Sack Adam O'Brien

[The Axe of Druss]

Yep. Go through some of the new coaches.

Cowboys - New coach - 1 year of crap and turned things around super quick
Broncos - New coach - terrible first year but back to playing good consistently
Sharks - New coach - Appears to have elevated them to another level this year

It doesn't always work, but these clubs identified something wasn't working and brought in new coaches, along with some astute signings and are now seeing very early dividends.

I think the "along with some key signings" is the much bigger factor in form turn around than changing the coach

All 3 teams brought in leaders and quality players in key positions. Funny that

 

[Jono078]

I think the "along with some key signings" is the much bigger factor in form turn around than changing the coach

All 3 teams brought in leaders and quality players in key positions. Funny that

Absolutely but the Cowboys brought in Dearden (who the Broncos basically gave up on) and Townsend, an ageing halfback who was performing very average last year.. They were no sure-fire hits. As I said, many had them collecting the spoon this year.

AOB has plenty to work with. Ponga, Lee, Saifiti x 2, Frizell and Klemmer have all been in and around Origin now.

Sometimes we're hard on the club but other times we come up with convenient excuses.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Absolutely but the Cowboys brought in Dearden (who the Broncos basically gave up on) and Townsend, an ageing halfback who was performing very average last year.. They were no sure-fire hits. As I said, many had them collecting the spoon this year.

AOB has plenty to work with. Ponga, Lee, Saifiti x 2, Frizell and Klemmer have all been in and around Origin now.

Sometimes we're hard on the club but other times we come up with convenient excuses.

And all but 1 of those players plays outside of the spine, the positions that truely make the difference

This forum whinges that we have a squad full of "below NRL standard" players yet also blame the coach for not getting those players to win games against better sides

It's madness

 

[TooheysNew]

I think the "along with some key signings" is the much bigger factor in form turn around than changing the coach

All 3 teams brought in leaders and quality players in key positions. Funny that

The signings aren't coming to play for aob

 

[Jono078]

And all but 1 of those players plays outside of the spine, the positions that truely make the difference

This forum whinges that we have a squad full of "below NRL standard" players yet also blame the coach for not getting those players to win games against better sides

It's madness

I actually think you'll find it's not that we (the forum) whinge we can't beat these teams, it's in the way we perform.

Like I've said a few times now, AOB should be capable of getting better out of this squad but it's clear we look below average in all facets of the game.

 

[TooheysNew]

I actually think you'll find it's not that we (the forum) whinge we can't beat these teams, it's in the way we perform.

Like I've said a few times now, AOB should be capable of getting better out of this squad but it's clear we look below average in all facets of the game.

I'd prefer to win, sure. But more than that I'd like us to just play like our players had met before.

 

[Jono078]

I'd prefer to win, sure. But more than that I'd like us to just play like our players had met before.

Absolutely, that would be a fantastic start for the new coach. AOB hasn't achieved that in 3 years.

 

[Loose Cannon]

So, has O’Brien call Gardner’s 10 year bluff yet?

Neither believe in their own ability. And rightly so.

Pathetic!!!!!

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

I actually think you'll find it's not that we (the forum) whinge we can't beat these teams, it's in the way we perform.

Like I've said a few times now, AOB should be capable of getting better out of this squad but it's clear we look below average in all facets of the game.

This 100%. I couldn't care less if we lost to the good teams if we at least put up a fight. In reality though, we struggle to even put away the worst teams in the comp.

 

[mozza91]

I want to believe he will turn it around

but why does he always sound sozzled

I’d be driven to drink too if I coached our blokes.

 

[perverse]

This 100%. I couldn't care less if we lost to the good teams if we at least put up a fight. In reality though, we struggle to even put away the worst teams in the comp.

We are the worst teams in the comp.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Just saw a clip of the PC on the Matty Johns Show. He is a clown in the realm of Nathan Brown.
Would be gone by Tuesday if we had a system with balls.
But we don’t .

 

[Apey]

I think ultimately he has to go. I think we'll be better next year with some upgrades we've signed but it still won't be enough to gloss over the systematic problems.

 

[Sir Galahad]

This 100%. I couldn't care less if we lost to the good teams if we at least put up a fight. In reality though, we struggle to even put away the worst teams in the comp.

this

 

[Mr_Knightside]

For the record I know most people don’t agree with my earlier opinion, I definitely wasn’t saying let’s give the bloke 10 years of shit performances but I’d at least like to see him get a go with a better squad that he has had a big say in building, so for me 2023 is crunch time for AOB. I’d be surprised if they moved on from him this year given the lack of really good replacements.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Also I get what everyone’s saying about Payten and Walters etc but people were calling for their heads a year ago and their clubs are being rewarded by persevering with them. I just think it’s a little harsh that the drums are beating so loud for AOB after 2 consecutive 7th placed finishes in his first 2 years as coach and given how bad the squad actually is in terms of depth, and lord knows injuries haven’t been kind to us.

 

[Sir Galahad]

In his 3rd year at the helm and when arriving saying we dont need to make changes to the roster AOB now says this.

Again no acountability, this is the guy in charge that just doesnt get it.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...o/news-story/7b6a86bd079429443fe55ba0163f9b44

"believes for the Knights to get there things that have been “ingrained” for “decades” need to be fixed."

 

[aqua_duck]

In his 3rd year at the helm and when arriving saying we dont need to make changes to the roster AOB now says this.

Again no acountability, this is the guy in charge that just doesnt get it.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...o/news-story/7b6a86bd079429443fe55ba0163f9b44

"believes for the Knights to get there things that have been “ingrained” for “decades” need to be fixed."

wow now he's really getting desperate. A large part of the ingrained issues was local entitlement which he actively made worse by giving contract extensions to Fitz, Crossland, Hoy, Johns, Musgrove and Saulo when no one else wanted them.
I feel like Brian Smith was the only coach who had an idea of the underlying issues and hence why he put a broom through the place, its a shame the management at the time didn't have the foresight to allow him to finish the job.
Just back on AOB and I was thinking the other day about the failed Bellamy assistant coaches and I feel like a big reason they've failed is they've never had to learn to build a team and culture from the ground up, Bellamy already had everything in place by the time these guys got there, the heavy lifting had already been done

 

[Jono078]

For the record I know most people don’t agree with my earlier opinion, I definitely wasn’t saying let’s give the bloke 10 years of shit performances but I’d at least like to see him get a go with a better squad that he has had a big say in building, so for me 2023 is crunch time for AOB. I’d be surprised if they moved on from him this year given the lack of really good replacements.

Yes I get that and part of me agrees. It definitely is getting very close (if not there already) to stop the excuses for AOB though. IF he makes it to 2023, then he has to be on the hot seat from the get go. No more 5-game losing streaks or wildly fluctuating performances.

We might be like the Tigers, just 12 months behind. Them holding onto Madge this year did absolutely nothing to help them along.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Let’s face it. We will be 9 months behind looking for whichever guns have signed for the Bulldogs/ Warriors/ Tigers. And 6 months behind the Titans!