Team v Warriors

[~knights~]

nbn knights news report
monday 31/03/2008

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=49o4heyJLKQ

looks like cross ready R6 now
and smithy happy with the halves mullo/scotty

 

[Frederick]

Round 6? Why is it taking so goddamn long :x. First it was 6 weeks from time of injury, which put him at Round 3. Then it was Round 4. Then 5. Now 6?!

 

[Frederick]

Well the Warriors just got touched up to the tune of 52-6 by the Sea Eagles tonight. Here's hoping this destroys all their confidence and we win by a similar margin next Sunday

 

[KniGhTs BaTTLeR]

They are a completely different team over in NZ. I wouldn;t be reading into it that much. But Manly did expose Tate and Ah Van as a weakness. They were shocking.

 

[Spike]

Hopefully, but it may have the opposite effect on them and they'll fire up for their home crowd and get some respectability back.

 

[Stranger]

I am always weary of a team that gets belted by 50... Alot of the time they come out next week with a point to prove...

 

[Karmawave]

and smithy happy with the halves mullo/scotty

Might be happy, but from what I heard today, the halfback rotation system Smith has in place in the entire club is still likely to be applied to first grade...

Pika any more information?

Dureau is not a certainty to play this weekend - and its wrong if he doesn't. It's not gospel, but just don't be suprised if Smith tinkers with the team.

Smith has set up the entire rotation system for halves across all grades, and even the Under 20s are doing that stupid rotation system. Yeah Burraston might be coming back there too Roopy. :lol:

 

[keeney]

They are a completely different team over in NZ. I wouldn;t be reading into it that much. But Manly did expose Tate and Ah Van as a weakness. They were shocking.

Def, unless its a team that has it doen to them consistently and has had their spirit broken.
I'm more worried about a Warriors team that got touched up by 50 then one that beat someone by 50. They've always been a Jekyll and Hyde team, its not like this result is indicative of a lack of quality. It will give them an additional incentive.

 

[Jobdog]

I am always weary of a team that gets belted by 50... Alot of the time they come out next week with a point to prove...

Precisely ...

 

[roopy]

and even the Under 20s are doing that stupid rotation system. Yeah Burraston might be coming back there too Roopy. :lol:

We haven't got a half to bless ourselves with in the under 20s unless this Claude Gordon is good or Ryan Stig comes back from injury. Paulson in the Cronulla trial put in the worst halfback performance i've ever seen i think, and he seems to be our number one, and weirdly is leading the NYC player of the year votes coming into round three - which i think goes to show that the guys who give out those points can't go past a guy in Knights jersey number 7.

 

[shane1970]

What about this for interesting :
.
Monday Night Round 1 - Melbourne -v- Warriors - Losing team wins the following week and winning team loses the following week.
.
Monday Night Round 2 - Dragons -v- Titans - Losing team wins the following week and winning team loses the following week.
.
Hope the Knights can break the trend.

 

[Jobdog]

Wouldn't read too much into that. Its only 2 rounds ...

 

[Hanscholo]

Wicks and Faas will always be impact.

Wicks does not have the defence to handle fresh props and Faas would be far less effective against fresh props.

Is it just me, or do some people foget that Royal and Tolar do all the hard graft and wear down an opposition so when Wicks and Faas come on, the impact is at its best?

I dont mate, i think they are going well if not perhaps getting a spell a little quicker than they should.

Id keep an unchanged lineup for this weekends match. This game more than any will test how our defence has improved from last year. It was this corresponing game a year ago that really showed up our fringe and made us look a woefull defensive outfit. No doubt Cleary will come at us again like that. I think this will be the match of the round. I am hoping Adam doesnt play too as much as its a shame for him, id like to see Lulia with some time at left centre, so far he has impressed me.

 

[Coopah_Knights]

Wouldn't read too much into that. Its only 2 rounds ...

so truee hahah

 

[League_God]

Ciraldo did nothing wrong, he doesn't deserve to lose his spot. Him and Houston were a handful out wide.

i agree.
houston is proving to be our best signing imo.
and yes ciraldo didnt deserve to lose his spot.
im a big fan of bailey. he has more potential then 90% our forward stock including ciraldo.
and dont give me the "theres a difference between potential and proven ability lecture". bailey has made huge improvements in the off-season. and is going alot better in nsw cup then what ciraldo did. and lets be honest while ciraldo did nothing wrong he didnt exactly set the world on fire either.

 

[League_God]

ht knights battler.

I bet Cross will do that but still be able to make good metres.

exactly f**king right knights battler.
tolar wouldnt play firstgrade anywhere else full time. are you that stupid?
and royal is about as old as pope john paul the 2nd. and gives away stupid penalties around the ruck. and its a rare site, tolar making anymore then 12 metres.
dont get me wrong its obvious they go out their and wear the oppostitions forwards down. then wicksy and fas come one and take all the glory.
but hey, brett white does that for lima and kafusi. brent kite does that for cuthbertson. cayless does it for fui fui. but the difference is they also contribute by making good metres and playing with aggression and occassionally making breaks.
i will say this for royal he has amean offload and i wouldnt mind him coming off the bench. but starting no thanks.

 

[Pika]

The three you just mentioned are not just first graders, but State of Origin and Internationals. Hardly a fair comparison

Take a look at the stats this year so far. Our old, non meter making pack is not going so bad.

 

[BG]

im a big fan of bailey. he has more potential then 90% our forward stock including ciraldo.
and dont give me the "theres a difference between potential and proven ability lecture". bailey has made huge improvements in the off-season

I think "huge" is the key here in another sense. The Brian Smith game plan seems to involve a certain amount of aggregate physical presence from the 10 forwards in the 17-man squad... ie. unless the strategy changes we won't see Hilder and Bailey in the same team, unless Bailey is in the halves or at centre (or starts eating half of Danny Wicks's lunch).

I am also a huge fan of Bailey and I don't need to be convinced by improvement in the off-season. He played a game at five-eighth last year that was the best attacking running-and-passing game by any Knight's player in the number six since the beginning of last season--including any performance of Mullen's at 5/8th. His organisational and kicking skills are still to be proven though. I do remember one very impressive long raking kick when we were under pressure last season, but overall, the only thing I know is that Joey was reportedly doing a lot of work on Bailey's kicking game in the off-season and was impressed. So that's got to count for something.

But still the problem with Bailey is he seems to be a terrific cure for a non-existent ailment. If Dureau or Mullo get injured we're going to be very lucky to have him. But in the form they're in as a combination at the moment, how could you split them?

Of course Bailey seems the perfect utility benchie. But the balance of the team at present seems to require a gritty workhorse in that role. Hilder is doing admirably in that capacity, and it really isn't Bailey's go.

Just speculatiing, but I wonder if Simmo's return will create a change in this regard? He'll play close to 80 minutes and do a mountain of work in defence, opening up an opportunity for an impact player on the bench... ie. Bailey replacing Hilder. I acknowledge Simmo started in round 1 with Hilder in the 17, but I still think it's the way things might develop. I originally thought Hilder would be indispensible because Smith obviously wants to take some of the load off Bedsy at dummy half, but we now have quite a few player's capable of serving some duty there, especially Gids and Mullen.

 

[KniGhTs BaTTLeR]

ht knights battler.


exactly f**king right knights battler.
tolar wouldnt play firstgrade anywhere else full time. are you that stupid?
and royal is about as old as pope john paul the 2nd. and gives away stupid penalties around the ruck. and its a rare site, tolar making anymore then 12 metres.
dont get me wrong its obvious they go out their and wear the oppostitions forwards down. then wicksy and fas come one and take all the glory.
but hey, brett white does that for lima and kafusi. brent kite does that for cuthbertson. cayless does it for fui fui. but the difference is they also contribute by making good metres and playing with aggression and occassionally making breaks.
i will say this for royal he has amean offload and i wouldnt mind him coming off the bench. but starting no thanks.

I never said Tolar was better then Cross. It's just a bit rash to say Tolar has been sh*t. If you watch the game you'd know what I mean. Tolar isn't a world beater but his solid and a hard worker i've never seen him give less than 100%. Royal has an offload but is sh*t in every other aspect, his actually quiet lazy.

 

[BG]

Royal has an offload but is sh*t in every other aspect

Completely disagree. He has excellent footwork for a big fella and can make yardage in traffic. He also has the typical Smith-moulded forward skill of being able to pass before the line: eg. to Dureau leading up to our first try on Friday night. And I still can't get over a passage of play in which he handled three times in the second half against Manly (last year) which netted us a try amidst the hammering we were receiving.