Knights V Storm: Matchday thread, lets get a bit positive people!

[Gene Krupa]

Dont be too hard on them.

In that last 15 minutes only the first try was a concern. Bad miss by Mullo.

The other two were a side with nothing to loose throwing caution to the wind. Double chip and chases and miracle offloads. Very hard to defend....

Great to see a win. Even better to see a dominant defencive display.

Agreed 100%.

 

[Apey]

Rogers should be banned from kicking tbh :crazy:

 

[Frederick]

I couldn't stop lol'ing at his kick in the first half that sailed well over the dead ball line. As soon as he struck it everyone knew it was going well dead.

 

[Serc]

Stats roundup:

Sau 136m (15 runs)
Taia 130m (20 runs)
Mad Dog 127m (15 runs)
Gidley 121m (13 runs)

Tackle breaks
Taia 13
Sau 7
Vuna 6
Mad Dog 4

Offloads
3 - Sau and Taia
2 - Gidley, Mad Dog, Mullo, Fa'aoso, Hilder

Pato copped 3 penalties by the looks

452m from 11 kicks by Mullo - from memory this is just about the best I have seen by any of our halves since Dureau was in good form early this season.

Hitups

Hilder 11 for 73m
Taia 10 for 65m
Houston 9 for 57m
Pato 6 for 47m
Taufua 7 for 47m
Tovo 5 for 46m (also made 16 tackles with 1 missed, good debut from him!)

Dummy half runs

De Gois 5 for 56m
Gids 4 for 39m

Tackles

Hilder 38 (0 missed)
De Gois 32
Taufua 27
Fa'aoso 26

 

[K-Man]

If you'd offered me that scoreline before the match I would've taken it in a heartbeat. Of course if you'd asked me to predict how such a scoreline would eventuate I'd probably have said "Knights to lead 26-0 and Storm to start running them down"... shame we find it impossible to go on with the job, but any win against Melbourne is always a top effort.

Taia was back to his best. In fact he was probably even better than that. What a talented, tough player. His arrival at the club and transformation into easily one of the best backrowers in the game will probably be the Brian Smith contribution I'm most pleased with in the long run.

But a good contribution from everybody tonight.

 

[Whats Doing]

Defence was outstanding as was the attitude. Well done boys and as Pika said two of their tries were very hard to defend against although the Storm blew a certain try just before half time which could have made it interesting.

Is it our fitness that is causing our fade outs in most games as we appeared mentally strong all game tonight.

 

[antonius]

The players should donate their last three weeks pay to a charity.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

I still respect the way Melbourne play football. They are technically adept and have a heart that is seldom matched. They should have had 50 put on them last night. Instead they find the slightest opening in a game and exploit it while they still can. Last night it almost worked. We were superb for 60 minutes last night. That will be more than enough to put away NTH Qld and Penrith but Canberra are another proposition altogether. If we win all 3 we will be hard to stop in the finals because reality is we are already playing an 8 week finals series.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Lulia is still poor.

This is a bit unfair mate. Keith is no Folau but he is a solid winger who rarely shirks his job.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

This is a bit unfair mate. Keith is no Folau but he is a solid winger who rarely shirks his job.

Agreed. Keith is a very solid player. He is like a faster version of hughesy.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

What happened to Timmy?

Great performance, De Gois was a hammer in defence, and Gidley/Mullen are getting back to there best.

Not getting my hopes up to high just yet however if we win next week will scream the house down.

 

[Karmawave]

What happened to Timmy?

Tim warmed up in full uniform with the team.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

I was suprised at Tovo getting picked have to say wasnt greatly impressed but then again it was only his first match.

 

[Rolla]

Agreed. Keith is a very solid player. He is like a faster version of hughesy.

I dont think he is as quick or nearly as good as hughes, least not for a while yet... How far off are jimmy and/or Uate?

 

[Jono078]

Would love to know what happened to Junior Sau in the lead up to last nights game, he was a beast! Havent seen him play like that in over 2 months!

 

[CJG 182]

I just feel Lulia doesn't do enough.

Yes he's solid, but where is he when we are trying to get out of our own end?

I'd take Mark Hughes every day of the week over him.

 

[Joker's Wild]

I just feel Lulia doesn't do enough.

Yes he's solid, but where is he when we are trying to get out of our own end?

I'd take Mark Hughes every day of the week over him.

Keith did plenty of 1st up runs deep in our own half last night.

He made 4 runs for 38m in 53min (he went off injured) where as Vuna only made 4 runs for 31m in 80min

 

[NS_Sherlock]

Is it our fitness that is causing our fade outs in most games as we appeared mentally strong all game tonight.

i think it was a bit of physical and mental fitness towards the end of the game that caused a bit of a slump. they seemed a bit overwhelmed at the Storm comeback. Fwds were tired, they had defended hard a lot and fell into the old trap of backs running across field a bit. credit that the Knights kept the Storm out.
I think we really need a heavier bench. Even though you can only make 10 replacements i think we need more "real" fwds on the bench that are relatively fresh and can still take the ball up towards the end of the game. In doing so, they'd also inspire some more mental energy. At times like that we also need DeGois or Gidley to take control and give direction. Buderus was a master at doing that.
I think we need at least one of Karawana and Naquama replaced by a "real" forward. If Pato retains form he can always step out wide to cover any changes that might need to be made to the backs.

total credit where credit is due on a great perfomance by all the Knights. I'd be more than happy with that and the team as is if they can repeat it. i'm just cautious over the last 20 minutes considering the slump we were in.

 

[NS_Sherlock]

I just feel Lulia doesn't do enough.

Yes he's solid, but where is he when we are trying to get out of our own end?

.

That has been one of the problems - backs trying to take it out of our own end. they are hit with a solid defensive line and start crabbing looking for holes or fwds to take it up. for sure let the backs step in and take some of the load but after 1 or 2 tackles we need forwards in there.

i thought it was a good performance by Luila last night. he did everything expected from him and a bit more. given more open space i can see him show a lot more form.

 

[CJG 182]

Keith did plenty of 1st up runs deep in our own half last night.

He made 4 runs for 38m in 53min (he went off injured) where as Vuna only made 4 runs for 31m in 80min

Well.

That shuts me up.

So.. How about the weather last night.. :sarcasm: