone of the gulf between pretenders and contenders.
Saturday's 26-18 loss to St George Illawarra may have been the result that put Newcastle out of their misery, but at least the Knights did not surrender without a fight.
Down 22-0 after 45 minutes against the premiership favourites, a lesser team may well have capitulated.
That Newcastle were able to hit back with three tries in seven minutes against the NRL's best defensive unit spoke volumes for their resilience and skill level.
Only three teams this season - Manly, the Warriors and Canberra - have scored more than 18 points in a game against Wayne Bennett's back-to-back minor premiers.
But if Newcastle's second-half revival brought the 23,148-strong crowd - the largest at EnergyAustralia Stadium for two years - to fever pitch, it also highlighted their reputation as the NRL's greatest enigmas.
At their best, the Knights are capable of carving up any team with speed, power and ball movement.
They had the mighty Dragons worried, make no mistake.
But too often this season Newcastle have been guilty of inexplicable lapses that cost them tries and competition points.
As Knights coach Rick Stone admitted ruefully on Saturday night: "You've got to be consistent over 26 weeks to get enough wins to get into the semis.
"We let ourselves down here a few times earlier in the season.
"There could have been easily four games we won, just off the top of my head.
"But look, I'm not going to harp on that until I get to the end of the year and do a full review of the season."
Any analysis of a season that is clinically dead before Sunday's daunting final-round visit to Melbourne must start with the well-documented departures of Danny Wicks and Chris Houston.
Only the players, coaching staff and club insiders know how much the drugs scandal, which remains unresolved, has affected their on-field performances. It cast a dark shadow that has hung over their whole season.
The Wicks-Houston affair has not been the only adversity the footballing gods have tossed at Newcastle.
Skipper Kurt Gidley was sidelined in the early rounds with injury. Veteran Steve Simpson lasted just eight games before a chronic knee problem forced him to retire.
Evarn Tuimavave, Cory Paterson, James McManus and Ben Rogers suffered season-ending setbacks at various stages.
But the bottom line is the Knights should have done better, and they know it.
The majority of Stone's squad have been together for the past three years, and after finishing ninth in 2008 and seventh last year, it was realistic to assume they could at least make the finals.
Instead, 2010 has to be regarded as a step backwards.
Last season, they won 13 games despite the upheaval caused by a late-season change of coaches.
This year they have won 10, and only their most parochial fans would believe they can make that 11 on Sunday.
After losing four of their first five games, they were always playing catch-up.
Three consecutive wins against Parramatta, Gold Coast and Cronulla gave them a glimmer of hope, but it faded abruptly after a 52-18 hammering from Canberra in round 19.
After an impressive round-one win against the Bulldogs, the Knights have spent the rest of their campaign languishing with the also-rans.
Occasionally they played to their potential and produced a brand of football that any team would be happy to call their own.
But the harsh truth is that when the finals kick off in two weeks' time, the Knights will be spectators because they do not deserve to be participants.
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