R2 | Cowboys 14-16 Knights @ 1300SMILES | Sat 9.00pm (AEDT)

[Noname36]

Knights coping a lot of flack for being grubs last night on Thurston. I honestly saw nothing that bad apart from Houso and Scott's one on him. Which. Was clumsy from Houso. I think Scott mite be in more trouble.

But there was nothing malicious in any of the pressure that smith and Scott put on Thurston. Cowboys so upset by it then they should be more concerned that their forwards could protect him better.

They're just shitty because it became apparent their representative forward pack is about as tough as a soggy lettuce leaf. The Scott/Houston one wasn't a good look at all and I hope Stone lets them know it but other than that there was nothing wrong with our contact. I'm happy we finally have some forwards that can make the opposition hurt. Obviously you don't want it to be dangerous (hence me not liking the Scott/Houston shot on JT) but forwards are meant to play hard and make their contact sting a bit. It just goes to show that you can have the biggest forward pack on the planet but if the opposition plays tougher it means very little.

Let them whinge all they want if they think it will detract from the real issue. I don't expect they'll ever bring up the grubby tactics they used on Gagai or in the ruck. JT is such a hypocrite. Cries murder but the moment Uate is genuinely hurt and bleeding he's grabbing him and pulling him around.

 

[Rod]

Amazing we got the win TBH. I don't know if I've seen us play worse and still get the win. I guess when we beat the Eels 6-4 that time or something? That game last night was basically us tackling (to our credit) or dropping the ball with 3 tries thrown in. But you take the two points and move on, I honestly don't care how they come in this competition. You could make a pretty good argument that the Cowboys were worse than we were.

I'm under no illusions that Scott and Smith were trying to rough up Thurston. Not that I'm saying there's automatically something wrong with that, because you want to target your opposition's best player and try and throw him off his game, but you could see it. However for me the only one that is possibly suspension-worthy is Houston's part in the tip tackle. He was the one who did all the lifting, I have no idea what Scott was supposed to do in that situation despite what the commentators were complaining about.

Besides, too much is made of all that stuff these days. I'm over every single penalty being scrutinized to the nth degree, players lying down and/or then both sides rushing in to grab each others collars even for the most innocuous of high tackles. Blow the penalty and get on with the game FFS.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Does anyone else think that the Jeremy Smith knee to the head of Thurston was deliberate? I reckon there is a very good chance that it was intentional :sarcasm:

 

[Spot On]

Amazing we got the win TBH. I don't know if I've seen us play worse and still get the win. I guess when we beat the Eels 6-4 that time or something? That game last night was basically us tackling (to our credit) or dropping the ball with 3 tries thrown in. But you take the two points and move on, I honestly don't care how they come in this competition. You could make a pretty good argument that the Cowboys were worse than we were.

I'm under no illusions that Scott and Smith were trying to rough up Thurston. Not that I'm saying there's automatically something wrong with that, because you want to target your opposition's best player and try and throw him off his game, but you could see it. However for me the only one that is possibly suspension-worthy is Houston's part in the tip tackle. He was the one who did all the lifting, I have no idea what Scott was supposed to do in that situation despite what the commentators were complaining about.

Besides, too much is made of all that stuff these days. I'm over every single penalty being scrutinized to the nth degree, players lying down and/or then both sides rushing in to grab each others collars even for the most innocuous of high tackles. Blow the penalty and get on with the game FFS.

It's about time we had a game plan to what we need to do defensively on opposition halves and what happened last night is simply core to any good coaches job. Congrats to Rick for giving the team some much needed balls and a bit of steel in defence.

I think Gary Belcher was commentating and therefore you simply dismiss any opinion he had on the Scott/Houso tackle. He rivals Brett Kimmorley in the commentary stakes. That, is, NFI.

Houso should cop the harsher penalty for that tackle. Can't see how you can argue Thurston landed the way he did solely due to Beau Scott. Houso lifted his legs.

 

[Johns Magic]

We didn't play well but we are winning these games now because we are playing with some spirit which we didn't have at the start of last year.

At the end of the day, winning these games when we are not playing well is what's going to get us in the finals. All the teams from 5th to as low as 14th make or miss the finals based on a handful of these sort of games that could have gone either way.

The Sione on the bench thing has to end. The way Clydsdale was used last night was a joke.

The right decision is to drop Gidley but unfortunately that won't happen.

 

[Rudderriffic]

It's about time we had a game plan to what we need to do defensively on opposition halves and what happened last night is simply core to any good coaches job. Congrats to Rick for giving the team some much needed balls and a bit of steel in defence.

For me this was the biggest positive of the game. Thurston looked dangerous early, but we were hitting him all game and he really dropped off in the later stages of the first half until the final whistle. Never went to the line, didn't show 'n go and kicked from a few steps deeper. He can complain all he wants, but hard contact is part of Rugby League. And further to that, as a player, if your patented attacking move is to run to the line show pass and then slice through yourself, you should expect to get hit a few times when you do actually pass. The only "grubby" stuff that happened against him last night was the Houston tackle and the Smith knee. Thurston for me has zero credibility when talking about on field adjudication, case in point his ridiculous claim that "there must have been contact with the head [from Snowden] if he is knocked out" following Justin O'Neill hitting his head against the grass.

All in all, rubbish game. The interpretation of the ruck was one sided. We dropped so much ball. We had good energy and a well executed plan in defence. Houston and Gidley are cancerous. Korbin's potential is starting to show. Sione's lack of comfort at the back might put the Gids replacement plan on hold. And I have never seen a bigger deer in the headlights look on a players face making a line break than on Kade's face. He had a great game, but that was hilarious, I particularly liked his dummy outside to a Cowboys player.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Did anyone else see the press conference from Paul Green? His whinging was up there with a Geoff Toovey or Rickey Stuart.

Because Gidley won't be dropped, Stone needs to drop Sione from the bench. We are a very small team as it is and we can't afford to have an outside back on the bench. I know Randell isn't bigger than Sione, but he plays in the forwards. I'd much rather have two dummy halves who play flat out knowing they will get a break, then shuffling the spine around to put an ordinary hooker in Gidley there. It makes little to no sense what Stone did last night.

 

[slotmachine]

Does anyone else think that the Jeremy Smith knee to the head of Thurston was deliberate? I reckon there is a very good chance that it was intentional :sarcasm:

Smith dishes out more accidental knees and elbows than anyone.

I'm going to have to re watch the game. 75% completions would indicate they were better than I thought.

 

[Yosh]

I don't see how Sione was 'uncomfortable' at the back? He dropped like one ball. He came on played hooker for a bit, got shafted out to the wing to cover for Aku then played a bit of fullback, coming off the bench, in his 9th NRL game against the best half simce Joey and Lockyer retired.

I think he's going to make a great fullback. He's kick returns will only get better (smashed JT with a run) and he'll offer more play making then Gids. I think if Gidley was bigger physically, he wouldn't have been knocked down trying to contest that 50/50 bomb. Sione wouldn't have been smashed like Gidley was DDT style.

I wonder if the boys play much cricket, Mullen and Roberts made some amazing catches tonight.

 

[Alex28]

I only saw the last 25 minutes of the game, however he was pretty poorly positioned under the high ball...

He'll make a great player - just not sure whether it will be at fullback though. Looks more suited to centre or wing...

 

[The Showstopper]

I prefer Sione at fullback. I feel it is something we need to persist with. He will give us good kick returns and will be hard to dominate in the tackle. A bit like when Mad Dog played there.

 

[Knightmare]

I'm actually really happy I watched the game because I would have assumed we'd lost if I'd just looked here after the game.

You and me both. I figured Cowboys by 10 going into the game, only watching out of compulsion and figuring I'd switch off at half time if it'd blew out by then already.

Instead for the second time in as many weeks it demonstrated a will to fight and keep believing in themselves- and it paid off again. If they improve based on pure stats but keep this old-fashioned self belief up, a few people might stop doubting our top 8 chances...

 

[Zoidberg]

Personally, I've never dubbed our top 8 chances, but that doesn't mean I'm happy with our performances. I'm happy with the wins and our effort of course, but our organisation and mistakes have been pretty poor.

 

[voltron]

wow its pretty funny to see everyone turn on the knights about the tactics against Thurston.
If he doesnt want to get hit, then he should pass the ball at the line.
You will see every commentator praise Thurston for his bravery for doing that, and how it puts the defence in two minds. but when he gets hit for his trouble then, oh thats cheap. We have to protect our playmakers. Whatever, you can't just give them free reign to do whatever they want.

and the media is portraying the Jeremy Smith's knee contact as a deliberate thing. that he "drove" his knee in. Seriously it pisses me off.

 

[Noname36]

Everyone asks why the game has been ruined and gone soft and you need look no further than the media. This was a perfect example of it. Green makes a huge deal out of it in the presser to deflect from his side's shitty performance...and the media runs with it. The judiciary are then put under pressure to make an example of the "thugs" and before you know it forwards are too scared to even touch the opposion in fear of getting wiped out of the game. A few years ago a forward would be mocked if they just let the opposition playmaker do whatever he wanted and didn't try to shut him down/rattle him. Now they're getting attacked from all angles for doing it.

 

[The Showstopper]

wow its pretty funny to see everyone turn on the knights about the tactics against Thurston.
If he doesnt want to get hit, then he should pass the ball at the line.
You will see every commentator praise Thurston for his bravery for doing that, and how it puts the defence in two minds. but when he gets hit for his trouble then, oh thats cheap. We have to protect our playmakers. Whatever, you can't just give them free reign to do whatever they want.

and the media is portraying the Jeremy Smith's knee contact as a deliberate thing. that he "drove" his knee in. Seriously it pisses me off.

It is Newcastle going back to being Newcastle. The fearsome defensive unit who send you home hurting. Was disappointed Joey went into bat for his mate JT but it shows what a two faced arsehole he has become. He is a media muppet. Take his ability away and he would be nothing without our club.

 

[Yosh]

JT is just as grubby as anyone else in the game. Good luck trying to smash Mullen, he looks huge this year. Roberts is small but looks as tough as anyone.

 

[Noname36]

It also shits me off how people are trying to use Alex's injury against the players. How low in your agenda can you get given what they've been through? What happened to him was an absolutely terrible accident. It could happen in any game. Are we going to reach a stage where forwards aren't even allowed to touch the opposition in case something that tragic happens again?

I never want to see that happen again to anyone but let's at least set a precedence here. You can't have every other club congratulated for their tough, old school play but condem the Knights when they do it because they tragically lost a team mate to a severe injury last year.

 

[Wato]

McKinnon was a tough player who played the game tough. He Would be proud not offened at the way his teams playing imo. On Joey I can understand him saying that considering he is a halves coach, his only trying to give his halves an advantage when it comes to getting them more space and time.

 

[Frederick]

wow its pretty funny to see everyone turn on the knights about the tactics against Thurston.
If he doesnt want to get hit, then he should pass the ball at the line.
You will see every commentator praise Thurston for his bravery for doing that, and how it puts the defence in two minds. but when he gets hit for his trouble then, oh thats cheap. We have to protect our playmakers. Whatever, you can't just give them free reign to do whatever they want.

and the media is portraying the Jeremy Smith's knee contact as a deliberate thing. that he "drove" his knee in. Seriously it pisses me off.

The courier mail actually thinks Snowden should face a charge for what happened to o'neill. They reckon he made contact with his head, and deliberately slammed his head into the ground :lol: