Sack Adam O'Brien

[The Axe of Druss]

If To'o's hamstring gives out Kiraz will play. Almost name a full Origin combined squad from ex-Knights!

Go ahead then

 

[ryan.a87]

Mann, Kiraz……..now Tom bloody Jenkins are in rep squads after going to a good coach

 

[TooheysNew]

View attachment 103029
Mann, Kiraz……..now Tom bloody Jenkins are in rep squads after going to a good coach

Lol no he's not.

 

[aqua_duck]

Kiraz was terrible when he was here. He looked way out of place in NSW Cup

I disagree, he did look raw as most teenagers would in their first year playing against men but I thought he had good attributes.
This was my observation back in 2021 btw

I like the look of Jacob Kiraz, only 19 years old, prototypical build for a modern winger at 6'2 and around the 95kg mark, was marking up against Josh Mansour today and more than held his own

 

[aqua_duck]

Kurt Mann in particular was bog average when he was with us. Good on him for looking better at the Dogs.

Mann was terrible when he was asked to be a starting centre or 5/8th which bizarrely is what AOB had him doing much of the time, as a bench utility coming on playing middle forward and abit of dummy half he was decent for us especially in 2023 when we went on that run but given Crossland is a similar sort of player and 7 or 8 years younger I don’t disagree with letting him go.

 

[Apey]

Mann was terrible when he was asked to be a starting centre or 5/8th which bizarrely is what AOB had him doing much of the time, as a bench utility coming on playing middle forward and abit of dummy half he was decent for us especially in 2023 when we went on that run but given Crossland is a similar sort of player and 7 or 8 years younger I don’t disagree with letting him go.

I do remember when we had both Watson and Mann, the general consensus on this forum was we'd rather lose Mann (or just about happily give him away at that point, 2022) than Watson. Of course both ended up leaving.

 

[Knight Tales]

O’Brien is not the first coach at this club where players have left and gone onto rep honours. Far from it.

 

[Woody90]

Rep selectors have biases for players coming from certain teams. The likes of Watson and Mann aren’t really any different than they were here, but all of a sudden they’re noticed and selected because they play for the Roosters or the Dogs. That’s not defending AOB, it’s just what it is.

 

[Woody90]

Mann was terrible when he was asked to be a starting centre or 5/8th which bizarrely is what AOB had him doing much of the time, as a bench utility coming on playing middle forward and abit of dummy half he was decent for us especially in 2023 when we went on that run but given Crossland is a similar sort of player and 7 or 8 years younger I don’t disagree with letting him go.

Bench utility players like Mann and Watson don’t come into first grade automatically marked as a utility player. They’re usually players that have talent but don’t really fit a certain position so they’re moved around a lot and trialled in certain positions like we did with Mann before we found that his best position was through the middle. The Dogs had the luxury of seeing from what we did that he’s best in the middle. It’s a completely different scenario.

Mann had played centre already for the Storm and came through predominantly as a 5/8 so it’s hardly bizarre we played him in those positions at times before he nailed down his best spot.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Rep selectors have biases for players coming from certain teams. The likes of Watson and Mann aren’t really any different than they were here, but all of a sudden they’re noticed and selected because they play for the Roosters or the Dogs. That’s not defending AOB, it’s just what it is.

Maybe because those teams are playing good footy and at least one of them is leading the comp

I wonder what Newcastle were looking like around origin 2022/2023 and where we were on the ladder....

 

[HarVeeGee]

Rep selectors have biases for players coming from certain teams. The likes of Watson and Mann aren’t really any different than they were here, but all of a sudden they’re noticed and selected because they play for the Roosters or the Dogs. That’s not defending AOB, it’s just what it is.

Qualified agreement with this. I think Mann is more or less the same player. Watson has improved a lot. The skill side of his game has come on a long way since he went back to Easts. He could barely pass it 5 metres both ways with us. He’s a good passer now & therefore can cover spine positions a lot more creditably. You will find Chooks fans who don’t like the Reece Robson signing & think they should have just left Connor at 9.

 

[Woody90]

Maybe because those teams are playing good footy and at least one of them is leading the comp

I wonder what Newcastle were looking like around origin 2022/2023 and where we were on the ladder....

That’s definitely part of it but there’s no denying that players from big Sydney clubs (can throw the Storm and Broncos in there too) get more noticed and likely to be selected in rep teams. It’s a pretty widely acknowledged thing hence all the mental breakdowns from the Raiders fans at the moment about their players not being selected.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

That’s definitely part of it but there’s no denying that players from big Sydney clubs (can throw the Storm and Broncos in there too) get more noticed and likely to be selected in rep teams. It’s a pretty widely acknowledged thing hence all the mental breakdowns from the Raiders fans at the moment about their players not being selected.

Meh I don't really buy it tbh. Players in good teams get noticed more and those clubs have generally been performing better than most

 

[Knight Tales]

Mann is a benefactor of the class he is surrounded by. Starting with three multi premiership winners who are outstanding and influential footballers. Same with Watson. If they did from the Tigers or Titans then you could argue against our development. Not to dilute the Ciraldo factor here, but the recruitment has been perfect from them.

 

[Woody90]

Meh I don't really buy it tbh. Players in good teams get noticed more and those clubs have generally been performing better than most

Yeah agree to disagree. Nothings going to change my mind on this one.

 

[HarVeeGee]

Unquestionably being a Storm player is helping you get selected this year. Loiero and Stefano have been awful this year, legit have been losing games for their club. DCE dropped even though Grant and Munster were both way worse in Game 1. Billy for the Maroons and Bellyache for the Blues are looking after their guys at the selection table.

Swings and roundabouts though, playing for Newy used to help you get picked for the Blues when Bedsy & Joey were part of the Origin coaching set up. Bob Fulton was responsible for some of the most egregious selections ever - they were Manly players, shocker. It’s not some elaborate conspiracy in favour of “big clubs” where you have to join a lot of dots. It’s usually just the one dot.

 

[Apey]

Saying those two are the same players as they were here sounds like massive cope to me. Watson has improved out of sight and Mann has at the very least got the weekly boneheaded errors out of his game.

That's generally just what happens when players go to clubs with an existing or developing winning culture and better players around them though like Dogs, Roosters, Storm (King), Warriors (Barnett), and coaching is no doubt part of that. I'd almost include Jenkins in that but one good game isn't enough.

The real worry is when players go to bum clubs on the same level as us and start looking great. Like To'a. Probably other examples.

 

[macavity]

Unquestionably being a Storm player is helping you get selected this year. Loiero and Stefano have been awful this year, legit have been losing games for their club. DCE dropped even though Grant and Munster were both way worse in Game 1. Billy for the Maroons and Bellyache for the Blues are looking after their guys at the selection table.

Swings and roundabouts though, playing for Newy used to help you get picked for the Blues when Bedsy & Joey were part of the Origin coaching set up. Bob Fulton was responsible for some of the most egregious selections ever - they were Manly players, shocker. It’s not some elaborate conspiracy in favour of “big clubs” where you have to join a lot of dots. It’s usually just the one dot.

other than Hughes getting picked at fullback I can’t think of any newie players who got picked even somewhat controversially. And to his credit we had no obvious fb that year and Hughes played really well for the blues.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

other than Hughes getting picked at fullback I can’t think of any newie players who got picked even somewhat controversially. And to his credit we had no obvious fb that year and Hughes played really well for the blues.

Uate
McManus
Cross
Mullen
Albert

 

[slotmachine]

Bob Fulton was responsible for some of the most egregious selections ever - they were Manly players, shocker.

Who can forget Jamie Buhers sparkling six-minute origin career!