Bennetts Broncos in GF

[Bring it home Knights]

Personally I dont share the view of a lot of people on here. I actually think that Bennett did a lot of good for our club. We had one of the softest teams in 2012 so he went out and bought a few tough and aggressive players.for the back half of 2013 we turned up each week and we played as well as we had in 7 or 8 years. In 2014 we had the mckinnon incident as well as all the tinkler stuff which clearly had a massive impact on the team. Bennett also came out and pushed for brennan rather than stone, which in hindsight would have been the best option for the club. In 2013 we played that last finals game without Snowden and buderus which was always going to make a win next to impossible. Bennett also got rid of a lot of deadwood in sau, naqama etc etc. Yes I agree that he didn't reach the expectations of myself and others had, but he still did a lot of good for this club.I think people are kidding thrmselves regarding how we went under stone. Yes the team punched above its weight from time to time, but there was also occasions when we played like a reserve grade team.

 

[slotmachine]

He goes on to win the comp while we get the spoon... You can think of all the excuses you want, there is something really wrong with the club (maybe was wrong because we seem to be going in the right direction).

We don't get to spend $1m+ more on players than the other clubs, that's what's wrong.

Brisbane have the luxury of throwing money at problems to make them go away. Barba didn't work out, so they send him to Cronulla and pay $500k of his wage for the pleasure. Then they sign Darius on $600k and Milford on $900k to replace him.

 

[Yosh]

So you think that we improved in our time under Bennett?
Pre Bennett we had probably the worst roster in the competition yet held our own despite serious deficiencies. Never a contender but always punching above our weight and having a genuine crack.
He arrived bought a bunch of players and let go of even more and we are now requiring a total cleanout to start afresh. Our football under Bennett was outdated and uninspiring. He did absolutely nothing positive for us.

I think he did a world of good. Helped us realize how crap we were and proved that a fantastic coach doesn't fix everything and a competent management system is required above all else.

People were saying how Bennett had lost it but we can all see Bennett was clearly not the problem.

 

[macavity]

Personally I dont share the view of a lot of people on here. I actually think that Bennett did a lot of good for our club. We had one of the softest teams in 2012 so he went out and bought a few tough and aggressive players.for the back half of 2013 we turned up each week and we played as well as we had in 7 or 8 years. In 2014 we had the mckinnon incident as well as all the tinkler stuff which clearly had a massive impact on the team. Bennett also came out and pushed for brennan rather than stone, which in hindsight would have been the best option for the club. In 2013 we played that last finals game without Snowden and buderus which was always going to make a win next to impossible. Bennett also got rid of a lot of deadwood in sau, naqama etc etc. Yes I agree that he didn't reach the expectations of myself and others had, but he still did a lot of good for this club.I think people are kidding thrmselves regarding how we went under stone. Yes the team punched above its weight from time to time, but there was also occasions when we played like a reserve grade team.

sau and wes weren't dead wood, they did pretty well for us (sau in particular).

No Bennett... We would probably not have hit the rock bottom we have. He did nothing for us and his legacy is tainted. Should have been walked off premises the moment he said he wouldn't be here in 2015. Our biggest mistake after that was giving stone the gig.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

sau and wes weren't dead wood, they did pretty well for us (sau in particular).

No Bennett... We would probably not have hit the rock bottom we have. He did nothing for us and his legacy is tainted. Should have been walked off premises the moment he said he wouldn't be here in 2015. Our biggest mistake after that was giving stone the gig.

You are definitely a poster on here whose opinion I value, however I cant agree with your first sentence. Sau was very ordinary imo. He started off ok but then other teams sussed him out as a one trick pony. The fact that he almost always ran the ball without the thought of an offload says it all really. Plus if he was decent surely an nrl club would sign him up.

wes played well for half a season, but outside of that he was solid at best. His performances in 2012 were very very ordinary.

 

[Noname36]

Personally I dont share the view of a lot of people on here. I actually think that Bennett did a lot of good for our club. We had one of the softest teams in 2012 so he went out and bought a few tough and aggressive players.for the back half of 2013 we turned up each week and we played as well as we had in 7 or 8 years. In 2014 we had the mckinnon incident as well as all the tinkler stuff which clearly had a massive impact on the team. Bennett also came out and pushed for brennan rather than stone, which in hindsight would have been the best option for the club. In 2013 we played that last finals game without Snowden and buderus which was always going to make a win next to impossible. Bennett also got rid of a lot of deadwood in sau, naqama etc etc. Yes I agree that he didn't reach the expectations of myself and others had, but he still did a lot of good for this club.I think people are kidding thrmselves regarding how we went under stone. Yes the team punched above its weight from time to time, but there was also occasions when we played like a reserve grade team.

Funny how our team was far from soft the season before he arrived. We had the absolute worst team in the comp on paper from 2008-2011 but they consistently punched well above their weight. They didn't have the class to give it to the top teams once we made the finals but I'd still take that any day over the soft, entitled bunch we have now. Yes we had some bad games during that period but in general we still consistently overachieved. Since 2012 we've had a few good ones but in general have consistently underachieved.

That attitude problem was created under Bennett with the squad he built and the dumbest thing we did was hire Stone to replace him because we clearly needed a clean out after Bennett's time but Stone didn't have the balls to do it.

 

[macavity]

You are definitely a poster on here whose opinion I value, however I cant agree with your first sentence. Sau was very ordinary imo. He started off ok but then other teams sussed him out as a one trick pony. The fact that he almost always ran the ball without the thought of an offload says it all really. Plus if he was decent surely an nrl club would sign him up.

wes played well for half a season, but outside of that he was solid at best. His performances in 2012 were very very ordinary.

Sau did a job. Earned him a well deserved Kiwi jersey too. Wes was hot and cold but had a really hot streak at FB.

Neither of them were superstars, but Sau in particular was far from awful.

 

[Nuffy]

You can't blame Bennett, he was given a job with what we all assume were agreed KPI's and he coached accordingly.

The system didn't support him, i.e. Tinkler ran out of money and 2014 became a trainwreck. Bennett needs a system behind him and ours stopped in 2013.

I still level the bulk of the blame at the playing group, they didn't buy into the vision and commit 100%.

We all know what happened this year and its squarely on Stone, Mids, the board and players, they own this.

Forget Bennett and move on, he is nearly at his 7th premiership and I'm not sure that we will win another.

Dwell on the fact that a busted arse joint like Townsville can recruit better than we can and certainly assemble a better team.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Sau did a job. Earned him a well deserved Kiwi jersey too. Wes was hot and cold but had a really hot streak at FB.

Neither of them were superstars, but Sau in particular was far from awful.

Sau in a nutshell. Pros - good leg drive, solid defense, could score a try. Cons - could not set up his winger and99% of the time didnt even consider it as an option. A centre who cant set up a winger is a wasted player imo. It literally got to the point where he was gang tackled as the defense worked him out.

Plenty of ordinary outside backs have played for nz so I dont consider him playing for nz a major accomplishment. How many years did he play for them? IF he was a rep standard player, I assume he played fora few years for them right?

 

[mozza91]

We went backwards under Bennett. We came last this year with the team he built. We are now requiring a major rebuild. He did a terrible job for us.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

We went backwards under Bennett. We came last this year with the team he built. We are now requiring a major rebuild. He did a terrible job for us.

We reached a prelim. We haven't done that since 2001

 

[mozza91]

We reached a prelim. We haven't done that since 2001

That was a good run. It was great at the time but did nothing in the long term.
The way he left was what annoyed me most. It was too hard so he went home, not before having a shot at the club on the way out. The guy is dickhead of the highest order. Now back at Brisbane with their favourable draw he's the supercoach again.

 

[1qaz]

Late to the discussion (been busy wanking over the highlights of the broncos this year under Wayne)
The biggest mistake Wayne did at the Knights was having too much faith in Kurt Gidley. Kurt was his Ben Hornby. Kurt had a good f**k up every week but still remained in the team and still remained as captain.
Wayne wanted to move Kurt on at the end of last season.
If Wayne got what he wanted, IMO Wayne would've likely stayed on for another year at the Knights.
The team would've looked ok if he got someone like Ennis to the Knights in replace of Gidley

1. Boyd
2. Sione
3. Gagai
4. BJ
5. McManus/Uate
6. Mullen
7. Roberts
9. Ennis

Boyd would've stayed. BJ would've stayed. Roberts was ok under Wayne.

All this talk about Wes Naiqama and Junior Sau is exactly what's wrong with the Knights.
Knights are happy with average players punching about their weight and scraping into the 8 every now and then.
Meanwhile the Broncos made the top 8 last season and they sacked their coach.
Anything short of a top 4 finish every year is consider an epic failure for the Broncos.

I find it strange when Knights fans blame Wayne for leaving them with an aging roster.
If you look through his squads over the years, he always had a mix of youth and experience.
How dare Wayne try to win a premiership every year??
Big difference is Wayne isn't afraid to move these older guys on when their time is up.
It was up to Stone to move these older guys on end of last season, not Wayne's.
The likes of Gidley, Smith, Houston, Fa'alogo.
And you wonder why Wayne wasn't happy with Stone becoming head coach? He didn't have the balls to.

 

[Haffa]

But with Boyd there Dane couldn't be fullback?!?!

 

[AceAv]

It's really just simple math why he left..

Wayne's lifespan = maaaybe 15-20 years.
Newcastle's chance of winning a premiership = 50-55 years

 

[Knight Vision]

Late to the discussion (been busy wanking over the highlights of the broncos this year under Wayne)
The biggest mistake Wayne did at the Knights was having too much faith in Kurt Gidley. Kurt was his Ben Hornby. Kurt had a good f**k up every week but still remained in the team and still remained as captain.
Wayne wanted to move Kurt on at the end of last season.
If Wayne got what he wanted, IMO Wayne would've likely stayed on for another year at the Knights.
The team would've looked ok if he got someone like Ennis to the Knights in replace of Gidley

1. Boyd
2. Sione
3. Gagai
4. BJ
5. McManus/Uate
6. Mullen
7. Roberts
9. Ennis

Boyd would've stayed. BJ would've stayed. Roberts was ok under Wayne.

All this talk about Wes Naiqama and Junior Sau is exactly what's wrong with the Knights.
Knights are happy with average players punching about their weight and scraping into the 8 every now and then.
Meanwhile the Broncos made the top 8 last season and they sacked their coach.
Anything short of a top 4 finish every year is consider an epic failure for the Broncos.

I find it strange when Knights fans blame Wayne for leaving them with an aging roster.
If you look through his squads over the years, he always had a mix of youth and experience.
How dare Wayne try to win a premiership every year??
Big difference is Wayne isn't afraid to move these older guys on when their time is up.
It was up to Stone to move these older guys on end of last season, not Wayne's.
The likes of Gidley, Smith, Houston, Fa'alogo.
And you wonder why Wayne wasn't happy with Stone becoming head coach? He didn't have the balls to.

Fair call

 

[macavity]

It's really just simple math why he left..

Wayne's lifespan = maaaybe 15-20 years.
Newcastle's chance of winning a premiership = 50-55 years

Under current "the salary cap only applies to some teams" system, we will never win a comp.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Late to the discussion (been busy wanking over the highlights of the broncos this year under Wayne)
The biggest mistake Wayne did at the Knights was having too much faith in Kurt Gidley. Kurt was his Ben Hornby. Kurt had a good f**k up every week but still remained in the team and still remained as captain.
Wayne wanted to move Kurt on at the end of last season.
If Wayne got what he wanted, IMO Wayne would've likely stayed on for another year at the Knights.
The team would've looked ok if he got someone like Ennis to the Knights in replace of Gidley

1. Boyd
2. Sione
3. Gagai
4. BJ
5. McManus/Uate
6. Mullen
7. Roberts
9. Ennis

Boyd would've stayed. BJ would've stayed. Roberts was ok under Wayne.

All this talk about Wes Naiqama and Junior Sau is exactly what's wrong with the Knights.
Knights are happy with average players punching about their weight and scraping into the 8 every now and then.
Meanwhile the Broncos made the top 8 last season and they sacked their coach.
Anything short of a top 4 finish every year is consider an epic failure for the Broncos.

I find it strange when Knights fans blame Wayne for leaving them with an aging roster.
If you look through his squads over the years, he always had a mix of youth and experience.
How dare Wayne try to win a premiership every year??
Big difference is Wayne isn't afraid to move these older guys on when their time is up.
It was up to Stone to move these older guys on end of last season, not Wayne's.
The likes of Gidley, Smith, Houston, Fa'alogo.
And you wonder why Wayne wasn't happy with Stone becoming head coach? He didn't have the balls to.

This post is definitely a mixed bag...

Roberts was OK under Wayne? If this is the case, then why was Wayne quoted as saying that Roberts was on the verge of being dropped for an extended period?

Wayne would have stayed if Gidley moved on? That comment is bizarre. Firstly Wayne is his own man and if he wanted to move a player on he would - Look at what he did with Wally Lewis or Ben Barba... To think that Gidley being here resulted in Wayne leaving is laughable on many levels.

I agree with your Wes and Sau comments. I also agree with you that Bennett had a mix of older and younger guys in order to win a premiershp whilst building towards the future. I couldnt agree more regarding your Rick Stone comments.

 

[The Showstopper]

i have never seen Wayne more relaxed.speaks volumes for what coaching this place does to a person. The exact reason Brown has to be left to his own devices and be given full rights to sack and hire without questions from Old Boys with agendas. Bennett was lied to by Tinkler essentially re the finacial stability side and had he known he would never have come here.

 

[1qaz]

This post is definitely a mixed bag...

Roberts was OK under Wayne? If this is the case, then why was Wayne quoted as saying that Roberts was on the verge of being dropped for an extended period?

Wayne would have stayed if Gidley moved on? That comment is bizarre. Firstly Wayne is his own man and if he wanted to move a player on he would - Look at what he did with Wally Lewis or Ben Barba... To think that Gidley being here resulted in Wayne leaving is laughable on many levels.

I agree with your Wes and Sau comments. I also agree with you that Bennett had a mix of older and younger guys in order to win a premiershp whilst building towards the future. I couldnt agree more regarding your Rick Stone comments.

This is also same Wayne Bennett that helped Roberts sign with the Titans.
Roberts has some talent but lacks the polish. There's a good first grader in there under the right coaching.

As for Gidley. Wayne was overruled when he try move Kurt on last year.
Sure there were many other factors but IMO this was one of the main reasons he left the Knights. He no longer had control and felt like he was fighting a losing battle.