Michael Hill; Smith Got It Wrong.

[CJG 182]

Alex what is this rubbish!?

You speak nothing but sense there and that is sure to enrage others.

I'm appalled at your thought out post.

 

[NS_Sherlock]

When the Knights first came into the competition they built up a team of mostly "outside" players that were adopted as Newcastle's own. The idea was to be competitive from the start and encourage juniors to step up in years to come. That worked!
While the Knights needed a purge under Smith, to toss local talent from the Junior ranks was a major mistake. What Smith can't understand is that, for many many years before the Knights, Newcaslte was a hotspot for talented players who went on to play, and play well, in the Big (Sydney) league. They longed for their own place in that league and got it. These players came from the local clubs and often stepped straight into 1st grade in Sydney. I'd go and watch the "real" NRL every week and knw the standard of players it produced. My father had contacts in the Sydney league and quite often referred some of the local talent to them.
I'm happy with the 1st graders that Smith has brought in - they are treated like and probably feel like Novocastrians now. I'm NOT happy if young and upcoming talent has been sacrificed. Newcastle and surrounds has and will continue to produce top 1st grade players. We need to keep them! I also think we need salary cap concessions so that local talent can remain in the region.

 

[Hanscholo]

Mr Hill. The very same could be said about your tenure as chairman. Poor decision making, cover ups, lack of jnr development were all hallmarks of your final years there. Its not like you had any answers to these problems back then, and in fact if brian Smith was here to do anything it was to fix the sh*t you left us in my friend, so back off.

 

[Misanthrope]

The 2007 clean out caused a lot of pain and alienated a lot of fans and the results since then haven't justified it. So now we have a team that is not only very ordinary, but also hardly has any local players

Not one of the nobodies who Smith cut deserved to be wearing the red and blue. George Carmont, Kirk Reynoldson, and Clint Newton barely deserve oxygen - let alone the privilege of being paid to play a sport professionally.

 

[Karmawave]

Not one of the nobodies who Smith cut deserved to be wearing the red and blue. George Carmont, Kirk Reynoldson, and Clint Newton barely deserve oxygen - let alone the privilege of being paid to play a sport professionally.

And Marvin Karawana, Wes Naiqama and Keith Lulia are so much more deserving...

What's sad, is I've seen Carmont pay better games for the Knights than Naiqama has since he's been here.

 

[Misanthrope]

And Marvin Karawana, Wes Naiqama and Keith Lulia are so much more deserving...

I rate Lulia and Karawana above Reynoldson, and Carmont. Naiqama's a dud. Did Reynoldson ever have a better than terrible game for us? Carmont was a turnstyle. The only one of those three who ever had any heart was Newton.

 

[Big Tim]

I rate Lulia and Karawana above Reynoldson, and Carmont. Naiqama's a dud. Did Reynoldson ever have a better than terrible game for us? Carmont was a turnstyle. The only one of those three who ever had any heart was Newton.

 

[Karmawave]

Reynoldson was being discussed as a Qld origin selection , so he wasn't going that poor.

I guess people here still think Todd Lowrie can't play even though he's tearing it up all year for Parramatta.

The " Hagan loves Todd Lowrie " theme seems to have meaning no more given that a fit ( yes, passed fit ) Feleti Mateo is being overlooked for Todd Lowrie by a coach other than Hagan.

 

[Misanthrope]

Reynoldson was being discussed as a Qld origin selection , so he wasn't going that poor.

By Knights fans.

I guess people here still think Todd Lowrie can't play even though he's tearing it up all year for Parramatta.

He was atrocious last year and atrocious for us every year. Whether he can play now is irrelevant. He couldn't at the time.

 

[Karmawave]

By Knights fans.

No, by the media.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21709817-10389,00.html

 

[Misanthrope]

Sweet Jesus! Color me incorrect. Stop the presses! Argument over!

The press throw around a dozen names every year as potential bolters. F**king Daryl Millard was heralded as the savior of NSW this year.

Pull your head out of your ass.

 

[Karmawave]

Sweet Jesus! Color me incorrect. Stop the presses! Argument over!

The press throw around a dozen names every year as potential bolters. f**king Daryl Millard was heralded as the savior of NSW this year.

Pull your head out of your ass.

Just showing you it was more than ' Knights fans ' talking him up. You're the one who said that, not me.

He played strong in the first part of 2007 for us, you can knock him all you like.

Darryl Millard was heralded as the saviour of NSW this year? By who?

Qld selectors sent a selector to Knights games to specifically look at Reynoldson.

Look I don't rate Reyno, but people here need to lose the hate of the bloke.

I can't believe more fans didn't feel a bit sorry for the situation Smith put him in. That was a disgrace.

 

[Misanthrope]

I can't believe more fans didn't feel a bit sorry for the situation Smith put him in. That was a disgrace.

He was playing bad football and needed to play a certain number of games to trigger an extension that the club didn't want. What should have had done differently? Played a poor footballer so we had to pay a poor footballer for another year? Sound management.

Darryl Millard was heralded as the saviour of NSW this year? By who?

I'll have to dig up the article again. A friend of mine linked it to me back when Origin teams were being selected for game two or three. Probably a paper in the area, since he's a Bulldogs fan.

 

[Dummy Spit Johns]

Hill and Harragon should both piss off!
And take the rest of their cronies with them!

 

[Big Tim]

Lowrie was a great junior. That form never turned into anything under Hagan.

He seems to be a good part player at the Eels at the moment, but who wouldnt be??? Havent heard anything positive about the Eels until Hayne played Origin and realised he is in the top 5 of this league.

Lowrie has always been there abouts, and ATM I see his "good form" as an upside to their resurgence.

 

[Spot On]

When the following were playing at Newcastle they were playing like:

Perry - poor defensively, lazy, unfit, couldn't play the ball without dropping it, couldn't make a tackle without laying all over the man with the ball until a penalty was blown etc etc etc had to go.

Reynaldson - please. No comment needed really.

Newton - the year we were demolished by Brisbane in the semis sums him up. Weak as piss, throwing the ball backwards over his head in our 20m zone. No starch.

Carmont - see Reynaldson comment.

Woolnough - soft, slow, ineffective. No starch. See Reynaldson comment.

Brad Tighe - some talent, scored the odd try. sh*thouse defensively, too small and weak.

Who else??????

 

[Spot On]

Oh yeah, I forgot:

Todd Lowrie - very, very very ordinary.

 

[cram]

When the following were playing at Newcastle they were playing like:

Perry - poor defensively, lazy, unfit, couldn't play the ball without dropping it, couldn't make a tackle without laying all over the man with the ball until a penalty was blown etc etc etc had to go.

Reynaldson - please. No comment needed really.

Newton - the year we were demolished by Brisbane in the semis sums him up. Weak as piss, throwing the ball backwards over his head in our 20m zone. No starch.

Carmont - see Reynaldson comment.

Woolnough - soft, slow, ineffective. No starch. See Reynaldson comment.

Brad Tighe - some talent, scored the odd try. sh*thouse defensively, too small and weak.

Who else??????

And of them all, Perry is the only one who has gone on and kicked goals.

 

[roopy]

Let go by Smith side;

Seage
Quinn
Gidley
Tighe
Carmont
Chris Bailey
Luke Walsh
Perry
Buderus
Snowden
Newton
Reynoldson
Riley Brown

Lowrie
Tanner
Woolnough
Abraham

I say it would give our current side a decent game.

 

[Karmawave]

And of them all, Perry is the only one who has gone on and kicked goals.

I wonder if Dragons fans believe Danny Wicks has gone on to kick goals. Or Wes Naiqama. Or Keith Lulia. I wonder if they miss Ben Rogers? They might get some use out of Chris Houston, but for the most part, would he really get a run in front of the players they have running around now?

I wonder if Melbourne Storm fans miss Ben Cross all that much?

As likeable as he is ( one of my favourite Knights players ), I wonder if the Gold Coast Titans are missing Matt Hilder in their line up all that much while they sit in the Top 4.

Cronulla are missing De Gois of course. But apart from a premiership trophy missing at their leagues club cabinet, they're missing ET and Jason Stevens too. He did get good money to come here so its nice that one of our high money signings are living up to expectations somewhat.

I wonder if the Tigers miss Shannon McDonnell. Has he kicked goals?

Junior Sau. With the young guns coming through the Raiders backline, do you think they long for him to come back to Canberra?

Point is, discards happen all over the league, every year.

Alot is made of ours because alot disappeared all at once.

Most were just fringe first graders who would never be missed. To prove how the worlds align, we ended up with a bunch of players at our club in return who are not missed from their old clubs either.

Its all relative.

One player I wish we persisted with for a longer period of time was Kade Snowden.

He has been killing it lately in a poor team at Cronulla. He is playing big minutes, and his work is quality.

I'd have him back in a heart beat.

I was disappointed we let Woolnough go at the time, because I rated him as a front rower. Unfortunately for him, Penrith got the short end of the stick as he has spent much of his time there injured, playing injured, or recovery from injury.

Having said that, it would be very interested who has played more for their clubs in the last 2 years - Woolnough at the Panthers, or Cross at the Knights... ;-)

Penrith can hardly thank us enough for giving them Luke Walsh as well.

Sick of the cleanout talk from the past.

Sh*t happens. But we copped a pretty raw deal when you look at it from the reverse angle of how many of our current players would be welcomed back at their old clubs anytime soon...