Excitement/Expectations for the 2022 season

[PhilGould]

We've got metres across the park.

- Gagai, Young, Best very good yardage players. Consistently make post contact metres and land on their front for a quick play the ball. I'd argue Hunt or Lee (if he's still the same player) could add even more to that, though Tuala hasn't put a foot wrong.
- Saifiti x2, Klemmer, Frizell, Barnett can make metres against any pack.
- Clifford, Clune & Mann freely and unselfishly moving the ball from sideline to sideline off quick play the balls and offloads (another new addition). Gets the strike players out wide early ball running at space.

Saw today that 3 of the top 5 players for decoy runs so far are Knights (with Leo Thompson leading the comp). Not a stat that will stand out to the naked eye a lot of the time but it means there's constantly bodies in motion and keeps defenders in 2 minds, also a testament to the energy and effort we're playing with.

The key is maintaining it obviously, but regardless it's been a treat to watch so far. Much more entertaining than the past however many years of one out hit-ups and Pearce going himself on the 4th tackle.

 

[Johns Magic]

Look at how our lock role has shifted this year in terms of moving the ball. Again something we all knew but some stats to illustrate.

I can’t be bothered trawling all of Sue and Watson’s 2021 games, and in plenty of games they played less minutes or other positions, but taking a random snapshots of their games last year where they played lock and played similar minutes to Mann this year

Sue

R1 2021: 59 minutes, 9 receipts, zero passes
R3 2021: 33 minutes, 9 receipts, 2 passes

Watson

R7 2021: 56 minutes, 16 receipts, 6 passes
R24 2021: 70 minutes, 15 receipts, 7 passes
Semi-final: 52 minutes, 15 receipts, 6 passes

Mann

R1 2022: 61 minutes, 43 receipts, 36 passes
R2 2022: 61 minutes, 31 receipts, 26 passes

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Jeez the number of passes is a stark difference isnt it.

So glad we are moving in that direction in terms of game plan. its been very effective

 

[Jono078]

I can’t believe Mann is passing so much, and it’s not like he’s had many poor passes either.. he is actually spreading the ball quickly and hitting his mark.

Has the real Mann finally stood up?

 

[The Axe of Druss]

I can’t believe Mann is passing so much, and it’s not like he’s had many poor passes either.. he is actually spreading the ball quickly and hitting his mark.

Has the real Mann finally stood up?

 

[Knight Tales]

Every player looks so far removed from the struggle of last year in terms of their fitness and skill I actually wonder if it is an alternate reality sometimes. Our ball movement is crisp, fast and purposeful. And KP hasn’t even played his hand yet.
Our completion rates under Obi have always been high which adds another layer of defence with the ball in hand.

 

[TooheysNew]

Look at how our lock role has shifted this year in terms of moving the ball. Again something we all knew but some stats to illustrate.

I can’t be bothered trawling all of Sue and Watson’s 2021 games, and in plenty of games they played less minutes or other positions, but taking a random snapshots of their games last year where they played lock and played similar minutes to Mann this year

Sue

R1 2021: 59 minutes, 9 receipts, zero passes
R3 2021: 33 minutes, 9 receipts, 2 passes

Watson

R7 2021: 56 minutes, 16 receipts, 6 passes
R24 2021: 70 minutes, 15 receipts, 7 passes
Semi-final: 52 minutes, 15 receipts, 6 passes

Mann

R1 2022: 61 minutes, 43 receipts, 36 passes
R2 2022: 61 minutes, 31 receipts, 26 passes

Where do you find these stats, mate?

 

[Burwood]

Mann’s biggest strength has been his ability to be the link between hooker and the halves out wide. He gets the ball from Randall, and then he’s able to pass out to Clune or Clifford who have the ball playing skills to get our back line into the action. We no longer pass it straight to a half who then is either needing to pass it to a forward or relying on others to get the ball out wide.

The derp has also been largely removed from his game. He’s not overplaying his hand and forcing passes, his running game has kept the defence on their toes and he has shown the ability to make good choices in attack. His defence has also been a highlight.

 

[Johns Magic]

Where do you find these stats, mate?

nrl.com

Do I have to source that sorry?

 

[TooheysNew]

nrl.com

Do I have to source that sorry?

Nope, I was just wondering where they'd come from.

Cheers.

 

[Burwood]

One thing to stand out from the NRL stats, is how piss poor Ponga has been at running support. Doesn’t even figure in the top 50 on average over the last few years. Even Fitz manages to get himself in support more often. He really needs to get himself a lot more involved in the game.

 

[Johns Magic]

Nope, I was just wondering where they'd come from.

Cheers.

No worries.

Mann has touched the ball more than any other non-spine player in the comp this year. The only fullback with more is Dylan Edwards.

 

[Jono078]

Every player looks so far removed from the struggle of last year in terms of their fitness and skill I actually wonder if it is an alternate reality sometimes. Our ball movement is crisp, fast and purposeful. And KP hasn’t even played his hand yet.
Our completion rates under Obi have always been high which adds another layer of defence with the ball in hand.

This. Yes it's only been 2 rounds but it's so evident how much we have evolved as a club. We beat last years team 95/100. Also AOB mentioned in the last press conference that our attack has been much better that it's actually helped us out in defence, because he thinks we're about the same defence as last year but it's all the other things we're doing better that is helping us out there.

One thing to stand out from the NRL stats, is how piss poor Ponga has been at running support. Doesn’t even figure in the top 50 on average over the last few years. Even Fitz manages to get himself in support more often. He really needs to get himself a lot more involved in the game.

He had one nice support in round 1 which lead to a try, but agree I'd like to see him hanging around the forwards more and bursting onto an offload rather than being there to catch and spread it - at least mix it up.

Still too early (for me anyway) to be digging into Ponga just yet.

 

[Johns Magic]

Another good stat.

4 of the top 10 decoy runners in the comp this year are Knights forwards.

Leo Thompson equal 1st
Barnett equal 3rd
Frizell equal 5th
Jacob Saifiti equal 10th

Players

Players

www.nrl.com

We did not have any in the top 50 last year - overall or on average

 

[Jono078]

Leo Thompson gonna get his own thread soon.. He's averaging 1 silly error a game but everything else about him has looked great. Nice footwork, drive, tackling and that damn cutout pass! He's definitely winning us a match with some skill this year.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

1 thing ive thought about lately is the parallel between Newcastle and the Gold Coast over the last few years

Both have had to go through a rebuild of sorts and both have brought on a rookie coach with similar pedigrees. $1M players who have arguably not yet lived up to their price tags and a young spine full of talent but very untested together

Now the big difference ive seen is the way both coaches have approached building these teams in terms of game plan. AOB had the Knights forcus on defence first and put attack on the back burner. It had them being pretty poor in attack but it also meant they lost by smaller margins/far less points scored against them. This year hes built from that base and now our attack is starting to hum

Holbrook took the opposite approach and put attack first. It saw them get into RL "shootouts" with teams and while exciting, ultimately let them down in quite a few games where a better defencive effort would have closed out the game. Im yet to see any evidence that their defence has improved this year though

Now time will tell which approach will be better in the long term but i cant help but feel that the old adage of "defence wins you games" is starting to ring very true

 

[Silent Knight]

1 thing ive thought about lately is the parallel between Newcastle and the Gold Coast over the last few years

Both have had to go through a rebuild of sorts and both have brought on a rookie coach with similar pedigrees. $1M players who have arguably not yet lived up to their price tags and a young spine full of talent but very untested together

Now the big difference ive seen is the way both coaches have approached building these teams in terms of game plan. AOB had the Knights forcus on defence first and put attack on the back burner. It had them being pretty poor in attack but it also meant they lost by smaller margins/far less points scored against them. This year hes built from that base and now our attack is starting to hum

Holbrook took the opposite approach and put attack first. It saw them get into RL "shootouts" with teams and while exciting, ultimately let them down in quite a few games where a better defencive effort would have closed out the game. Im yet to see any evidence that their defence has improved this year though

Now time will tell which approach will be better in the long term but i cant help but feel that the old adage of "defence wins you games" is starting to ring very true

Very good analysis mate.

Also happy to say I was wrong about Mann. He hasn't been the liability I thought he would be at lock.

 

[K-Man]

Mann's role has essentially transformed our entire attack, which is a credit to the coaching staff even more than it is to Mann himself. We obviously needed to change what we were doing with the ball, but we have changed, so that's a big tip of the hat from me at this stage.

What will be interesting now is whether Mann's running game will become increasingly influential as defences try to adapt to the way we shift the ball wide with more purpose and dangerous ball-players closer to the edges than the middle. Because if he can start dummying and poking through the line with unpredictability, that will be huge. He does actually have the running game to make an impact. Basically this role suits him perfectly, it was never that he had no skills whatsoever, it was always that his skills were not suited to any key spine position with responsibility for the end product. Now he's a cog in the machine and that's perfect because while not being a master of anything, he is certainly a jack of all trades.

 

[K-Man]

Another good stat.

4 of the top 10 decoy runners in the comp this year are Knights forwards.

Leo Thompson equal 1st
Barnett equal 3rd
Frizell equal 5th
Jacob Saifiti equal 10th

Players

Players

www.nrl.com

We did not have any in the top 50 last year - overall or on average

That's a great stat. Barnett is the one I notice just from the eye test, he makes some seriously top quality decoy runs where he could/should actually be passed the ball he's in that much space. He's not pushing up in support just because the coach told him to or he's got endless energy, there's real purpose to it most of the time.

 

[aqua_duck]

Another good stat.

4 of the top 10 decoy runners in the comp this year are Knights forwards.

Leo Thompson equal 1st
Barnett equal 3rd
Frizell equal 5th
Jacob Saifiti equal 10th

Players

Players

www.nrl.com

We did not have any in the top 50 last year - overall or on average

last year we were dead last in the league in decoys run and 1st in one out runs, as i mentioned in a previous thread there was a deliberate approach last year to power through the middle and almost use our forwards to overwhelm by force and take advantage of the new scrutiny around the ruck which as it turned out was the entirely wrong approach as you also have to be able to score points. This year we've adjusted and I think losing Pearce has helped loosen the shackles