Match Discussion: Round 7 vs Cronulla @ McDonald Jones Stadium, New Lambton / Awabakal

[slotmachine]

KPP and Leo are reliably our two best forwards and they're not here next year

 

[macavity]

KPP and Leo are reliably our two best forwards and they're not here next year

lucas and saf are for mine.

 

[Alex28]

KPP and Leo are reliably our two best forwards and they're not here next year

Where is KPP going?

Also, Dylan Lucas is week on week our best forward, and it isn’t even close.

Funny this all went to shit when we lost him.

 

[Rod]

KPP has finally realized he's the biggest guy on the field and can offload.

 

[Apey]

Dogs spine and results this year is a good indication of what a coach can do.

Not that I think there are many options out there but I'm also confident we'll never be relevant under AOB.

 

[slotmachine]

lucas

Yeah when fit he's probably our best, I meant at the moment.

And Leo laps Saf, there's a reason he had a few sides offering him 800k. Saf gets 500k on the open market, maybe.

 

[perverse]

Dogs spine and results this year is a good indication of what a coach can do.

Not that I think there are many options out there but I'm also confident we'll never be relevant under AOB.

Nah f**k it, give AOB another 5 years to stuff about and piss away the rest of Kalyns career. Disregard the fact that other coaches turn teams around in 12-24 months somewhat regularly.

 

[slotmachine]

Wests #1 priority is money, AOB might be under pressure at the end of 2026. Maybe.

 

[perverse]

Yeah when fit he's probably our best, I meant at the moment.

And Leo laps Saf, there's a reason he had a few sides offering him 800k. Saf gets 500k on the open market, maybe.

Wow you are way over-rating Leo. Leo got the pay he did because of his timing into the market and was paid on potential.

Not even sticking up for JSaf, but Leo ain't all that either. Certainly not a top tier prop, and won't get there either.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Good coaches make good players. See: Craig Bellamy.

fair

Players that leave our club get better elsewhere, with a few exceptions but as a rule this is the case.

Dom Young? most leave for a more successful roster so it's to be expected

Players that come to our club get worse.

Leo, Marz ? mostly average players ( at best) that looked better in a better roster. Elliot, Hetherington, Cogger are all dogshit for the money and typical of a Knights recruitment that lacks vision.

Cameron Ciraldo has a team full of discarded utility players at the top of the ladder.

Surrounding a core group of excellent players on the up - Good recruitment - example being, they got Crichton for 800K - we got Hastings, they got Kikau we got KPP, they got Mahony we got Brailey.......

 

[Haffa]

Nah f**k it, give AOB another 5 years to stuff about and piss away the rest of Kalyns career. Disregard the fact that other coaches turn teams around in 12-24 months somewhat regularly.

As another generation of Newcastle youngsters opt to support other teams.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Where is KPP going?

Also, Dylan Lucas is week on week our best forward, and it isn’t even close.

Funny this all went to shit when we lost him.

hands down Lucas is our shining star in the pack. Seems to have leadership skills as well. One of my favorite players

 

[Zoidberg]

That game went pretty much as expected.
Unforced errors. Poor discipline. Solid defence mostly but always on the back foot.
Rinse and repeat.
These performances are just making me sad.

 

[Woody90]

Does anyone else think we’re trying to play too structured in attack? I know that might sound nuts based on what we’re seeing but it was literally painful today watching us try and run that same deep shift out to the edge, Ponga on the end of it, poorly timed chip ons and no look passes…we’re trying to play the same structures that were working for us in 2023 but it’s clearly not the time for that. We don’t want AOB ball, but we need attacking structures that are more simple but effective.

 

[Apey]

We can't even seem to put basic attacking plays on which is fascinating. I honestly don't know who to blame for that. Probably everyone.

 

[Alex28]

Does anyone else think we’re trying to play too structured in attack? I know that might sound nuts based on what we’re seeing but it was literally painful today watching us try and run that same deep shift out to the edge, Ponga on the end of it, poorly timed chip ons and no look passes…we’re trying to play the same structures that were working for us in 2023 but it’s clearly not the time for that. We don’t want AOB ball, but we need attacking structures that are more simple but effective.

AOB essentially said that in last weeks presser when he said they were too focussed on completions and forgot about attacking.

They need to take a look and how hard and relentless the Sharks were in our 20. No running sideways - forward, hard, plenty of support. That isn’t us.

 

[perverse]

Dom Young? most leave for a more successful roster so it's to be expected

Connor Watson, Kurt Mann, Hudson Young, Nick Meaney, Josh King... more I'm sure. You say more successful roster, I say they go to a better coaching system.

Leo, Marz ? mostly average players ( at best) that looked better in a better roster. Elliot, Hetherington, Cogger are all dogshit for the money and typical of a Knights recruitment that lacks vision.

I mean you answered that yourself really by listing a bunch of plodders who went backwards here, but we can go further back and name more too. I don't think Marz is that far from the player he was at the Titans to be honest. He's still got all the same rough edges. You're probably talking to the wrong person about Leo because the rest of the League world seems to think he's about 50% better than I do, but sure I mean I guess he's improved.

Surrounding a core group of excellent players on the up - Good recruitment - example being, they got Crichton for 800K - we got Hastings, they got Kikau we got KPP, they got Mahony we got Brailey.......

I mean yeah I agree with you. He's recruited well. Be cool if we did that too some time.

Regardless of all of the above, I actually think AOBs one strength has been bringing some of our kids through from the lower grades. He seems to have a lot of qualities that would make him a great assistant coach.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Wests #1 priority is money, AOB might be under pressure at the end of 2026. Maybe.

Yep, i’m sure they’d be happy with the payout about Rd 18, 2027.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Connor Watson, Kurt Mann, Hudson Young, Nick Meaney, Josh King... more I'm sure. You say more successful roster, I say they go to a better coaching system.

you cant be serious lol. Hudson Young was sacked for drugs as a kid, Nick Meaney a victim of our cap as a kid and hardly set the world on fire at the dogs......Connor Watson played well when he was not injured....Josh King had improved and was about to enter peak performance years - hence the Storm call. ( great recruitment by them) Kurt Mann is performing at the same level he did for us.

I mean you answered that yourself really by listing a bunch of plodders who went backwards here,

exactly - we have been recruiting plodders. The real kicker is many on here want to re-sign them ffs

I mean yeah I agree with you. He's recruited well. Be cool if we did that too some time.

Which is my point. The blame for mine lays at the feet of management

In my opinion AOB hasnt performed badly given the roster.

 

[Woody90]

They need to take a look and how hard and relentless the Sharks were in our 20. No running sideways - forward, hard, plenty of support. That isn’t us.

Yep, and amazingly, when Marzhew and Sharpe did just that it resulted in a try.

When Blake Green first came to the club in 2023 our attack was a breath of fresh air after a couple of seasons of AOB ball, but those same plays aren’t working now for a number of reasons. We don’t seem to have anything else. We tried out something different with KP at first receiver in the first 2 games and looked good with with, and then we completely threw it out the window in favour of either AOB ball or trying to attack with the same structures as 2023 but poorly executed. It makes absolutely no sense.