The new style of play

[roopy]

I thought the game yesterday was played exactly to the game plan we need for the rest of the season.

The forwards did big hit up after big hit up.

Kurt went for a few runs, but he mostly just worked as a link man getting the ball out to the centres and wingers as quickly and cleanly as he could. Joey tends to run to the line looking for weaknesses all the time and still has the ability to get the ball to the right man with long, flat passes. Kurt isn't even trying to do that, which is good.

The only thing that could stuff it up is if Kurt gets a big head and starts to think he could do what Joey does.

 

[Terminator]

I don't want to upset the apple cart, but Kurt seems to be alot more in tune with the team's attack than Joey, yes Joey is the world's best player, and can do everything better than Kurt can, but I'm starting to prefer Kurts linking attack than Joeys directing attack.
I think if Kurt continues to go the way he is we may have our next halfback already.
I can hear the Goosters already of 2006, Knights one man team, can't win without Kurt!

 

[Anonymous]

I don't want to upset the apple cart, but Kurt seems to be alot more in tune with the team's attack than Joey, yes Joey is the world's best player, and can do everything better than Kurt can, but I'm starting to prefer Kurts linking attack than Joeys directing attack.
I think if Kurt continues to go the way he is we may have our next halfback already.
I can hear the Goosters already of 2006, Knights one man team, can't win without Kurt!

Thats my line of thinking too termi, i am starting to prefer kurt there, hes much better when he gets to do it all by himself. How about this, have joey on the bench, and interchange him and bedsey every 20 min or so. How good would that be.

 

[antonius]

I don't want to upset the apple cart, but Kurt seems to be alot more in tune with the team's attack than Joey, yes Joey is the world's best player, and can do everything better than Kurt can, but I'm starting to prefer Kurts linking attack than Joeys directing attack.
I think if Kurt continues to go the way he is we may have our next halfback already.
I can hear the Goosters already of 2006, Knights one man team, can't win without Kurt!

HaHa, don't laugh Termy the Goosters will prob try to sign him up!!!
Yesterdays game was the best I've seen from him (Kidley) as Roop said he didn't try to be too fancy just played the link role, put in some good grubbers, couple of good bombs, a good cross field kick, and knew the right time to run at the line, all in all a pretty dominant performance from him. He just needs to produce that consistantly, every game he plays you can see him gaining in confidence.

 

[Terminator]

I think he is our next half back, maybe next year we could alternate the halfback position's, Kurt could take the lead in the first half, then bring on a fresh and raring to go Joey as halfback for the second half, Kurt could then move to 5/8 or plugin as a utility somewhere else, how scary would that scenario be for opposition coaches! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[roopy]

I think the two of them just have to decide to play like Joey and Barrett do in SOO and test matches.
The problem has been that Joey doesn't respect Kurt's ability enough to take a back seat to him for parts of the game, but that should all change now that Kurt is proving himself.
Joey just has to sit back and let Kurt call the shots at times, which will make them a top partnership.

 

[Jedda]

Joey just has to sit back and let Kurt call the shots at times, which will make them a top partnership.

Can't see this happening somehow. Joey is used to being the dominant playmaker and Kurt tends to lose confidence in his own ability when teamed with Joey.

It's great seeing Kidley performing so well without Joey in the side and the experience he gains now will be valuable for the future but the Knights just wouldn't be the same without John's Magic.

 

[roopy]

[Can't see this happening somehow. Joey is used to being the dominant playmaker and Kurt tends to lose confidence in his own ability when teamed with Joey.

.

I remember saying something similar about Joey and Barratt playing together. I thought Joey would never let anyone else call the shots, but he meshed perfectly with Barrett when it came down to it.

The other relevant thing is that Buderus seems to have no trouble looking after both Johns and Barrett in SOO, so it will not be a problem for him to work in with two playmakers at the Knights.

I think Buderus may be the real key to it. It is really him who decides who gets the ball when he wants it.

 

[Big Tim]

I agree with Roopy, Bedsy is the key. He has always been the key.

Do you think Kidley, and Joey for that matter would be as successful without the wonderful service he provides? He ALWAYS goes to the right playmaker, which has mostly been Joey, but he has gone to Rudder in the past and left Joey standing there cos he knows thqat he is going the right way.

If Bedsy gived the ball to Kidley not Joey then 99 times out of 100 he will be right and Joey will know that.

 

[princess plj]

I agree with what ur saying about kidley, i am impressed at how he has stood up to the task in the past few weeks with joey, but i don't think we should be giving away joey spot just yet....kurt may become the next half back but think he is learning from the master and still has a lot to learn...its good that we have finally come to a new way of play which is great for when joey is not there.......but in all honesty if joey was still playing would u pick kurt at half? or how even still how many of u will be choosing kidley over joey?

 

[Risa]

Okay, he had a great second half against the Warriors, a mixed game against the Raiders and an awesome game against the Dragons. All he needs is a bit more consistency.

In saying that though, he's given us all hope that there is life after Joey. How bad was it when Joey was ruled out and everyone was writing us off? I even had some doubts, but they extinguished after the Warriors game. The Raiders game we competed well in, and the Dragons game was pretty much a demolistion. We have yet again silenced a few more critics.

Kurt could have himself a position at halfback when the great one retires. He's obviously been practising a lot with Joey during the season, on his kicking, his passing and calling of the shots. It was a great idea to have Joey working so closely with Kurt all season, just incase he was injured and when State of Origin came into play.

 

[Terminator]

We are now a two man team, plus BK.. Buds..Gidley.. Tahu.. Doogs..O'Davis.. Rudder..

 

[Anonymous]

Guys the pack is the key. If we can keep that pack, fit and healthy i know we can win the comp. They are simply the most dominating forward pack i have ever seen. It is hard to notice, but when they finally all get together you can see it.

I was blown away by the performance yesterday. St George had everything to play for and the Knights belted them for 80mins.

Ronad MacDonald could have scored outside of those guys.

I am very happy with Kurt though, we can play two sides of the ruck next year. With MacDougall, Kennedy and Abraham running shortside plays with Bedsy and Gidley K. They are somthin those shortside raids. They havent really been doing them for a while, i guess they are Kennedy's forte and he has been unfit.

-GS.

 

[mrford61]

Guys the pack is the key.

-GS.

Fair statement. Though musn't lose sight of the fact that we have an international level team (bar Quinn) outside and behind our halves. All individual match winners as well as a combination recognised as the best in the game. Halves need to stay level headed and focussed to exploit this talent. Hages really must work overtime here. Kidley is like a young horse that has been finally given its head with a loose rein and I tend to think good coaching will make or break him.
If the weekends form in all games is anything to go by, I for one am growing in confidence.

 

[Doctor]

HaHa, don't laugh Termy the Goosters will prob try to sign him up!!!

That is usually the plan - bag a team out until they produce a player you want - buy that player and make your own team look good. I like it, it's a shame the Roosters have brought it down to an art-form, and the Knights don't have the room in the salary cap because they're the ones producing the players that everyone else buys.

You'll notice that since about 1997 the Knights seem to have lost more players than they've gained. It is like a spring that is bubbling over - a lot of the water bubbles out of the pit, but more just keeps bubbling back up, it's not a cycle, it's simply just a chain of events that keeps seeing more quality players coming through.

In relation to Gidley - he has a different style to Johns - as Phil Gould said in his column in the SMH the other day, the Knights are now adjusting their style to suit Gidley. The wingers/centres are calling for the ball, Gidley is delivering the balls, and they're just spreading it around a bit. That's where MacDougall and Tahu create their opportunities, with Buderus, Abraham and Kennedy helping in the link/support work.

It is a different side made up of 95% of the same players. This doesn't mean the Knights are not going to want Johns' abilities back there next season - not at all. Gidley has had 2.5/3 games of quality, but he isn't Andrew Johns.

But in Johns' absence there is no point Gidley still taking a back seat. He has the ability, the direction and the players around him to shake up a few teams in the finals series, and that is why many Knights fans, including myself, have a renewed sense of confidence in the Knights' ability to win matches without Johns.