RLW's November edition - Best Knights team..

[Joker's Wild]

The kid should be given an extended mortgage on the #7 jersey, it is why we bought one of if not the top rated NYC players in the first place. Any Knights fan knows what chopping and changing our halves will do to a RL season so that needs to stop right now.

Im not expecting a Joey, Noddy or even a Jnr Jnr out of the kid in his 1st season with us but would be happy for him just to hold his own and improve over the season. Having Dureau in our halves has lowered my expectations of our #7 considerably but from what I have seen of the kid in NYC I have little doubt that he will take this opportunity with both hands.

 

[rnb11]

I agree with every word of Jokers Wild. It'd be a disaster if our halves continued to be screwed around with. Henry needs to get comfortable in first grade and within the team, I don't think anyone is expecting him to be a champion player from the get go though we still would need to see improvement each week.

Next year if Mullen & Henry can form the combination we've been talking about since Beau signed, O'Donnell, Kev & Likiliki can get a decent amount of game time and we can recruit a few big name players, 2012 SHOULD be a very exciting year for us.

 

[Burwood]

Cooper Cronk?

So the one player that can be named is the very guy that I used to illustrate my point?

The kid should be given an extended mortgage on the #7 jersey, it is why we bought one of if not the top rated NYC players in the first place.

Why is playing a guy off the bench in the first 8-10 rounds of his NRL career saying that he is not being given the opportunity to be our long-term #7? I didn't say that he should be exclusively a bench player or that he should spend the entire season on the bench, just that we should tread carefully and make sure that his transition from NYC to NRL is a smooth one. As everyone seems to agree, the difference between the two competitions is massive.

Any Knights fan knows what chopping and changing our halves will do to a RL season so that needs to stop right now.

Playing Henry from the bench for the opening part of the season isn't chopping and changing the team. He would still be a staple part of our team, just from the bench.

Coaches have been utilising impact players from the bench for quite some time now- why does it need to be limited to that player being a hooker or a forward? I'm sure Stone would be able to devise some plan that would involve Henry coming off the bench.

 

[rnb11]

I don't see a problem with Henry coming off the bench for the first month or 2, just as long as it isn't Gidley in the starting halves.

 

[roopy]

Let's look at all the options, because we actually have more number 7 talent at the club than you can poke a stick at right now.

Mullen - says he wants to play 7 and feels he is more ready than he was - not a natural 7, but has a fair bit of experience at it now.

Gidley - also not a natural 7, but has played more games at 7 in firstgrade than anyone else we have and is more than adequate.

Henry - very good junior form but no senior experience.

Stig - was a natural 6 in the juniors who was starting to be very good in the 7 during his last few months of juniors in 2009. Trained with the cowboys last off season, but they didn't pick him up and he played the season with Northern Pride in the Qld cup and was one of their best as they went all the way to the GF, but he was injured and missed the GF, which they won without him. He is a 90+ kg guy who has been playing well against seniors, so should be physically ready for firstgrade if he has the talent.

Roberts - very talented 7 who is training with firstgrade and has been getting better and better in NYC for the past two seasons. A bit small and not a strong defender, but still young and growing. Should improve a lot with an off season of firstgrade training.

Those are all the genuine 7s we have training with firstgrade - but we also have Sullivan, Taufuoa and Will Smith and new signing Maipele Morseau in NYC - all outstanding potential 7s.

If Dunneman is a decent halves coach, he has more potential to work with than we have seen for some time, but he doesn't have a finished product.

Dunneman was a rookie coach with the Northern Pride in 2009 and he did well on the strength of training up a couple of young halves who got runs with NRL sides. His last act as coach of Northern Pride was to sign the guy he saw as the next half he wanted to coach, Ryan Stig. He has also had imput into choosing Henry a future star, so Dunneman has the guys he wants to work with and a reputation for turning young halves into firstgraders. He has no excuses if he doesn't get results.

 

[Alex28]

Right Roop - so if Gidley is it who do we play at Fullback?

I can't believe we are even debating this before we see how Henry goes in the trials...

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Would go for Kev or even wes over Shannon, but the only halves combination that could win a premiership next season would be Kidley/Mullen - and i think we should at least start the season like we are a chance to win.

Roopy's agenda continues!

 

[Yosh]

For real? He could have done that at St George. He came here to do the exact opposite.

People are pretending to know what is best for the team without seeing how the guy goes during the off season and even seeing him play in a trial. It is all a bit stupid really...

So you're saying that if he is successful in the trials he will be successful in first grade? I'm not talking about Henry specifically here. I know he has talent and I hope/know that he will be our long term no.7. What I saying; in the ideal situtation we would have a system similar to what Melbourne had 3 or 4 years ago. Two quality halves playing week in week out and the next talented youngster being eased into firstgrade off the bench.

Carrying a reserve halfback is too put it bluntly, a stupid idea in my books. We need stability, and that last bench position could be put to better use.

I'd rather see Beau Henry in 18 than 14.

He ain't just a resereve halfback, he is also a youngster who is yet to play in the NRL. I hated seeing Dureau on the bench last year as much as anyone however Henry is different. I think having him on the bench for the first 8~10 weeks to ease him into First Grade isn't such a bad idea. We do still have Mullen and Rogers who can start, Henry comes on for Rogers sometime into a match.

I am not against the idea of Henry coming on as our starting halfback as soon as our season starts, I just think its not ideal.

Yeah you're right. Why give the best prospect we have a chance.

We are. Perhaps even a better chance. Would you rather him being nurtured into first grade at a slow and consistant pace or see him being thrown into first grade under a whole heap of pressure.

This, ridiculous some of you are not willing to give him a shot at cementing a 1st grade spot.

1. Gidley
6. Mullen
7. Henry
9. De Gois

We are...

Cooper Cronk?

LOL... Just LOL:sarcasm:

 

[TooheysNew]

We are. Perhaps even a better chance. Would you rather him being nurtured into first grade at a slow and consistant pace or see him being thrown into first grade under a whole heap of pressure.

The pressure isn't going to disappear just because he's halfway through the season with a few games off the bench to his name.

In fact, if we're doing badly at that point, and throw him into the halfback role then, the pressure would be even worse. Have a think about the type of fans the Knights have.

You want to make the job easier on the kid, put the best players we can around him, give him stability, and give him the opportunity to learn his place WITHIN the team. He's a rookie halfback, not a rookie winger or a rookie prop. He can't just do his job and be somewhat insulated from the performance of every other player. He has to learn how to work WITH the rest of the team, which he can't do sitting on a bench.

 

[aqua_duck]

I know a few people here follow NFL, to put it in NFL terms if you just picked the best QB out of college with the number 1 pick in the draft, would you really be playing him as a reserve?

 

[Joker's Wild]

....and move your best running back to quaterback for a few games to cover the gap.

Not a great idea

Oh and we arnt Melbourne, who had the luxury of a top line halfback and a promising youngster in the same team.

 

[Yosh]

Touche. Your guys are right. Odds are we'll be near the bottom of the table and expecting Henry to Joey us to the top. Well played Coby, well played.

 

[Yosh]

....and move your best running back to quaterback for a few games to cover the gap.

Not a great idea

Oh and we arnt Melbourne, who had the luxury of a top line halfback and a promising youngster in the same team.

That's been my argument all along. Pity we don't have that luxury. Least we didn't cheat for it.

 

[Alex28]

So you're saying that if he is successful in the trials he will be successful in first grade? I'm not talking about Henry specifically here. I know he has talent and I hope/know that he will be our long term no.7. What I saying; in the ideal situtation we would have a system similar to what Melbourne had 3 or 4 years ago. Two quality halves playing week in week out and the next talented youngster being eased into firstgrade off the bench.

You are dreaming about the Melbourne scenario. I don't care about your wonderful ideology scenario - we don't have that luxury. You are in dreamland.

If we left Henry on the bench for 2 years we wouldn't have him by the time we are ready to put him in the 7 jersey permanently. He would leave because he came to us for the opportunity that we promised him. We'd be going back on our word and telling every player in the comp that our word means nothing.

We OWE him first shot at 7. If he is successful in the trials of course we give him first shot in Round 1. Why wouldn't you?

I ask you...if he performs better in the 7 jersey than McDonnell would go in the 1 jersey, why on earth would you reward McDonnell and punt Henry?

However...we need to give him the opportunity, and we need to be patient with him. This isn't about doing well in 2011 - it's about dominating years to come.

 

[Yosh]

Alex I know that already. What makes you think that I don't know that?

 

[TooheysNew]

The fact that you want to keep him on the bench...

 

[Alex28]

Alex I know that already. What makes you think that I don't know that?

You want to keep the guy on the bench for the two years he is contracted to us for!

I don't think you know what you know...

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Cant the season start tomorrow?

 

[Yosh]

You want to keep the guy on the bench for the two years he is contracted to us for!

I don't think you know what you know...

No I don't. 8~10 weeks.

I said in the ideal world any new half should be guided into first grade for a year or two like Cooper Cronk. You wanna actually read what I wrote first?

 

[Alex28]

No I don't. 8~10 weeks.

I said in the ideal world any new half should be guided into first grade for a year or two like Cooper Cronk. You wanna actually read what I wrote first?

Yup:

I would love to see Henry come off the bench as the no.14 for two seasons however we don't have the luxury Melbourne had.

That is the first time you have said "8-10 weeks".

Why waste half the season and a bench spot by:

1. not playing him for 80 minutes; and
2. Weakening the bench by having a player who's limit is the halves?