Match Discussion: Round 19 vs Broncos @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[Apey]

Our attack looked a hell of a lot better throughout the game. Not only the tries but we actually looked like we had some shape. Shame about the usual lapses in defence and concentration. Gagai's pass to Blair and Wardle's perfect imitation of Lamb's play last week being two highlights.

 

[Joel-22]

Lol you lot bashing Barnett are hard to please. He was close to our best.

 

[Seage]

Lol you lot bashing Barnett are hard to please. He was close to our best.

I don't think anyone is bashing him. We are just frustrated his fatigue led to crucial errors.

I think we all agree he had a great game.

 

[Spot On]

I'm trying to be positive and there are a heap of positives imo.

However, if you have the 7 on your back and you are the play maker and highest paid player and the kicker then please do your f**king job and kick on the fifth tackle when 30m out instead of shuffling it out to Wardle. Otherwise....... f**k off.

That said, Big Dan was awesome- again. Jacob good as well. So glad we have them. So glad Brown fast tracked them.

Barnett was brilliant in the first 40 as was Buhrer.

I though Levi was good as well.

Fitzy and King were decent.

I really couldn't care much about the backline.

We need Ponga to be much better than the blokes who have had a go filling in at fullback. I sure hope he is.

Ross is a winger obviously.

I will not comment about the greatest Origin player of all time. We all saw. Again.

Another coulda, woulda, shoulda week.

I know quite a few people question Brown's coaching ability but I don't get it. Yes we lose a lot.
However you are kidding yourself if many other coaches out there would do any better. The young blokes have come on in leaps and bounds.

I defended Lamb earlier today but I was hugely disappointed in his running and passing. Defensively he has improved no doubt. Kicking is ok. Have to remember he not long turned 20. But we need better to justify the signings we've already made. Plenty of time for Brock to keep developing over the next few years.

 

[Glendale]

I actually think we deserve it. It's a poor tactic and nobody should be surprised when it burns us. This is the NRL and you don't hack away random kicks and hope for the best. It's not the first time, and I have no sympathy for the coach if he instructs us to play that way, which clearly he does.

Massive momentum swing but it's our own fault. And we can't cope with momentum swings, which is another issue entirely.

I would put less blame on Brown and more blame on Hodkinson for that particular play. It's been part of our structure all year, and it's worked OK. But this time Hodkinson should have realised that it was Wardle out there and not Pete or Sione, playing out of position, so he should have kicked himself.

Just on Wardle, another unlucky break to cop the HIA on Pete because if he's out there tonight things might have looked a little different. Not gonna put blame on Wardle as he's playing out of position but a few costly errors and the difference in class between him vs Roberts was always gonna tell in the end.

Another frustrating game with a lot of ''coulda, woulda, shoulda's", as is the story of our season.

 

[Swarzey]

Ya know, I'm not mad.

It sucks to lose again, sucks to blow another lead but the effort was there. Some peak stupid plays that sum up our season overall but our attack looked structured for the first time. We just need to learn not to leak so many points. They looked absolutely busted after those three tries in the second half. I laughed at Hodkinson's comments about having confidence again but f**k me he's done well; played like the player we expected him to be. Barnett blew it once or twice in important moments but overall I thought he was solid; just keep him away from the clutch moments of the game and we'll be fine. That said, the dropped ball was harsh, Kahu was pathetically offside and I felt Brisbane did get away with plenty.

What frustrates me is that this effort won't be replicated next week or the week after. If we played like tonight - which was fairly reflective of the start of this season - consistently throughout the year, we would probably be off the bottom of the ladder.

Ah well. Not the best night, not the worst.

 

[Joel-22]

I'm trying to be positive and there are a heap of positives imo.

However, if you have the 7 on your back and you are the play maker and highest paid player and the kicker then please do your f**king job and kick on the fifth tackle when 30m out instead of shuffling it out to Wardle. Otherwise....... f**k off.

That said, Big Dan was awesome- again. Jacob good as well. So glad we have them. So glad Brown fast tracked them.

Barnett was brilliant in the first 40 as was Buhrer.

I though Levi was good as well.

Fitzy and King were decent.

I really couldn't care much about the backline.

We need Ponga to be much better than the blokes who have had a go filling in at fullback. I sure hope he is.

Ross is a winger obviously.

I will not comment about the greatest Origin player of all time. We all saw. Again.

Another coulda, woulda, shoulda week.

I know quite a few people question brown's coaching ability but I don't get it. Yes we lose a lot.
However you are kidding yourself if many other coaches out there would do any better. The young blokes have come on in leaps and bounds.

I defended Lamb earlier today but I was hugely disappointed in his running and passing. Defensively he has improved no doubt. Kicking is ok. Have to remember he not long turned 20. But we need better to justify the signings we've already made. Plenty of time for Brock to keep developing over the next few years.

Nice summary, including the bit on Lamb. I'm a huge fan but I think today was one of his poorer performances.
We mentally lost that game when Hodko missed the kick.

Serious question for everyone....If you could keep one player for the same cost Gagai or Pete who would it be?

 

[Joel-22]

What frustrates me is that this effort won't be replicated next week or the week after. If we played like tonight - which was fairly reflective of the start of this season - consistently throughout the year, we would probably be off the bottom of the ladder.

Don't underestimate the impact Buhrer's return has had on the team

 

[Noname36]

I know quite a few people question brown's coaching ability but I don't get it. Yes we lose a lot.
However you are kidding yourself if many other coaches out there would do any better. The young blokes have come on in leaps and bounds.

Yeah, I don't get it either. They look quite well coached IMO. Not just the effort but even their set plays look better than a few in the comp when Hodko and Lamb don't completely lose their heads.

 

[Spot On]

Serious question for everyone....If you could keep one player for the same cost Gagai or Pete who would it be?

I put forward something similar when the Gags contract was being played out.

If Gags is getting 700K plus then how much is Nathan Ross worth?

A couple South's supporters will claim he is on just over 600K with them next season. Even so, Ross has been the better club player for a couple years now. Both should be playing on the wing.

To answer your question, I'd toss a coin between Pete and Dane. If Dane got the nod he'd be taking a huge pay cut in my side and would be only ever get a run on the wing.

 

[Swarzey]

Don't underestimate the impact Buhrer's return has had on the team

Oh trust me, I'm not. Go back to the Roosters game and the first comment I made after the match was that we missed Buhrer's leadership. To me, Buhrer highlights how important it is for us to sign another one or two players with his kind of leadership and experience. Lowkey, I feel signing one or two players like him will put an end to these moments in the game where the opposition puts in 3+ tries to put the game beyond doubt and they don't need to be exceptional, top tier players either.

 

[PhilGould]

Oh trust me, I'm not. Go back to the Roosters game and the first comment I made after the match was that we missed Buhrer's leadership. To me, Buhrer highlights how important it is for us to sign another one or two players with his kind of leadership and experience. Lowkey, I feel signing one or two players like him will put an end to these moments in the game where the opposition puts in 3+ tries to put the game beyond doubt and they don't need to be exceptional, top tier players either.

Hopefully Guerra can have the same kind of impact.

 

[Volcom6685]

If anyone saw Bennetts press conference . He said that TauTau and Herman told him they were leaving and coming to the Knights and that he didn't know about these secrecy things

 

[Noname36]

If anyone saw Bennetts press conference . He said that TauTau and Herman told him they were leaving and coming to the Knights and that he didn't know about these secrecy things

That presser pissed me off. If there's one person that shouldn't be asked for his opinion on the Knights rebuild it's him.

He completely f**ked us over then took off. He's not allowed to comment now.

 

[Pedge1971]

Our attack looked a hell of a lot better throughout the game. Not only the tries but we actually looked like we had some shape. Shame about the usual lapses in defence and concentration. Gagai's pass to Blair and Wardle's perfect imitation of Lamb's play last week being two highlights.

It was so similar to Lamb last week itnwas eerie. But no fault of Wardles. No way should the ball have been in his hands to kick from that position on tackle 5!

 

[Pedge1971]

I don't think anyone is bashing him. We are just frustrated his fatigue led to crucial errors.

I think we all agree he had a great game.

He played great. How many minutes did Paea get? Again it seemed like he could have been used better.

 

[Pedge1971]

I would put less blame on Brown and more blame on Hodkinson for that particular play. It's been part of our structure all year, and it's worked OK. But this time Hodkinson should have realised that it was Wardle out there and not Pete or Sione, playing out of position, so he should have kicked himself.

Just on Wardle, another unlucky break to cop the HIA on Pete because if he's out there tonight things might have looked a little different. Not gonna put blame on Wardle as he's playing out of position but a few costly errors and the difference in class between him vs Roberts was always gonna tell in the end.

Another frustrating game with a lot of ''coulda, woulda, shoulda's", as is the story of our season.

Nailed it mate. We were a man down off the bench early with players out of position. Wr delivered some rral quality in attack today which pleases me.

A lot of people on Gagais case today but he was great with ball in hand but for 1 bad error.

Defensively terrible but we all know centre isnt his position.

There was plenty of effort there backing up from origin.

 

[Pedge1971]

Nice summary, including the bit on Lamb. I'm a huge fan but I think today was one of his poorer performances.
We mentally lost that game when Hodko missed the kick.

Serious question for everyone....If you could keep one player for the same cost Gagai or Pete who would it be?

Pete. Gagai too expensive for a winger.

 

[Old dog]

Big effort by the team, one man down after Pete hia, fatigue becomes a factor, the desperation to win means chances taken don't come off due to pressure.
Tell me which player didn't put in, not talking errors, read some of the comments on here 5.30pm onwards, bit disappointing. Surely most at start of game would have been happy with strong effort and final score, we were in it for a long time, I am proud of the boys.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

He played great. How many minutes did Paea get? Again it seemed like he could have been used better.

10 minutes. I thought he played pretty well last week and deserved more game time.