Match Discussion: Round 1 vs Canberra @ McDonald Jones Stadium, New Lambton / Awabakal

[Apey]

Hey boys so we're shit again?

 

[Joel-22]

I’m going to hopefully inject a bit of optimism here. I thought both saifitis looked strong and are in for a big season. Normally they start very slow and get fitter as the season goes on. If tonight was their starting point, I think as they get more match fitness, they’ll earn their contracts. I thought they both looked better than Leo (who I think is still capable of having a strong year).
I thought Lucas looked good in attack. I’m very confident we’re not going to miss Fitz who was average aside from last year.
Friz was solid and isn’t slowing with old age. He is a great athlete for a big man, he showed what he can do with good ball.
Kai Pearce Paul has superstar written all over him. That left edge will be deadly once combinations click.
Gagai was great before being moved to the wing.
Our attack was very clunky, we gave away penalties at crucial times, we completed below 70% by half time. All of these things will improve.
Also, we have good quality depth in key areas, so don’t be surprised if things change. But we have no reason to be cutting ourselves just yet. It’s round 1, the raiders played great and completed their sets much better than we did.
the only things I’d change at this point is swapping Cogger for a stronger defender, he is too small to defend in the middle. And I’d look at bringing in Croker for Hetherington.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Cowboys, Storm then Warriors.

Oh good… 0/4 coming right up!

 

[skeepe]

Hold the ball and we win.

This isn't a great Raiders side and we're obviously clearly a step above them. Just need to hold it.

Lol

 

[Rod]

That game had basically everything that annoys the piss out of me. To be clear I'm not blaming the referees but some of it was bizarre, how the hip drop wasn't a sin bin I don't know, and they really need to change that sin bin rule. Ridiculous that someone in your team can be sin binned and you still get the penalty. That wasn't far off a 12 point swing. Add in the general Raiders grubbiness and that part of the game was very frustrating.

All that being said, we only have ourselves to blame. We should have predicted the Raiders would bring the same blueprint as last year's final but we still tried to score on every set instead of doing the hard yards first. That reflects a general lack of footy IQ. It's the little things like the kickoffs out on the full, our general kicks in play aren't deep enough, multiple times we died with the ball on the 5th tackle etc. Super frustrating when all of these things are within our control.

It's only Round 1 but it's clear the halves/hooker rotation they tried doesn't work. At one point we had all 4 of them out there plus Ponga - no wonder we looked confused and directionless. Hopefully Brailey comes back next week and then a decision will have to be made regarding which half drops out of the team.

On the positive side, a lot of this stuff is easily fixable and hopefully most of it can be attributed to Round 1 rust. Lucas, KPP and Frizell has the potential to be an excellent back row trio, they all looked good with ball in hand but we *have* to earn the right to play footy first.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

The worst part was it was the same from the Kick off to the final whistle.

Leadership is still a concern. This team needs a vocal old head in the pack. Friz is not that person.

Agreed - It remains a concern.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Add in the general Raiders grubbiness and that part of the game was very frustrating.

Translation - Will to win, Win at all costs ( Winners ) . Something we still lack. What I'd do for a Hudson Young, or someone with the passion of Starling.

Loyalty runs so far, the Saf boyz need to aim up or ship em out.

 

[Yosh]

It was a very disappointing loss, but it's only the first round, and personally, I saw a lot more to like than to dislike. We appeared stronger, fitter, and faster than the Raiders. Our line speed was impressive, and we dominated them in the tackle. Looks like we had a great pre season.

Crossland showed great enthusiasm again tonight. It brings out both the best and the worst in him. His defense in the middle was top-notch. However, when given a little time on the ball, he always seems to make the wrong decision. It's frustrating, but his effort cannot be faulted.

All the forwards looked strong. But there were too many errors when we weren't even offloading the ball... Not a concern just yet, though. KPP looked a specimen. Both Saifitis were strong. Friz is eternal and Lucas (crazy I know) looks like he could turn into a Boyd Cordner.

I don't want to come off as a complainer, but tonight AOB made the wrong call. There were too many chefs in the kitchen. He should have rotated Crossland and Cogger instead of trying to put four playmakers out there, all getting in each other's way. We just need our halves to give clean, early ball to Ponga and create some space for our backs. There was too much side-to-side play with all four of them touching the ball and none causing any headaches for the Raiders. Fogarty played better as the single half than our four lads together.

AOB needs to make a decision. I'm not blaming him because it was worth a try, especially in round one, but it's not going to work. He has been given a contract extension to make the big decisions, and if he has to drop one of our senior players, he should do it for the sake of the team.

Overall a win of a loss here isn't going to make or break our season so not too disheartened.

 

[Nuke]

Ah, the 'get the loss out of the way early in the round so that we can enjoy the rest of the weekend' thing.

I remember thee well.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Crossland showed great enthusiasm again tonight. It brings out both the best and the worst in him. His defense in the middle was top-notch. However, when given a little time on the ball, he always seems to make the wrong decision. It's frustrating, but his effort cannot be faulted.

Yeh his D cannot be faulted, he hit hard on a few occasions tonight. Do wonder if all the effort in defense makes him more prone to error in attack when under fatigue

 

[Mr_Knightside]

One thing that we really didn’t do much last night was short passing around the ruck. I feel like one of the reasons we were successful last year was when our forwards (Elliott being a good example) and Crossland from dummy half were throwing short passes to other forwards and keeping teams accountable in the ruck. But last night it seems like all we wanted to do was play out the back with sweeping backline plays and the Raiders just slid across and shut it down almost every time. We really need to see more of that moving forward because that was one of the key elements of that surge last year.

 

[macavity]

One of the more embarrassing losses.

there have been a lot, but it’s one of them.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

It was such a typical Knights loss. Massive crowd, first game of the season uo against a team that on paper looks very average... Gets flogged.

it's so deflating as a supporter.

 

[Zoidberg]

Quick question.
Can’t quite remember exactly, but I swear the 2 times Ponga kicked out on the full from restarts there was different rules.
First half it was a penalty on halfway to raiders (normal rule) the 2nd one it was a play the ball to the raiders where the ball went out (new rule?)

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Hey boys so we're shit again?

Yep

We're the 2024 version of the 2023 Cowboys for sure

 

[Knight Tales]

He fears us.

Yes that was meant to be a poor joke.

 

[Old dog]

Tries to Hosking and Levi, Levi running into Frizell causing no try, Starling tackle on Marzhew, Saulo had a fair game to. ?????
We were beaten by a more enthusiastic side that caused us to make too many errors.
Both Safs, Friz, Lucas and Gagai played well and KPP might have earned a starting spot for injured Lucas.
Rotation off Crosslands, Cogger etc was poor.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

I truly hope that was a rude awakening for us, otherwise it's going to be a very long season.

 

[Zoidberg]

Points came very easy for us in the wins last year. We need to know that isn’t going to happen every game. If it isn’t working with attacking flair, work through the sets. I think we did that partially last night, but errors cost us.

 

[Knight Tales]

We need to select our best side. Long term that includes Will and KPP. Probably slot Cogger in at 7. Brailey and Crossland share the dummy half load. Poor Jacko looks busted. Opponents can see that clear as day.