R20 // Knights 16-12 Roosters @ Hunter // Fri 7.40pm

[Noname36]

Gagai at 6? I've heard it all now. Can't even defend at centre. Sure, let's have forwards running at him even more. Fullback is fine, but 5/8 no way. I'm not ready to kick Mullo out just yet either :crazy:

 

[Johns Magic]

You're saying Bennett had no say there? In the past Bennett has been renowned for letting players go who asked for too much, in particular a bloke named Petero Civoneciva. Bennett might not be the one writing up the contract but don't pretend he's got no say as to the allocation of the cap and the terms of the deal

Yeah I think Bennett had all the power in the world to waltz in and tell our marquee player and local product who was in red-hot form that he should leave. That would have gone down really well as his first act.

There would have been a lot of pressure to keep Uate here from within and outside the club. Blaming Bennett for that decision is BS.

 

[aqua_duck]

Yeah I think Bennett had all the power in the world to waltz in and tell our marquee player and local product who was in red-hot form that he should leave. That would have gone down really well as his first act.

There would have been a lot of pressure to keep Uate here from within and outside the club. Blaming Bennett for that decision is BS.

Marquee player? Bloke wasn't even playing origin at that stage and was already on his downward slope. If Bennett had to guys to tell an all time great like Petero to walk, Aku isn't even fit to lace Petero's boots.
I suppose it also wasn't Bennett's decision to re-sign Gids, Sau, Naiqama, etc?

 

[slotmachine]

Man, I must have missed all that good stuff that Gagai did at 5/8 because to me all he looked like was a stand in, which is exactly what he was.

gagai did nothing for me either, apart from give chanel plenty to clean up with his atrocious defence

oh,and kill the attack by refusing to pass

Yeah I think Bennett had all the power in the world to waltz in and tell our marquee player and local product who was in red-hot form that he should leave. That would have gone down really well as his first act.

he had the power to tell our captain and highest paid player he couldn't have his preferred (and best) position anymore

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Gagai played straighter than Mullen. Mullen is all about sideways and overanalysing the play. He overthinks everything. When Mullen goes the team comes out of it's shell. This team is coached to structure and are scared to actually play football. The modern ruck demands speed and adlib to create space. We won cos we played straight, won the ruck, and got the ball where it needed to be and all done minus our starting halves and wingers. Pure footy.

 

[1qaz]

One thing Gould got right in commentary last night was fullback is Gagai best position. He should know as he did chase him hard to the Panthers.
Last night he played like a second fullback. Getting the ball out of the in goal before halftime, supporting Roberts up the middle on his chip chase,
running off Roberts hip on the banana kick which trapped Mini in goal etc.. The signs were all there.

With Dane's and Boyd's future in Newcastle still undecided, I can see why the Knights are making Sione into their long term fullback as you need to build your team around a 1,6,7 and 9.
It's a shame really because if Dane has an off season preparing and getting his body right to play fullback, he would be something else

 

[Knight Vision]

I think Mamo hasn't got any good ball yet. When he got that forward pass, he was over the line in an instant. Looks like an amazing finisher.

Korbin is amazing. After the fight, put his hand up and took two or three runs that set, even though he knew the other team were looking to take his head off. The future.

I noticed that, the kid is going to be a beast .....the future is bright indeed with him as one of the leaders of the pack

 

[Noname36]

Marquee player? Bloke wasn't even playing origin at that stage and was already on his downward slope. If Bennett had to guys to tell an all time great like Petero to walk, Aku isn't even fit to lace Petero's boots.
I suppose it also wasn't Bennett's decision to re-sign Gids, Sau, Naiqama, etc?

He was our marquee player at the time. No he wasn't a rep mainstay and the good clubs had a heap better than him, but he was the most talented we had. The only bloke that people actually got excited about getting the ball.

 

[Misanthrope]

Finally got to watch the whole game earlier this afternoon. Bloody hell, there was some inspirational performances in there. Tyrone played better than I think I've seen he or Mullen play all season, and the young guys really had a dig. Joey and Korbin were hitting it up with plenty of impact, and Kade/Mason were doing the hard yards as well.

Hard to believe that this is the same side we saw capitulating and playing uninspired, dour football for most of the season.

 

[Yosh]

Gagai's defense was pretty good. In attack he was a little rusty...

 

[Joker's Wild]

He arm grabs too often, that is his big defencive issue

If he can fix that then he'll be set as he makes contact quickly

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I would like to see Dane at fullback for a couple of games this year, I think it'll suit his jinking running style really well and he'll make plenty of metres from the back. 5/8 is not his go IMO, he was solid there on Friday night but I don't see him having the play making skills to be effective there long term.

 

[Whats Doing]

I am not sure whether Sione is a fullback and may be better in the centres.

I have only seen limited time of Sione and but it appears he may not have a high vertical leap for a fullback but could be wrong if others have seen more of him.

He does have a fantastic fend and has the defensive capability to be in the centres.

 

[Rod]

With all the focus on Roberts and Sione post-match (and rightly so), another guy who was fantastic was Clydesdale. That would have to be his best first grade match so far. Fast, crisp passes that mostly hit the mark across the 80 minutes (did he play 80? if not very close to it). Also ran when he needed to, great stuff.

Also in all the excitement of the finish I forgot about Beau Scott literally picking up Waerea-Hargreaves after the regather from the restart and swinging him around. Seriously how strong do you have to be to do that, Hargreaves must be 110kg easily.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Pretty sure I remember Waddle starting the game

 

[Sacrolishes]

Waddell started the game but did t come back on because Clydesdale was playing too good. Has Clydesdale ever been an 80mins player in lower grades? Or was he always subbed out at some stage? If we ever bought a new classy half (Hunt, Renyolds) after gids retires I'd be happy with a Mullen/new half combo and clydesdale/Roberts combo. That's a sharp combination.

 

[Noname36]

Clydesdale was mostly an 80 minute player in the lower grades.

 

[Tom155]

Brett Keeble‏@BrettKeeble41m
Am hearing it's bad news for @MullenJarrod on the injury front. Could miss a few weeks for @NRLKnights due to torn stomach muscle. @NHSport

Who should partner Roberts in the halves?

 

[perverse]

It's hard to say we'll miss him much in his current headspace. We'll miss his long kicking, which even at his worst is better than anything else we've got. Other than that, I can't says I care much that Mullo is out. He's just not putting it together at the moment, for whatever reason. Would be cool if Clydesdale took on more kicking duties, he has a great boot and was very unlucky with the long kick he did on the weekend that JUST rolled dead.

The time seems to be right for Tyrone to really start asserting himself. The confidence is there and there's no-one else's shadow to hide in. He has shown us many times now that he can put together quite awesome performances... explosive, match winning performances. I'd love to see him climb to the next level and find consistency.

 

[Spot On]

Ah, a Newcastle dummy half that can actually kick out of dummy half. Now there's an idea.