Knights v Raiders Post Match Talk

[Gene Krupa]

ahhh WHAT HAPPENED........ we truely are shocking! it's been a 4 point margin for the last 3 weeks :? I JUST WANT A WIN

Don't we all. We didn't deserve one today though.

 

[~bedsy~]

If we played like we did last week we would have won. I honestly thought the boys would have come out firing in the 2nd half #-o

 

[Gene Krupa]

Only 2 points were scored in the second half. Both sides were extremely lacklustre.

 

[~bedsy~]

It wasn't a great game, alot of mistakes were made from both teams.

 

[astrogirl]

The ref should have played on when Danny took the loose ball and seemed to score.

No excuses though, we sucked big time today. We didn't ever look like threatening the Canberra line in the second half.

LOL...taking a bit of poetic licence with the words "took" and "loose" aren't you Gene - I think you mean "stole". ;-)

From where we were sitting we couldn't really see and since we got the scrum, it should have at least gone to the video ref.

Yeah well from where I was sitting it looked like a dropped ball and Danny picked it up.

Alex, I was at the game and saw it the same way the bedsy and Gene did...

 

[Whats Doing]

Looks like the wooden spoon for us this year but that is not really surprising considering most of players we have are reserve graders.

Well done to Smith, Woolly and Bedsey. They were the only ones that stood up and be counted although Simmo played out of position most of the game. As others have said there is no attack and this is largely due to the significant lack of pace we have.

Knights need to put a big broom through the club and let players go such as:

Hughes, Salkeld, Carmont, Witt, Price, Kennedy. I probably get rid of a few others including some on long term injuries but leave them in reserve grade. How many years did we sign Reynoldson for at $250,000 a season. No wonder he is loving the Newcastle lifestyle!!!

Anyone who says that Witt, Carmont and Kennedy are 1st graders are kidding.

Yes we would have won today with Johns but the stark reality is when he is not there, we are a 20 point worse side. The club needs to correct this and have a genuine competitive first grade side irrespective whether Johns plays or not.

 

[~bedsy~]

We would have won today if we played better football.

 

[antonius]

The second half was the most boring half of football I've ever sat through. I was predicting which way we'd go in the end it was so obvious, no variety in our play at all, Witts kicking was schoolboy stuff, the coaching staff need a kick up the arse for not covering the backline before kickoff, both Carmont and Gidley were under a cloud prior to the game, Quigley played well but really we could've done with a back on the bench at the start in place of him. I don't know what Hages said to them at Halftime but it almost put me to sleep. We were pathetic, and the Raiders weren't much better. The Buderus no try was definately a strip, we were lucky not to be penalised.

 

[Kaz]

From watching the game on TV, Bedsy stole the ball, there were about 4 Knights tacklers on the Raiders player.

 

[Ben]

strip for sure...watching the game on tv with the amount of ball we had i was consistently thinking we're going to score soon...i thought this to the final seconds until i realised we hadnt scored...what i didnt get was the rule where you touch the ball but you dont have control of it and someone tackles you it isnt considered a tackle without the ball...if you have no idea of what im talking about im speaking of the kurt gidley chip over the top

 

[Jobdog]

Looks like the wooden spoon for us this year but that is not really surprising considering most of players we have are reserve graders.

Well done to Smith, Woolly and Bedsey. They were the only ones that stood up and be counted although Simmo played out of position most of the game. As others have said there is no attack and this is largely due to the significant lack of pace we have.

Knights need to put a big broom through the club and let players go such as:

Hughes, Salkeld, Carmont, Witt, Price, Kennedy. I probably get rid of a few others including some on long term injuries but leave them in reserve grade. How many years did we sign Reynoldson for at $250,000 a season. No wonder he is loving the Newcastle lifestyle!!!

Anyone who says that Witt, Carmont and Kennedy are 1st graders are kidding.

Yes we would have won today with Johns but the stark reality is when he is not there, we are a 20 point worse side. The club needs to correct this and have a genuine competitive first grade side irrespective whether Johns plays or not.

Personally I would keep Salkeld, he was the only one last week that showed any flair. So what happens today, he hardly gets any ball. He does have pace so I would keep him for sure. I still dont think we will get the spoon, but we need to start winning ASAP. As for making sure we are a quality footy side when joey isnt there, we couldnt win WITH him in the team earlier in the year anyway.

 

[IanG]

The ref should have played on when Danny took the loose ball and seemed to score.

That was a try.
The ref wasn't very good today, however as you said it was no excuse.
I was screaming the whole time for them TO RUN FORWARD!
They weren't doing that. Everytime Buderus or Simmo ran forward they made a break. I don't get this running sideways sh*t, it really pisses me off.

Yeah and another shocker towards the end where on a 5th Tackle Kirt Gidley chipped over the top and was taken bya Raiders defender and Archer didn't penalise the defender for it. I'm not saying it would've changed the result but it still left a rather nasty taste in the mouth.

This whole season to say the least has been bloody frustrating

 

[thuganomics]

Did anyone else find it weired that Tighe took up the goal kicking this week? I know he can kick, but Kidley didn't do that bad last week.

 

[Holla if ya hear me]

Im pleased to see abit of mongrel in the defence..just a bit...But why cant we run forward!!!
AND ANOTHER FREAKIN TRY JUST BEFORE HALF TIME!!!! :evil: Fair dinkum..The opposition must just count on those..its plain ridiculous how often it happens!!!
Imcoaching my under 11s to do it now and they do it better..Gidley was so comical there at one stage
While Buderus had a good game..there was twice when he went for a run from dummy half and it was a simple pass to Woolnough and into the gap..but he took the tackle..easy to see from the Goninan end
Im sad to say it but i think we are in for a let down against the roosters

 

[VictorTheViking]

Well well f***ing well...

I know we had injuries everywhere. I know we had most of out top players missing...

But our attacking options were awful. AWFUL!

How many opportunities did they need in the second half to put the game away? The game by the two halves were awful. I said yesterday that he is a one-trick pony - I'm not sure he is even that. Kidley wasn't any better - he couldn't create anything at all.

The forwards were our saving grace - they defended with courage. Craig Smith has alot of heart and showed it coming back on with rib damage. He cringed, he showed his pain on his face, but time after time he ran at the opposition and made metres. Simmo and Buderus were great in a well beaten team.

The backs...we really have no depth do we. Matt Gidley is well past his best - who runs the ball up on the first tackle, tries 4 jinks and gets tackled 2 metres from where he started? Run forwards Matt! Brad Tighe (while not being much of a kicker) had a pretty decent game he is safe as houses in defence, keeps a pretty cool head. It's kinda clear now that the older backs really dont cut it in the NRL - Hughes was safe in defence but offered nothing in attack. Did any backs make a break at all?

It's incredibly frustrating seeing a game being handed to them on a platter, yet they knock it back time and time again...

The knockers are right - we are a one man team. If Johns stayed injury free - we would have beaten the Warriors, the Bulldogs and now the Raiders and we would be close to the 8.

One man doesnt change a team dude, even with johns the way your blokes played today you still would have been walking a tightrope.

As far as handing us the game on a platter? Which game were you watching, from what I saw the posession was around 65/35 in that second half, something like 7 consecutive sets you had at us, and you couldn't covert those opportunities, and while you might have taken some piss poor options in attack, it wasnt only that that stopped you scoring during that posession hog, raiders defence might have had something to do with it aswell.........

 

[Johns Magic]

One man doesnt change a team dude, even with johns the way your blokes played today you still would have been walking a tightrope.

Well the fact that we lost because we had no playmakers in attack means Johns coould have won us the game. Nay, almost definitely would have.

There was a period in the first half when you guys had about 5 sets on our line as well and we held you out.

 

[Doctor]

I'd like to see the key stats like completition-rates, line-breaks, missed-tackles and time spent in the opposition's 20. I dare say the Knights had most things going for them -- they lost it with the usual gremlins (handling-errors, missed-tackles and extremely-poor support-play) and inept 5th-tackle options.

I missed the Bulldogs game, but was told that Witt's kicking was a highlight. I can only guess that today's performance was not a perpetuation of last week for Steve. In fairness to him though, he outplay Kurt Gidley hands-down. Between them though, someone should have created something from all those chances. To only score two tries after several near-misses is frustrating to watch.

It was difficult to get a feel for who played well from my seating position, but I thought Buderus was exceptional. Tighe, Woolnough, Simpson and Quigley were good too. Carmont was tragic as usual, and his absence had no effect on the result. I thought the lack of Reynoldson was a blow -- we needed someone to just run forward out there. Far too much crab-stepping going on.... particularly from Matt Gidley (who I suspect has no pressure on him to perform, under the current regime).

Today's crowd was 15,000 -- the size is dropping each week, and will continue its descent whilesoever the team continues to turn potential wins into heartbreaking losses. Canberra were ripe for the picking today -- it was only our own inabilities that cost us. Today was the opportunity -- and they blew it. It's a long way back to the land of respectability from here.

 

[skeepe]

The ref should have played on when Danny took the loose ball and seemed to score.

That was a try.
The ref wasn't very good today, however as you said it was no excuse.
I was screaming the whole time for them TO RUN FORWARD!
They weren't doing that. Everytime Buderus or Simmo ran forward they made a break. I don't get this running sideways sh*t, it really pisses me off.

Yeah and another shocker towards the end where on a 5th Tackle Kirt Gidley chipped over the top and was taken bya Raiders defender and Archer didn't penalise the defender for it. I'm not saying it would've changed the result but it still left a rather nasty taste in the mouth.

This whole season to say the least has been bloody frustrating

If you are juggling the ball you are still considered to be in possession. Therefore, correct decision. Archer had a pretty good game apart from the decision to award the Knights a scrum for the Buderus strip - but if he thought the Raiders lost the ball, a scrum was the correct option for reasons I've already mentioned in several other threads.

 

[Misanthrope]

I'd like to see the key stats like completition-rates, line-breaks, missed-tackles and time spent in the opposition's 20. I dare say the Knights had most things going for them -- they lost it with the usual gremlins (handling-errors, missed-tackles and extremely-poor support-play) and inept 5th-tackle options.

Agree with you 100% Just like last week, Newcastle were in an ideal position to win, and did themselves in with stupid play and awful last tackle options.

I missed the Bulldogs game, but was told that Witt's kicking was a highlight. I can only guess that today's performance was not a perpetuation of last week for Steve.

It was like watching different players. Witt last week was electric and did some beautiful things with the ball and boot. I swear, if he kicked another dud today, I was going to scream. Hell, I did scream.

For those interested, here's some stats from that match.

PENALTIES: Knights 8-3
COMPLETIONS: 30 from 43 (compared to 28 from 38)
LINEBREAKS: 4
MISSED TACKLES: 10
OFFLOADS: 17
ERRORS: 14
POSSESSION: 53% (Had 70% at one point in the second half)

And some player stats...

Top Tackles
Luke Quigley........32
Kurt Gidley...........28
Danny Buderus.....25
Craig Smith..........24
Steve Simpson.....22

Hit-Ups
Adam Woolnough......20 for 140 metres
Craig Smith..............18 for 130 metres
Matthew Gidley.........18 for 105 metres
Mark Hughes.............14 for 112 metres
Reegan Tanner.........14 for 94 metres

 

[antonius]

Looks like the wooden spoon for us this year but that is not really surprising considering most of players we have are reserve graders.

Well done to Smith, Woolly and Bedsey. They were the only ones that stood up and be counted although Simmo played out of position most of the game. As others have said there is no attack and this is largely due to the significant lack of pace we have.

Knights need to put a big broom through the club and let players go such as:

Hughes, Salkeld, Carmont, Witt, Price, Kennedy. I probably get rid of a few others including some on long term injuries but leave them in reserve grade. How many years did we sign Reynoldson for at $250,000 a season. No wonder he is loving the Newcastle lifestyle!!!

Anyone who says that Witt, Carmont and Kennedy are 1st graders are kidding.

Yes we would have won today with Johns but the stark reality is when he is not there, we are a 20 point worse side. The club needs to correct this and have a genuine competitive first grade side irrespective whether Johns plays or not.

Personally I would keep Salkeld, he was the only one last week that showed any flair. So what happens today, he hardly gets any ball. He does have pace so I would keep him for sure. I still dont think we will get the spoon, but we need to start winning ASAP. As for making sure we are a quality footy side when joey isnt there, we couldnt win WITH him in the team earlier in the year anyway.

Yep had to chuckle to myself when I read that, sack Salkeld because the game was played on the other side of the park to his, and he got no ball at all during the game. :roll: :roll: I wonder sometimes if some people actually watch the game. I forgat to mention before I thought Wooly was impressive, he offloaded some quality ball on a number of occasions and was dangerous when he had the ball. All in all our defence was quite good, our attack was abysmal.