Round 14 | Knights 16-32 Raiders @ Hunter | Sat 7.30pm

[Holla if ya hear me]

Edwards has lost 5 kilos since last yr and to be honest hasnt looked the same player..He should have been bennetts hard man like the dragons have but sadly hes getting s spot in the second row.I mean you have dave taylor and hard running second rowers and we have a light weight
Kade snowden back to reggies.Honestly this guy couldnt tie paul Harragans bootlaces.
Being unable to defend a simple inside ball close to the line is just freakin useless.
Was walking out of the ground when the boo went up and while i dont really condone it it shows the level of frustration that the supporters have.
Stuff it...sometimes you need to be told shit

 

[Holla if ya hear me]

you could see it coming...we always play a team back in form at least once a yr...Benji is going to rip us a new one and it will be like playing school kids

 

[drago brelli]

So confident was I in the Bennett factor especially after what he did at the Dragons that I predicted back in January that Newcastle wouldn't lose a match at home, yet the opposite has happened. I appologise! Surely coach Bennett is at a point which is completely foreign to him. It will be interesting to witness how he responds.

 

[Whats Doing]

So confident was I in the Bennett factor especially after what he did at the Dragons that I predicted back in January that Newcastle wouldn't lose a match at home, yet the opposite has happened. I appologise! Surely coach Bennett is at a point which is completely foreign to him. It will be interesting to witness how he responds.

Not sure whether it is completely foreign to him. He lost 10 out of his last 14 matches with the Dragons last year!

As you can see from my posts, I don't rate the so called Bennett factor as high as most people. He is no doubt a good coach but he has had a lot given to him on a platter in his coaching career. Another good coach in the same circumstances would have delivered premierships to the Broncos and there are questions considering his playing roster as to why they did not win more. Also not enough credit is given to Brownie for the work he did with building up the Dragons.

As I have said, Bennett is a good coach but the Bennett factor is over rated. His real challenge which i think he is showing difficulty is to develop a playing style which complements the skill level and the relative strengths of his playing squad. He seems to being implementing a style that is not suited to the playing roster.

Sometimes you need to take stock and stop flogging a dead horse and adjust your coaching style to get good results. He may even learn something from Stoney who was able to play to the strengths of his playing roster

I have no problem with having a certain coaching philosophy but until you get the coaching cattle you want, you need to adjust.

 

[The Showstopper]

DB we thought close to the same. We now know the boys are not up to it and most deserve the sack. Most are going to get it too. I honestly think all off contracts are gone. Their careers are on the line and they are panicking. There is little interest in most of them. Spoilt brats. They deserve whatever they cop cos it is like any job. Aim up or pack your stuff and get out.

 

[Silent Knight]

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS PLAYER CLEARANCE SALE AT THE END OF THE 2012 SEASON . Bring your truck, bring your trailer to Marathon Stadium because you're never going to see so much stock released at bargain prices ever again. If you thought the Brian Smith clearance sale was big...YOU THOUGHT WRONG. The players have hit rock bottom so their asking price has hit ROCK BOTTOM TOO! These players' NRL careers simply cannot last. If you come early, Bennett will be happy. If you come too late, don't worry we've got the June 30 2013 deadline anyway! These players' football skills have been DRASTICALLY REDUCED. No confidence, no creativity, no spark and certainly no limit to how cheap you can buy them! As Josh Dugan will tell you "I'm not even a 5/8 and I ran right through them, this sale is tremendous value." Buy one Joel Edwards, and we'll toss in the Naqaima brothers absolutely free! GET DOWN TO MARATHON STADIUM NOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!

 

[drago brelli]

You are right about the Dragons losing their last 10 of 14 but they won the comp the year before and Bennett was being chased by Tinkler and Crowe. He knew he wasn't going to be at the Dragons in 2012 and beyond. He is in a similar position now yet he has 3 1/2 years to go.

 

[macavity]

still pissed off. in a filthy mood today.

 

[K-Man]

Could we be the organisation that completely destroys Wayne Bennett's legacy?

One thing I don't really buy is the whole 'it takes time to gel; new coach new ideas; etc' stuff that always gets used when a team like ours is an absolute rabble. It's the same as the 'he is just struggling to fit in at the moment' line.

To me it's a refusal to admit something is drastically wrong.

Cherry-Evans looked calm and composed the second he entered first grade. Mullen still looks lost on the 5th tackle. This is not because he was hyped as the next Joey or because our forwards are crap, it is because Mullen is just not that much of a playmaker and never will be. He takes poor options, that is what he does. Put Thurston with out underperforming pack and watch the difference composure makes when it counts.

Hasler has gone to the Dogs and made big strides with the way they play football. There is a squad that can legitimately say they are 'getting there' - it's not perfect but you can at least see what they are doing.

The good teams and the good players show glimpses of what they can do, even when going through a rough patch. We are just plain bad and honestly I think it's about time WB went to Rick Stone and said 'mate, you know this group better than me. Wholesale changes are coming at the end of this season, but how the heck do we get out of this slump and not run dead last?".

If we were progressing at all you would see the signs of it in our play. There would be moments and structures that would please us, alongside some frustrating bits too. But it's just an absolute rabble and WB's reputation does not make that any easier to swallow. It's just not good enough to be this embarrassingly poor.

We are the laughing stock of the league, which I suddenly realise is worse than coming a commendable 8th.

 

[Aragorn]

We are the laughing stock of the league, which I suddenly realise is worse than coming a commendable 8th.

You're not the laughing stock of the league, cut that nonsense out. That title is strictly reserved for Parramatta!!!!!!!!!!!!

you're a close second though....

 

[Spot On]

I dont' agree that what he did at the Dragons put the argument to bed.

In the Dragons starting 13 they had 9 internationals and a further 3 Origin players. The only player that had not had representative experience was Soward who got origin experience the next year.

It was a team stacked with talent, it was Bennett who put the polish on them that Brownie couldn't.

In respect of what happens in Brisbane, the Broncos have the monopoly over more than 2 million people and a lot more in QLD country. They are also the richest club in the league. Money speaks volumes and they give hundreds of young kids scholarships (I know some that were under 13) like it is going out like confetti. This ties up all the kids in a large part of QLD to the Broncos.

They have the money to do this through their fan base (averaging over 30,000) and huge sponsorships that has the whole Brisbane market. They also have the Thoroughbreds which also benefits the Broncs. Remember Lockyer contract was only $250k which got attributed to the cap.

The Broncos are doing well now after Bennett with Hook. He learnt his trade under both Bellamy and Bennett.

The Broncos will always be a powerhouse due to the money they earn and the monopoly they have on the Brisbane market. They will always get the best players in QLD because of this and the significant amounts of money they throw around at young kids and the support of the Thoroughbreds. If they didn't have this, the Broncos would never have won as many premierships and Bennett the supposed aura he has.

After 3 years at the Dragons, I am not sure they are seeing much "after benefits" of Bennett looking at where they are now as well as their under 20's.

It was Bennett that had to bring talent to that squad to turn it around. Much like he is trying to do with this lot. Unfortunately the core group are playing piss weak at the moment.

Make no mistake about it, while they had some talent in that Dragons squad at the end of R26, 2008 they were far from winning a title.

Bennett has spoken about the culture that existed there when he first walked in. That was the very first thing he had to change. It was a culture of blame. Blaming everyone else and everything for the the losses.

He changed that immediately, placing the emphasis back on the squad and making it clear that there would be no more blame placed on influences they could not control.

It is amazing that Bennett got away with playing Neville Costigan at prop and won a comp. Not to mention Hornby at half. And what about a bloke no one wanted, who was a soft as a marshmellow physically and between the ears, to lead their attack at 5/8.

Bennett's best effort by far.

This club however, provides an altogether different problem. Something stinks here. It's rancid. It's been like that for a while.

 

[macavity]

This club however, provides an altogether different problem. Something stinks here. It's rancid. It's been like that for a while.

We don't blame.

It seems we simply shrug our shoulders, give an "eh, what you gunna do", and look for the nearest bar.

We don't have a culture of blame.

We have a culture of unaccountability, unprofessional-ism, player rule, near-enough-is-good-enough, and always looking forward to next week, but not really thinking we have much control over what happens when we get there.

It is a hangover from the Joey era we just haven't shaken - he had the talent to take the rest along with him and make culture a luxury, but just look at what happened when he wasn't there. Looks eerily familiar, doesn't it.

I am sure losses hurt momentarily, but it is like for our players, deep down, getting paid for playing footy is enough of an accomplishment for them and they don't really think they need anything above that.

Hopefully getting booed off the field is the first step in them realising that their attitude simply isn't good enough. I would actually love for Tinky to go down and start smashing things in the locker room and threatening them... I don't know what is going to get through - obviously personal pride isn't enough, pride in the town isn't enough, playing for each other isn't enough. Fear might work, but it is a bit far fetched.

Meth? :sarcasm:

 

[The Red Afro]

Meth? :sarcasm:

Maybe we should just redesign the stadium to look like Fannys (a local 'nightclub' for those unaware)

 

[IanG]

If our season was a car it'd be an insurance right off

 

[woodyk2]

6 points out of the 8 with a few teams ahead of them still to play. Can they turn it around or is 2012 over already?

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Exactly right. If the players dont want to conform they can f**k off.. It worked when we had Joey, but that is because he was a once in a century player.

I think it was more of a case of Johns not taking any sh!t from the players. He was out there leading by example and turning up every week. If the players around him weren't doing the same, he was happy to give them a spray.

 

[The Showstopper]

Tinks needs a muscleman who believes in knee cap donations after a few losses. Agreed Mac. My wife sent me to bed cos she knew i was fuming. Good call. My Smart Tv is still in one piece and i went to the game!

 

[Silent Knight]

6 points out of the 8 with a few teams ahead of them still to play. Can they turn it around or is 2012 over already?

Our season is over. You can go back to your Manly forum now and converse with the other two forumers who live in there.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

I agree with what has been said in regards to Bennett setting up the structure and it's up to the players to be a part of it. I noticed a lot under Smith and Stone, that they attepted to do the best with the players at their dispossal. One of the big differences that Smith and Stone used, were short passes, beginning at the very start of games. They realised that the knights forwards were incapable of getting over the advantage line, so short sharp passes were used. It was used to have players involved in one on one tackles as opposed to being manhandled by 3 or 4 players.

 

[woodyk2]

Our season is over. You can go back to your Manly forum now and converse with the other two forumers who live in there.

Dont be sooky la la buddy...i'm interested because i get the Knights rammed down my throat living in the area.Mrs is Knights supporter and i copped bucketloads off them regarding Manly ''issues'' at the start of the season. The other two in the Manly forum are good blokes by the way.