Match Discussion: Round 13 vs Wests Tigers @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[NoSchitSherlock]

I've been very critical of King in the past. He has been a slug. Seems to have a bit more spirit in him now. He could make a good backup. Time will tell.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Wests need a tissue boy.

 

[Yosh]

Pearce with another cracking kick to end the game but looked much better with Green on the field.

Great win. Look forward to next week and the rest of the season. Can't see why we won't win the next 4 and maybe even get on over the a Roosters in round 18.

Nothing bad at all to say about the game.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Pearce with another cracking kick to end the game but looked much better with Green on the field.

Great win. Look forward to next week and the rest of the season. Can't see why we won't win the next 4 and maybe even get on over the a Roosters in round 18.

Nothing bad at all to say about the game.

I can't see much to focus on except maybe Ponga's goal kicking. I think it did improve a little over some games though.

 

[Alex28]

Not impressed with this finish. Good sides don't clock off like this.

Not much impresses you from what I’ve seen...

 

[Knight Vision]

Credit to Lachy Fitz, he's been strong IMO.

flat track bully unfortunately

 

[Knight Vision]

Feel like Tuala has been moved around from wing to centre and one side of the field to the other every few weeks, and I don't think he's had a bad game yet

Fast becoming 1 of my top 5 Knights players. Tenacious, skillful and will have a great NRL career. He could turn out to be a very special player.

 

[Yosh]

I can't see much to focus on except maybe Ponga's goal kicking. I think it did improve a little over some games though.

Ponga seemed pissed when he pissed some of those. Great signs. Shows he cares. I reckon he'll work himself up to a 75% ~ 80% goal kicker as his career goes on. Probably never be a world beater at it though.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Ponga seemed pissed when he pissed some of those. Great signs. Shows he cares. I reckon he'll work himself up to a 75% ~ 80% goal kicker as his career goes on. Probably never be a world beater at it though.

I noticed that and thought it indicated he had been putting work into it and wasn't satisfied it had paid off.

 

[Zoidberg]

Probably one of our best all round (nearly) 80 min performances for a few years. Didn’t clock off really except for a few silly errors in the last 10. Tigers didn’t throw much at us or offer too much resistance, but we did exactly what the good teams do with that kind of opposition, for once.
The combos with Green will improve as the weeks go on and we hopefully get more players returning from injuries than receiving them.

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

Not much impresses you from what I’ve seen...

You're probably right. I'm very harsh on the side as a result of how harsh they've been on my mental state for so many years.

 

[General Knight]

King made 100m tonight what da hell is going on.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Something that impressed me with Green was that he was out there directing players. This is his first game with us and with very little training and it was like he had been a part of the team for ages. He could read the game and knew where to position.
He definitely settled us and gave us the option to open up and let others play more naturally without pushing it. There was no rushed panic back and forth from side to side. We had direction.
The pressure off Pearce's game helped.
Everyone did their job out there today.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Blake Green was everything we wanted him to be. This team can go much further with him there. Notice Ponga didn’t have to do Pearce’s job for a single instance tonight. Look at the result.

Green will unleash our previously misfiring potential.

 

[Spot On]

Something that impressed me with Green was that he was out there directing players. This is his first game with us and with very little training and it was like he had been a part of the team for ages. He could read the game and knew where to position.
He definitely settled us and gave us the option to open up and let others play more naturally without pushing it. There was no rushed panic back and forth from side to side. We had direction.
Everyone did their job out there today.

Yep, like a good leader.. or captain does.

 

[Spot On]

Blake Green was everything we wanted him to be. This team can go much further with him there. Notice Ponga didn’t have to do Pearce’s job for a single instance tonight. Look at the result.

Green will unleash our previously misfiring potential.

Ponga was a completely different player tonight - played a completely different game.

The handbrake is off.

 

[Spot On]

Not much impresses you from what I’ve seen...

You have anything to add about the game this week?

 

[Knight Vision]

Ponga seemed pissed when he pissed some of those. Great signs. Shows he cares. I reckon he'll work himself up to a 75% ~ 80% goal kicker as his career goes on. Probably never be a world beater at it though.

he's a self proclaimed cool cat, but you can tell the pressure does get to him with his kicking

 

[Yosh]

Loved that inside ball around the ruck from Mann to Ponga. Where has that been all season?

I wanted to see a little more Tedesco like play from Ponga and we finally saw some tonight. Hope it continues!!

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

I can't express how relieved I am for the Green signing. Some of the teams biggest problems have been instantly solved by his addition.

Re Green and Kurt Mann; Mann no longer has to try and play beyond his ability and attacking plays are no longer breaking down with him because he is out of the line. Ponga can stand deeper, 2 passes off the ruck because Green has the passing ability to actually get it out there whereas Mann hesitates and caused confusion. Defences are going to hate this...it causes so much confusion and indecision. Still impressed with some of Mann's defence tonight and its a luxury to have a player so versatile in the side. He replaces Watson. Green done what he said he'd do. The side looked calm even though it's heavily depleted.

Re the backs; We're also lucky to have solid defenders in the outside backs. I can't remember when we had backs that can make one on one tackles and tough carries ala Shiba, Tuala and Hunt. Those guys are young, strong and fast players with their best days ahead. Throw in Bradman, Dom Young and Star To'a and suddenly we're looking at more potential in the outside backs than we've probably ever had. That's genuine talent.

Re the pack; We all know Fitzy has been the weakest link here but perhaps he's been used incorrectly. Tonight he was strong and it's no coincidence. He played up the middle and got earlier ball. He done the hard yards instead of being used as an attacking edge back rower and getting hospital passes. He's no Kikau and that's clear. All he needs to do is play the way he did tonight and build on that and he won't be a weakness in the side. The rest of the pack is balanced and we have decent depth there. Jacob and King have stepped up. Klemmer has an offload and Barnett has become a leader. Next year we have Friz. We're good in the pack.

Honestly, it's a real shame about all the injuries because with Green adding a new dimension, I think we could've done something this year, not just next. That said, although Ponga was great tonight, we still haven't seen close to his best. If he is at his absolute best, we can beat anyone and that's exciting.