Round 22 | Knights vs Bulldogs @ Hunter | Sat 5.30pm

[Yosh]

So 24-14? Damn we are good!! Just 3 more tries boys!!!

 

[Big Pete]

Terrible in the first half, extremely soft in defence but solidified and dominated possession in the second. Unfortunately, Knights just weren't clicking and couldn't cross the line when they needed to.

I just don't think everyone is on the same page out there. Boyd still doesn't seem to be on the same page as everyone and then you have relative rookies like Rochow trying too hard and popping unnecessary offloads which released the pressure for the Dogs.

Not terrible mind you, but the loss tonight confirms that the Knights are no chance in 2012.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Is there a rule that you can;t play the ball between your legs when you aren't tackled? It isn't as if he played it forward or anything.

we were steamrolled in the 1st 20 min. They really were a class ahead of us. Their ability to offload and get on a roll was above us.
A better second half, we are definitely on the improve. We need to finish better.

Am ok with us "winning" the 2nd half.

 

[K-Man]

A good effort get back into the contest and we showed some fight, if not much finesse.

In the end, though, Bennett has to accept that team cannot get out of the blocks and it is his job to find out why and fix it.

There's no point burying his head in the sand, if we brought our 40-60th minute intensity to the start of the match we'd be fine. So why don't we?

 

[aqua_duck]

Drop Eddy and Tets, bring in Snowden and Sims

 

[K-Man]

Drop Eddy and Tets, bring in Snowden and Sims

And not just next week. Forever will do fine.

I like the look of Rochow. Even now I'd say he offers more than Edwards - he's a bit bigger and just seems have better footwork and an offload.

I thought Joel was blown off the park by superior forwards - kind of like a mini version of what would happen to him in any rep game of any kind.

 

[shane1970]

Drop Eddy and Tets, bring in Snowden and Sims

.
tetevano was DISGRACEFULL - missed tackles that led to the 12 - 0 lead - f**k HIM OFFFF -
.
And how did our NEW half back go ?

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

The positive from that loss is that we didn't see players walking around with their heads held down after we were so far behind. There has been a huge change in the team attitude.

 

[doggone]

They bashed us up the middle in the first half. A few players not putting in, you can see a few contracts were signed this week!. A few inexperience plays not good. Back to the drawing board. 6 and 7 once again big games, no mojo!

 

[Tom155]

.
tetevano was DISGRACEFULL - missed tackles that led to the 12 - 0 lead - f**k HIM OFFFF -
.
And how did our NEW half back go ?

whats with your agenda with roberts?, singling him out & bagging him throughout the whole thread, the whole team was terrible in the 1st half not just roberts

 

[chinorocks]

We weren't that bad. First 15 was crap but they were on fire and we had no luck. We fought hard but the Dogs are a class act. We kept them try less for 60 mins when they looked like putting a million on us at one stage. Kev had a pretty crap game. Not sue Jimmy won't be straight back in when fit, I think a few people went off early on that one. Mullos attacking kicking game was really good tonight, the Dogs D was just to good. They will be in the gf for sure.

 

[Apey]

Jeez that first 20 minutes was woeful. How can you defend that badly one half and improve out of sight the next.

If it wasn't game over at 24 - 0, it was game over when we had 4 - 5 sets on their line and didn't even genuinely look like scoring.

 

[Whats Doing]

They bashed us up the middle in the first half. A few players not putting in, you can see a few contracts were signed this week!. A few inexperience plays not good. Back to the drawing board. 6 and 7 once again big games, no mojo!

Am I misreading this part by saying our 7 had a big game?

Missed 7 tackles and hardly touched the ball!

 

[Dave_]

Now that we are done and dusted for another year, its time to take a look back on the year and try and find some positives to take into next season. I for one struggle to find many. Our performances this year have been enigmatic and to a certain extent confused. The typical Wayne Bennett style we tried to use up until 6 weeks ago clearly doesnt work with the players we currently have so either Bennett clears the decks for players who are suited to his style or he lets the players play the way THEY want to as they have seemingly done the past 6 weeks (cant see that happening). Mullen, aku, kev, roberts, mason, gagai, cuthbertson and tahu are more suited to an off the cuff instinctive style of play and boyd, buderus, costigan, houston, snowden, and mcmanus are more suited to that grinding structured style Bennett likes. So basically I believe the team is split down the guts in terms of playing styles. When Bennett said he was coming to Newcastle because he wanted a challenge, people said he was full of shit, he just wants the money and if he wants a challenge why didnt he go to souffs. Now you see what he meant. This team is a monsterous challenge, even for a master.

 

[doggone]

Am I misreading this part by saying our 7 had a big game?

You sure are there, I was saying no mojo, when it comes to big games:-( Same old story, Sh**t house.

 

[perverse]

oh of course, now all the doomsayers come out again because we've lost one.

jesus, we got absolutely pumped early by a much bigger and better team. the Dogs are the fair dinkum benchmark, and aside from our start we didn't embarrass ourselves at all. stop being all f**king emo about it, we actually weren't that bad - they were just better.

the match was won and lost respectively when the Dogs defended their line for what seemed like 4 or 5 sets in a row, with us heaping on the pressure. It became a moment in the game where we needed to score to keep the momentum going and the crowd pumped. It was champion defence by the 'Dogs, we through quite a bit at them... and it swung the match in their favour. we score there and it was 24-16 potentially with about 22 minutes still left on the clock and anything happens. The dogs stood strong and showed why they're the team to beat at that crucial moment in the game - plain and simple.

 

[Whats Doing]

You sure are there, I was saying no mojo, when it comes to big games:-( Same old story, Sh**t house.

Ok.

 

[Whats Doing]

oh of course, now all the doomsayers come out again because we've lost one.

jesus, we got absolutely pumped early by a much bigger and better team. the Dogs are the fair dinkum benchmark, and aside from our start we didn't embarrass ourselves at all. stop being all f**king emo about it, we actually weren't that bad - they were just better.

the match was won and lost respectively when the Dogs defended their line for what seemed like 4 or 5 sets in a row, with us heaping on the pressure. It became a moment in the game where we needed to score to keep the momentum going and the crowd pumped. It was champion defence by the 'Dogs, we through quite a bit at them... and it swung the match in their favour. we score there and it was 24-16 potentially with about 22 minutes still left on the clock and anything happens. The dogs stood strong and showed why they're the team to beat at that crucial moment in the game - plain and simple.

The fact is we did embarass ourselves in the first 20 minutes particularly when the season was on the line.

I thought we also got a leg up by the refs tonite with some favourable penalties which gave us the field position.

Yes they the benchmark of the comp but they also showed the wide gap between the 2 teams.

 

[perverse]

The fact is we did embarass ourselves in the first 20 minutes particularly when the season was on the line.

I thought we also got a leg up by the refs tonite with some favourable penalties which gave us the field position.

Yes they the benchmark of the comp but they also showed the wide gap between the 2 teams.

ok, well you can get cut up about it and start pointing fingers if you like. i'm happy the boys stuck in it after the early assault and turned it around. it shows a lot of progress. yes, the slow start was unfortunate, and is something that we have done numerous occasions this year... but who do you want to blame for it, and what do you feel the solution is?

we still went on to put ourselves right back in the match. if we can come out with a better attitude in the coming weeks and ahve better starts then we should win some more games.

 

[perverse]

It really can't be understated just how good the Dogs defence was, either. It was fantastic. They read Darius' positioning like a book all night long. Actually, both fullbacks were shut down pretty well, it was clearly a priority for both teams.