R15 | Knights 28-30 Sharks @ Hunter | Sunday 2.00pm

[Frederick]

Am I the only that's not the biggest fan of Gagai at fullback?

I don't know what his ceiling is there if he had a full off season, but I don't like his defensive efforts there and he always gets driven back.

In saying that, in general attacking play he's probably the best we've had in the last 5 years with what he offered.

No question of his ability in attack, but his positioning in defense was abysmal

 

[Jono078]

If you think mamo is any better at those things you might be disappointed.

Possibly. But he is younger and has a more unique skill set. Pure speed and the ability to split a line after a forward offloads.

And plus I think we can keep Gagai as a star centre. He was in great form there and appears to have fixed up his defensive issues from last season.

 

[1qaz]

Possibly. But he is younger and has a more unique skill set. Pure speed and the ability to split a line after a forward offloads.

Unique? There has been plenty of Mamos over the last few years with the same skill set. Nathan Gardner, Adam Quinlan, Denan Kemp, Kevin Locke etc. Where are these players now?

I can understand the reasoning behind moving Gagai back to centre with BJ leaving.
The club is also banking on Mamo as the long term fullback so tomorrow provides him a chance to continue his development.

I would still like to see Gagai with a preseason at fullback to work on his fitness. That would help greatly in his positionally.

 

[Spot On]

Am I the only that's not the biggest fan of Gagai at fullback?

I don't know what his ceiling is there if he had a full off season, but I don't like his defensive efforts there and he always gets driven back.

In saying that, in general attacking play he's probably the best we've had in the last 5 years with what he offered.

No you're not. He can cover that position if needed but is not a long term solution in the 1 jumper.

 

[Spot On]

On a positive note Sione is going to finally start at left center, hopefully you guys keep him there and let him develop. NSW will need him pretty soon.

Not with Blake Ferguson and James Roberts available. He won't get a look in.

 

[Noname36]

Yeah, after his stint for Aus I don't think Sione would let NSW down but they certainly don't need him. They have a lot of better/more experienced options.

Happy he's going to get to continue his development playing next to McManus though. It cannot be good for a young centre learning to defend next to Aku.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Is Nathan ross injured?

I get the feeling Mamo has been selected just on reputation from the 9s. His ability has been built up quite a bit from fans and media.

 

[Noname36]

I say Mamo has been chosen over Ross on the basis of being seen as our long-term fullback option.

I think Ross is ahead of him at fullback now too but he's not going to be a long-term option given his age. They're also pretty similar players in terms of style (more runners using their speed than playmakers) - Ross is just a bit safer. Having seen a few NSW Cup games this year I don't think he's head and shoulders above Mamo.

 

[harrywilliams]

As much as I like Ross and as hard as he is to tackle, he's been battling injuries for a while now and he hasn't been that good when he has played. He's helped Mamo transition into the position at NSW Cup level switching between fullback and wing until Mamo kept improving and fixing those little faults in his game and has very fairly overtaken Ross. A 21 year old with all the accolades, potential, speed and excitement or a 27 year old struggling with injuries and has been playing on the wing and possible gone next year?

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Fair enough, didn't realise ross was that old

 

[Jono078]

My biggest concern with Mamo will be his talk and organizing the defensive line for us.

I know that's something that will come with experience and maturity. But could be a couple of lean games.

We'll find out today what he can offer anyway, and I'm excited about it - which is a nice thing for this season.

 

[Noname36]

My biggest concern with Mamo will be his talk and organizing the defensive line for us.

I know that's something that will come with experience and maturity. But could be a couple of lean games.

We'll find out today what he can offer anyway, and I'm excited about it - which is a nice thing for this season.

In all fairness, our defensive line is already f**ked as it is.

 

[Burns]

Heads up, if driving to game Disney on Ice is on at the entertainment centre all day, so there are noooo parks on streets around ground.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Heads up, if driving to game Disney on Ice is on at the entertainment centre all day, so there are noooo parks on streets around ground.

Will probably be a bigger crowd than the Knights game too.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Jeez our future is secure with these U20s players

 

[Swarzey]

Our halves have been pretty disappointing lately. Both were extremely poor in the U18's game on Wednesday.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Not sure why people rave on about lamb and cogger. No organisation skills between them, cant organise a straight runner and just keep going sideways in attack. If they can't organise themselves in under 20s where defensive structures are non existent then the NRL is a long long way away if ever.

 

[perverse]

Whoever is coaching our halves is a useless merkin. Not a single one of them could organise a root in a brothel. Is Rugby League really that complicated a game? How hard is it to produce a Jeff Robson or Peter Wallace even?

 

[Allstar Knights]

To be fair our U20's backrowers are terrible and have no idea how to run a good line.

 

[Burns]

Is there under 10,000 today? :/