Where will the Newcastle Knights finish in 2019?

[Knight Vision]

It's been interesting reading the predicted round 1 line-ups that NRL.COM have been posting. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in how much better our side is looking and overlooking the strength of other club's rosters.

So far of the sides they have posted I have us ahead of;

Penrith, Tigers, Canberra, Dogs, Cowboys, Cronulla, Titans

The Roosters are in a league of their own.

Of the sides we're ahead of, Penrith, Cronulla, Tigers, Cowboys (if they play to their potential) are sides that can trouble us.

Dogs and Titans we have easily covered.

For the first time in a long time our bench looks superior compared to many other sides. We sure as hell have a lethal backline, if our pack can hold their own we're in for a great season.

 

[Joel-22]

For the first time in a long time our bench looks superior compared to many other sides. We sure as hell have a lethal backline, if our pack can hold their own we're in for a great season.

I've said this elsewhere recently, but I think this the most balanced side we've fielded in at least a decade. There are no glaring weaknesses. I've said this before but other than injuries, I honestly think the way Watson handles the fullback spot will play a huge role in our success. He is a totally unknown quantity there. His running game obviously isn't the concern but there's question marks over his playmaking ability, his ability to read the play and of course the dreaded highball. These are all things Ponga is outstanding at and consequently i think many take the complexity of the fullback position too lightly.

 

[Knight Vision]

I've said this elsewhere recently, but I think this the most balanced side we've fielded in at least a decade. There are no glaring weaknesses. I've said this before but other than injuries, I honestly think the way Watson handles the fullback spot will play a huge role in our success. He is a totally unknown quantity there. His running game obviously isn't the concern but there's question marks over his playmaking ability, his ability to read the play and of course the dreaded highball. These are all things Ponga is outstanding at and consequently i think many take the complexity of the fullback position too lightly.

if a team is only as strong as its weakest link, the biggest question marks would appear to be fullback ( watson ) and hooker ( levi) .

I'm confident Watson will make a good account of himself although it may take some time.

Levi has the ability and potential to be a great player. I'm excited to see how he goes behind a good pack.

 

[Yosh]

I thought I read somewhere Watson played fullback for a while at the Roosters and said he really enjoyed it and played well. This true or did I dream it up?

 

[Bring it home Knights]

yeh I had a right chuckle over that one.

On the subject of Pearce though - As an outsider looking in I thought Guerra should of been Captain. Peacre hasnt got the character of a leader for mine. He may be doing the right things on the training paddock and at the game but ....A leader is much much more than that, he just doesnt have the runs on the board to be Captain. Too many off field problems for mine. Captain should be a man of impeccable character and who the young guys should aspire to be like. Cant say that about Pearce. Part of the leadership group ? perhaps. Captain ? no way.

Does this mean that you are of the opinion that John's shouldn't have been our captain from the beginning of 2001 and onwards?

 

[Spot On]

I thought I read somewhere Watson played fullback for a while at the Roosters and said he really enjoyed it and played well. This true or did I dream it up?

Played most his footy at fullback pre NRL as far as I know.

 

[Knight Vision]

Does this mean that you are of the opinion that John's shouldn't have been our captain from the beginning of 2001 and onwards?

when u r a god and can single handedly win games, are the incumbent rep at every level of the sport and leave your peers struggling for words to describe your talent then u can do what you want- your winning.and that = runs on the board.

When ur merely Mitch Pearce and playing for an also ran club hoping to achieve something then you have to behave and embody the culture the club is reaching for.

Joey may have been a bad boy but when playing for the Knights but he wasnt arrested for misbehaving with police after an alleged indecent assault chasing a girl in a nightclub and publically humiliated making out with a poodle, and on top of that had his game come under question by his peers about whether or not he has the temperament and leadership to close out big games.

Pearce needs to up the game and improve public perception. In all fairness to him the game and society expectations have changed since Johns was playing - unfairly so.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Played most his footy at fullback pre NRL as far as I know.

Watson has played a number of NRL games at fullback, have a look at the Storm v Roosters game in Melbourne from 2017, he was arguably best on field. He’s had a number of strong games at fullback actually. It would suit his game more than 5/8 I think.

 

[Vic Mackey]

I have them around a couple of clubs fighting for the bottom of the 8. Love the 1/6/7, backline has lots of points potential however think the pack will be out gunned by a couple of others. Still come across as a bit of a loose team. Will likely beat the Storm/Broncos in consecutive weeks then lose to the Dogs and Eels. I said 9th but if they put it together wouldn’t rule out as high as 4th/5th

 

[ryan.a87]

take it with a grain of salt,

but NRL360 did their season preview for us last night and spent the bulk of the section about whether the ponga switch would work

anyway, the "fox sports lab" had us finishing 12th. thought it was odd they had us finishing worse than 2018, even with all the good signings we've done.

 

[Spot On]

Our defensive record may have been a big factor in that rating ... and rightly so.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

While our trial form against Cronulla was poor it mainly came down to the fact that we looked a bit clunky and we didn’t respect the ball. As Brown said in the past we’ve been dominated by their pack because we simply didn’t have the cattle to compete. It’s a different story now that we’ve got a beefed up forward pack so I expect that we’ll at least match our opposition most weeks and hopefully we’ll get on top in that area more often. The errors can be fixed so I’m not too worried about that.

The key is we have 4 of our first 5 games at home so we need to get off to a good start. If we can win at least 3 of those home games it’ll give us some momentum into the middle part of the year.

 

[Still Nutty]

For the Knights to go deep into season 2019, 2 primary things need to happen;

1) We need to be at or above 80-85% completions every week consistently - the trail against the Sharks again highlighted what happens when we have no discipline in valuing possession

2) we need to develop a discipline of consistent line speed in D and have 1 down lower in tackles - it was also apparent in the Sharks game that, as we coughed up possession and fatigued, we went back to waiting for the attack to hit the Advantage line and we had too many tackles where there were 2 or more players high and nobody wrapping up legs

If we can concentrate on those 2 things being right, the rest will fall into place with attack, combinations, etc.

I think 6-8 is very achievable but not if we don't get the 2 things above sorted and maintained throughout the season

 

[slotmachine]

The key is we have 4 of our first 5 games at home so we need to get off to a good start. If we can win at least 3 of those home games it’ll give us some momentum into the middle part of the year.

Last year in first 6 weeks we had very close wins against Manly/Raiders/Broncs and got flogged by Chooks/Storm/Dragons.

This year its Sharks/Panthers/Raiders/Manly/Dragons/Titans. If we're legit that should be at least 4 wins.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Last year in first 6 weeks we had very close wins against Manly/Raiders/Broncs and got flogged by Chooks/Storm/Dragons.

This year its Sharks/Panthers/Raiders/Manly/Dragons/Titans. If we're legit that should be at least 4 wins.

Sharks have a good team on paper as does Penrith and the dragons. Manly also has some quality in their team. If we don't win 4 out of those games I won't be too surprised.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

We get a mention for top 4.
https://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/...ership-the-experts-preview-to-the-season.html

 

[Knight Vision]

Sharks have a good team on paper as does Penrith and the dragons. Manly also has some quality in their team. If we don't win 4 out of those games I won't be too surprised.

and how we bounce back mentally from the early defeats and let downs will define our season.

 

[Silent Knight]

Ahead of the Donkeys you’d bloody well hope.

 

[Old dog]

Not so confident now, poor form, injuries so am back out of possibly in 8 to missing out.
Compared to other not so high ranked teams such as Canterbury, Tigers, Canberra, Manly we haven’t performed like they have in one or more games. Early days but I think that only a few points will seperate 8-12 and I expected 3-4 wins in first 6 rounds and we will struggle to get that despite a favourable draw, home games.

 

[Spot On]

Fix the defense OD and there's no reason we can't string a few games together.

Ponga back to 1 will help the attack and balance the side much better.

But if we lose him for a length of time, we'll struggle to score points and I doubt we could counter that with our defense.