R7 | Knights 22-28 Eels @ Hunter | Sun 4.00pm

[slotmachine]

it should be so easy.

inside your own half, kick long to the corners and try to find the grass
inside the attacking half, bombs away (and not that BS chip bomb)
inside the attacking 10, grubber for repeat set
don't run it on the 4th and get caught with the ball.

the end.

 

[Haffa]

We've all been making excuses for him for 10 years.

Needs a better halves partner, is injured, needs a better pack etc etc

 

[Noname36]

I don't see how anyone could defend Mullo. If a few patches of good form over a decade is enough to satisfy supporters then we deserve what we've always got. I can't listen to the 'confidence' argument any longer. If he doesn't have the 'confidence' to put good kicks in at the end of every set then piss him off to NSW Cup.

Not making excuses for him but realistically most games we've won in the post-Johns period have come off Mullen. We're never going to be a top side with him as our predominant playmaker (and I understand that's the issue) but pissing him off while we don't have another option simply isn't going to happen. Anyone that thinks we'll be any better served with any combination of Roberts/Gidley or Roberts/Randall has rocks in their head.

We need to find a proper organising half to become a consistent good football team. Simply getting rid of Mullen and leaving us with an even worse option isn't going to help us as all...in fact I'd hazard a guess it'd leave us up shit creek for longer.

 

[Noname36]

Stone recalled utility Tyler Randell to an 18-man squad and suggested he would deputise for hooker Adam Clydsdale at some stage, allowing captain Kurt Gidley to remain at fullback.

Randell was one of five players named on the bench for the Sharks game last Friday but he was omitted and played five-eighth in Newcastle’s 24-22 NSW Cup loss to Mounties the following day.


‘‘There’s a couple of things around our dummy-half, obviously, and Kurt possibly playing a little bit more at fullback might be on the agenda, so we’ll consider our options there around Sione and probably Tyler,’’ Stone said.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3012174/stone-tells-knights-to-lift-game/?cs=306

Sounds like Stone knows that the Sione bench -> Gidley hooker experiment isn't working. Whether he'll have the guts to change it though remains to be seen. My one criticism of Stone has always been that he'll just stick to who and what's there (regardless of how they're playing) until he's absolutely forced to make changes through injury or suspension. This will show whether he's grown at all as a coach since last time he was in charge.

 

[slotmachine]

Only took him a quarter of the season to work that out.
You might see Sione and Randall on the bench again, LOL.

 

[Noname36]

You might see Sione and Randall on the bench again, LOL.

That was my first thought too. Dear God please no.

 

[Haffa]

Only took him a quarter of the season to work that out.
You might see Sione and Randall on the bench again, LOL.

Haha. That's exactly what I expect.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Hence why we need to look at a competent short term option in the halves. Truth be told if we offloaded Mullen and Roberts and banked on Cogger and Lamb we would be able to buy the forward pack we need to protect them. Mullen is truly on borrowed time now. I cannot put into words how pissed off I am with his inability to get his shit together. one season. 2013. No other club would tolerate it.

Forward packs don't protect halves, this is a huge misconception

If a half can't handle their own out on the field they have no business being in first grade.

 

[Spot On]

Not making excuses for him but realistically most games we've won in the post-Johns period have come off Mullen. We're never going to be a top side with him as our predominant playmaker (and I understand that's the issue) but pissing him off while we don't have another option simply isn't going to happen. Anyone that thinks we'll be any better served with any combination of Roberts/Gidley or Roberts/Randall has rocks in their head.

We need to find a proper organising half to become a consistent good football team. Simply getting rid of Mullen and leaving us with an even worse option isn't going to help us as all...in fact I'd hazard a guess it'd leave us up shit creek for longer.

I agree with all that. An organising half would make life easier for him no doubt. My point is that he doesn't need an organising half to be able to put in a competent kick at the end of each set. There's no excuses there. Our kicking game is f**king crap at the attacking end of the field. Absolute shit. He supposedly specialises in that area???? He can have the odd blinder where he seemingly can produce anything off the boot but way too often it's simply a shit result for us and an absolute gift to the opposition.

I don't think we'll get rid of Mullen, but he should not be immune to spending time in NSW Cup. If he can't put a grubber into the in goal a couple times a week (maybe once please!) then he needs a wake up call.

 

[Noname36]

I agree with all that. An organising half would make life easier for him no doubt. My point is that he doesn't need an organising half to be able to put in a competent kick at the end of each set. There's no excuses there. Our kicking game is f**king crap at the attacking end of the field. Absolute shit. He supposedly specialises in that area???? He can have the odd blinder where he seemingly can produce anything off the boot but way too often it's simply a shit result for us and an absolute gift to the opposition.

I don't think we'll get rid of Mullen, but he should not be immune to spending time in NSW Cup. If he can't put a grubber into the in goal a couple times a week (maybe once please!) then he needs a wake up call.

I'm certainly not saying he needs an organising half to perform (although it would help) and as a result should be immune from criticism because we don't have one. My point was more that the side in general isn't going to perform consistently until we have an organising half anyway so simply dropping Mullen isn't going to help us.

I also completely agree that he shouldn't be immune from NSW Cup. Saying that though I'm only into dropping him if there's somebody in NSW Cup putting their hand up to take that spot which there isn't. Also if Mullen were to be dropped in all fairness Roberts (who has been even worse this season) would need to go with him. Then what are our options? Gidley who went to half last week and made even poorer decisions than Mullen anyway or one of the NSW Cup halves that haven't really impressed either.

I think what it shows is that we need to buy another half or two. At the very least so there's some pressure on Mullen/Roberts which there isn't at the moment given even at their worst they're still our best current options.

 

[K-Man]

it should be so easy.

inside your own half, kick long to the corners and try to find the grass
inside the attacking half, bombs away (and not that BS chip bomb)
inside the attacking 10, grubber for repeat set
don't run it on the 4th and get caught with the ball.

the end.

So true. Even being able to achieve that 50% of the time would be an improvement for our halves.

 

[K-Man]

I agree with all that. An organising half would make life easier for him no doubt. My point is that he doesn't need an organising half to be able to put in a competent kick at the end of each set. There's no excuses there. Our kicking game is f**king crap at the attacking end of the field. Absolute shit. He supposedly specialises in that area???? He can have the odd blinder where he seemingly can produce anything off the boot but way too often it's simply a shit result for us and an absolute gift to the opposition.

I don't think we'll get rid of Mullen, but he should not be immune to spending time in NSW Cup. If he can't put a grubber into the in goal a couple times a week (maybe once please!) then he needs a wake up call.

The worst part is that his kicks don't just ease pressure on the opposition, they actually create pressure for us.

So often Mullen's attacking kick selections end up with us really on the back foot in defence - through a cheap handover that leads to an immediate line break, a penalty, a 7 tackle set, or just their forward pack marauding down field because we don't pin them near their line.

I can't believe how difficult our halves make bombing and grubbering look.

For mine Mullen is too robotic in his attacking kicks. It all looks so careful and considered, which actually just means his bombs are like nice end over end chip kicks and his grubbers are highly predictable.

There was no rocket science to Alfie's short kicking game - good positioning followed by deliberately scrappy little bobblers into gaps that make it a nightmare for defenders to clean up smoothly.

 

[Zoidberg]

Mullo will be on Sterlo's Foxsports show tonight at 7.30, lets see what he has to say.

 

[macavity]

Dobson is probably available.... :sarcasm:

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Mullo did say he was a bit out of form. Said he has worked on his running game and also said they have worked on getting the ball to the outside backs...

Hmmmmmm

 

[Spot On]

edit

 

[Spot On]

Lot of 'work' for a 200 game veteran. Shouldn't all that be second nature??

He did admit possession was a major issue so far this season and that was on his shoulders. Not enough repeat sets.

I guess we'll see plenty this week? Wonder if that will become part of the weekly game plan from now on??

 

[Noname36]

I very much doubt Mullo (or Roberts) hasn't been aware of what's going wrong.

Turning around and being able to get it right when your down on form is the challenge.

As a result I doubt we'll suddenly see a great performance this week. Unfortunately you can't just flick a switch and suddenly change your form when it's down. I'm hoping for an improvement though.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I very much doubt Mullo (or Roberts) hasn't been aware of what's going wrong.

Turning around and being able to get it right when your down on form is the challenge.

As a result I doubt we'll suddenly see a great performance this week. Unfortunately you can't just flick a switch and suddenly change your form when it's down. I'm hoping for an improvement though.

Unless you are playing the Knights, teams seem to have instant form reversals when they play us.

 

[Spot On]

Unless you are playing the Knights, teams seem to have instant form reversals when they play us.

Lol. Too true.

We don't need the halves to find some sort of incredible form just pass the ball and put decent kicks in at the end of each set. That's all really. I'd be happy if they could do that every week. Is it too much to ask??? I don't want Mullo to have to "work" on those things every week as if they are skills he needs to develop after a decade in firsts.