How long?

[Swarzey]

We finished 7th our best finish in years & that's sailing really well? We got hot at the right time that season, but it's still not enough to cover the fact we only just made the 8.

Some of us have higher expectations than at best finishing 7th/8th & getting smashed the first or second week of the finals every few years, fact is we haven't been consistently competitive or a real threat to the title since Joey retired. If the fans on this board weren't as loyal & patient as they are they would have deserted this team a long time ago, we are still a laughing stock & have shown no real signs of recovering anytime soon.

Right, so you want to point out where we finished, yet it says nothing about how we a, improved on the year before and b, to finish the year had some of the best week to week matches of the year against Storm and Roosters; sides considered to be powerhouses and contenders. Did we win them? No but both saw us remain competitive until the end. With a side we had, consistency throughout was going to be a problem, unless you buy your side like the Roosters that's just a reality of rugby league. Not everyone is going to mesh right off the bat in both attack and defence.

What 2014 could have been without the constant drama the club faced, who knows. We probably wouldn't be having this discussion. Fact is, 2013 was a high year for the club and where we finished is completely irrelevant. Actually, we finished 4th but of course you'll most likely go back on the positive things you had to say about 2013 then just to prove your deluded point. You're right, we haven't been consistency in the finals and a competitive but you can't seriously sit here and bullshit about that two years ago you thought that was going to change.

Mate, pull your head out and realise the club is in a mess that was left over by Tinkler and that's going to take time to change. It's not the same situation as the years since Joey left and Bennett came, it's much, much different. I feel like I'm going insane by repeating myself but IT TAKES f**kING TIME to sort it out. And if you can't accept that, f**k, if nobody here can accept that, then I'm truly done trying to get across the most obvious point there is.

 

[Tom155]

We finished 7th our best finish in years & that's sailing very, very well? We got hot at the right time that season, but it's still not enough to cover the fact we only just made the 8.

Some of us have higher expectations than at best finishing 7th/8th & getting smashed the first or second week of the finals every few years, fact is we haven't been consistently competitive or a real threat to the title since Joey retired. If the fans on this board weren't as loyal & patient as they are they would have deserted this team a long time ago, we are still a laughing stock & have shown no real signs of recovering anytime soon.

Highlighting this point, our results since Joey retired

2007 - 15th
2008 - 9th
2009 - 7th (Out week 1)
2010 - 11th
2011 - 8th on f/a (Out week 1)
2012 - 12th
2013 - 7th (Out week 3)
2014 - 12th
2015 - Currently 12th on f/a tied with 4 other teams on 10 points

 

[Noname36]

I can't really remember the last time we had a good season. We finished the season very well in 2013 which was a high for us but in all honesty we didn't look like making the finals that year until right at the end (and needed to win our last game to scrape in).

 

[perverse]

5 years on and we're still a pack of also-rans. I was a lot angrier 5 years ago, lol.

 

[Jono078]

5 years on and we're still a pack of also-rans. I was a lot angrier 5 years ago, lol.

Would it be fair to say you cared more 5 years ago? I know that was the case with me.

I just don't care any more because I know there will be no positive changes throughout the club. We'll always just do enough to avoid the spoon and try to scrape in the 8.

 

[macavity]

Would it be fair to say you cared more 5 years ago? I know that was the case with me.

I just don't care any more because I know there will be no positive changes throughout the club. We'll always just do enough to avoid the spoon and try to scrape in the 8.

So So this. I would be on to my third bypass by now if I didn't make a conscious decision to become more detached. This rabble simply don't warrant the emotional investment. It's almost akin to an abusive spouse (not to make fun sf something awful but you get the point).

What broke it for me was sitting in a room with Tinkler's hand picked membership man and having him tell me that he didn't like passionate fans as they were just a pain in the arse and caused trouble. No wonder there was a "disconnect" with the community.

From there to inept NRL ownership, I can't see that much has changed, or indeed will. We support a club where the hierarchy, at the end of the day, doesn't give a shit about us. They care about the bottom line, they care about fulfilling tv obligations, they care about their own jobs, and it seems every 5-6 weeks they remember to care about winning. But they don't care about us fans.

 

[Knightmare]

The last 'good' season was 2009, where the team were playing resourceful football and gave it their best shot every weekend. The Crusade was in great voice as well, and giving some of the bigger/ more established fan groups a real run for their reputation on game days. The team was finally bearing the fruit of Brian Smith's clean-out...and then he signed with Easts and it all came to a grinding halt...

Aside from that 3 week run in August/ September of 2013, the rest has been shit. The Crusade is no more, only a handful of people waving big supporter flags remain and (as somebody else alluded to) the match-day atmosphere is more like being at a wake...

 

[Swarzey]

Implying that Brian Smith was good for the club :lol:

Good lord...

 

[Allstar Knights]

Implying that Brian Smith was good for the club :lol:

Good lord...

I know it's easy to bash Smith based on his reputation elsewhere, but there's no doubt we were a very competitive team under his reign. Like he said above, in 2009 we were very much a top 4 side before he announced he was heading to Easts.

 

[Knightmare]

It depends what a person defines as a 'good coach'.

If a 'good coach' is a guy who the players all love and would readily go for a beer with, then I'm at a loss to understand why Mick Hagan doesn't have a 5 year contract locked in.

If a 'good coach' is a coach who gets players in the teams they manage to (mostly) play to their full potential and be an integral part of a squad who wins the majority of their games when they play together, then I stand by my opinion of Brian Smith. Even if the News Limited journo's regard him the same way as Gus Gould...

 

[Swarzey]

I know it's easy to bash Smith based on his reputation elsewhere, but there's no doubt we were a very competitive team under his reign. Like he said above, in 2009 we were very much a top 4 side before he announced he was heading to Easts.

Really? Because I remember 2009 as just another inconsistent Newcastle season.

He was a failure at Parramatta. A monumental failure. He somehow managed to build and f**k up a premiership caliber side in a short space of time and should have been booted from there sooner. The fact we took him on with his record showed the incompetence of the people running the club at the time. Furthermore, his history with Parra repeated itself at the Roosters; built a premiership side and two years later they were out of the eight.

Sure, at some point we played decent football but Brian Smith was never the answer and Brian Smith will NEVER be the answer for Newcastle or any other club that wants to be something more than a joke.

 

[Allstar Knights]

Really? Because I remember 2009 as just another inconsistent Newcastle season.

He was a failure at Parramatta. A monumental failure. He somehow managed to build and f**k up a premiership caliber side in a short space of time and should have been booted from there sooner. The fact we took him on with his record showed the incompetence of the people running the club at the time. Furthermore, his history with Parra repeated itself at the Roosters; built a premiership side and two years later they were out of the eight.

Sure, at some point we played decent football but Brian Smith was never the answer and Brian Smith will NEVER be the answer for Newcastle or any other club that wants to be something more than a joke.

I seem to recall we were in the top 4 before he announced he was heading to the Roosters.

I know his reputation isn't great at other clubs, but I think it's unfair to use that to tarnish what he did here. He built a very competitive team, one that rapidly improved each year from 07-09. Of course you and probably history shows that he may have failed if he stayed any longer, but we don't really know at the end of the day. I and probably many others just appreciate most of the things he did here and the type of football we played back then.

 

[mozza91]

I seem to recall we were in the top 4 before he announced he was heading to the Roosters.

I know his reputation isn't great at other clubs, but I think it's unfair to use that to tarnish what he did here. He built a very competitive team, one that rapidly improved each year from 07-09. Of course you and probably history shows that he may have failed if he stayed any longer, but we don't really know at the end of the day. I and probably many others just appreciate most of the things he did here and the type of football we played back then.

This. I loved the type of football we played under Smith. 08 and 09 were probably the most enjoyable years that I've had from a fans perspective since Joey retired.
2008 we were competitive in pretty much every game, played for the full 80 minutes and had several close loses which could've easily gone the other way. I still have fond memories of a game in Melbourne were they put in the best defensive effort I've seen from a Knights side but eventually went down.
2009 started brilliantly and we were well intrenched in the top 4 at the halfway point of the season. Everything went downhill when it was announced that he was leaving at season's end and we never got back to the level we were early on.
The results in Smith's time may not have been outstanding but the style of football was quite enterprising and extremely entertaining to watch.

 

[slotmachine]

Yep, Smith best coach we've had in last 15 years. He extracted everything out of an ordinary roster.

 

[Frederick]

Smith was never a long term solution. However he was excellent at what he was hired to do...clear out the deadwood. Unfortunately for him, the deadwood were local juniors, and that didn't sit well with club officials and fans. Smith did what was (and still is) sorely needed, and was bashed from pillar to post for it. I honestly don't blame him for jumping ship

 

[aqua_duck]

Really? Because I remember 2009 as just another inconsistent Newcastle season.

He was a failure at Parramatta. A monumental failure. He somehow managed to build and f**k up a premiership caliber side in a short space of time and should have been booted from there sooner. The fact we took him on with his record showed the incompetence of the people running the club at the time. Furthermore, his history with Parra repeated itself at the Roosters; built a premiership side and two years later they were out of the eight.

Sure, at some point we played decent football but Brian Smith was never the answer and Brian Smith will NEVER be the answer for Newcastle or any other club that wants to be something more than a joke.

If smith pulled off a few GF's he'd be amongst the greatest coaches in history. Everyone knows Smith wont win it for you but there's few better coaches at rebuilding a team, he inherits basket cases and atleast gets them to a respectable level, which is the opposite to Hagan who inherits great teams and runs them into the ground. Also I think your history needs some revising, Smith got Parra competitive and they were competitive for the best part of a decade and stayed competitive until Hagan got sacked. At the roosters, he inherited a wooden spoon side and got them to a GF the very next year and he left his apprentice Trent Robinson the nucleus of a premiership winning team.

 

[Yosh]

I used to think that we were actually a good club and didn't buy into the idea that we are in the NRL just to make up the numbers. The more I think about it and the longer I support the club, I slowly realize that's the reality. We're just here to make up the numbers.

 

[aqua_duck]

I used to think that we were actually a good club and didn't buy into the idea that we are in the NRL just to make up the numbers. The more I think about it and the longer I support the club, I slowly realize that's the reality. We're just here to make up the numbers.

Have been for quite some time, no one really gives a shit about us

 

[slotmachine]

Other teams/fans certainly don't. We don't have rivalries anymore because we aren't legit competition to the top teams.

 

[Swarzey]

If smith pulled off a few GF's he'd be amongst the greatest coaches in history. Everyone knows Smith wont win it for you but there's few better coaches at rebuilding a team, he inherits basket cases and atleast gets them to a respectable level, which is the opposite to Hagan who inherits great teams and runs them into the ground. Also I think your history needs some revising, Smith got Parra competitive and they were competitive for the best part of a decade and stayed competitive until Hagan got sacked. At the roosters, he inherited a wooden spoon side and got them to a GF the very next year and he left his apprentice Trent Robinson the nucleus of a premiership winning team.

Right, so Parra remained competitive but 2001 should have been a slaughter yet they couldn't do it. Slow decline after that. 1st to 6th to 9th to 12th. Nice 2005 season though. Roosters went from Grand Finalists to 6th to 12th. I'm sorry, but premiership quality sides don't f**k up that much and go down the drain so quickly. Point is, his sides inevitably go backwards. If you're happy for a single season of good fortunes, consistency and a heart breaking grand final day then sure, Brian Smith is bloody excellent and the club should chase him hard.

He would be regarded as a great coach if he managed to pull off Grand Final wins, it would show he can build a side, get them playing good football and make the most of it. Yet, he fails. He fails to deliver to at every club he goes to. There's a reason he's sitting at Wests Tigers is an "advising" role and not in the box week to week.

If you think Brian Smith was good for the club, then more power to you but please, love of god, don't be blind to his ridiculous history of failure.