Rumoured Targets 3

[Burwood]

Maps was a highly regarded junior when we signed him from the Manly system- paid him on potential to get him to the club.
Very similar to us signing Beau Henry and Likiliki who were stars in the U20s comp back in 2010 or so.

 

[aqua_duck]

Having Arthur Laundy involved helps them more than most people realise.

Yeah Laundy plays the role of business backer but the $10m sugar daddy allowance from the leagues club is the biggest leg up they have over most clubs.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

The sharks seem off Hynes, maybe if they get bounced out in straight sets again he's an option

I'd be going for Atkinson over Hynes if we are looking at pilfering the Sharks halves

Cheaper and objectively a better player right now based on Sharks form in 2024

 

[The Axe of Druss]

I think perspective is important- Bulldogs were wooden spooners in 2021. They've made great progress with a pro steering the ship. 3 x Premiers Panthers were almost insolvent in 2011.

The Bulldogs came 6th, massively over achieved and got bounced out first week

Sure it's progress but it's easily comparable with what us or the Cowboys have done recently off a run of good form. The real measure is sustained success which they haven't achieved yet

 

[Woody90]

I'd be going for Atkinson over Hynes if we are looking at pilfering the Sharks halves

Cheaper and objectively a better player right now based on Sharks form in 2024

Trindall would be my pick of them. Saying that though I don’t think any of the Sharks current halves would help us win a comp. Definitely would be an improvement on what we have though.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

So do you want Gardner to be responsible or not responsible for the results of the club?

I clearly stated that in my first post - retire

you still haven’t answered my question of what changes exactly for Parr if Gardner retires tomorrow?

run the football business without interference and micro managing of Gardner ( this has been reported ad nauseam - the staff turn over during Gardner tenure is alarming)

With respect to the bulldogs, they’ve had one good season where they crashed out first week of the finals, how’s that any different to us in 2020 where we finished 7th after being wooden spooners in 2017? Making the top 8 isn’t that hard as we have shown, there’s a big difference between that and having sustained success like the storm, panthers and roosters have.
On the topic of the bulldogs it’s very hard to compare them to us, it’s a completely different structure, for Wests the knights are part of the business where commercial and financial KPIs exist, the Bulldogs survive solely because they have a very successful leagues club that literally gives them $8-10 million every year, Gus essentially has the same job as Peter Parr (general manager of football) but doesn’t have any financial checks and balances that any sustainable business would otherwise have.
Mind you Gus still answers to Adam Driussi who’s the chairman the same as Parr answers to Gardner.

Ok Phil , so we cannot compare the Knights to others. The Knights are a special case. What is an acceptable time frame to a Premiership in your opinion ? 10 years from now ? we've finally achieved mediocrity when do you see a Premiership? or not even a Premiership - when do you see being better than average is achievable ?

 

[aqua_duck]

I clearly stated that in my first post - retire


run the football business without interference and micro managing of Gardner ( this has been reported ad nauseam - the staff turn over during Gardner tenure is alarming)


Ok Phil , so we cannot compare the Knights to others. The Knights are a special case. What is an acceptable time frame to a Premiership in your opinion ? 10 years from now ? we've finally achieved mediocrity when do you see a Premiership? or not even a Premiership - when do you see being better than average is achievable ?

So you think new unnamed CEO of wests is the answer despite not knowing who this CEO could be and not knowing what the directive is from the wests board.
I think using premierships as the only measure of success is incredibly short sighted, success isn’t achieved without other things in place like a good junior system, good facilities, strong scouting network, etc.
For me it’s about being a consistent side over long period, the panthers didn’t become a juggernaut overnight, they started strengthening their front office and infrastructure back in circa 2013-2014 there were some years of mediocrity where they went through several coaching changes as well as changes in the front office before they were able to achieve success when a golden generation of juniors came of age.
The issue with your outlook is you have the mindset that everything can be fixed with one or two changes like punting Adam Elliott and Phil Gardner.

 

[Burwood]

Imagine if a club like Wests (Tigers) were run like the Panthers. You'd have to think that they could have bagged a premiership or two and had their own golden generation if they kept Brooks, Moses and Teddy together plus the host of other talented juniors they've squandered over the last 10 years or so.

Also very interesting looking at Brisbane- I didn't realise the extent of the form slump they are in. They were minutes away from winning the grand final last year, but there were 3 years previous to that of missing the finals (including a maiden spoon) and then failing to make the finals again this year. For a club who missed the finals twice from 1992-2019 and who have so many off field advantages at their disposal, that would have to be considered a worse performance than us since Joey retired.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Well if we got Nicho, I don't know if we'd have the most talented spine in the NRL but we'd surely have the best looking one

 

[Nuke]

I don't know the ins and outs by any means, but it seems to me that Gardner is great at running a business. The Knights clearly have needed someone at the top like him to get the off-field stuff sorted: CoE, Parr, O'Sullivan, finances, ect.
I'd suggest he's never run a football club before and that shows. He's too hands-on and has his nose in everything. That's his style of running a successful business. To be a successful head of a football club, or more specifically, the Knights football club, perhaps him running the business side of the club and getting someone to run the football side of the club is the best solution. Whether that's Parr or somebody else, I don't know. Let that guy deal with the running of the football side of things, including contract dealings, hirings and firings, ect, and let Gardner run the business side of the club.

How easy or workable that'd be, I don't pretend to know, but to me that's a logical direction to take.

 

[Woody90]

Well if we got Nicho, I don't know if we'd have the most talented spine in the NRL but we'd surely have the best looking one

Gamblor might cancel the rest out lol

 

[Frederick]

@PhilGould got tooheys column for today?

 

[Knight Tales]

It could be possible that Gardner has set high targets for his employees, such as Parr, and feels several others have come up short. Call it what you will but he has proven he can recruit the very best off field talent in the game. He also can hold them to account. It is probably overkill in many respects but I do not think he is aiming low.

 

[Burwood]

@PhilGould got tooheys column for today?

Adam O'Brien can still attract a critic or two but his record as an NRL coach now speaks for itself.
He's taken the Knights to four finals appearances in five years and at the same time, re-established the club's defensive DNA with a hard-nosed emphasis on work ethic, effort and meeting high standards. He clearly has a united playing group who is right behind him. Record crowds and memberships have been a by-product of the success.
But the question now is: How does O'Brien take his team to the next level and become a genuine title challenger?
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Some key roster recruitment decisions over the next few months will be crucial. So too will be O'Brien's mindset around his side's attack and not being satisfied to battle for a place in the bottom of the eight by playing a risk-free, ugly brand of footy that relies heavily on the attacking brilliance of Kalyn Ponga.
O'Brien needs to find a middle ground between the traits that have made his side tough and resilient defensively and an attacking game plan that is capable of consistently posing a threat to premiership heavyweights like Penrith and Melbourne.
Therein lies his challenge.

Spots on roster open up​

With Daniel Saifiti and Tom Jenkins moved on, and Enari Tuala and Krystian Mapapalangi also departing to open up roster spots, the door is now ajar for the Knights to re-sign popular local juniors Brodie Jones and Mat Croker after it was suggested they look elsewhere several weeks ago. By our count, the Knights now have five top 30 spots left to fill. We're told the club was happy to keep Tuala but he was swayed by more security at the Dogs.

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Selling his vision​

Expect Kalyn Ponga to be a major playerduring the recruitment process when the Knights officially sit down with Melbourne halfback Jonah Pezet and his agent Braith Anasta come November 1.
Pezet, who has a year to run at the Storm, is the club's number one recruitment target and the opportunity to play alongside the game's biggest attacking threat in Ponga is certain to be a major attraction for the former Knights junior.
The club would be mad not to get Ponga in a room with Pezet to share his thoughts and vision first hand during negotiations.
If they manage to sign Pezet, we'd expect the Knights will try and get him out of Melbourne immediately. That would necessitate Jackson Hastings being moved on during the off-season.

Last for the year.

 

[Haffa]

Latest Jimmy Brings has Ponga on 1.5 a year. Haha. Ponga must be on a commission.

 

[SamSepi0l]

Latest Jimmy Brings has Ponga on 1.5 a year. Haha. Ponga must be on a commission.

It goes up every article. Would be nice if there was some half decent RL content.

 

[slotmachine]

KPs deal something like 1.2/1.2/1.5/1.5/1.5 Average 1.4

It's why you see different numbers thrown around.

 

[Burwood]

Schuster on a 12-month deal for $140k- like Hooper says, that’s going to potentially be buy of the season.

 

[Yosh]

I'm very happy that we are getting rid of Jenkins and the like to keep Jones and Croker. Good stuff. Getting rid of Hastings is a huge plus also. I wonder how we will shaft him away?

Is Pezet the answer? We need a game managing halfback but Pezet is so young and raw right? Does he have a big kicking game?

 

[HarVeeGee]

Pezet has a good long kicking game but he’s not one of these guys who boots it into orbit like Burton.

His biggest strength is his short kicking game, where he has the ball on a string and can pull off a variety of trick shots.