R2 // Knights 20-26 Raiders @ Hunter // Sun 6.30pm

[perverse]

It doesn't matter who we play or what we do... we are no chance against Melbourne. They'll be out for revenge, and we don't have the stock at the moment to stand up to them. Hooker needs to be settled, Mullen and Boyd need to be in the team and we need another real front rower at the bare minimum to be any shot.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Dropping Minto for Mamo would be silly imo and frankly undeserved

It was Matts first game of FG and he did well. Give him another game and he will step up further, he has the skill and temperament

I think some of you are hitting the panic button a little early

oh and the sooner I stop seeing Waddle named the better. f**k me he is terrible

 

[Zoidberg]

Anybody who thinks Gids won't start at hooker next week is kidding themselves.

I'm hoping Mamo and Clydesdale are given a chance at fullback and reserve hooker, simply for a bit of x-factor. We honestly don't have much to lose if we take a few chances against the Storm in Melbourne.

 

[Rod]

I honestly didn't think we were that bad. Our attack was clunky like I said at halftime but we showed some decent signs. Our backs were better tonight and looked dangerous at times but just need better front-foot quality ball, when Leilua or Uate got some space they looked good.

I don't get why Dobson is suddenly in the firing line now, I thought he was quite decent again. Sure he got shown up by Milford at one point but so did most of our team.

Dummy half was clearly an area of weakness as others have pointed out, but I'm willing to give Gids a chance to improve there. Hopefully Clydesdale can come off the bench in the near future and show something as well.

Our forwards need another dimension for sure. It doesn't have to be some blockbusting superstar like SBW or even Taumalolo but even some changes of angle and a bit more hole-running like we have seen a bit from Scott would make a big difference. When Snowden etc. go off and we are just plodding it up the middle with the likes of Houston and McKinnon is when we look our least mundane (although House was good tonight).

Also not an excuse but I don't think we had many calls go our way either. Barely got any penalties except for a couple of token square-up ones.

 

[Newynut]

We are missing Mullo's covering tackles and defense on the edges more than I thought we would.

The ref made them wait till we were onside for the tap after the 40-20 they got. Luckily.

 

[Apey]

It doesn't matter who we play or what we do... we are no chance against Melbourne. They'll be out for revenge, and we don't have the stock at the moment to stand up to them. Hooker needs to be settled, Mullen and Boyd need to be in the team and we need another real front rower at the bare minimum to be any shot.

That's it unleash your inner pessimist

 

[Noname36]

I don't think it would be a good idea throwing Mamo to the wolves in Melbourne. We've go absolutely no chance anyway without Mullen and Boyd so I don't see the point in risking killing the kid's confidence when it's a suicide mission. Also I think we need to remember that Minto is rated almost as highly as Mamo is in our lower grades and he struggled on debut so it's highly possible Mamo would too (especially when he's new to fullback). If there's one kid I'd be risking next week it's Clydesdale. We need to sort hooker out ASAP (it's not like fullback where we're just waiting for our regular to return) and Gids/Waddell concerned me more today than Minto did. I think the Minto deserves another shot. He doesn't deserve to be blacklisted from FG due to that one game.

And unrelated but for God sake Fa'alogo should be the first bloke picked next week.

 

[Allstar Knights]

Also I think we need to remember that Minto is rated almost as highly as Mamo is in our lower grades and he struggled on debut so it's highly possible Mamo would too (especially when he's new to fullback). If there's one kid I'd be risking next week it's Clydesdale. We need to sort hooker out ASAP and Gids/Waddell concerned me more today than Minto did. I think the Minto deserves another shot. He doesn't deserve to be blacklisted from FG due to that one game.

Minto won a comp with Mackay in QLD Cup last year but he also just played a few games with the Bulldogs in NYC, so can't of been rated much back then. I think Mamo definitely looks the better prospect but whether he's ready though, I don't know.

 

[Noname36]

Minto won a comp with Mackay in QLD Cup last year but he also just played a few games with the Bulldogs in NYC, so can't of been rated much back then. I think Mamo definitely looks the better prospect but whether he's ready though, I don't know.

I'm just saying that he's been rated pretty highly by our supporter base. I hadn't seen him play before this year but there were a lot of people here making comparisons between him and Boyd so he must have been doing something that was impressing people. I think Mamo is the better prospect too, but that doesn't mean he's going to have a better debut or I think we should be throwing him in there against Melbourne because Minto struggled tonight.

 

[Allstar Knights]

I'm just saying that he's been rated pretty highly by our supporter base. I hadn't seen him play before this year but there were a lot of people here making comparisons between him and Boyd so he must have been doing something that was impressing people. I think Mamo is the better prospect too, but that doesn't mean he's going to have a better debut or I think we should be throwing him in there against Melbourne because Minto struggled tonight.

Attacking wise, Minto looks quite good. His passing is excellent which is easily his best asset. I jumped on the hype a bit because he looked Boyd-like in the indigenous game and there were no negatives to see as he was barely tested in defence.

Tonight he looked very nervous covering kicks though and his positioning was really off. I think he's predominantly a half and should stay there after seeing that game.

 

[Noname36]

Attacking wise, Minto looks quite good. His passing is excellent which is easily his best asset. He looked Boyd-like in the indigenous game, but he was barely tested in defence.

Tonight he looked very nervous covering kicks though and his positioning was really off. I think he's predominantly a half and should stay there after seeing that game.

Yep, I certainly think his skill set is better suited at half than fullback. His passing and kicking looked quite classy but he struggled with the more traditional fullback plays.

 

[Yosh]

What we'll see next week is the difference a great hooker berings to a team over an average NRL player playing hooker... Let's hope the footy gods are kind to us...

 

[Johns Magic]

I thought Minto had a couple of hairy moments that you could put down to inexperience at the position, but you could see the talent is there to be a decent NRL fullback. As mentioned, his passing was great.

I would certainly take him over Shannon McDonnell who supposedly was a fullback.

Despite being disappointed about the loss and a lack of class, at least the guys had a go. More than you can say for three other clubs so far this round. Unfortunately I just think we are a grinding team who don't have the roster in the pack to really go far in the competition.

Hooker is our biggest concern.

 

[League_God]

We actually need another cleanout at the end of this year.
1.Darius Boyd
2.Aku Uate
3.Dane Gaigai
4.BJ Leilua
5.James McManus
6.Jarred Mullen
7.Tyrone Roberts
8.Kade Snowden
9. -
10. -
11.Beau Scott
12. -
13. -

14.Adam Clydesdale
15.Jeremy Smith
16.Alex McKinnon
17.Korbin Sims

• Rochow is the most overrated player in our entire side. He offers absolutely nothing.
• Hooker is our obvious problem at the moment.
• Gidley still playing on the money he's on is embarrassing .
• Aku's criticism is a massive overreaction. 151 metres off 13 runs, 5 tackle breaks meanwhile McManus 8 runs 59 metres, 1 tackle break. The level Uate has consistently played at since 2010 is ridiculous. He's hardly been injured and his hitups are more effective than any forward that has played in our colours in a long, long time.
• Jeremy Smith and Beau Scott are the stars in our forward pack... which is f**king sad. They're both solid aggressive players of good quality, nothing spectacular.
• Mason is over-the-hill. He isn't a prop, plain and simple. He certainly shouldn't be a starting prop.
• The criticism of McKinnon is warranted to a point. But McKinnon is a 22 year old (just) kid playing a f**king tough brand of football week-in, week-out and has been for the last 2 seasons. He'll come good. He has all the attributes.

The players in the above side can win a grand final in the future.
Mason, Rochow, Waddell, Gidley, Houston do not have the talent (both willie and gids' HAD the talent but not any longer) to win a grand final.

1.Darius Boyd
2.Aku Uate
3.Dane Gaigai
4.BJ Leilua
5.James McManus
6.Jarrod Mullen
7.Tyrone Roberts
8.Kade Snowden
9.Michael Ennis
10.Tim Mannah
11.Kevin Proctor
12.Dave Taylor
13.Beau Scott

14.Adam Clydesdale
15.Jeremy Smith
16.Alex McKinnon
17.Korbin Sims

the four in bold (bar taylor) are off-contract at season's end.
That side can win a competition.

 

[The Showstopper]

Korbin and Big Dave need call ups. Mase to NSW Cup. Seriously underperforming given his size. Snowden has run out of excuses for being so slow and well below his average. Last year was just that. He has to start strong. Not ease into it by taking 6-8 weeks to get there.

 

[Spot On]

[*]Aku's criticism is a massive overreaction. 151 metres off 13 runs, 5 tackle breaks meanwhile McManus 8 runs 59 metres, 1 tackle break. The level Uate has consistently played at since 2010 is ridiculous. He's hardly been injured and his hitups are more effective than any forward that has played in our colours in a long, long time.

[*]The criticism of McKinnon is warranted to a point. But McKinnon is a 22 year old (just) kid playing a f**king tough brand of football week-in, week-out and has been for the last 2 seasons. He'll come good. He has all the attributes.

Most criticism Aku copped was due to poor technique under the high ball and piss poor defensive reads. He was hardly tested with either last night due to Minto being worked over with the high ball and lack of attack down his side.

As for McKinnon, he's a very, very weak clone of Smith and Scott. Carries the ball and hits in defence like wet paper towel.

Mason can't even get up quick enough to get on side after making a tackle. He's got to go ASAP.

 

[Spot On]

Edit.

 

[Noname36]

Not sure why everyone is so desperate for us to get Dave Taylor. He's been average everywhere he's gone. The only time he's looked effective was when he's been allowed to run at centres and wingers all day but that's not what we need...we need a forward that can play but do it with the big boys.

Don't understand people knocking Snowden after last night either. He, Cuthbo and Scott were the only effective forwards we had out there. He certainly needs some help up front though that Mase isn't offering.

 

[perverse]

Korbin and Big Dave need call ups. Mase to NSW Cup. Seriously underperforming given his size. Snowden has run out of excuses for being so slow and well below his average. Last year was just that. He has to start strong. Not ease into it by taking 6-8 weeks to get there.

You're having a laugh. Snowy had no pre-season due to off season surgery and was one of our best yesterday. He and Houston were our two best in the middle.

 

[Apey]

Most criticism Aku copped was due to poor technique under the high ball and piss poor defensive reads. He was hardly tested with either last night due to Minto being worked over with the high ball and lack of attack down his side.

As for McKinnon, he's a very, very weak clone of Smith and Scott. Carries the ball and hits in defence like wet paper towel.

Mason can't even get up quick enough to get on side after making a tackle. He's got to go ASAP.

Most of the criticism was also levelled at him prior to last night's game as well. Easy to say it's an overreaction when he's had his first relatively good game in a while.

He just needs to keep it up and build on it, really.