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NEWCASTLE lost its heart and soul 17 minutes in on Saturday night.
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And with it went the fairytale.
When favourite son Danny Buderus hit the deck unconscious after a sickening collision with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in the first half and was stretchered off, the Knights' hopes of an upset went with him.
No matter how brave the Knights were defensively in the first half, the loss of their spiritual leader was always going to be a knockout blow.
That's how much he means to the team.
It may not have been their only motivation but Buderus' pending retirement was certainly a factor in the Knights' end of season surge.
Without him - without his slick dummy half service, without his courage in defence, his leadership qualities and never-say-die attitude - the Knights were always going to be up against it.
The injury stunned the Allianz Stadium crowd - who stood as one in a standing ovation as he left the field - as much as it did Buderus' teammates.
Knights coach Wayne Bennett said as much after the game.
"A lot of his mates are pretty upset,'' Bennett said.
"He's had quite an impact on the club and is so highly regarded by everyone he plays with.
"It's probably as most upset as I've seen blokes about someone that's got injured on the footy field."
Captain Jarrod Mullen described his loss as "devastating".
"He's been such a great player for not only Newcastle but the NRL,'' Mullen said.
"It's a bit unfair the way he went out - it's very sad."
Mullen said the impact of his injury was telling.
"A lot of our stuff comes off Bedsy so it did affect us," he said.
There was nothing sinister in the incident.
As he has done thousands of times throughout his career, Buderus threw himself at an opposition forward.
It was little man on big man as he attempted to take Waerea-Hargreaves up top, ball and all.
But his bravery cost him.
With his head in the wrong place, he caught the Roosters prop's forearm and was out to it before he hit the ground.
He was unconscious for up to three minutes before being carried from the field.
He was then taken to hospital for precautionary scans with Bennett later revealing he been cleared of any neck damage.
"He may stay in overnight because he was knocked out for so long,''he said.
Waerea- Hargreaves said there was no malice in the incident.
"There was no intention - it's a game of footy,'' he said.
"I was pretty shocked but I wish him all the best."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said of Buderus: "There's no better competitor that's ever played the game.
He's the nicest bloke in the world but he's got a fire in his belly that's impressive.
"For the career he's had, you wanted to see him get up and make sure he's okay.
"As a fan of Danny, you sort of hoped he was going to run back down that tunnel at some stage."
It has to be said that even before his departure, it was only desperation and desire keeping the underdogs in the contest.
The power of the Roosters forwards was telling an ultimately, Newcastle had no answer.
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