Breaking News - Nathan Brown to depart Knights at seasons end

[Knight76]

Which gun juniors are playing for other teams?

I never said they were all Knights Juniors! Nor that they are playing NRL now.

What I said was we have always struggled to keep juniors and lost at poaching players as the big clubs have deeper pockets and more chance of success to offer.

 

[Old dog]

I have a very high opinion of Danny B and don’t think he was pushed. He appears to me to be a very honest and upright person who has a feeling of being betrayed by the current system so has resigned in protest to it. I have no knowledge of what has gone on only a gut feeling.

 

[aqua_duck]

I never said they were all Knights Juniors! Nor that they are playing NRL now.

What I said was we have always struggled to keep juniors and lost at poaching players as the big clubs have deeper pockets and more chance of success to offer.

That was true 10 years ago but we haven't produced any juniors worth poaching for a while now and with Wests owning the club we're as financially stable as any club.

 

[perverse]

Not to say that we don't still let the odd TPJ, Latrell or Haas slip through our fingers. Talent identification is as much a problem as retention.

 

[Yosh]

I think having Knights juniors is also great PR. Newcastle values locals more than maby other teams who don't care if the whole team is mercenaries as long as they win.

Of course the city wants to see the team win but there would be added support to see at least three or four local super stars like up and do well for the team week in week out.

I really hope we see a lot more of Best. Seems like a genuine talent and is the kind of honest hard working talent the supporters love.

 

[Knight Vision]

That's abit of a misconception, the only 'junior' they poached was Cordner. Radley, Nat Butcher, Lachlan Lam and Billy Smith who debuted last weekend are local juniors, guys like Latrell, Manu, Sitili Tupounuia, Angus Crichton, Aubusson, Faamasuli all came through SG Ball and hadn't been part of an NRL set up before the roosters and Sam Verrills and Daniel Tupou were let go by Manly and Parramatta respectively. All in all they've absolutely left us for dead in terms of junior development which is embarrassing, even more so the fact they have a tiny junior catchment area.

Their scouting/ development yes. Aubusson for example was an Aus school boy rep from Balina. The roosters dont sign the youngsters unless they are specially talented and theyve also got the money to do so.

 

[aqua_duck]

Their scouting/ development yes. Aubusson for example was an Aus school boy rep from Balina. The roosters dont sign the youngsters unless they are specially talented and theyve also got the money to do so.

I think that's an absolute given to sign talented youngsters but all the guys they sign haven't been cherry picked from other clubs as you suggested.

 

[aqua_duck]

Not to say that we don't still let the odd TPJ, Latrell or Haas slip through our fingers. Talent identification is as much a problem as retention.

Latrell is a well documented miss but TPJ and Haas relocated with their families at a young age, not much you can do about that

 

[slotmachine]

I never said they were all Knights Juniors!

The good juniors we do produce get stolen for the reasons above.

The only two juniors still in the nrl you could say were stolen were cordner and tapine.

meanwhile we pinched klem and KP...

saying we're hard done by because rich clubs steal our talent is a fairy tale. as duck says, we don't develop anyone worth stealing these days.

 

[macavity]

Quite obvious we went through a period of keeping the wrong ones. We seemed to value hard work instead of talent and athleticism. Hence the generation of low ceiling players.

 

[aqua_duck]

Quite obvious we went through a period of keeping the wrong ones. We seemed to value hard work instead of talent and athleticism. Hence the generation of low ceiling players.

Yep, apparently Smith tried to change the approach (he had a fetish for athletic Polynesians) and was met with great resistance.

 

[Jono078]

Yep, apparently Smith tried to change the approach (he had a fetish for athletic Polynesians) and was met with great resistance.

I miss Cooper Vuna We let him go just as he was coming really good.

 

[aqua_duck]

I miss Cooper Vuna We let him go just as he was coming really good.

Was a shame we didn't get to really see a wing tandem of Vuna and Uate for any extended period

 

[perverse]

Latrell is a well documented miss but TPJ and Haas relocated with their families at a young age, not much you can do about that

Yeah fair enough, I don't know their backgrounds in any great detail. Having said that... I'm really struggling with the concept that our entire catchment area has failed to produce any noteworthy talent in over a decade bar Latrell. We must be at least somewhat responsible for that - it's not good enough to just say well the talent isn't there.

 

[Yosh]

I miss Cooper Vuna We let him go just as he was coming really good.

That man had a great smile.

 

[aqua_duck]

Yeah fair enough, I don't know their backgrounds in any great detail. Having said that... I'm really struggling with the concept that our entire catchment area has failed to produce any noteworthy talent in over a decade bar Latrell. We must be at least somewhat responsible for that - it's not good enough to just say well the talent isn't there.

I think part of the reason is we're scouting the wrong types of players, take Latrell as an example, they said he was lazy, that may be so but he's also a rare physical specimen. To be honest it seems like they go prioritise guys who try hard and work hard instead of guys with superior physical abilities because it's easier to build a winning team in the juniors

 

[macavity]

I think part of the reason is we're scouting the wrong types of players, take Latrell as an example, they said he was lazy, that may be so but he's also a rare physical specimen. To be honest it seems like they go prioritise guys who try hard and work hard instead of guys with superior physical abilities because it's easier to build a winning team in the juniors

May have something to do with demographics too. Big sport-orientated poly/kiwi populations in Sydney and Brisbane, not in Newcastle.

We actually have a small catchment in comparison, and ours is heavily recruited by most clubs.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

I'm all for developing our own local talent.
For many years before we entered the NRL in this phase we produced some greats. Our local comp sets us apart from many regions.
I'd go to local League games as a kid with my father. He'd scout for Sydney clubs. I'd see a lot of guys signed up and make an impact in Sydney and see many who had made their mark return to the local league to see out their playing days.
It was a buzz to know we got a team that could develop try and keep local talent local.
To me, the core of the club is local talent. That's what sets us apart from many clubs except for maybe Brisbane.
If we have local talent, and I don't doubt we do, then we need a structure that makes them want to stay local and aspire to play for the Knights and the town. That's where the real work needs to be done.

 

[Old dog]

Depends on classifying local, where did Mullen, Gidley etc come from and what about the outer areas, hard to get around the whole lot if 300-400kms between areas/potential players, we need to have reliable talent scouts in areas so that we cover all possibilities, we need to hone in on 13-14 yr/olds and then develop. It’s as much potential rather than obvious ability then it’s desire to be better, some come on later than others but we must identify them as early as possible.