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Rumoured Targets 3

Yosh

Yosh

Coach
Messages
11,914
Knight Vision said:
when I was in the Army it was always emphasized a team is only as fast as its slowest man, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Below emphasizes where we are and where we need to be basing ourselves on a crucial playmaking position

Watsons personal stats directly affect the teams relative overall position in crucial stats we need to win more games and be more competitive. If he was in any position other than the spine we could afford to take the time to allow him to grow as a player.

Keary 1 try 7 forced drop outs. Average 225 kick mtrs. 11 try ass, 5 line break ass. 7 offloads. 378 receipts

Walker 5 tries. 5 forced drop puts. Average 90 kick mtrs. 7 try ass. 7 line break assist. 5 offloads. 366 receipts

Munster 5 tries. 4 forced drop outs. Average 199 kick mtrs. 3 try ass. 3 line break ass. 6 offloads.411 receipts

Wighton 5 tries, 5 forced drop outs, Average 224 kick mtrs.1 try ass. 4 line break ass (21 tackle breaks) 383 receipts ( average 95 run mtrs)

..........

Watson 0 tries, 0 forced drop outs. Average 2.9 kick mtrs. 1 try assist, 1 line break assist, 3 offloads, 237 receipts ( average 90 run mtrs )
Click to expand...

Those stats are hilarious!! However they don't tell the whole story. We have lost a fair share of games, he has been injured and shifted here and there. I'm sure he will get his fair share of tries and assists this season. Not sure about kick metres though ahah.
 
Mr_Knightside

Mr_Knightside

Juniors
Messages
2,357
A big NO to Maloney from me, that ship has sailed, we were interested in him a couple of years ago before we landed Pearce but Maloney’s form has gone way downhill since then.

Ultimately the salary cap is going to make it hard to get a really good playmaking 5/8 at this stage. A decent nrl quality 5/8 is going to cost at least $500k and an elite one is up around $1m a season and we don’t have that sort of money lying around.

I’m happy to stick with Watson at the moment and if he’s not up to it we bring Lino in. People don’t seem to rate him but I thought he was good at the Warriors last year and he’s only played a couple of games for us so far and was underdone and also his form wasn’t helped by how poorly the rest of our team was playing at that time. If Brown decides he wants a play making 5/8 he needs to stick with Lino for 5-6 weeks to get a real look at him. I’m not going to judge him too harshly on a couple of games when our whole team played poorly.
 
O

Old dog

Bench
Messages
2,656
Mr K I agree with you, a quality 5/8 is cost wise out of reach so best to stick, Watson is a goer but needs to cut the silly mistakes and develop some basic skills, extra work at the park with his mate Ponga, passing and kicking practice, it is in his interest to improve and obtain contract increase.
Not fussed entirely on Lino, good backup for either Pearce or Watson. Developing juniors would be good, surely somewhere in our reserves and u20’s we have 1 or 2 young players capable of becoming a first grade half, Pearce won’t be around for ever and Watson and Lino might not take us to finals.
We seem to be well of for edge forwards so maybe culling them might give us cap space for what we need.
 
NoSchitSherlock

NoSchitSherlock

Bench
Messages
3,740
I reckon we are ok with 5/8.
We said we wanted a running half and we have one in Watson. He can fill in at other positions and is showing promise filling in at dummy half.
When Ponga is up he's sometimes at 5/8 but he now has the flexibility to move around more, selectively inject himself and set up plays from kick-receive.
Mann is also there to fill in at 5/8 and other positions. Toohey reckons Mann might eventually start at 5/8 with Watson off the bench.
Pearce is performing better with the current setup. That might be only part of the reason.
A lot is said about having a 'spine' and sticking to it. We essentially have an 'extended spine' with flexibility. These guys would train with positional changes and the click is there of late.
The kicking option is questionable. I think we are doing ok. Lino is available but I don't rate him at this stage. I'd rather see players out there who have been part of what has clicked to get the last 3 wins.
 
Knight Vision

Knight Vision

First Grade
Messages
5,066
Frederick said:
why is it crucial that Watson can also kick?
Click to expand...
Who steers the team and does the kicking in general play if Pearce goes down during a match? With the top tier teams it falls to the other playmaker, 5/8 or halfback. With the Knights our other playmaker is incapable of steering the team around or kicking- which are the basic fundamentals of a playmaker.

Not crucial but it depends if we want to win a GF ? or just make up the numbers.
 
Frederick

Frederick

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
27,633
Knight Vision said:
Who steers the team and does the kicking in general play if Pearce goes down during a match? With the top tier teams it falls to the other playmaker, 5/8 or halfback. With the Knights our other playmaker is incapable of steering the team around or kicking- which are the basic fundamentals of a playmaker.

Not crucial but it depends if we want to win a GF ? or just make up the numbers.
Click to expand...
More than likely Ponga, I'd say. Or Mann if he's on the bench
 
Knight Vision

Knight Vision

First Grade
Messages
5,066
Hopefully all Watson needs is time and he can develop his game quickly and add a kicking and passing aspect. I like his speed and fitness and he's cut a few big forwards down one on one, so he can tackle.
 
mozza91

mozza91

Coach
Messages
13,985
Watson has a decent short passing game. He had some nice touches last year. Not a great ball player by any means but handy.

I’m confident we’ll see more of what he can do if he can get on the park regularly. He’s struggled to string more than few games together before getting injured again.
 
O

Old dog

Bench
Messages
2,656
Why wouldn’t you want Watson to develop his kicking game, take pressure of Pearce, put doubts in defence, surely a kicking ability in a 5/8 is a bonus. Watson came here wanting to be a 5/8 so he should do all he can to improve his chances by developing his game.
 
S

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,902
It's a no brainer to have as many decent kicking options as possible in your spine.

Would love to have a 6 with a decent kicking game at the club.

Be great to have a 9 with a few tricks up the sleeve when needed as well.

We can be extremely predictable with our kicking game too often. Further development of Ponga's kicking game will help immensely.
 
Yosh

Yosh

Coach
Messages
11,914
I think Watson developing a kicking game isn't a priority. He has been outstanding at the kick chase and is on the hip of ever forward looking for that offload.

Watson needs to
Stay healthy
Work on his passing. He makes so many half breaks and can't get the ball to the open man. Doesn't need 30 metre cutout balls, just simple balls on the chest to the runner.
Then maybe a short kicking game.

Our team at the moment lines up
1. Ponga
6. Watson
7. Pearce

But if I compare them to Joey, Matty and O'Davis, they are

1. Joey
6. O'Davis
7. Matty

Does that make sense? We have similar players in a little different structure. It's working well so why change it? People talking about getting and injury in the grand final but I just want to see us there near there first.
 
PhilGould

PhilGould

Bench
Messages
3,458
Scott Drinkwater from Melbourne is apparently on the lookout for a new club with his path to first grade blocked. Was going to be their first choice fullback this season but got injured and now Papenhuyzen seems to have taken that spot. Knights were close to signing him last season so I wouldn't be surprised if they go after him again.
 
Knight Vision

Knight Vision

First Grade
Messages
5,066
Just watching the Doggies game and I reckon the Knights made a couple of big mistakes in retention. If we were ever going to move Ponga to 5/8 we should have kept Meany and if we were keeping Ponga at FB and wanted a 5/8 we should have kept Goggar and never recruited Watson - hindsight is 20/20.
 
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