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

[perverse]

Turn it up mate!:lol:

No matter how bad things may be going in Newcastle, we will NEVER, EVER be as bad as South Sydney were, especially during 2002-06 (the period after their re-admission to the NRL). 3 wooden spoons in those 5 years, and a 4th one would've ensued had the Bulldogs not had the salary crap scandal in 2002. They were an absolute mess of a side until Crowe/Holmes a Court came on board and made the changes in 2007 which led to their first finals appearance in nearly 20 yrs (largely thanks to our late 8 min surge from us to defeat the Tigers after the full-time siren).

That 2006 team of theirs was one of the worst I've ever seen: only 3 wins out of 24 games with a -343 F/A:lol: Only the 1998/99 Western Suburbs Magpies team and 1993 Gold Coast Seagulls team rank as worse sides than that. Seagulls only won one game that year (against us) and 1999 Magpies side had.....wait for this....-659 F/A, conceeding 39pts/game. We are a long, looooooong way off that level of ineptitude.

Honestly, we are a modern day equivalent. Souths after readmission you can excuse, they had to throw their club back together again after it was already performing really poorly before they were kicked out.

Since the early 2000's the comp has gotten progressively closer and closer. There aren't any teams like the old Souths or Wests around anymore, the comp is too close... but over a long period of time - our ineptitude and lack of success is certainly as close as you can find to them in the modern game, I would think. Right down there anyway. We are down there with Canberra as far as lack of success over the past 10 years goes. Hell, even they are looking better than us at the moment.

 

[undertaker]

I have no time for bandwagoners who only support a team when they're winning but...

How long is a person supposed to put up with this for? That's 2 hours of a Sunday afternoon I wasted watching the same clueless bullshit that has felt all too commonplace since Brian Smith left- and remember people who support this very club thought he ripped the heart out of the place! :lol: FFS.

It's not about coming away with a loss. It's about the lack of focus and ability on the playing field, and lack of ambition off it. I feel as if the long held reputation of Knights fans for being especially loyal is working against the whole organisation here. A greater demand for accountability from the people buying tickets, memberships and merchandise, on a large scale, would surely go some way to ensuring the next 5 seasons provide more than just glacial squad rotation and ambition that aims no higher than making the top 8.

I went to the match against the Titans a few weeks ago in the rain, and come the Broncos game I will make the trip up as a token presence. But beyond that, days like today make me seriously reconsider how much attention I pay to these inept plodders. Because it feels less like entertainment or an enjoyable distraction, and more like something I do just because I'm used to it...

Accountability on the field won't be happening anytime soon with the administration we have, starting with Matt Gidley as CEO.

 

[undertaker]

Our defence was the one shining light but even that was missing from this game. That try Peats scored from DH was beyond ordinary

Yeah that Peats try was poor. How he just pushed his way over from dummy-half with two Knights defenders already there had me baffled.

 

[Tom155]

Newcastle Knights ‏@NRLKnights 4m4 minutes ago
No major injuries to report from the match, coach adds Beau Scott unlikely to be ready to return next weekend #NRLKnightsEels

 

[Nuffy]

The thing is, I notice this atttude all the more because I have never lived in the Hunter all my life. My support for the Knights was born out of admiring the players' guts, determination and willingness give each weekend their best shot, win or lose. Their pride in the jersey, the badge and the town they represented. That attitude was reflected in the supporters, too. Remember the days when every Sydney clubs' fans knew they'd have to step their game up if they were hosting the Knights that weekend? I remember back in 2001, coming home from a match against the Sharks on the train and this old lady (Souths fan) made the comment that "If every teams' fans got behind their side the way Newcastle fans do, the game as a whole would be so much better".

Who would say that about our supporter base today? On the one hand the impulsive negativity and the emo's piss me off, but you see this lack of accountability for performance and the almost incestuous culture at the club from the top down and is it any wonder?

And as an "outsider", it makes me wonder if the club really gives a shit about the support I've had for this club since I was 12? Or are those of us who are "the outsiders" fools for caring about an organisation that doesn't seem to give a shit about us, or much else that exists outside the goldfish bowl?

Great insight.

The negativity is just the wearing down of expectations and the culmination of seeing the club repeat the same mistakes year in and out.

The lack of accountability just crushes me and it more than anything is cancerous. We are good at talking the talk but never follow through and make tough calls. The way Brian Smith and Warren Ryan were treated were a disgrace and the likes of the Knights Nannas do far more harm than good. The club talks about reengaging with the community, you want 20k members and 20k plus per home game, get a team than is successful. No one will care whether there are any local boys if we win a comp and worrying about local players allows for mediocrity over merit.

Bennett left because he saw that the club was broken and even he couldn't fix it.

Get a truly independent board who's only prerequisite is success on and off the field and we just might come out of it, otherwise we got this malaise forever.

Is it any coincidence that Souths only improved when it got new independent blood at every level in the club.

 

[undertaker]

This, when your CEO, football manager, coach and captains got the job was that they are considered Novocastrian, what hope is there.

THIS x 100

And unfortunately the status quo won't be changing any time soon, not after the reaction Brian Smith got with the changes he tried to make

 

[perverse]

I just really wonder what the team does all week? Do they just sit around and play cards? Surf? Playstation?

 

[Frederick]

I just really wonder what the team does all week? Do they just sit around and play cards? Surf? Playstation?

They probably ring gids all week

 

[Nuffy]

Mate you've seen me post the game stuff in other threads about his 2013 and back end of 2014 form. Just watch any game from there you see his class, his ability and his skill. Even go watch his return against the Raiders, Bulldogs and even City Country. Yes, he isn't playing the way someone who's played over a decade and 200+ games should, you expect consistency, but this? What he's serving up now? Is a rough patch plain simple.

I get the spirited defence and god I wish things were different, but the facts are that he's getting worse not better, the more experienced he is.

He is our key playmaker who can't deliver, maybe he needs to be dropped so he can get his shit together.

I'm not excusing the rest but he is supposed to be the leader, if so, lead.

 

[Noname36]

The sad part is that it's actually amazing that the club is still around.

We've been around for 27 years and have been in complete poverty for 25 of them. Even in the couple of years we had money it all went sour and we ended up having to get taken over by the NRL.

Like literally, we're the poorest club in the competition year after year, decade after decade.

Success on the field is never going to come again unless we uncover another Johns (impossible) or the club gets its shit together at management level so there's so accountability and tough decisions made.

 

[perverse]

They probably ring gids all week

I kinda feel like our players and administrators are the only people who get anything out of this club. They all get paid the same wage regardless, and can turn up to training tomorrow to give each other a pat on the back and a "better luck next week".

 

[perverse]

The sad part is that it's actually amazing that the club is still around.

We've been around for 27 years and have been in complete poverty for 25 of them. Even in the couple of years we had money it all went sour and we ended up having to get taken over by the NRL.

Like literally, we're the poorest club in the competition year after year, decade after decade.

Success on the field is never going to come again unless we uncover another Johns (impossible) or the club gets its shit together at management level so there's so accountability and tough decisions made.

All of this is a 1 team town that is (at least WAS) stark raving mad about Rugby League.

 

[Noname36]

I just really wonder what the team does all week? Do they just sit around and play cards? Surf? Playstation?

In all fairness I thought it really looked like they'd been working on the attack hard and it paid off. Too bad they forget about holding the f**king ball and defending.

 

[Apey]

Roberts & Gidley played like right merkins today. I was leaving the ground, saw Sandow missed the kick, so I stayed and managed to see Gidley murder that last minute opportunity right in front of me. He molested my innocence with that moment.

 

[Swarzey]

I get the spirited defence and god I wish things were different, but the facts are that he's getting worse not better, the more experienced he is.

He is our key playmaker who can't deliver, maybe he needs to be dropped so he can get his shit together.

I'm not excusing the rest but he is supposed to be the leader, if so, lead.

I agree and think he should take more control but again, there's proof he can and until we're sitting dead at the bottom and our season is gone, I'm going to maintain that he will at some point.

Throw in that today, last week and the week before our forwards got stomped, it's impossible to do anything. How often were the opposition in his face because the forwards weren't bending the line? Parra were still getting up quick well until the end of the game. There's great players, rare players who don't need the forwards, don't need the individual plays to get the ball rolling but Mullo isn't one of them. There's only a single player in the game capable of doing it.

There were plenty of times you would have expected him to do something today, but it's very, very hard when nothing else is going right. Fact is, he looked good in the opening 20 when the team looked good and you can't skew that in any way, shape or form to fit your view and it's zero coincidence he and the side in general lost the plot when we started dropping the ball, making lazy attempts in defence.

 

[perverse]

Roberts & Gidley played like right merkins today. I was leaving the ground, saw Sandow missed the kick, so I stayed and managed to see Gidley murder that last minute opportunity right in front of me. He molested my innocence with that moment.

How can you possibly still be innocent after watching that very same thing happen more times than I can count in the past? He did nothing except play exactly to my expectations in that moment.

 

[Whats Doing]

Mate you've seen me post the game stuff in other threads about his 2013 and back end of 2014 form. Just watch any game from there you see his class, his ability and his skill. Even go watch his return against the Raiders, Bulldogs and even City Country. Yes, he isn't playing the way someone who's played over a decade and 200+ games should, you expect consistency, but this? What he's serving up now? Is a rough patch plain and simple.



After FOUR GAMES. FOUR. UNDERSCORE FOUR. BOLD FOUR.

Give me a break :lol:

I'm not defending Roberts, I'd rather see Feeney get the opportunity, even Randell but this idea that a player after four games is a better long term, hell, short term option is ridiculous. This idea that we should just take whatever scraps, thinking that a handful of good games is enough to justify their signing is pathetic and nothing short of that.

Buddy. You have the knights recruitment mentality if you think we do not need to recruit outside for a half. So you think Elgey would be taking scraps and would be a pathetic signing. Hahahahahahahahahhah.

Its obvious you have not seen Elgey play in detail by making those ridiculous comments.

Just snippet from Saturdays game.

ROOKIE Gold Coast halfback Kane Elgey enhanced his reputation as the best young halfback coming through the ranks with a starring role in the Titans 32-6 win over Penrith at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.

In just his fourth NRL game Elgey provided repeated touches of class to help guide the Titans to their first home win of the season as both the Titans and Panthers ended the afternoon with two players sidelined with injury.

 

[Swarzey]

[/B]

Buddy. You have the knights recruitment mentality if you think we do not need to recruit outside for a half. So you think Elgey would be taking scraps and would be a pathetic signing. Hahahahahahahahahhah.

Its obvious you have not seen Elgey play in detail by making those ridiculous comments.

Just snippet from Saturdays game.

ROOKIE Gold Coast halfback Kane Elgey enhanced his reputation as the best young halfback coming through the ranks with a starring role in the Titans 32-6 win over Penrith at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday. In just his fourth NRL game Elgey provided repeated touches of class to help guide the Titans to their first home win of the season as both the Titans and Panthers ended the afternoon with two players sidelined with injury.

My god, you're missing the point :lol:

No, sign an outside half but sign a kid who's had four games of first grade? Come on. You really can't see what's wrong with that? It's a risk, pure and simple. And "scraps" is refering to any and every other halfback that gets thrown about as a better option when the reality is most of them have three or four good games in them; no better, no worse then what we already have.

And please, the media jump all over new kids that come out swinging but please, go head and post every article piece that give him the wraps, plenty of one hit wonders who had the same.

 

[perverse]

Well, we're not exactly going to sign an established half, especially since we've somehow spent our salary cap even though Scott and probably Gidley will leave at the end of the season. We're the only team in the comp that loses 2 of its highest paid players and then can't sign anyone as a result.

Wow, it's unbelievable that Kurt Gidley plays football for more than $200-$250k a season. Breaks my heart. I can't even remember the last time he actually earned that money.

 

[Nuffy]

All of this is a 1 team town that is (at least WAS) stark raving mad about Rugby League.

It won't always be like that, in a time when attention spans are measured in minutes, people want to be entertained and that means winning and success.

I think this is the single biggest error the club and board are making, they are assuming that the fans have nothing to do but support the team, a fatal conceit.

We've been in a hole for a decade and tough decisions need to be made. The best people are required and if they aren't from Newcastle then so be it.