Round 2 2016 v Souths Game discussion

[The Showstopper]

Mullen and Uate need to retire or leave. I would rather know we have salary cap space next season and win another spoon than know one or both will still be here as mentally piss poor in 2017 taking money they do not deserve even half of. Browny's only hope is to force people at the door. He needs to be cutthroat ruthless. No friends policy.

 

[Noname36]

Mullen and Uate need to retire or leave. I would rather know we have salary cap space next season and win another spoon than know one or both will still be here as mentally piss poor in 2017 taking money they do not deserve even half of. Browny's only hope is to force people at the door. He needs to be cutthroat ruthless. No friends policy.

Huh. Mullen was one of our best last night. I wouldn't mind if he left (providing someone steps up to replace him - which hasn't happened) but the timing of your post is very strange given he was one of the few putting his body on the line and trying to make something happen last night.

 

[Spot On]

Another try down uate and gagai's side.

Defend them all you want but there is a reason why they are being targeted

I'm usually very quick to pan the both of them but not this week. When simple catch and pass continually gets outside our entire defensive line countless times on both edges I can't just blame Uate and Gags.

That said, my sig was published a loooong time a go and is still warranted.

Yes there's a reason teams target that side.

 

[Spot On]

Thats funny...

I remember a few years ago (obviouly before he got the GM role out at Penrith) he was advocating no salary cap and a survival-of-the-wealthiest layout.

Do you have a link for that article? Would love to read it.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Tells the story...

It's telling that they only missed 8 tackles at that point in the game. Not even good enough to get close enough to Miss the tackles.

Knights deserve better. Hokko looks like Hokko. He isn't much of a creator. Just a good kicking game and directs forwards well. Zero creatively.

 

[Spot On]

Yeah the theory was that Hokko could steer us as he's not a creative half and the great Mullo would be free to finally shine in attack.

 

[K-Man]

Yeah the theory was that Hokko could steer us as he's not a creative half and the great Mullo would be free to finally shine in attack.

That theory was so overhyped. Sounded great but was totally unrealistic. Hodkinson is average at best and Mullen is Mullen, he was never going to become a creative ball running machine overnight just because Hodkinson can catch and pass.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Do you have a link for that article? Would love to read it.

Wasnt an article, it was a segnent on the Sunday Roast. Hime, Vossy and MG we debating it and he was adamant that the cap was terrible for the game.

I had a look last night, but i never expected to find it :? :?

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I sat down to this game knowing we werent a chance, but i stayed until the end because i wa hoping to see at least a small spark. That last 10 minute we had was quite nice to watch (scrappy, but nice)...

The boys loosened up and began some lateral movement with players following. Still a VERY long way to go, but it was nice to see a few plays coming together.

 

[Spot On]

We need a creative half to compliment Mullo but unfortunately they don't exist in our price range.

 

[Misanthrope]

If last night's game made nothing else abundantly clear, it's that there is an ever-widening gap between the haves and the have nots in the NRL.

Without a wealthy owner, a leagues club, and/or other investments to prop us up and enable us to make use of TPAs, we're only going to slip farther and farther behind.

The days of being able to get by purely on our ability to create juniors and the engagement of an increasingly ageing population of true believers are long gone.

 

[K-Man]

I get that people are excited to see more accountability for performance and that Brown is willing to make tough decisions, but you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater after every single match.

I don't see how our first grade team becoming a player merry-go-round is going to help us build continuity or confidence. I'm not saying anyone should be immune to the axe, but it has to be within reason. Our team is borderline NSW Cup standard so sometimes what people perceive as a lack of effort is just a lack of class. We're not good enough.

If it's a genuine lack of effort you don't deserve to be playing NRL. If it's a few dropped balls or just one of those games where things don't go your way, you shouldn't be immediately fearing the axe.

We wouldn't even have a team on the park if every player someone in here wanted dropped within the first two rounds actually did get dropped. At some point I've seen Feeney, Ross, Uate, Gagai, Korbin, Mataora, Snowden, Rochow and Randell mentioned as players who should get dropped for a bad game. Also Feeney to wing when he's a halfback trying to learn fullback? Honestly. We'd lose by 100 if all that actually happened.

Seriously, Brown can't just drop a guy every time he's slightly below par. Korbin goes from being easily our best player in round one to not being so good in round two and he should be dropped? It just doesn't work like that.

I for one would at least like to see how our best team (on paper, that is) would go at some stage this season.

 

[K-Man]

If last night's game made nothing else abundantly clear, it's that there is an ever-widening gap between the haves and the have nots in the NRL.

Without a wealthy owner, a leagues club, and/or other investments to prop us up and enable us to make use of TPAs, we're only going to slip farther and farther behind.

The days of being able to get by purely on our ability to create juniors and the engagement of an increasingly ageing population of true believers are long gone.

It's true but I also think we have a history of putting the money we do have into the wrong areas. We never seem to invest wisely in our spine but we throw money at someone like Gagai to play centre when he can't defend at all. I could live with Sione's and Gagai's salary if it was because we backed one of them to make the switch to fullback and become a really top class key player. But now when I watch Gagai I just think there are a dozen young centres running around who bring more to the table and cost half the price. Even Holland looked more of an NRL player than Gagai this weekend. People bagged him constantly but I'd rather Joey Leilua back than any centre we have at the moment. At least he had the diamonds with the rocks. He made things happen and he can tackle.

Now we've locked ourselves into Hodkinson for 3 years and I don't rate him at all. How much did Sezer cost the Raiders? I've be much happier to have brought a playmaker like him in over Hodkinson. I bet even Tyrone finishes this year rated higher than our two experienced halves.

 

[macavity]

It's true but I also think we have a history of putting the money we do have into the wrong areas. We never seem to invest wisely in our spine but we throw money at someone like Gagai to play centre when he can't defend at all. I could live with Sione's and Gagai's salary if it was because we backed one of them to make the switch to fullback and become a really top class key player. But now when I watch Gagai I just think there are a dozen young centres running around who bring more to the table and cost half the price. Even Holland looked more of an NRL player than Gagai this weekend. People bagged him constantly but I'd rather Joey Leilua back than any centre we have at the moment. At least he had the diamonds with the rocks. He made things happen and he can tackle.

Now we've locked ourselves into Hodkinson for 3 years and I don't rate him at all. How much did Sezer cost the Raiders? I've be much happier to have brought a playmaker like him in over Hodkinson. I bet even Tyrone finishes this year rated higher than our two experienced halves.

When you are dining off scraps, you Don't get much choice in what you eat.

Seriously, we either give up on recruitment and resign ourselves to the fate of whatever we can dig up locally (recognising we lose most of the good ones anyway), or we resign ourselves to only recruiting second tier talent.

Why are good players going to come here? We can't promise them a winning culture. We have to pay them at least what they are going to earn elsewhere... And that means the cap figures of our second tier talent are the same as the cap figures on superstars elsewhere.

I know I'm a broken record, but the point I am trying to make is we are way too hard on an admin with basically no options outside of what they are doing.

 

[Misanthrope]

When you are dining off scraps, you Don't get much choice in what you eat.

Seriously, we either give up on recruitment and resign ourselves to the fate of whatever we can dig up locally (recognising we lose most of the good ones anyway), or we resign ourselves to only recruiting second tier talent.

Why are good players going to come here? We can't promise them a winning culture. We have to pay them at least what they are going to earn elsewhere... And that means the cap figures of our second tier talent are the same as the cap figures on superstars elsewhere.

I know I'm a broken record, but the point I am trying to make is we are way too hard on an admin with basically no options outside of what they are doing.

Newcastle also has the same issue that Canberra does - it's just not a place a cashed up 20 something really wants to be when Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane are options.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Breaking news: All Newcastle Knights games will now be played during school zone periods, so the opposition can't go over 40.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Korbin stank, he'd probably get dropped to bench but who else is there?

Korbin carried the team in the first week as well as virtually all last year. I'd like to think that Brown will keep him in the run on.

 

[slotmachine]

(recognising we lose most of the good ones anyway)

We don't produce anyone worth stealing these days. Apparently Latrell Mitchell wasn't good enough for our Harold Matt's side.

Don't really see anyone getting dropped based on yesterday's effort.

Stockwell will replace bhana, sione will come in for Aku and d Saifiti might get a rest in NYC for paea.

 

[The Showstopper]

Huh. Mullen was one of our best last night. I wouldn't mind if he left (providing someone steps up to replace him - which hasn't happened) but the timing of your post is very strange given he was one of the few putting his body on the line and trying to make something happen last night.

He gets the chance to run supposedly on the back of Hodko and instead continues to play like a deer in the headlights. I think he is a great kid but his confidence levels will never come good. Have you ever seen him fire up? Yesterday was his chance to show Brown he got it wrong leaving him out of the captaincy and he just has the head bowed, a frustrated demeanour and the absolute white flag approach. Really wanted him to just put his body on the line every time. No one had a dig as far as the senior group goes or at least attempted to slow the proceedings down. Rochow is another one. Uate is uncoachable. Trying hard is not good enough anymore. We are going backwards at an alarming rate. Souths were in cruise control.

 

[steely]

Uate needs to get a little wider . If possible first row of grandstand