R5 | Knights 0-13 Dragons @ Hunter | Sat 7.30pm

[perverse]

Nice, love the wrist slitting because of one game.

Never change guys, never change.

You are tripping if you think we played much different tonight than we have all year.

 

[Joker's Wild]

The plod was strong with us tonight

 

[Swarzey]

You are tripping if you think we played much different tonight than we have all year.

Everything was slow. Everything was off. We looked sharp against the Warriors and last week. A dour, wet game, our halves play bad and we're thinking it's the end of the world.

If Gidley goes straight off and Randell is at hooker I would like to think we would have at least posted points tonight. It was bad, it was horrendous, but it was far, far worse than anything we've done for the first four weeks.

 

[K-Man]

Nice, love the wrist slitting because of one game.

Never change guys, never change.

Did you watch it? We found an unprecedented level of ineptness in attack.

 

[K-Man]

Everything was slow. Everything was off. We looked sharp against the Warriors and last week. A dour, wet game, our halves play bad and we're thinking it's the end of the world.

If Gidley goes straight off and Randell is at hooker I would like to think we would have at least posted points tonight. It was bad, it was horrendous, but it was far, far worse than anything we've done for the first four weeks.

I disagree. It's been coming.

I think we will be 4-4 before we know it.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Woeful.
Yeah, halves were crap and Roberts especially had a shocker but the big mistake was having Gidley at Dummy Half for so long. No structure behind him.He's looking left then right then left then right ... Nobody behind has a clue. They were just standing around a lot.
Bring Clydesdale back and get some structure back.
Mistake was made with the bench selections from the start.

 

[Swarzey]

Did you watch it? We found an unprecedented level of ineptness in attack.

Said it already, it was f**king garbage but the way we're carrying on here makes it seem like it's complete and utter despair, no hope and nothing to look forward to.

Instead of whinging and looking at in the worst way possible, how about a little bit of f**king optimism?

 

[God-King Dean]

It's a sound tactic to kick directly to the opposition.

 

[aqua_duck]

Stone has to shoulder much of the blame for that loss, his interchanges were bad, it's almost like players didn't have any position and were just lining up where ever, having 2 utilities on the bench is criminal especially when they both playing long minutes, just distorts the structure

 

[Whats Doing]

Stone lost it before the game with his bench and tactics.

In the wet, we needed to have quick play the balls and run from dummy half all night. Rein showed how to do it and i know a lot of people rate Clydesdale but he offers nothing in attack from his lack of dummy half running. I would rather Randell where at least he asks questions of the defence from dummy half.

Sione is not a fullback and unless he can nail a starting spot, he should not be in the 17. This moving the spine by Stone is a joke and needs to stop now as the side loses all momentum when it happens.

Roberts and Mullins kicking games were poor and put no pressure on the defence and their organisational skills were abysmal.

To have a back and a small forward on the bench provided no impact at all and Stone has a lot to answer for this crazy selection.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Stone has to shoulder much of the blame for that loss, his interchanges were bad, it's almost like players didn't have any position and were just lining up where ever, having 2 utilities on the bench is criminal especially when they both playing long minutes, just distorts the structure

yeah but 54 tackles in the opposition lies on our spine. Unless stones game plan was inside balls, flat backlines and one out hit ups.

 

[Pumba]

I would rather take a loss like that now then later in the season. At least we now know where we are at and what needs to be worked on.

Stone needs to stick with 3 forwards and Randell on the bench to give Clydesdale a break. It was never going to keep working give Sione some game time in Reggies to work on his game.

We are still not in a bad situation. If we can turn it around against the Sharks next and the Rabbitohs lose we could be number 1 at the end of Round 6. It's not all bad!

 

[Noname36]

Loss was going to come sooner or later and I expected it against our bogey side in the rain but there were some real weird coaching decisions tonight. From team selections to interchanges and the game plan was the worst. We proved last year we're shit at Bennett Ball so why go back to it?

Mullen and especially Roberts were abysmal. Stone has gotten improvements out of the whole side but they're going backwards rapidly. Not sure what the go is there.

 

[Dave_]

That was an utterly putrid performance but at least we can tackle this year and our forwards are going ok in general. Snowden looks good this year, Aku is finally fit again, Tariq will be better for the run and we still have Korbin and Rochow to come back so it's not all bad.

We're a top prop and a good half away from being a great side. In saying that, if we play smarter, we certainly have the talent to win most of our games this year. The only way is up after that geniused display of dumbness.

 

[cleary89]

In wet conditions, I thought it was a big mistake to have a back up hooker and back on your bench. Stockwell and Houston aren't big forwards either.

Mitch Rein was on the radio this week saying they had done heaps of videos work on your centres and I thought it showed. They were shut down fairly well and in the end it turned into a forwards slog.... with your 2 on the bench and Scott of injured it was always going to be tough for you.

That said, 90% of dragons fans are saying its our best win since 2011 and I def agree. Super proud of our defense.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The difference between us and the Dragons tonight is they had a game plan and stuck to it and we clearly didn't.

Here are the three people who should shoulder the blame for this embarrassment.

1. Rick Stone: I have a lot of time for Stone but he really messed up his bench and as far as I'm concerned the Mata'utia/Gidley experiment is over. Sione can spend a few weeks in reserve grade and bide his time until a backline position opens up for him. Given Dane is a strong chance to leave us there's probably a centre position available at the end of the year anyway.

2. Jarrod Mullen: I'm bitterly disappointed in him after tonight's performance, after a decade in the NRL you would think he would know how to control a game of wet weather football. But he proved once again tonight that he's just not the player we all hoped he would be.

3. Tyrone Roberts: He's fast becoming Jarrod Mullen v2.0, dumb options all night and a woeful kicking and organizing game. Literally kicked to the fullback all night and ran himself into a corner several times. Needs to get that shit out of his game fast.

 

[Knightmare]

FMD so f**king sick of the Dragons getting these arsey wins against us. Not saying they lucked out (their defence was solid) but of all the nights to play them, it happens to be the night where it has been raining all day long? Seeing St George on our fixture list is beginning to make me feel the same way Dragons fans must feel when they see they have Canberra next. Is there a team who constantly lucks out more against us apart from perhaps the Broncos?

Too many errors and one-man-out football all night. Granted the conditions mean a change in normal game plan is needed, but the attack was uninspiring to say the least, and coma-inducing to say the most. Glad I had a few beers and an old mate to chat with throughout the game because it was a mundane affair otherwise. I expect a return to recent form against the Sharks next weekend, no excuses.

 

[Apey]

That was awful. Halves were shit but I don't feel like the rest of the team helped a lot. So much overrunning of the ball it was embarrassing.

 

[aqua_duck]

yeah but 54 tackles in the opposition lies on our spine. Unless stones game plan was inside balls, flat backlines and one out hit ups.

That's the problem, all this chopping and changing in the spine doesn't help

 

[The Showstopper]

we lost to the best defensive unit in the comp right now. We are up there with them. I would not read too much into it. the comp has barely started.