Is 2021 a Pass?

[NoSchitSherlock]

What do you think?
Making the semis isn't a pass for me if you don't have the attitude and form to give it a real go.
There's a lot we need to work on to be a competitive team.

 

[perverse]

It's a C-. We've gained resilience, but play a dumber brand of football. I like our guts, though. Keep that.

 

[slotmachine]

That was good fun to watch, definite pass mark

 

[Yosh]

A pass, yes. But exactly 50/100.

 

[Loose Cannon]

It was a Pass.

Akin to the ball from Mitchell Pearce to Kurt Mann, five out from our line.

 

[Apey]

Pass because we were in the match for 75+ minutes. Marks deducted for our horrendous attack.

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

4.9 out of 10 for mine.

Hard to give a pass mark to a team that finished the regular season with a -143 differential, were the 2nd worst attacking team and didn't seem to improve in any meaningful way from the previous season. I hate to admit it but we've got money tied up in players who aren't delivering or providing value for money and some of the young guys are stagnating as players.

Pearce, Ponga and especially AOB himself all get a big red F imo.

 

[Zoidberg]

Only just a pass due to injuries we’ve had.
Having Gags next year is an upgrade in that position, but losing 2 of our starting/best 17 (Watson and King) is still an unknown.
Our edge defence needs work as does our attack.
Plenty to improve on for next year if we are to do better.

 

[Allstar Knights]

I think there are positives for O'Brien as a coach. Some of our resilience at times this year has been really strong compared to recent years. Still inconsistent however, but we barely saw any of that under Brown at all. Whatever we do to prepare at training I think there's probably a bit more professionalism than in previous years. Some credit to strength and conditioning coach Cupples too.

Attack leaves a lot to be desired though and was not NRL quality this year. O'Brien needs a good assistant or attacking coach to help in that area

 

[macavity]

Pass for me is second week of finals, so no.

more worrying is the fact that one the face of it we probably run out a worse, or at least not better, team next year.

 

[aqua_duck]

The concern for me is we've statistically gone backwards from last year. I know injuries played their part but we had a fair whack of injuries last year too. Attack has most definitely gone backwards, went from 21 points per game last year to 17 points per game this year which is really worrying when you consider there have been alot more points scored across the NRL this year.

 

[drizzy drake]

I’d say it’s a pass but I’m not thrilled about it. Gags coming in but losing Watson and King. Need a lot of internal improvement and seeing the lack of development from some players, I’m not confident. Might move up the ladder a little bit but we aren’t close to be contenders. After 3 spoons and the roster rebuild/salary cap overhaul, if the best we can achieve is a borderline top 4 team and a win in week 1/2, then to me that’s a f**king disaster.

 

[Knight76]

Getting knocked out first week of the finals is not a pass for mine. Finishing 7th or 8th tends to mean you won about as many as you lost and given our fairly soft draw we still struggled.

Points added back due to the injury toll but for mine it's a just barely pass, try harder sticker on the report card. Teachers note, this student has great potential if only they applied themselves, they find it difficult to remain focussed for the full class. Whilst I believe this student could find themselves around the top of the class they just don't appear very motivated to do so. Absenteeism has also been a concern.

 

[slotmachine]

After 3 spoons and the roster rebuild/salary cap overhaul

drank the brownie kool aid, losing for so long was never a guarantee that we eventually win a comp.

 

[Knight Tales]

No pass mark. Our squad is strong bar a few weak points. We should have been good enough to roll Parra. If we ever work out how to use KP and and Best we can do anything IMO.

 

[drizzy drake]

drank the brownie kool aid, losing for so long was never a guarantee that we eventually win a comp.

Never said that

 

[Mr_Knightside]

It’s a conditional pass for me. The injury toll that we were dealing with for about 2/3 of the season was pretty rough and we did well to make the finals given where we were about 2 months ago.

The season still feels laced with regret though. Losing to the Tigers twice was embarrassing as well as the fact that we looked like a bunch of headless chickens in attack the whole time.

Whilst we’re all disappointed in bowing out in the first week of finals we also need to look at it in context which is that it wasn’t that long ago that this club picked up 3 consecutive wooden spoons and we’ve just made the 8 for the second consecutive year. Obviously we want to continue improving but we’ve at least turned ourselves into a club that has learned how to win gritty. The next step is improving our overall depth and applying polish to our play.

 

[Yosh]

If you had to describe our 2021 side in one word (the actual team) what word would you guys choose?

 

[slotmachine]

frustrating

 

[Yosh]

I thought about it a while and thought perhaps 'boring'. I don't think the team excites anyone anymore... Even Ponga isn't as fun anymore.