Sack Adam O'Brien

[Loose Cannon]

I think he meant in the latter part of the first half where we had a bit more momentum. I didn’t take that to mean he thought we were better for the whole first half

Oh well, that’s different then.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

So we were good for a 15min patch before totally collapsing into a dribbling mess

Yes, that's finding the very tiny silver lining

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Yeah I agree that it’s not really much of a saving grace, but yeah I think that line in particular may have been misinterpreted.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

So addressing another thing that was said in the presser. Whilst a lot of us don’t like “AOB ball” (myself included) it’s very clear that the team needs to go back to the basics of holding the football and completing sets before we can look at anything fancy that we expect to do. We could sign Nathan Cleary and Cam Munster and it wouldn’t make much difference if we keep completing at around 65% which we’ve done most of the season. Just had a look back at some stats over the last few months and the games where we complete at around 80% were all really close, either we lost by a narrow margin or we won. Then there’s a bunch of games where we were completing at under 70% and those are mostly blow-out scores against us.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this has been our #1 problem this year. We can go on about injuries and reserve grade halves etc all we want but we literally don’t hold the ball enough to give ourselves a chance of winning games a lot of the time.

Our attack needs a complete overhaul of course but the simple fact is we need to respect the ball and complete at 80% each week to be realistic about winning games.

 

[jonno_knights]

We can't even draw and pass anymore. Thats something you learn in MOD footy at 9 or 10 years old.

You can forgive 1 every now and then, but we've literally bombed our last 4 clean line breaks the past 2 weeks.

Score them, build confidence and i guarentee the heads dont go down and we dont get blown out the last 2 weeks.

That has to come down to coaching and focus at training, because I dont think there's a single duo in the side im comfortable to execute one in a game situation. Ironically our 2024 season ended on one too...

 

[Jono078]

Here's the updated ladder from round 17 onwards. It's incredible ugly viewing.

 

[Yosh]

So addressing another thing that was said in the presser. Whilst a lot of us don’t like “AOB ball” (myself included) it’s very clear that the team needs to go back to the basics of holding the football and completing sets before we can look at anything fancy that we expect to do. We could sign Nathan Cleary and Cam Munster and it wouldn’t make much difference if we keep completing at around 65% which we’ve done most of the season. Just had a look back at some stats over the last few months and the games where we complete at around 80% were all really close, either we lost by a narrow margin or we won. Then there’s a bunch of games where we were completing at under 70% and those are mostly blow-out scores against us.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this has been our #1 problem this year. We can go on about injuries and reserve grade halves etc all we want but we literally don’t hold the ball enough to give ourselves a chance of winning games a lot of the time.

Our attack needs a complete overhaul of course but the simple fact is we need to respect the ball and complete at 80% each week to be realistic about winning games.

Well for me that's further evidence that AOB can't even coach the basics. He has to go.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Yeah FWIW I’m not saying this in AOB’s defence. He clearly hasn’t managed to coach this into them, which is ironic given that was always the cornerstone of the AOB game plan.

 

[HarVeeGee]

It’s ridiculous to suggest first grade rugby league players “don’t know the basics” like hitting the final pass to score a try. What are people (and apparently AOB) imagining is happening? Under 13’s coaches saying “now when you’ve drawn the fullback and are throwing the last pass, make sure you either aim it at your teammate’s feet or about two metres above their head. And instead of passing with soft hands, peg it like you’re trying to kill someone. Just basically pass the exact opposite way as you would in most other situations!” And are those same under 13’s coaches telling guys to carry a bar of soap in their pockets and lather their hands up so they’re good and slippery, to make sure catching those passes is extra hard. Damn AOB has got his work cut out for him then!

It’s all between the ears. As bad a case of the yips as I’ve seen, and it’s been the case all year. It’s not a “lack of coaching of the basics”. That’s absolutely ridiculous. They know how to do it. They’ve known how to do it since they were kids. Drop them down to NSW Cup with no one in the crowd and they’ll all execute it easy as you like. They’re tensing up and blowing it. Simple as that.

On the flip side, Ethan Strange threw the final pass for Weekes in that golden point thriller the other night about a foot behind him, but Kaeo catches it without breaking stride anyway and they score & win. A team high on confidence and belief, where they don’t tense up when it matters (exception: Jamal Fogarty kicking go ahead goals), and therefore things come off for them.

I would be very surprised if an off season of being yelled at by the extremely tightly wound Knights coach about how vitally important it is that they execute on this stuff otherwise they’ll let their families and the whole town down will help with that. But maybe I’m wrong about that.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I was referring to the dropped balls happening in yardage rather than the bombed tries. Obviously bombing tries has been a serious problem, 4 of them in the last 2 weeks shows that they’re mentally shot. It’s the fact that we’re regularly completing at under 70% which just isn’t good enough at NRL level. We’re literally beating ourselves most weeks without forcing the opposition to even play that well. It’s pretty clear that this has been our biggest problem all year.

 

[HarVeeGee]

I was referring to the dropped balls happening in yardage rather than the bombed tries. Obviously bombing tries has been a serious problem, 4 of them in the last 2 weeks shows that they’re mentally shot. It’s the fact that we’re regularly completing at under 70% which just isn’t good enough at NRL level. We’re literally beating ourselves most weeks without forcing the opposition to even play that well. It’s pretty clear that this has been our biggest problem all year.

Wasn't responding to you specifically there, if anything I'm really frustrated by our muppet head coach's diagnosis of the issue.

He's had some weird pressers but honestly this one's done my head in. What the f**k is bro talking about? Seriously.

Hey here's a fundamental he could work on: For massive swathes of every game, we play with totally isolated ball runners, because every teammate is standing ten metres behind the play not paying any attention to what's happening in front of their face, because they're prepping for the next play which has been robotically drilled into them. Any plans to address that, chief? The natural footy instincts you've spent years suppressing?

 

[HarVeeGee]

So we were good for a 15min patch before totally collapsing into a dribbling mess

Yes, that's finding the very tiny silver lining

I also don't think we were, the Broncos were f**king sleepwalking. We are so, so, so far off the pace it's not funny.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

I also don't think we were, the Broncos were f**king sleepwalking. We are so, so, so far off the pace it's not funny.

I tend to agree that the Broncos were still in 1st gear for a big chunk of the 1st half. Scary what the score could have been if they came out meaning business from the jump

 

[Yosh]

I reckon AOB's confidence is shot. It's trickling down to his players. We aren't a confident team. Where has our defense gone the past month or so? Did we suddenly forget how to defend as well? Clearly it's a mental thing that's stemming from the coach.

 

[Woody90]

Des has been sacked btw and they’ve appointed Hannay who was probably the best option we could have gotten…

 

[perverse]

Des has been sacked btw and they’ve appointed Hannay who was probably the best option we could have gotten…

Good thing we sat on our hands!!

 

[SamSepi0l]

Eh, we're not missing a lot with Hannay who has succeeded at 0 places as a full time coach.

 

[Woody90]

Eh, we're not missing a lot with Hannay who has succeeded at 0 places as a full time coach.

Still more experience and better record as an assistant than Blake Green.

 

[MakeItStop85]

If AOB is coaching next year, which is looking very likely, I won’t be renewing my membership. Have been a member since 92 and up until this year have attended most games but have seriously lost all interest with the club and the game as a whole which is really sad as I never thought that would ever happen…

2 wins at home from 12 this year? That’s pathetic! But, crowds still turn up and Wests collect their money so no need for change I suppose.

The club might accept mediocrity as well as some of the fan base like the Nannas and that dude who waves the big flag but I won’t be.

I might catch some games here and there on TV or get updates but that’s about it

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Des has been sacked btw and they’ve appointed Hannay who was probably the best option we could have gotten…

John Morris is the best option imo. I’m not that upset over missing out on Hannay. But I think if AOB was going to get sacked they would have done it a month ago. The longer it drags on the more I feel that he’s safe. I also think part of it is that Brown signed here thinking AOB would be coach and they want to give it some time to see if they can make that work. If we get to mid-2026 and we’re seeing the same sort of performances that we have this year then it might be a different story.