Someone pinch me?

[billy2]

Are we really favourites?
Are our boys really doing the best training in the NRL right now?
Can we really name an entire side of rep players for the first game?

It all seems to be falling together seemlessly.

Doesn't seem real to me.

 

[RABK]

*Pinches Roopys ass*

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Not knowing a thing about Wayne Bennnett's coaching philosophy, all I can attain from the reports is that he expects his lads to be firing and fit ready to get stuck into it from day one of his tenure. Tuesday apparently the Great One walks in for a new era to start. Pumped! Media will be all over it.

 

[The_Joey_Show]

One thing that I think Bennett will need to deal with this year is that historically we are horrendous at being favourites. Our bread and butter since day one has been winning games we are expected to lose and losing games we are expected to win.

The underdog tag has always been a big comfort for us, and this year we are rarely going to have it.

 

[Titanic]

Hardly surprising as the media have been all over Tinkler and Bennett since they became involved and you recruited reasonably ... should be a good year for you.

 

[Silent Knight]

Two words Billy. Nathan Tinkler.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

One thing that I think Bennett will need to deal with this year is that historically we are horrendous at being favourites. Our bread and butter since day one has been winning games we are expected to lose and losing games we are expected to win.

The underdog tag has always been a big comfort for us, and this year we are rarely going to have it.

Did you watch the team play this year? Going by your comment I would have to say no. We couldn't buy a win against a top 8 team and we kept beating teams lower on the ladder, to the extent that we still scraped into the finals.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I have never been this excited about the next NRL season since we got knocked out of the 2000 prelim by the roosters.

I dont care if we dont win the comp, I just want us to be competitive again. I want it to be like the good old days where no matter who we played at marathon I would almost always expect us to give the opposition a bit of a touch up.
It is going to be a breath of fresh air knowing that every aspect of our game will be top notch, and if it isnt then players will be on the chopping block.

Its a shame I am going to miss the first month of the season, but I will do everything in my power to watch our first game, I am most excited about seeing bedsy run out onto the field again and listening to the crowd go up with his first touch. A match winning try from bedsy would be quite fitting against the dragons, or even boyd for that matter.

 

[sneaky_is_here]

Did you watch the team play this year? Going by your comment I would have to say no. We couldn't buy a win against a top 8 team and we kept beating teams lower on the ladder, to the extent that we still scraped into the finals.

He said since day one. And if we are talking about the entire history of the club not just last season then I completely agree.

 

[Hanscholo]

I think all of the news is positive. I doubt we are favourites. Clearly we have a fitness issue, that would see us go off the boil in the second 20 mins of halves, and that steel underbelly is what Bennett makes his bread and butter from. It seems like a match made in heaven, big fast talented team that need to be shown what it takes to win a comp...Lets see hey. I imagine, the knights will play more like the broncos than the dragons, looking forward to watching the side roll out for 2012 that is for sure.

 

[Yosh]

Instead of a pinch, can I punch you in the face the next time I see you? Lol!~!~

 

[billy2]

Instead of a pinch, can I punch you in the face the next time I see you? Lol!~!~

You could give it your best shot. It's not like i'm not used to it.

 

[God-King Dean]

All the money, the best coach, & premiership favourites.

I'm gonna go practice my heimlich.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Photo of wayne in knights training gear online now conducting training. Herald website. Can someone please post the article. Fred or JD maybe? Can't work out link as on iphone. Ta.

 

[Misanthrope]

How in God's name are we favorites!? Holy crap. When was the last time that happened?

 

[sneaky_is_here]

how in god's name are we favorites!? Holy crap. When was the last time that happened?

2002.

 

[chinorocks]

After about 4 or 5 rounds of 06 we were favorites if I recall correctly. We started by winning our first few including the game we put 70 something on Canberra wearing the red jerseys...then we lost a top of the table clash with the Cowboys on the Easter weekend and they took over as favorites.

 

[Jobdog]

Photo of wayne in knights training gear online now conducting training. Herald website. Can someone please post the article. Fred or JD maybe? Can't work out link as on iphone. Ta.

Wayne Bennett takes the reins

BY BRETT KEEBLE
29 Nov, 2011 07:04 PM

FORMER Knights captain Paul Harragon described the arrival of coach Wayne Bennett as a ‘‘new beginning’’ for Newcastle’s National Rugby League club.

Bennett formally clocked on for work today to begin his four-year stint in charge of the Knights, overseeing an early-morning training session at the University of Newcastle then fronting his first media conference wearing the club’s famous blue and red colours.

In his role as the club’s football advisory board chairman, Harragon was ‘‘extremely proud’’ to welcome the seven-time premiership-winning former Broncos and Dragons coach to Newcastle.

‘‘As far as the club’s concerned, the last six to eight months, there’s been a lot of work, a lot of planning, a lot of changes, to make this the most successful club that we can,’’ Harragon said.

‘‘With Wayne physically being here today for his first day, his first media conference, first training session, it’s a new beginning for us.’’

Speaking extensively for the first time since he announced on April 12 that he was leaving the Dragons to join the Knights, Bennett said the players were in ‘‘reasonable shape’’ and had arrived at training this morning with a good attitude for his first day on the job.

Bennett said he supported billionaire Knights owner Nathan Tinkler’s vision to make the club perennial premiership contenders.

‘‘I just like what they’re trying to do here. I’ve got a lot of admiration for what Nathan’s dreams are for the area,’’ Bennett told a packed media conference.

‘‘It’s a great rugby league town, there’s a great history here, some wonderful players. I spent a lot of time at the Broncos and they [the Knights] were our arch rivals, so I have a lot of respect for them.

‘‘I’ve just been here 12 hours ... and there’s a whole lot of reshaping that’s got to be done here.

‘‘Paul’s a part of that, [Knights chief executive] Matt Gidley’s a part of that – they’re great ex-players here – so the advisory board, and my role, one thing I am confident about, we’ll all work together and we’ll deliver what Nathan wants for Newcastle and the Hunter.

‘‘He’s got big dreams for it, I like his dreams, and I just hope that we can get it done for him.’’

Bennett, who turns 62 on January 1, was voted in September by the Men of League Foundation ahead of Jack Gibson as the greatest coach of all time.

He was Knights owner Nathan Tinkler’s first choice to drag the club from the middle of the pack to the top of the heap, and return them to their golden era when they won two premierships (1997 and 2001) and made the finals every year from 1997 to 2003.

Bennett will carry the weight of expectation of not just the region but the greater rugby league community.

More than three months before they kick off the 2012 NRL season against the Dragons at Ausgrid Stadium on March 1, the Knights have already been installed premiership favourites by some leading betting agencies.

On April 12, the day Bennett knocked back approaches from South Sydney and former club Brisbane, Tinkler told the Newcastle Herald: ‘‘The arrival of Wayne Bennett to the Newcastle Knights and the Hunter region is not just about improving our football club with the game’s greatest coach. It is about changing lives.

‘‘Every young rugby league player will have something to aspire to. Self-esteem of the community will go up as they realise you don’t have to leave home to mix with the best, and the Hunter region is being promoted and showcased all around Australia.

‘‘Hopefully success on the field will encourage more children to not just play rugby league, but all sport.

‘‘Wayne’s decision to come to Newcastle is for all the right reasons and it is not just a win for rugby league from Newcastle to Queensland, but for every resident of the Hunter region.’’

LINK

Only about a week late, but still

 

[Newie is God's Country]

LINK

Only about a week late, but still

Cheers mate. Still a welcome sight.