Match Discussion: Round 10 vs Panthers @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[PhilGould]

 

[Knight Vision]

Lamb struggles playing second fiddle, he wants to be the dominant playmaker. He would be streets ahead of Cogger now without Pearce in the side

I think a few of our younger players such as Barney Dsaf etc have struggled with having older more experienced and dominant characters in the squad. They seem to of taken a back seat with Fitzy being the exception.

We desperately need to add a couple of real mongrel bastards to the engine room, at present we have a pack of really quiet nice guys.

 

[PhilGould]

1. Kalyn Ponga
2. Ken Sio
3. Sione Mata'utia
4. Nathan Ross
5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
6. Connor Watson
7. Brock Lamb
8. Herman Ese'ese
9. Slade Griffin
10. Josh King
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
12. Mitch Barnett
13. Aidan Guerra

14. Danny Levi
15. Chris Heighington
16. Luke Yates
17. Daniel Saifiti

18. Jamie Buhrer
19. Jacob Saifiti
20. Jack Cogger
21. Cory Denniss

 

[Frederick]

1. Kalyn Ponga
2. Ken Sio
3. Sione Mata'utia
4. Nathan Ross
5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
6. Connor Watson
7. Brock Lamb
8. Herman Ese'ese
9. Slade Griffin
10. Josh King
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
12. Mitch Barnett
13. Aidan Guerra

14. Danny Levi
15. Chris Heighington
16. Luke Yates
17. Daniel Saifiti

18. Jamie Buhrer
19. Jacob Saifiti
20. Jack Cogger
21. Cory Denniss

Wow, honestly didn't expect him to drop Buhrer.

 

[perverse]

Big changes this week, and fair enough too. Can't get dominated in the middle and the halves like that too much more if we want to make the most out of the season. It's hard to argue with any of the changes, so full credit to Brown there.

Might be last chance saloon for Lamb, too.

 

[SamSepi0l]

One of my favourite line ups for the year.

Big ups to Browny making the tough calls and proving again he's the right guy for the job.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Damn i respect Brown. Back in the day Hagan would have taken 2.5 seasons to drop one player let alone several. I definitely agree that Lamb is much better as the dominant half. Im looking forward to seeing how he goes.

 

[Noname36]

Wow, Brown is such a badass.

 

[Zoidberg]

I’m pretty much in agreement with the changes made.

 

[Spot On]

Great stuff from Brown. Really had no choice but to shake things up a bit. We are in a position to keep in touch with the eight and are facing a team with huge injury problems, we are playing at home and we MUST make a pretty big move up the ladder over the next 5 weeks.

These blokes must rip in big time this week. A really important game to bag the 2 points.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Good to see a recognised goal kicker back in the team, our goal kicking has been woeful since the loss to Melbourne.

Not to mention Brock is a better general play kicker than Cogger, hopefully we can apply plenty of pressure with our kicking this week.

Also glad that King is in the team, he was really solid last year and I'll be interested in seeing how he goes now that he's full time.

 

[Spot On]

Christ that Penrith backrow looks the goods. They still have a very good pack.

 

[Old dog]

Except for Lillyman 20 of usual 21 picked, still could end up with 16 of usual 17, we are short of props, only Dan on bench, not necessarily the best team we can put but will hopefully be more enthusiastic, changes, sorry for Cogger but Lamb is better option, 1-6 is ok can't see anyone to change it. 8-10 surprise King straight in but that's ok, 11-13 no surprises, may have dropped Barnett to bench. 14-17 is where it gets doubtful, short on size only one prop, Dan will play long minutes, Heighinton might have to play Prop, Yates should be given his head, get in and get stuck in, does he know any other way, and Levi will obviously be used as relief hooker with Griffin covering 13 or resting.
Not sure 1-17 will be our starting squad but I like the shake up. Goal kicking and general kicking will be better.

 

[Yosh]

Damn i respect Brown. Back in the day Hagan would have taken 2.5 seasons to drop one player let alone several. I definitely agree that Lamb is much better as the dominant half. Im looking forward to seeing how he goes.

Exactly what I was thinking. Players being picked regardless of sh*tty form, mates over professionalism blah blah. Brown isn't afraid to make the big calls and is really building something here. Regardless of where we finish this season, I hope Brown and the squad continues to grow and really make a challenge for a top 4 spot start next year or the season after that.

 

[Still Nutty]

Credit to Brownie for making some tough calls on form - I think the overall changes are all warranted and address some of the issues that needed to be sorted - kicking game, goal kicking, more impactful players and a better defensive balance.

I hope Fitz is right to go, otherwise we lose out with Buhrer earning a reprieve IMHO.

This is one of those pivotal games that will show whether we are up to challenging for a finals spot this year - a bit like the Broncos game in round 5...it is all about how we regroup and perform after a poor game the week before.

 

[Frederick]

Wait, what's up with Fitz?

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Penrith are looking like a top 4 team this year but they're down on troops and we're at home so I feel this is a 50/50 game. If we're serious about playing finals this year we should win.

Even though he was out of form when he was dropped I'm a lot more comfortable with Lamb running the side over Cogger mainly because I don't think I can remember Cogger actually finding the grass with any of his long kicks or forcing any repeat sets with his short kicks whereas Lamb's kicking game is a lot more reliable imo. He will undoubtedly take on the goal kicking duties as well. In attack he just needs to give early ball to Ponga and Watson as much as possible and let them create something on our edges, if he can do that regularly and keep it simple then we're a chance here.

Hopefully with a few team changes this will set the cat amongst the pidgeons a bit and our front rowers will aim up. I'm definitely keen to see what King can bring to the side. He showed last year that he's capable of playing first grade.

 

[perverse]

Penrith are looking like a top 4 team this year but they're down on troops and we're at home so I feel this is a 50/50 game. If we're serious about playing finals this year we should win.

Even though he was out of form when he was dropped I'm a lot more comfortable with Lamb running the side over Cogger mainly because I don't think I can remember Cogger actually finding the grass with any of his long kicks or forcing any repeat sets with his short kicks whereas Lamb's kicking game is a lot more reliable imo. He will undoubtedly take on the goal kicking duties as well. In attack he just needs to give early ball to Ponga and Watson as much as possible and let them create something on our edges, if he can do that regularly and keep it simple then we're a chance here.

Hopefully with a few team changes this will set the cat amongst the pidgeons a bit and our front rowers will aim up. I'm definitely keen to see what King can bring to the side. He showed last year that he's capable of playing first grade.

Agree with everything except I'm not huge on King. I'm not sure what anyone has seen in him, but everyone rates him apparently. I put him in the same basket as Lamb at the moment... undue accolades due to being the best of a shitty bunch over the last couple of years. The door is open for him to prove me wrong like Fitz did, though. Wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure.

 

[Old dog]

King like Yates is younger and likely more enthusiastic with chance to show in 1sts but my concern is he will have to play lots of minutes along with Esee and Dan against a strong pack as selected. Feel a bit sorry for Esee as he gets very little support from other big boys such as Lillyman and JSaf and now down to 3 selected props, if one goes down early, injured or HIA we are in trouble

 

[perverse]

I guess can someone just fill me in on what I should be looking out for with King? I haven't seen much of anything from him to warrant any sort of optimism is all. Should I be judging based on his workload? His impact? The 1%ers? What does he do well that has people liking him, because I haven't seen it?

The only feature of his game that I've noticed is that he's completely unnoticeable most of the time he's on the field, but maybe I just haven't been paying attention.