Winning two Premierships in 5 years was a blessing and a curse- too many people are still convinced it's only a matter of time until another Joey comes along and then all the years of underwhelming performances will be rectified. It's also a reflection on the town- as others have mentioned- even amongst our support base there's too many people who seem intent on hanging onto this insular, blue-collar, underdog image of the club in fear that we'll lose our "soul" if we move into the 21st century, change our administrative set-up or our funding model and hold players accountable for their worth in the squad instead of giving a free pass to anybody who "tries hard" or is a "local boy". Even the "Rise for Alex" song was (as pointed out on other threads) laughably similar to a Parker/ Stone parody song or some 90's cover band. But oh well- it was for a good cause and it was dedicated to one of our boys, so let's ignore the fact this was Newcastle's chance to advertise the team culture (and the town) to the NRL (and Aussie sport as a whole) and all that ensues is the old school bogan stereotype being further reinforced. I don't care if some people think it's blasphemous to criticise anything to do with #riseforalex- I'm sick of waiting for the team I care about to stop resting on past glories, move into the 21st century and give me any reason beyond habit to take the time out watching this team play.
I don't know whether this next point has to do with general form this past decade or the town's culture or both, but the Knights have not been a 'cool' team to support for at least a decade. Too many people are happy to keep wearing their old Knights truckers cap, their circa 2004 Best 'N Less red and blue supporters' jackets, wave their 1998 spec NRL team flag and keep hanging onto this idea that everything's ok and don't be negative about anything because it's "our boys" and they'll play for pride just because. Roosters fans have cool, modern looking supporter wear and classy logo stickers for their fans to display. Souths have managed to stay true to one of the most awkward colour schemes in the comp while turning out some of the smartest, most up to date merchandise and supporter wear. You can wear the gear of those teams and look reasonably up-to-date and socially acceptable. Most Knights gear outside of game day (and attending the game at that) would only be worn by the "YAY GIDLEY!" fan boys or the UFC shirt brigade.
The club should be paying as much attention to its' marketing department in the next 6 months as their coaching department...
