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The 2017 Pre-Season Thread

Noname36

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
Playing a 570k centre on the wing is stupid. Yes he was good there for Qld but any player would look good on the end of that Qld backline.

Make him do extra tackling practice to earn his massive contract - and while we're at it make the whole side do extra defensive practice so our centres/wingers don't get outnumbered as much as they do.

It's all about heart and technique with Gagai as opposed to lack of brains...both of which can be improved.
 
R

rabble1

Juniors
Messages
16
Doesn't matter how much Gagai is on, he's prob unlikely to be here next year. He'll play centre, only coz we have noone else.
 
R

rabble1

Juniors
Messages
16
If Wardle comes, with his bigger body I could see him pushing Sione back to centre. I've only seen video like anyone else but he appears bigger. Not too sure of his defensive capabilities being it the NRL but I could see it happening.
 
Noname36

Noname36

First Grade
Messages
7,067
rabble1 said:
If Wardle comes, with his bigger body I could see him pushing Sione back to centre. I've only seen video like anyone else but he appears bigger. Not too sure of his defensive capabilities being it the NRL but I could see it happening.
Click to expand...

I don't think it matters how big this wardle bloke is. Sione was one of, if not our best player this season - moving him for a player from ESL just based on nothing but size would be silly. It really means nothing. We know Sione can do more than hold his own in the backrow where Wardle has been playing in a softer competition. We don't know if he'll even be able to hack it or not - regardless of how big he is.
 
Bring it home Knights

Bring it home Knights

First Grade
Messages
7,575
There's arguably three back row positions in the team, so Sione would be the last one that I'd move positions to accommodate another player.

With Gagai, I think a lot of his defensive capabilities come down to not wanting to put his body on the line, which is surprising as he's keen to do a lot of hit ups which also requires toughness. He simply arm grabs as opposed to throwing himself into the tackle.

I was watching a knights game from the mid 90's yesterday and I couldn't believe the difference between the 2 teams. The players back then would run hard into gaps expecting the pass which often hit them on the chest. The current Knights team is hopeless at this. If a player runs onto the ball looking to go through a hole, either the player drops it or the pass lacks accuracy. Sione and Rochow appear to be the only players that I have seen in recent times who actually run with speed towards holes and actually catch the ball.
 
Chicken_Hunter

Chicken_Hunter

Coach
Messages
17,035
It's promising that Ross wants to play there and has expressed this to the media. Surely we can pencil him in for first shot.
 
Glendale

Glendale

Juniors
Messages
879
Some interesting stuff in Browns pre-seaon update:

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/news/2016/11/17/brown_s_pre_season_u.html

- Looks like the Mullen to hooker move may very well go ahead. At 2:19, you can see him in at dummy half in the drill. Brown gets asked about it aswell and he confirms that's he's doing a bit of training there.

- Very interesting to hear him completely shut down the prospect of Gagai playing fullback.

- He mentions Ross, Phythian and Pete as candidates for fullback.
 
NoSchitSherlock

NoSchitSherlock

Bench
Messages
3,740
Glendale said:
Looks like the Mullen to hooker move may very well go ahead. At 2:19, you can see him in at dummy half in the drill. Brown gets asked about it aswell and he confirms that's he's doing a bit of training there.
Click to expand...
I get that it undecided and Mullen is both training in the halves and hooker.
Mullen often slots into dummy half so it's a help anyway and leaves that option for him at hooker.
Kostjacyn yet to train.
Mention made of a few players that might not be ready until the year after next is interesting.
 
Mr_Knightside

Mr_Knightside

Juniors
Messages
2,375
Good interview from Brown there, interesting that he is considering Pythian at FB. I have only seen him play at hooker for those two games this year but others were saying he's a pretty handy fullback, what do people think?

Assuming we have to wait to get Ponga this would by my 2017 line-up.

1. Ross
2. Sio
3. Peter Mata'Utia
4. Gagai
5. Gagan
6. Lamb
7. Hodkinson
8. D. Saifiti
9. Mullen
10. Sims
11. Sione Mata'Utia
12. Barnett
13. Buhrer

14. Kostjasyn
15. J. Saifiti
16. Mataora
17. Pauli Pauli

The big questions for mine are:

- Does Mullo play 5/8 or hooker? I think we should put him at hooker to give Lamb a run at 5/8, Mullo can always go back there if Lamb struggles to have an impact. This means Levi will need to play NSW cup though but that might be good for him and then he can come back into the NRL mid-year.

- What to do with Korbin? At his best he's probably our best forward but if he starts 2017 like he did this year he should probably lose his spot or end up on the bench. I think prop is his best spot though.

- Fullback is still in question but I think Ross is the best choice and it will allow him to get more involved in the game and have a greater impact. If Brown chooses to go with another option I think Pete Mat would be my next choice and Ross to centres.
 
Jono078

Jono078

Referee
Messages
21,201
I gotta say, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Buhrer ends up playing majority of his time at hooker.
 
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