Newcastle Knights great Andrew Johns urges coach Wayne Bennett to shift fullback Darius Boyd to five-eighth
Barry Toohey
The Daily Telegraph
May 29, 2012 12:00AM
ANDREW Johns has urged coach Wayne Bennett to "stimulate" struggling fullback Darius Boyd by moving him to five-eighth for Sunday's clash against Brisbane.
But the Newcastle legend warned there will be no Knights revival this season unless veteran forwards Danny Buderus and Willie Mason are given more support up front.
"Willie and Bedsy can't do it on their own,"Johns said yesterday.
"Willie's been great but every time he takes the ball forward, there is no-one within a bull's roar of him.
"It's one-out stuff all the time with no support for either him or Bedsy and it's not hard for a defence to pick them off. Unless that changes, the big picture isn't going to change."
Bennett may have no other option than to shift Boyd to first receiver with regular five-eighth Jarrod Mullen in doubt for the Brisbane game with a possible fractured eye socket.
Mullen had facial scans yesterday and will find out his immediate fate today after suffering the injury in the first half of Saturday night's dismal loss to Gold Coast.
"He struggled with it against the Titans and was still suffering from double vision this morning but it's going to hinge on the result of the scan," Knights CEO Matt Gidley said.
"Hopefully, he will be OK."
Johns believes the decision to shift Boyd to first receiver should be made irrespective of whether Mullen is ruled out.
"If Jarrod is right to go, I'd shift him to halfback and give young Tyrone (Roberts) a spell back in the lower grades,"Johns said.
"Tyrone needs a break. It's not doing him any good being up there the way they are going. It'll just burn him out. Boyd's suffering
because nothing's being created for him up front. He needs stimulating so throw him into the frontline and give him that responsibility. I saw him play there in a Charity Shield game for the Dragons and he really handled it."
Johns' former premiership-winning teammate at the Knights Marc Glanville has accused current players of being in the comfort zone because of the club's lack of depth.
"That was up their with one of the club's worst performances ever on Saturday night," he said yesterday.
"We got belted a few times in the early years but it was never through lack of effort or intensity. After 20 minutes against the Titans, intensity was just non-existent. It was like they didn't want it enough.
"The fans told the story, there were boos at halftime. Willie (Mason) aimed up but I think most of the others are in the comfort zone because no-one is pushing for their spots.
"This club was built around players with the three Ts - they had to be tough, they had to be able to tackle and they had to have plenty of tomorrows. I reckon there are a few T's missing in quite a few of the boys."
