Match Discussion: Finals Week 1 vs Parramatta @ Browne Park

[Knight Tales]

There is not having reached that gear, and there is not being good enough to get there. We will know 6pm Sunday. That other gear, if we find it, will be a comprehensive victory over a side which has a long habit of believing they are better than they really are. Moses goes well when his forwards are rolling on. HAs nothing when they lose the ruck.

 

[mozza91]

It’d be nice to play our best football in September when it matters as opposed to first 6 weeks of the season like we normally do.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I think we’ll play well tbh. We earned the right to play finals with a bunch of tough wins and I think the boys will be up for it. No saying we’ll necessarily win but we’ll show up and put in a good performance I reckon.

 

[Jono078]

Isn't this just typical Knights though. NONE of us know which team will turn up.

Really does make it that much more exciting..

We could be the one-out runs all game with dozens of errors and missed tackles or maybe we'll be sublime, stretching the field with our passing and slicing linebreaks courtesy of Ponga.

 

[Sacrolishes]

I’m expecting our forward park to be very dominating in this game. Really pin and drag in D. Pearce and Cliffs kicking game needs to be perfect. Stick Em into the corner or put it into touch so there back don’t get opportunities.

 

[Yosh]

Hopefully our forwards can dominate and win us the field position battle. Ponga seems like a big game player so I expect to see him get at least 2-3 tries and as many assists.

 

[Old dog]

Think we are getting a bit carried away, Ponga 2-3 tries and 2-3 assists so 4 tries min plus 2-4 goals that’s 20 plus points from Ponga alone plus any other contributions.
I am all for supporting and hoping for big effort and possible win but that’s just ”pie in the ski stuff”, we don’t need the psyche up the team and coach do.
Sorry but setting yourself up for a big disappointment that even a win might not overcome.
Just hoping we give it a good shot.

 

[Knight Tales]

Think we are getting a bit carried away, Ponga 2-3 tries and 2-3 assists so 4 tries min plus 2-4 goals that’s 20 plus points from Ponga alone plus any other contributions.
I am all for supporting and hoping for big effort and possible win but that’s just ”pie in the ski stuff”, we don’t need the psyche up the team and coach do.
Sorry but setting yourself up for a big disappointment that even a win might not overcome.
Just hoping we give it a good shot.

So you make the finals and then psyche yourself out. Great philosophy. We all are so convinced we are going to turn up and play garbage on Sunday. Yet Parra's one dimensional power game is easily stopped with the right defensive attitude and low error rates. Only in the NRL would these so called experts claim a team who has won 2 of their last 7 is somehow in form after beating a woeful Melbourne side. Name the superstar in the Parra side? They have some excellent players but none put fear into an opponent on their own merits.

 

[Old dog]

Not a case of garbage play just a reaction to an over zealous claim of point scoring by individuals, we need to play within our current winning style,work hard for points and defence not airy fairy claims of points coming by current out of form players scoring more in a elim final than at any time of the year.
The claim was over the top in my opinion and if I am wrong I will be the first to apologise and smile at the result

 

[Yosh]

The closer it gets to the actual game, I really can't see us losing this. We have spent the past two months winning really gritty games. Parra aren't a fantastic side but an above average side in a really Below average league.

Our attack is boring and our defense atrocious at times but we are gritty. Probably the most important trait in a finals game.

 

[Jono078]

My latest convictions are this game will go down to the wire.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

We will win this

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I think the bit that has been understated is that Parra, despite being a consistent finals team over the last few years, haven’t even made a dent in the finals and have mostly been a non-factor. I wonder if that will result in some built up scar tissue. They’ve earned themselves the reputation of being a good side during the regular season when there’s no pressure but once they’re in a big knockout game they tend to go missing. I wonder if this mentality comes back to bite them again this time around.

 

[Knight Tales]

Not a case of garbage play just a reaction to an over zealous claim of point scoring by individuals, we need to play within our current winning style,work hard for points and defence not airy fairy claims of points coming by current out of form players scoring more in a elim final than at any time of the year.
The claim was over the top in my opinion and if I am wrong I will be the first to apologise and smile at the result

Wasn’t really digging at you OD. My issue mate is these commentators who find every excuse to shitcan this club and claim we are lucky to be there. Maybe we are. But we are here. After Manly’s capitulation last night I believe anything is possible now. Tommy T was shutdown. I am curious to see is our game against Manly was a similar plan defensively.
If this game was at BWS we would have no chance. It would be a sellout (If lockdown was over) and there parochial crowd would get them there. Eels have been a club divided for some time if reports are to be believed. A little precious up there in Qld.
We won’t score big. We will rely on Clifford to get his long game right with the kicks. Wear the big boys down and slowly win the middle. If we don’t it will be a long off season.

 

[Burwood]

Or Parra could very easily put 58 points on us like they did in their last elimination final against Brisbane two years ago…

The only thing I’m confident in, is that we’ll have more of a say in the result than Parra does. I get the feeling we’ll either play brilliantly and win, or we’ll dish out the same tripe as the regular season and Parra will just do what they need to do to win.

 

[Burwood]

My issue mate is these commentators who find every excuse to shitcan this club and claim we are lucky to be there. Maybe we are. But we are here.

I had a long spiel about this ready to go last night but didn’t post it. My question to them was, if we aren’t deserving to be in the top 8, who should take our place?

Let’s looks at a few of the teams who missed out:

Should it be Canberra after we beat them twice in the season?

Same goes for sharks.

Same goes for Warriors.

Saints?

Wests?

We earned our spot. Sure, we aren’t the same calibre as Melbourne or Penrith, but neither are Manly looking at last night’s result.

 

[slotmachine]

Why does anyone care what the commentators say?

 

[Loose Cannon]

We won’t score big. We will rely on Clifford to get his long game right with the kicks.

I am hoping Clifford has had his kicking licence reinstated. Defies all logic that Pearce is the go to. We’ve been saying it for years (Pearce’s inadequacies), the difference being, now we have an option. A better option.

 

[mozza91]

I’ve given up watching the pre game stuff due to the negativity.

Our attack is shit we get it. You don’t need to spend 20 minutes repeating yourself over and over about it Ennis.

 

[Yosh]

I am hoping Clifford has had his kicking licence reinstated. Defies all logic that Pearce is the go to. We’ve been saying it for years (Pearce’s inadequacies), the difference being, now we have an option. A better option.

Pearce has improved his short kicking game to be fair though. I still want Clifford way more though.