R13 | Knights 22-44 Raiders @ Hunter | Saturday 3.00pm

[perverse]

Swarzey.
Mullen would do well in the Storm system next to Cronk.
But not as the main playmaker.
Mullen has good long kicking game but his attacking kicks are average at best.
He puts up terrible bombs, he struggles to get repeat sets. Every now then he does put in a good little kick for Uate.
He has a beautiful right left to pass but hardly uses it. But apart from that his passing game is solid at best.
I'd still take him over Hoddkinson as Mullen is more talented.
In saying that if the scores were tied, give me Hodkinson.
Mullen has always struggled with this part of the game.

At a club that didn't have its head firmly implanted up its arse, there might be some effort to partner Mullen with a half that compliments his shortcomings. There are very, very few halves that are the complete package with the ball in hand. You point out a few things he's not great at, and fair enough - we all know his short kicking game is lousy - but why is it Mullens responsibility to be good at absolutely everything, and not the clubs responsibility to plug holes in our roster?

Our clubs (and some fans, it would seem) answer to EVERYTHING halves related for the past 7-8 years has been "Mullen has to do it". Why can't the answer be something more reasonable like "ok, Mullen does this, this and this... we need to find a halfback that can do that and that to compensate"? I just don't f**king understand why we even bother discussing Mullen, when there is always an imposter like Tyrone Roberts next to him. The answer is get another half that can do the things Mullen can't. It seems very obvious, but apparently criticizing Mullen is just easier.

 

[Swarzey]

For once I'd love a season where Mullen isn't having to do every f**king job on the field and ends up getting shitted upon because he "isn't living up to the hype" when it's damn obvious why he's being held back. Despite his current form, Hodkinson is the PERFECT partner for Mullen. Absolutely perfect. No show and go, no fancy shit, solid kicking game but more importantly he can lead a side around and create opportunities for his 5/8 to go to work. Mullen's flaws are covered with those two as the halves pairing.

 

[whistler]

I think the best realistic option for us for the next few years is getting Luke Walsh back. This might not be popular but I reckon he complements Mullen really well. He's a natural organiser with an outstanding short kicking game and has just turned 28. If we could get him back from the UK for 2-3 years it would allow Mullen to concentrate on running the ball which has always been his biggest strength. It would also give the club time to see if Cogger and Lamb are the guys we should be pinning our future on.

 

[VictorTheViking]

If soward is apparently "origin material" then mullen would have to be aswell, both look good with competent halves beside them when they aren't the main playmakers.

You guys could do a lot worse than mullen, I wouldnt be anywhere near as confident as I am if he was in the side.

 

[Joker's Wild]

i dont think a half who cant handle the NRL defencive workload is what we need. Walsh is a proven speedbump

id prefer to have roberts or tui there

 

[perverse]

I'd probably prefer to try and hide a speed bump who at least offers some direction than someone who loses their marbles with the ball in hand.

 

[Joker's Wild]

You cant hide them these days. Look at Wests

 

[perverse]

To be fair, Wests have them on both sides of the ruck and their pack is a bit hodge-podge all over the shop.

 

[Yosh]

I think if we stop trying to look at Mullen as John's heir but rather just a normal NRL half, he's pretty good. Not on outrageous money and gets a job done. We could have really used his long kicking game last week. Good defender too. I just wish he had a bit more Kimmorley in him. Try to get the ball as often as possible.

 

[1qaz]

Hopefully Mullen is back soon so we can see how him and Gagai play together.
Mullen's better season was 2013 which was also Boyd's best season at the club.
Having Boyd at the back as the extra play maker helped Mullen's game.
Something Gagai can provide for him.
Hopefully Mamo can develop this part of his game.
I don't think Roberts will ever be the answer in the 7, but theres talent there...maybe as a 9 or utility.
Just to show poorly he has been going..

Roberts 12 Games: 1 Try Assist, 1 Line Break Assist, 2 Line Breaks, 0 Tries
Mullen 8 Games: 3 Try Assists, 4 Line Break Assists, 2 Line Breaks, 0 Tries
Gagai 12 Games: 4 Try Assists, 6 Line Break Assists, 7 Line Breaks, 5 Tries

 

[The Showstopper]

So are we are happy with Tui at 7 and Mullen at 6? That would be my preference but my point on Mullo is if we are keeping Kurt in the side do we move Gagai back to centre to fit that? Especially given Dane is linking better each week with the outside men. if Mullo went back to NSW Cup he would either fall apart mentally or realise his exceptional talent needs to come to the fore. I want him to fire up! That is all. It is not a permanent thing. Sandow played a blinder the week after being dropped to NSW Cup.

 

[1qaz]

Mullen hasn't been playing that badly to be dropped to NSW Cup.
He's still makes the Knights best 17 every week..

 

[1qaz]

I thought I'd look at how the Knights compare to the rest of the competition.

So the Knights have 3 players in the top 5 in line breaks but the team ranks 10th overall in points scored.
Lack of polish at the end of sets...

2 Knights player in the top 6 for Line Break Assists.
Sione has big shoes to fill when BJ leaves.
He has yet to make a line break or try assist this season.

 

[slotmachine]

Tuimavave isn't the answer to our halves issue. He looked better than Roberts, but most would. Randall tries hard but really has no business playing half in first grade, I'd probably prefer Roberts. Urgh.

And gaz, you're not allowed to say bad things about the next Israel folau, he played for Australia...

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Tuimavave isn't the answer to our halves issue. He looked better than Roberts, but most would. Randall tries hard but really has no business playing half in first grade, I'd probably prefer Roberts. Urgh.

And gaz, you're not allowed to say bad things about the next Israel folau, he played for Australia...

Yeh, i was interested in seeing him have a shot at 7 but 9 is definitely his spot. He totally looks like DannyB mk2.

Ive given up on this year, so i dont mind whether we keep Roberts/Kidley/Tui at 7 once Mullen is back, but none of them seem like long term options. (i just hope we jump when a good chance comes up)

 

[The Showstopper]

I thought I'd look at how the Knights compare to the rest of the competition.

So the Knights have 3 players in the top 5 in line breaks but the team ranks 10th overall in points scored.
Lack of polish at the end of sets...

2 Knights player in the top 6 for Line Break Assists.
Sione has big shoes to fill when BJ leaves.
He has yet to make a line break or try assist this season.

Those stats to me are not surprising. If I were Stone I would be very happy but also asking the question of myself as coach where I am getting it wrong! We have one of the most dangerous back lines in the game. We have always been aware of that and this proves it. It comes down to coaching and the real question is why these line breaks have not led to far more points. That just makes the season harder to swallow does that. Clearly our backs are working their arses off while the forwards and halves are nowhere to be seen. We can cause damage on the fringes but the middle is just a car crash.

 

[perverse]

Those stats to me are not surprising. If I were Stone I would be very happy but also asking the question of myself as coach where I am getting it wrong! We have one of the most dangerous back lines in the game. We have always been aware of that and this proves it. It comes down to coaching and the real question is why these line breaks have not led to far more points. That just makes the season harder to swallow does that. Clearly our backs are working their arses off while the forwards and halves are nowhere to be seen. We can cause damage on the fringes but the middle is just a car crash.

Hasn't it pretty much been the same for 10 years? It's only really been in the past 2-3 odd years that we've had anyone in our pack that could rack up over 100m consistently. I think our pack is slowly getting better if you look at the long term trend. Halves have gone backwards big time this year after themselves steadily rising over Bennett's reign.

I think the reason why we're all so disillusioned this year in particular is there's absolutely nothing left to pin some hope to. We've always been able to pin hope on Brian Smith or Mullen, or after them Tinkler and Bennett... but this year, everything has been rewound to our financially ruined days - the inmates are back in charge of the asylum and very quickly dismantling any shred of credibility our club might have still retained. Even at the end of last year, when everything was spiralling - we had Sione come through to give us a glimmer of something good... but now he's not kicking on and everything is just shit.

The team really needs to show us that it can win a game of football. Not just wait until another team plays even worse, but actually take a game of football to a team and win it well. We haven't managed to do it yet this year, and it's pretty sad and deflating, too.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Its like pervy speaks through my soul

 

[Swarzey]

2 Knights player in the top 6 for Line Break Assists.
Sione has big shoes to fill when BJ leaves.
He has yet to make a line break or try assist this season.

He'll be fine. He hasn't had half the opportunities to shine in the centres like BJ; they've starved him of attacking opportunities, he hasn't had the chance to set up Aku.



I firmly believe the issues stopping the side from being consistent AND in the top 8 isn't the forwards, isn't the backs, it's the halves. The blame solely rests on them. The wasteful options at the end of sets, the lack of balance when it comes to using our best weapon in the backs, lack of identify what works. Thought last week proved that beyond any doubt; how the f**k can two guys with a handful of games steer a side to get within 4 points? It showed what some players can do and with halves that aren't blind, aren't stupid, don't turn away from what works and puts in mediocre 5th tackle options then we should fine.

Call it optimism, call it false hope.

 

[perverse]

He'll be fine. He hasn't had half the opportunities to shine in the centres like BJ; they've starved him of attacking opportunities, he hasn't had the chance to set up Aku.



I firmly believe the issues stopping the side from being consistent AND in the top 8 isn't the forwards, isn't the backs, it's the halves. The blame solely rests on them. The wasteful options at the end of sets, the lack of balance when it comes to using our best weapon in the backs, lack of identify what works. Thought last week proved that beyond any doubt; how the f**k can two guys with a handful of games steer a side to get within 4 points? It showed what some players can do and with halves that aren't blind, aren't stupid, don't turn away from what works and puts in mediocre 5th tackle options then we should fine.

Call it optimism, call it false hope.

Well it's real good that in response to this halves crisis, our club has gone about fixing it by:

- Getting rid of Gidley (good idea in anyones book)
- Re-signing the Mata'utia boys to big overs.
- Replacing Beau Scott with Mickey Paea
- Giving a chunk of Leiluas money to a 35 year old Jeremy Smith
- Doing god knows what with the money we're saving from Scott, Gidley and Leiluas departure. I heard Hages was spotted out the back of the stadium planting some suspicious looking beans.
- Answering, when queried on our plans to recruit a half, that the salary cap is "hard".