The Knights last 4 weeks.

[macavity]

People laugh at the Hodkinson signing quite rightly. The sad part is though that that's the only type of big name we will ever get.

Cooper Cronk comes off contract and every club without a star 7 under the sun is an option. The Dragons are supposedly right in there, and they aren't a glamour club.

Instead we have to pay Cooper Cronk money to a guy like Hodkinson who has given himself a ridiculous asking price by being generously chosen in the NSW side.

Every other club knows he's a spud.

I think our management chased him because we needed a name, and they could tell everyone they were doing their job because we were able to attract a NSW spine player. Bravo. This is why we are at the cap.

We are not even an iota of a chance of getting a player that other clubs actually want. Every other club is. That's the frustrating part. We would be last on the list by a long way with the exception of the Warriors...except that we have no competitive advantage with the kiwis like RTS or Luke to bring home.

The change will have to come from within and even then we are up against it. Today and the Tapine situation at the start of the year go hand in hand.

Add to that the fact that all of our "cooper Cronk spud money" is under our cap, and we are unable to build a competitive squad. Literally any player we want to keep or recruit, we need to pay cap-overs for.

All those saying "it will get better, it did for [my team]" are oblivious to the completely different financial landscape that has taken shape in the past 3 or so years and is continuing to entrench itself. You can no longer rebuild without massive TPAs or cheating. It is financially impossible.

Cronulla hit the jackpot with a lot of "reject" deals all paying off at once, and now a huge development giving them intimate access to the shonkiest industries of them all at the time they would otherwise start feeling the pinch. Good for them, but not a model we can emulate.

Other teams have obvious TPA/rich owner/friends advantages.

We have none of that, and even with the best management in the world (which we certainly don't have) we have no way up. It is like being at the bottom of a well and those above have pulled the ladder up.

Our historical advantage has been juniors - and we remain the only club without a leagues club that funds its own junior systems. But we can't keep the best of them and/or build a competitive squad around them, when any who show talent are offered more than we can offer without screwing our cap.

Well aware most don't care, and some are revelling in the death of our club as any sort of competitive entity, but these are the undeniable facts, in black and white. The flogging a are going to continue.

Unless something external changes massively - the cap being fixed, or us being bought by some well connected shady guy with very deep pockets and no Tinkler style about him, we are cooked.

 

[Eion]

It all starts at the top. Get that right and it'll turn around.

 

[macavity]

It all starts at the top. Get that right and it'll turn around.

Yes, but unfortunately Greenburg is there and he has shown no inclination towards fixing it.

 

[Apey]

If they were concerned about 2016, they wouldn't be making the sort of selections they currently are.

Yes we would because we have nobody else :lol:

McManus, C. Mata'utia, Mamo, Snowden, Rochow, Mullen, P. Mata'utia (signed from Dragons, gets injured for 6 weeks in first half of his first game), Ross (injured in warm-up) are all injured, Hodkinson - ??? not sure if legitimately injured or just dropped, Mataora - injured? didn't hear what happened with him. Hodkinson and Mataora are the ones that I didn't hear anything about, except a few words about Hodkinson carrying some niggling injuries. Mataora has been good for us though so getting dropped would make no sense.

Now even with these guys we aren't a stellar line-up but we're still missing a lot of players.

 

[OVP]

I remember hearing a news broadcast on the radio early in the year, they basically said the Knights had about a week to pay back a $2-3 million loan from the NRL. Didn't hear anything about it after that though, the coverage on the matter wasn't great after that.

But that must have really hurt the Knights, in more areas than you'd think too. The NRL should be a sport and help out the Knights by giving the money back, for about 3-5 years or until they are back on their feet again. They could use the money for new recruits in the management area. People who know how to get the club back on its feet again, especially financially.

The Hunter is one of the best areas for young rugby league players/clubs. The NRL should do more to look after the whole area. Do it NRL. You owe it to such a great rugby league area.

 

[Apey]

Those missed tackles, linebreaks and run metres though.

To be fair, we demonstrated in earlier games it doesn't matter if we make more metres and complete more sets, we still can't create anything.

 

[Last Week]

Those missed tackles, linebreaks and run metres though.

To be fair, we demonstrated in earlier games it doesn't matter if we make more metres and complete more sets, we still can't create anything.

More penalties, less errors and a decent completion rate. Doesn't really explain the lack of points.

But Cronulla's run meters tell me that there's no heart in defence. Just let them run riot.

 

[Big Pete]

Yes we would because we have nobody else :lol:

McManus, C. Mata'utia, Mamo, Snowden, Rochow, Mullen, P. Mata'utia (signed from Dragons, gets injured for 6 weeks in first half of his first game), Ross (injured in warm-up) are all injured, Hodkinson - ??? not sure if legitimately injured or just dropped, Mataora - injured? didn't hear what happened with him. Hodkinson and Mataora are the ones that I didn't hear anything about, except a few words about Hodkinson carrying some niggling injuries. Mataora has been good for us though so getting dropped would make no sense.

Now even with these guys we aren't a stellar line-up but we're still missing a lot of players.

Yeah it's a real insult to injury but there's been occasions where Brown could have gone the safe option and just gone with a stop-gap option. Whether it's playing a dummy half at second receiver or a backrow in the centres, those are the decisions a lot of other coaches tend to make. However, Brown clearly has plans with the likes of Lamb, King, Denniss, Cogger etc. and is willing to play them before they're ready.

 

[txta2]

Everything has fallen in place for Newcastle to be the whipping boys. New coach, no money, soft senior players, no spine or stars, ex coach and owner leaving them worse off.
f**k them , they only have themselves to blame.
Even the Johns brothers have distanced themselves, f**king traitors....pretty sad really for a 1 town team. If they don't get their finance sorted they wont be leaving the bottom of the table for a whle

 

[Rabbits20]

Lol@Newcastle

 

[Meth]

Felt terrible for them, especially seeing Gagai after the match...totally demoralising. I've been there.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

It'll sound funny but robson was probably on enough to make room for townsend, barba had part of his contract paid by the broncos, carney might of had part of his contract being paid as part of his sacking, Tupou and gordon

Townsend asked for a compassionate release to come back to the Shire due to family illness and wasn't on much at the Warriors. He was likely more or less a straight swap for Robson.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

He's on reasonable money chad
Playing well too

And yes. His mother in law is ill and they wanted to come back
He's totally changed as a player in his stint over there

 

[lockyrulz]

How are they financially?

 

[nick87]

15-0 ON LINE BREAKS!
Holy Shit! Salt the f**king earth!

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

How are they financially?

in the hole due to chads addiction to hair products

15-0 ON LINE BREAKS!
Holy Shit! Salt the f**king earth!

that's an ugly stat hey

 

[AnAccountant]

As usual a Bronco fan making it all about themselves :lol:

Remember when they missed the finals and RL was dead to most of them??? The most arrogant self entitled bandwagoning soft c**ks in the comp. They lose two games in a row and the sky is falling :lol:

:lol:

You bring the Broncos up, but when a Broncos fan responds they're "making it all about themselves"?

:lol:

I don't know if I should laugh at you or feel sorry for you.

Either way, carry on with the meltdown, it's entertaining.

Perhaps next season the mightly Eels will make the finals, and you'll finally have something to be happy about.

Doubt it.

:lol:

 

[AnAccountant]

Must be something in the water around Newcastle.

Signing spuds like Hodkinson, T.Sims and Sione to massive deals, then blaming the rest of the competition when they're 1/10.

:crazy:

 

[macavity]

Must be something in the water around Newcastle.

Signing spuds like Hodkinson, T.Sims and Sione to massive deals, then blaming the rest of the competition when they're 1/10.

:crazy:

Signing spuds to market rate - difference being the whole amount goes on our cap. We aren't paying them much if any more than they were offered elsewhere, but we need to compete.

Tariq has now been offered more to sign with the Rabbits meaning we have to up our offer to compete or lose him. Meaning we replace another experienced player with another rookie. Same with Rochow, has been offered more than we can offer by apparently two Sydney clubs. See how that works?

But keep blaming us for financial inequity. Makes it much easier to dismiss it as just "LOL Newcastle is shit because they are shit" rather than actually deal with the financial issues that make "poor" clubs whipping boys.

 

[AnAccountant]

Signing spuds to market rate - difference being the whole amount goes on our cap. We aren't paying them much if any more than they were offered elsewhere, but we need to compete.

Tariq has now been offered more to sign with the Rabbits meaning we have to up our offer to compete or lose him. Meaning we replace another experienced player with another rookie. Same with Rochow, has been offered more than we can offer by apparently two Sydney clubs. See how that works?

But keep blaming us for financial inequity. Makes it much easier to dismiss it as just "LOL Newcastle is shit because they are shit" rather than actually deal with the financial issues that make "poor" clubs whipping boys.

Quit pretending to be some sort of club executive or salary cap auditor.

You know nothing about the Knights salary cap situation.

What you and I both know is that the roster is shit.

The dogs wanted to recruit Sione and extend Hodkinson, do you think they stayed / came for less? :roll:

You've obviously overpaid for sub standard players.

The sooner that you direct your anger towards your inexperienced executives, your sub standard practice / training / rehab facilities, your rookie coach (who was yet another sub standard player) and most importantly your inept recruitment instead of blaming those who do it right the sooner you'll be better off.

When my team missed the finals I didn't blame the rest of the world, I knew exactly who to direct my anger / dissatisfaction towards. What the hell is wrong with you supporters of bottom feeder clubs?