Sack Adam O'Brien

[Mr_Knightside]

Let’s not forget that we brought one of the all time great coaches here (arguably the greatest coach of all time if you go off his record) in Wayne Bennett and even he wasn’t able to get this club performing consistently. After what happened with Bennett I wouldn’t even feel confident in Bellamy or Robinson being able to turn us around. But you still have to try and get one of these guys if they’re available because the alternatives are either untested or shit for the most part.

 

[Apey]

Robinson wouldn't do shit here, the squad he would have would be absolutely laughable compared to the Roosters.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I don't get the logic behind, we resigned AOB last year so he isn't getting the sack. If he loses all games for the rest of the year, you still think he won't get the sack?

If he loses the next 3-5 in a row and his job isn't on the line, then Knights management needs to go.

It just isn’t that simple Yosh. I don’t think a caretaker coach for 12 games is great and then you’re looking for a coach in a coaching market where there aren’t many options and signing someone without giving them much time to make any serious moves before 2025 rolls around. And you don’t really know if you’ve made the right choice for another 3 years or so anyway because the new coach needs to be given time to make the moves they want and do things with the roster.

If there were a couple of good coaches available right now then I’d say the club needs to assess again around the origin period and if AOB hasn’t gotten the side going in the right direction by then, well then sack him and get one of those coaches in. But there really aren’t any coaches out there right now who have a good track record and are looking for a job.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Let’s not forget that we brought one of the all time great coaches here (arguably the greatest coach of all time if you go off his record) in Wayne Bennett and even he wasn’t able to get this club performing consistently. After what happened with Bennett I wouldn’t even feel confident in Bellamy or Robinson being able to turn us around. But you still have to try and get one of these guys if they’re available because the alternatives are either untested or shit for the most part.

It was widely reported he was pissed at the promised 3rd party deals to recruit players that never materialized, it's why he failed.

It's why all coaches that would come to Knights will fail if compared to Rorters, Broncos, Storm etc - unable to purchase the cattle to get the job done. Instead settling for the Elliot's of this world and hoping for a miracle.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

For the record, I wonder if Brad Arthur is feeling the pressure at the Eels? Outside of the top guys who aren’t likely to be looking for a job anytime soon, I think he’s an option that the club would need to consider if he became available (IF they decide to punt AOB)

I’m sure I’ll get shouted down by some on here but Brad Arthur has plenty of experience, has taken a side to a GF and basically built that Parra team up into a competitive unit after they were in the doldrums about 10 years ago. Sure they didn’t go great last year but they’ve been in the finals in 5 out of the last 7 years which is an enviable record.

Anyway we’ll all have to wait and see, this is all hypothetical at this stage.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

It was widely reported he was pissed at the promised 3rd party deals to recruit players that never materialized, it's why he failed.

It's why all coaches that would come to Knights will fail if compared to Rorters, Broncos, Storm etc - unable to purchase the cattle to get the job done. Instead settling for the Elliot's of this world and hoping for a miracle.

I feel like we’re both making the same point in different ways. Premiership winning teams tend to have the best rosters but a great coach certainly helps. If we’re sacking AOB then we need to appoint someone who actually has shown evidence of being capable of turning a struggling club around.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

It was widely reported he was pissed at the promised 3rd party deals to recruit players that never materialized, it's why he failed.

It's why all coaches that would come to Knights will fail if compared to Rorters, Broncos, Storm etc - unable to purchase the cattle to get the job done. Instead settling for the Elliot's of this world and hoping for a miracle.

We need to look at the Panthers model to have any success. They have next to no 3rd party deals but they built their culture from the ground up and didn't compromise in their persuit of success in any grade. We arguably have a bigger junior base to build from so it makes the most sense. We should be producing our stars not buying them, simple as that.

Unfortunately we should have started the process years ago and we've wasted time that should have been used far better.

 

[slotmachine]

We arguably have a bigger junior base to build from so it makes the most sense.

Not even close.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

We need to look at the Panthers model to have any success. They have next to no 3rd party deals but they built their culture from the ground up and didn't compromise in their persuit of success in any grade. We arguably have a bigger junior base to build from so it makes the most sense. We should be producing our stars not buying them, simple as that.

Unfortunately we should have started the process years ago and we've wasted time that should have been used far better.

Gus Gould critique of the Eels today pretty much summed up the Knights as well. Cant blame the coach when there has been zero pathway development to assist in him being successful.

Our juniors are the way forward, boys growing up dreaming of representing the Knights, bleeding red and blue.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

We need to look at the Panthers model to have any success. They have next to no 3rd party deals but they built their culture from the ground up and didn't compromise in their persuit of success in any grade. We arguably have a bigger junior base to build from so it makes the most sense. We should be producing our stars not buying them, simple as that.

Unfortunately we should have started the process years ago and we've wasted time that should have been used far better.

Sounds like the Knights

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Not even close.

Our area of influence has shrunk only because the club has massively reduced the time and money spent on juniors

We could have a massive area if the right plan is put in place and a fair dinkum effort is put in to solidify our hold. The Hunter and nth coast should be ours and the junior base would be huge. Don't forget, pre Gus Penrith had a much smaller footprint

 

[Mr Angry]

Well I doubt Wests would want to pay him out, so I reckon you this year and the next 3

 

[Knight Tales]

Club needs a re brand. Keep the Knights. And adopt the Hunter New England moniker. It is easy for other clubs to slide into an area where they have no ties to a club. If we represented the Tweed down and really went out of our way to make them part of it then things may turn over time. But the territoriality of small minded fans means you reap what you sow.

 

[Yosh]

No one in their right mind is expecting a premiership within the next 18 months, but surely we as fans are allowed to enjoy our football. Win or loss doesn't matter; our football is currently dull and uninspiring. We hit the ball one out all the time, can't get the ball to our best player, and our line speed is nonexistent. It's been 4 seasons already. We are playing football from 2009.

I don't care who comes in. There are tons of coaches out there willing to give up and arm or a leg for a NRL head coaching gig. If we don't pay out AOB, we are going to lose more fans and revenue anyway. Get someone in and start fresh. Sick and tired of us playing an U12s game plan.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Club needs a re brand. Keep the Knights. And adopt the Hunter New England moniker. It is easy for other clubs to slide into an area where they have no ties to a club. If we represented the Tweed down and really went out of our way to make them part of it then things may turn over time. But the territoriality of small minded fans means you reap what you sow.

Lol no.

 

[perverse]

No one in their right mind is expecting a premiership within the next 18 months

The sad thing is, had you asked us 3-4 years ago if we'd expect the club to get us into at least a decent position to compete for a premiership by now, anyone would have said yes. You can rewind the clock again and make that statement for a good 2 decades.

The truth is we're always in a position of "well we certainly won't compete for a premiership in the next 2 years... but maybe after that..."

We just keep finding new ways to f**k it up every single time, and then we repeat the cycle. It's getting really tiresome to sit through year after year. We've all been supporting a club that's been rebuilding for 20 damn years. The great pyramids were allegedly built in less time. Here we sit with the prospect of another potential wooden spoon, when we could have had a whole ass pyramid instead.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

No one in their right mind is expecting a premiership within the next 18 months, but surely we as fans are allowed to enjoy our football. Win or loss doesn't matter; our football is currently dull and uninspiring. We hit the ball one out all the time, can't get the ball to our best player, and our line speed is nonexistent. It's been 4 seasons already. We are playing football from 2009.

I don't care who comes in. There are tons of coaches out there willing to give up and arm or a leg for a NRL head coaching gig. If we don't pay out AOB, we are going to lose more fans and revenue anyway. Get someone in and start fresh. Sick and tired of us playing an U12s game plan.

Be careful what you wish for Yosh. Yeah there’s plenty of people out there who would put their hand up to get paid $500K+ per year to coach an NRL team but sacking AOB for literally anyone else isn’t the way to go. If the right coach becomes available then sacking him should be considered but you can’t just sack the guy without a serious plan in place for what direction you’re going in moving forward.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Sacking AOB won't change a thing, failure in this case is systemic.

Wests cannot get 3rd party deals, and cannot establish a juniors pathway for the club to be successful - in 10 freaking years.

From what I've read the amount of turnover in staff in 10 yrs must be astounding. It seems every year/second year multiple people are moved on, that's not conducive to a successful org, it reeks of ineptitude at a management level.

 

[Apey]

Our cap management is the real joke. Compare Ponga to Cleary and DCE who earn similar salaries then look at the teams they have to work with. Something is absurdly off with our roster and while we know wage thieves like DSaf top that list, he is far from alone.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Our cap management is the real joke. Compare Ponga to Cleary and DCE who earn similar salaries then look at the teams they have to work with. Something is absurdly off with our roster and while we know wage thieves like DSaf top that list, he is far from alone.

Yeh I agree 100% . The clubs you mentioned have a fair chunk of salary cap in their spine = quality.

Storm do it best - quality spine and fill the rest of the roster with players like King and Meaney

Our spine outside Ponga is mid to bottom 8