Guardian Article - Knights prospeccts for 2015

[Still Nutty]

Newcastle Knights

What could have gone wrong did go wrong for the Knights in 2014. From off-field player misbehaviour and ownership embarrassments to on-field tragedy and player disinterest, Newcastle endured a truly horrific season and one that was unquestionably the most difficult in the career of coach Wayne Bennett.

Bennett is gone in 2015, replaced by his predecessor Rick Stone. Stone is a major downgrade on Bennett – to be fair, unless Craig Bellamy or Des Hasler are appointed to succeed Bennett, it will be a major downgrade – but he is popular with the players and should at least inject some energy into a lethargic group.

It won’t be a lack of effort that will hurt the Knights this year. Nor will it be a lack of class. The Newcastle team is littered with quality players among their outside back stocks as well as in the back row. Tariq Sims was a big addition over the offseason, giving the Knights some forward punch, while the emergence of the young Mata’utia brothers has put pressure on a very good three-quarter line.

Unfortunately for Newcastle, they suffer from the Big Mac quandary in the halves. Jarrod Mullen and Tyrone Roberts are good enough to do a job – and occasionally it is delicious - but they rarely satisfy for long.

And that is where their season looks like it will come up short. The pack should go forward. The outside backs can finish. But the link that brings it all together just isn’t there. Mullen is still talked about as having potential despite the fact he is nearly 28 and has a decade of NRL experience under his belt. Roberts has struggled with consistency. Hooker Adam Clydesdale had just one try assist last year. The ingredients are there for Newcastle. The lack of a chef is the issue. Nick Tedeschi


http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/feb/25/nrl-2015-season-preview-part-two

Nick Tedeschi certainly seems to follow the 'church of Bennett' even after the crap he has dished up at the Knights for the past few seasons, gives Stone no credit or kudos whatsoever and openly slams our halves as the weak link - hope this gets posted in the locker rooms for Stone and the players so they know who to follow up with around round 26


Nick Tedeschi...

:iwstupid:

 

[Still Nutty]

forgot to mention...

it seems we are lacking a Chef too :sarcasm:

 

[Sacrolishes]

I could be diplomatic and say "everyone is allowed and opinion"....

So... Here is mine...

Eat a dick Nick Tedeschi!

 

[Noname36]

Lol.

Praises our forwards and blames pretty much everything wrong with us on Mullo.

Not sure if this guy is pushing an agenda or is just a dribbling idiot.

That's not even going into the Bennett/Stone stuff.

 

[mozza91]

I don't think this bloke has watched any of our games over the last 3 years.

 

[Frederick]

Lol.

Praises our forwards and blames pretty much everything wrong with us on Mullo.

Not sure if this guy is pushing an agenda or is just a dribbling idiot.

That's not even going into the Bennett/Stone stuff.

He attacks arguably the most talented players in our team, that make up 3/4 of our spine, yet says nothing about arguably our weakest player, the remaining 1/4...

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

lol. Put mullo behind the roosters, dogs or souths pack and see how good he is. The guy has been hindered by a decade of weak packs.

 

[Maroon4life]

Knights prospects? hovering between 14th and 11th sounds realistic, anything else is false hope.

 

[Noname36]

Knights prospects? hovering between 14th and 11th sounds realistic, anything else is false hope.

Aren't you a Broncos supporter? :lol:

Sorry but :lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[Spot On]

Wot?

ok?

Me being a broncos supporter wont prevent you from fighting off the wooden spoon.

Be realistic, your team this year wont even make the eight, you are 26 rounds of fodder.

Where do you see the Mighty Broncos finishing this season?

 

[Bring it home Knights]

lol. Put mullo behind the roosters, dogs or souths pack and see how good he is. The guy has been hindered by a decade of weak packs.

He's right you know.

 

[perverse]

We don't have the halves of some other teams, but there are a lot of teams worse off. Mullo has had a wretched career as far as luck goes, but he's far more talented than a certain #6 that played for the Blues last year. Not as grubby, though... so mustn't be as big a "competitor".

This Nick Whathisfaceschi would want to check our win percentage with Mullen versus without him before he throws stones. He's our MVP, no other player comes close. To be fair, he tried to give credit by saying they are "occasionally delicious", but that discounts the week-in, week-out stuff that Mullo rarely gets credit for. His defence, his kicking game... and these days his direction and leadership, too. His attitude to training, to this day, is renowned as one of the best in the club - and he's a bloke that could get away with not putting in the extras given his importance to the team, too.

Really, my biggest hope for Mullen is that he can put it all together at the same time for at least a year or 2 of his career, hopefully resulting in a premiership for us. His career hasn't gone the way most thought it would - for reasons well documented within our own supporters group/s - but he's still capable of anything most days. The team needs to go well around him, but to be honest minus a good prop or 2... we actually have a really good team. If we can shore that up over the next 12 months from within or with our recruitment, there definitely won't be any excuses left.

It is largely our clubs fault though, not his, that he hasn't played in far more finals series (and potentially rep games... although to be honest he has choked on his own a couple of times with that, too). We have been an absolute shambles around him, and if it weren't for him... we'd probably have another spoon or 2 in the cabinet.

I think it's fair enough to criticize Roberts a bit at this point. Has big time consistency issues that should be fading by now. Loads of talent and a great running game - probably needs to train hard and add another dimension or 2 to his game. His short kicking game can be very handy, I'd like to see him refine it a bit more and use it more often. That alone would take loads of pressure off Mullen in the opposition 20.

 

[perverse]

As for how we'll go this year - the only reason I see that we can't compete with the best is we're missing a big, aggro bopper or 2 up front - as is always the case. Korbin needs to continue to up his game... I'm not sure where his ceiling is yet but he could be very, very good. He has shown good signs so far, and with his brother there I could see him going up another level or 2.

I also don't think it's going out on a limb to say Tariq has the potential to be one of our best signings in the last decade or longer.

 

[Maroon4life]

Where do you see the Mighty Broncos finishing this season?

Anywhere between 5-8.

 

[Noname36]

Wot?

ok?

Me being a broncos supporter wont prevent you from fighting off the wooden spoon.

Be realistic, your team this year wont even make the eight, you are 26 rounds of fodder.

I'm laughing because we have another donkey's fan giving it to the Knights squad who is apparently too stupid to see the irony that your current coach is the person that built said squad.

Sorry to break it to you but your squad isn't that great either. Your spine is average and your backline (apart from an injury prone Hodges) is absolutely deplorable.

 

[Maroon4life]

I'm laughing because we have another donkey's fan giving it to the Knights squad who is apparently too stupid to see the irony that your current coach is the person that built said squad.

Sorry to break it to you but your squad isn't that great either. Your spine is average and your backline (apart from an injury prone Hodges) is absolutely deplorable.

We have a squad that will finish somewhere in the 8, where is yet too be seen.

You can't say the same.

So decent players on the market don't want to live in and play for Newcastle (cant blame them). That's not really Bennett's fault.

 

[perverse]

Do they have some sort of wanker university up in Brisbane? I don't get it...

Brisbane could be in for a bit of a shock this year if they struggle again. However, I think the new ruck interpretations will suit Bennett-ball, and I think they will "get on board" the Benny-train up there more readily than our boys did. I expect the Broncos to be competitive, a lot riding on whether Milford can fire in a Bennett environment.

 

[Noname36]

Do they have some sort of wanker university up in Brisbane? I don't get it...

They must do. 99% of their fans are the absolute worst. Can't get out of their circle jerk long enough to realise how insufferable they are. Not sure why I bothered with him to begin with. It's impossible to argue with anyone who has their head so far up their arse it's clearly stopped them watching any football in the past few years.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Knights have a better squad than the Broncos, a better coach and we aren't about to be ripped apart by a cocaine scandal.

 

[The Showstopper]

Broncos are wankers but their fans are worse. Excuses for everything. Their coach is a cowardly myth who walked away from a fight.