Match Discussion: Round 3 vs Warriors @ McDonald Jones Stadium, New Lambton / Awabakal

[Walk On Home Boy]

The game went the way I thought it would tbh. I didn't see us getting within 20. Our pack is below average and has been punching above its weight. Up against a top-line pack they were exposed which was always going to happen. Combine with the massive injury toll to our best players and we were never coming close to winning that.

That's how the NRL is. If you don't have your best side on the park you're not beating the best sides. We're still at least 2 key signings away from having an adequate pack.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I think this loss needs to be put into context. The Warriors have an elite forward pack and have been building into a really good team over the last few years. We have an under strength forward pack by comparison and also have injuries to our three key players which would have been the main area where we could hurt them.

We went with them for about 30 mins and then they got on top of us and then kept the foot on the throat for the rest of the contest. if Saulo didn’t drop that ball with the line wide open then it’s 18-12 and still game on. But it got away from us after that drop.

We made way too many errors in this game unfortunately. 63% completions is terrible and not up to NRL standard. The only silver lining that I can take from that is that a lot of the errors happened because of attacking plays that weren’t executed. Gags was responsible for a few of those along with Hunt etc.

Whereas I feel in the last couple of years we’d be making errors on basic hitups and non-attacking plays. If a few of those passes stick early on then perhaps it was a different game.

Fletcher Hunt is a goer for sure but still very raw. He needs to clean up the errors and know his limits. Some of the passes being pushed were poorly advised and executed. Better just to tuck the ball under the wing and run it imo.

We’ve got the Bulldogs next and I think in all likelihood we’ll see a pretty similar result.

 

[Frederick]

Mooney gonna be suspended for minimum 1 week

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Mooney gonna be suspended for minimum 1 week

Really? He didn’t even hit anyone in the head. Cleary + Crichton both got off without punishment for worse.

 

[Apey]

I think he's lucky to only get a week. I didn't think it was that bad but as discussed previously in this thread, NRL have overcompensated on protecting kickers. Just lucky Boyd was fine, they'd probably try to throw the book at him otherwise, even if it was accidental.

 

[mozza91]

Really? He didn’t even hit anyone in the head. Cleary + Crichton both got off without punishment for worse.

No way bro. The officials and judiciary treat all players and teams exactly the same!

 

[Yosh]

Mooney is going to be a big loss. Saifiti can't do it on his own....

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

There's injuries and suspensions...and then there's Knights injuries and suspensions. It's always our most important players we lose and with our pack the way it is, we can't afford to lose anyone.

That said, next week is much more winnable imo. Dogs aren't scoring tries and they're not on the Warriors level at the moment.

 

[perverse]

Ugh, it really is just constantly painful to be a Knights fan.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

There's injuries and suspensions...and then there's Knights injuries and suspensions. It's always our most important players we lose and with our pack the way it is, we can't afford to lose anyone.

That said, next week is much more winnable imo. Dogs aren't scoring tries and they're not on the Warriors level at the moment.

Tbh I think the Dogs game is as close to an auto loss as it would be for Penrith or Storm at this stage. Even if they’re not playing their best the Dogs’ defence will be way to good for a spine consisting of Crossland/Smith/Gamble/Hunt and if Sharpe is back in the 5/8 spot I don’t see if making much difference. They’re just too disciplined and we’ll struggle to get points.

 

[Woody90]

The Dogs are going nowhere near as well as Storm or Panthers. I’d give us a decent chance if we were full strength but obviously we’re nowhere near close to that.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The Dogs are going nowhere near as well as Storm or Panthers. I’d give us a decent chance if we were full strength but obviously we’re nowhere near close to that.

It’s not that I think the Dogs are that good right now but their defence is still looking pretty strong and our attack isn’t going to be slick until we get a couple of key players back. So I just struggle to see how we’ll score points against them.