Knights 2021/22 Off-Season

[Knight Tales]

Gags excited and happy to be home

AOB has a body language that would scare me shitless at half time if we were getting smacked. Those eyes are no BS.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I feel more positive after reading that interview between BT and AOB. It sounds like they’ve done plenty of analysis on our attack and are putting some things in place to improve it.

I know that people aren’t keen on Mann being anywhere near the team but his inclusion as a no.13 isn’t so bad because he would at least provide something different to one out hitups which we see way too often. It’s also encouraging that’s AOB wants to get more ball players into the side like Sisagi and Crossland so hopefully we go away from the boring repetitive footy that we’ve been playing for the last couple of years.

 

[ryan.a87]

All Mann did at centre was get the ball and crab walk back in field…..hopefully if he gets the ball in the middle he can crab towards an edge and get the ball to best or gagai

 

[Knight Tales]

Is this Tuala? Did they tell him they’d re-sign him when he hit 100kg? Damn he’s looking beefy! Hope he has some Cooper Vuna kick returns in him now!

https://www.newcastleknights.com.au/contentassets/1f25839db03c48bd86e8070dc31fec21/dsc00307.jpg?center=0.16%2C0.57&preset=photo-enlarged

Tuala with more bulk, is a lot more dangerous prospect on the wings. If he can use that in defence, where he often got steamrolled, then there is no reason he can’t be in the 13. It is Dom with the right balance of bulk and agility who could be an absolute nightmare for opponents. He’s already 108 kgs. I will be disappointed if he and Hunt are not our wingers round 1. Tuala and Lee are very handy backups.

 

[Jono078]

AOB said Dom Young is like a complete different person heading into this off-season.. Much more hungry and physical apparently.

He really is an exciting prospect if he can get his reads and handling right.

All of a sudden our winger ranks aren't sounding tooo bad if everything lives up to potential.. Hunt, Young, Tuala, Lee and To'a.

On that note of potential.. Wouldn't complain if this was round 1..

1 Ponga,
2 Young
3 Hunt
4 Gagai
5 Tuala
6 Clifford
7 Crossland / Clune
8 Saifiti
9 Brailey
10 Saifiti
11 Frizell
12 Best
13 Barnett

 

[ryan.a87]

Looks good…but we already know Mann will be 13….simi will be 14

Barnett will be on an edge

Best might be a Benchie? But most likely centre with Tuala and Young (or Lee if resigned) fighting for the last wing spot

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The battle for the left wing spot will be interesting. Tuala probably has his nose in front given he was pretty good there towards the end of the 2021 season but a fully fit and in form Edrick Lee would be a lock for one of those spots imo and it’s exciting to see what Dom Young can achieve next year. Imagine Lee and Young as our wingers, that’s some serious height and speed.

 

[Yosh]

Given how injury prone Best and Lee are, I think everyone will get ample game time.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Best wont be playing in the backrow, hes training at centre and when fit is probably our most dangerous outside back

Will be interesting which side AOB plays both Best and Gagai. Both have been predominately left side players the last few years

 

[Yosh]

Best wont be playing in the backrow, hes training at centre and when fit is probably our most dangerous outside back

Will be interesting which side AOB plays both Best and Gagai. Both have been predominately left side players the last few years

I think moving Best would be Best. Gagai is unreal when on the left but very average on the right. I think Best will learn a lot moving to the other side and perhaps gain a couple of more skills and moves as well.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Yeah given Gagai would be the most senior back at the club he should play his preferred position at left centre. Best might improve his game on the right too. It’s a good problem to have.

 

[Woosh]

Kurt Mann has a real appetite for playing an "exciting" new attacking role for the club next season. So much so, the Knights utility says he'll be eating as many as five or six decent meals a day and spending more time in the gym in a bid to bulk up ahead of a planned strategic switch into the forward pack. Knights coach Adam O'Brien has told Mann he will get first crack at turning himself into a ball-playing lock as part of a revamped attack in 2022. But first, the Knights' Mr Fix-it has to put on some bulk and add around four kilos to his 88kg frame. "The move to lock is definitely a possibility at the moment and it's something I'm excited about," Mann told the Newcastle Herald. "With injuries, I suppose I could end up anywhere. That's probably the big thing with me - if people go down, I'm usually the one called on to fill the role in a different position. "But lock is the most likely spot for me at the moment and I'm going to need to put on three or four kilos to get me up to around 91 or 92. So I've got a little bit of work to do." To achieve that, there will be a greater focus on the gym and a sensible approach to simply eating more. So hamburgers and pies won't be part of the new regime? "No hamburgers or pies - there's a few healthier options than that," he laughed. "I'm just trying to eat more frequently, that's the big thing for me so it's five or six meals a day. "I've sort of always been one of those guys with a high metabolism that can eat what ever I want and it doesn't really go anywhere. So it's going to be about eating more and eating more often but definitely not over-eating. "I'm confident by Christmas, I'll be getting up there pretty close to the mark." Mann's excitement in potentially playing lock, a position he experienced when he was at the Dragons, is tempered a little by the realisation that his versatility could see him playing just about anywhere. Connor Watson's defection to the Roosters only heightens that possibility. "I'd prefer to just have one position and just stick at it," he said. "I'll do what's best for the team but if I can nail down one spot and get a whole pre-season there, that's when I usually play some decent footy. "I played a bit of 13 at the Dragons and enjoyed it. The way we are going to play, if I do settled into that spot, I think it will really suit me. It will be similar to how some of the other teams use their lock as a first receiver but we'll have our own little flavour on it."

Kurt Mann eating his way into starting role in Knights' pack

"Lock is the most likely spot for me at the moment."

www.newcastleherald.com.au

 

[Knight Tales]

Kurt Mann eating his way into starting role in Knights' pack

"Lock is the most likely spot for me at the moment."

www.newcastleherald.com.au

If his contact is spot on and he doesn’t get in the way I will be ok with this move. We aren’t going to change it through our collective, will so we have to have faith in Knowles to turn him into a low centre of gravity beast who makes 60 tackles a game and misses few.

 

[Jono078]

Imagine being Lachy Fitzgibbon and hearing that Mann has a lock on #13 and that probably means Friz and Barnett are our first choice edge backrowers.

 

[Burwood]

I’m excited. Think it has the potential to be a good position for him, and more importantly, the team.

 

[Spot On]

Wouldn’t say I’m excited re Mann to starting lock but hey, kudos to the coaching staff for seeing everything needed in a 28 yr old utility that has not been much chop at any position to be turned into a vital cog in our new attack in 2022!

 

[Silent Knight]

Kurt Mann eating his way into starting role in Knights' pack

"Lock is the most likely spot for me at the moment."

www.newcastleherald.com.au

Spazwing is going to add his own little flavour on the lock position is he? Is it going to be impersonating one of the crab people from South Park and depriving the team of any meaningful ball distribution? Hand us the trophy right now.

 

[mozza91]

I’m not gonna right write off Mann before I’ve even seen him play at lock. I’ll wait until 5 minutes into our first trial to do that.

 

[Apey]

I’m not gonna right write off Mann before I’ve even seen him play at lock. I’ll wait until 5 minutes into our first trial to do that.

You're generous, I give it 2 minutes.

 

[Apey]

Mann fluff pieces may be the death of me this off-season.