Which players to bid farewell to?

[mozza91]

Way too harsh on Mullen. How many games would've we won over the last 8 years without him?

 

[The Showstopper]

If Mullo does not fire alongside Hodko he has to go in 2017.

 

[Noname36]

I think this year has once and for all proven how important Mullen is to us. Until we get someone that can provide us with half of what he does he shouldn't even be considered in the "let go" list.

People get way harsh on him for not being a superstar but Jeez, he's still a vital commodity to our squad. Even if out of form we wouldn't be coming last right now if we hadn't lost him for most of the year.

 

[perverse]

I think this year has once and for all proven how important Mullen is to us. Until we get someone that can provide us with half of what he does he shouldn't even be considered in the "let go" list.

People get way harsh on him for not being a superstar but Jeez, he's still a vital commodity to our squad. Even if out of form we wouldn't be coming last right now if we hadn't lost him for most of the year.

Couldn't have put it better myself... and to be honest I think we get a reminder most years - people just have short memories.

 

[Joker's Wild]

or simply no idea about football

 

[Swarzey]

Plays behind a pack that gets dominated week in and week out, expected to play a role he clearly hasn't been comfortable with nor can he actually do (no shame in admitting it) and hasn't had a decent partner in years. It shows how f**king good the bloke is when he's THE reason why we have successful or disappointing season yet so restricted.

 

[Spot On]

Way too harsh on Mullen. How many games would've we won over the last 8 years without him?

Depends who we would have bought to replace him.

Mullo has had plenty of good games and plenty of bad ones. The poor pack theory has it's merits but so does the fact that his attack and "playmaking" can be terribly f**king ordinary half the time (if not more). Even his strength, his kicking game, can be pathetic too often. Is that because of the beaten pack theory? He's apparently a decent ball runner but doesn't run the ball too often. Is the because of the beaten pack theory?? I spose the fact that we've been shit for years with the odd patch of success has hindered him in many ways. I can't deny that. I believe, as many of you probably do, that if Mlb picked him up 5 years ago he'd have been killing it year in, year out. That system would have suited his game perfectly. It's a shame we haven't been able to find a coach capable of capitalising on what could have been.

Mullo lacks consistency to be a top shelf half even though he lauded for his array of skills. Peter Sterling has said for years how good his kicking game and left to right pass is. Best in the game. Would be nice to see it on song more often.

I hope Hodko helps him find that consistency.

The one solid part of Mullo's game is his defence. I could never complain about that. He's effing solid in that department.

 

[Dave_]

Ok, so what if Mullo has yet another mediocre season? Do we keep him? We're gonna have another fairly ordinary forward pack again next season so what will change? Hodkinson will be there and yes, he'll take pressure of Mullen which should allow him to run more but he's not gonna have the blistering pace at 29 that he had at 22.

I'll be happy to eat my words but I don't think I will be. If he's still not doing his job after 10 or so weeks with Hodko, we need to stop wasting time and money on this guy.

I know it seems harsh but if he can't fire while having little to no pressure on him alongside an established quality halfback, I'm sorry mate but you're not that good. His money would be far better spent on the forward pack imo.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Couldn't have put it better myself... and to be honest I think we get a reminder most years - people just have short memories.

Nailed it.

 

[Shenry4]

Halfbacks a dime and dozen. So who you gonna replace Mullen with? (imo our best player)

We are not a club like Brisbane that can easily recruit and replace players.

Its either him or some young junior or Jeff Robson........i'd take Mullen by a stretch personally!

 

[Knight Vision]

The chopping block
Houston- not first grade standard- bye bye
Fa'alogo - retire please
McManus - best days are long gone ESL for you
Roberts- not first grade standard - bye bye
Smith - old , spend his money on a youngster

On Notice
K Simms - no longer a boy and needs to stand up or piss off, get aggro or take up marbles.
A Clydsdale - 2016= 3rd year of 1st grade, show some signs lad or go to nsw cup- in fact just go there until you grow some balls.
K Snowden - injury almost since arrival and would probably do well alongside a decent pack - can be better than what we've seen.
Uate- if he lowers his head one more time when the going gets tough I'd give him 2 months in NSW Cup just to think about it, he has one more year to prove he wants to stay a Knight- I expect more from him.

Notes- if Mullen even thinks about being inconsistent when playing alongside the NSW half then drop him. 110% every week or look elsewhere. I expect some clutch plays next year.

Others such as Gids ( should of got the tap before last year ), Newton and Scott are going anyway.

Notes- Those saying Sione is crap go to the mirror and give yourself an uppercut ( actually give yourself several ) he's a kid and in a decent side going well will mature into a special player. Bennett, Sheens and Des Hasler are not fools.

Mamo, Sione , Levi, Tapine, ( all 4 of them could be anything ) along with some of our other young players are stars of the future.
Once those kids come through with some proper coaching and some hard nut winners playing alongside them we will start winning and win well. We're in a similar position as the tigers with their youngsters just a couple of years ahead of our boys.

 

[perverse]

I think the captaincy will bring out the best in Mullen (assuming he gets it). Bringing in a new coach for him to impress won't hurt, either. Hodko will also help.

At the end of the day, he and Gagai are our match winning players. He's a local and his defense is as good as it is generally because the bloke always has a dig - which you can't say for many in our squad right now. He doesn't always get it right, and goes missing with the ball sometimes for sure - but next to Gids he's the only other bloke I can look at on the team sheet and feel that he'll do what he can to win the match for us. I'd also argue that many of the times people say he's "gone missing" are games where we drop it on plays 2, 3 and 4 repeatedly, too... he's often played out of the game by those around him.

I don't feel that there has been a player that we could have realistically landed that has been on the market as good as Jarrod Mullen, or that gives as much of a shit about our club as Jarrod Mullen. That's the reality of it for me, regardless of what his potential is or was.

 

[PhilGould]

The chopping block
Houston- not first grade standard- bye bye
Fa'alogo - retire please
McManus - best days are long gone ESL for you
Roberts- not first grade standard - bye bye
Smith - old , spend his money on a youngster

On Notice
K Simms - no longer a boy and needs to stand up or piss off, get aggro or take up marbles.
A Clydsdale - 2016= 3rd year of 1st grade, show some signs lad or go to nsw cup- in fact just go there until you grow some balls.
K Snowden - injury almost since arrival and would probably do well alongside a decent pack - can be better than what we've seen.
Uate- if he lowers his head one more time when the going gets tough I'd give him 2 months in NSW Cup just to think about it, he has one more year to prove he wants to stay a Knight- I expect more from him.

Notes- if Mullen even thinks about being inconsistent when playing alongside the NSW half then drop him. 110% every week or look elsewhere. I expect some clutch plays next year.

Others such as Gids ( should of got the tap before last year ), Newton and Scott are going anyway.

Notes- Those saying Sione is crap go to the mirror and give yourself an uppercut ( actually give yourself several ) he's a kid and in a decent side going well will mature into a special player. Bennett, Sheens and Des Hasler are not fools.

Mamo, Sione , Levi, Tapine, ( all 4 of them could be anything ) along with some of our other young players are stars of the future.
Once those kids come through with some proper coaching and some hard nut winners playing alongside them we will start winning and win well. We're in a similar position as the tigers with their youngsters just a couple of years ahead of our boys.

I agree with all of this except K. Sims. I think he's starting to step up and take control

 

[Joel-22]

I agree with all of this except K. Sims. I think he's starting to step up and take control

Yep.

K sims has been head and shoulders our best player this year.

If he continues to deliver what he has in 2015, im all for keeping him a knight for life.

 

[Knight Vision]

I agree with all of this except K. Sims. I think he's starting to step up and take control

Yes perhaps I'm a little too harsh on him. I'm sure if he was in say, the Roosters pack he would be a superstar already.

Confidence is an amazing thing and at the moment we have zero of the stuff.

 

[Noname36]

Ok, so what if Mullo has yet another mediocre season? Do we keep him? We're gonna have another fairly ordinary forward pack again next season so what will change? Hodkinson will be there and yes, he'll take pressure of Mullen which should allow him to run more but he's not gonna have the blistering pace at 29 that he had at 22.

I'll be happy to eat my words but I don't think I will be. If he's still not doing his job after 10 or so weeks with Hodko, we need to stop wasting time and money on this guy.

I know it seems harsh but if he can't fire while having little to no pressure on him alongside an established quality halfback, I'm sorry mate but you're not that good. His money would be far better spent on the forward pack imo.

The biggest issue with your entire argument is that you haven't answered who we can realistically bring in who will offer us more than Mullen does. If the club were capable of finding or producing someone to do the job better than Mullen they would have...Lord knows they've only had 8 years to find us another solid half and every single one of them have failed miserably.

Just because he hasn't risen to the expectations you have for him that doesn't make ideas like punting him a good one if you don't have a realistic option to bring in that could offer more. It's painfully obvious that he's not there when you've been watching us play. Take a look at our execution at the end of sets on Sunday and compare it to our execution against the Titans when Mullen was there. Absolute worlds apart.

You don't think he's doing his job and yet you're happy to throw his money at a forward so we can go on persisting with someone like Roberts or Tui who can't even kick and pass properly?

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The biggest issue with your entire argument is that you haven't answered who we can realistically bring in who will offer us more than Mullen does. If the club were capable of finding or producing someone to do the job better than Mullen they would have...Lord knows they've only had 8 years to find us another solid half and every single one of them have failed miserably.

Just because he hasn't risen to the expectations you have for him that doesn't make ideas like punting him a good one if you don't have a realistic option to bring in that could offer more. It's painfully obvious that he's not there when you've been watching us play. Take a look at our execution at the end of sets on Sunday and compare it to our execution against the Titans when Mullen was there. Absolute worlds apart.

You don't think he's doing his job and yet you're happy to throw his money at a forward so we can go on persisting with someone like Roberts or Tui who can't even kick and pass properly?

This is spot on!

Sure Mullen hasn't lived up to the enormous amount of hype he got early in his career (wasn't he being called the next Johns at some point?) but there's no doubt in my mind that he's been our best player for about 5-6 years now and unfortunately is in a position where he has to try and organize a team of complete geniuss whilst battling injuries every season and a raft of coaching and club ownership changes during that time. Then the one year where the ownership stuff appeared to settle down and Bennett got his way with things a bit Mullen pulls out an inspired run of form and almost leads us to a grand final. Now granted he's had some poor games from time to time but our whole team has been just as inconsistent during this time too and he's not exactly playing with a team of superstars either.

Also for the record I think he should have played a few more games for NSW, I think his defence would be up to it and given how many games Mitchell Pearce has been given at that level I reckon Mullen is seriously unlucky not to have played a couple more series. Unfortunately I feel that he's unlikely to get another go at it and will probably go down in history as one of those guys who comes up in conversation from time to time and people go "oh yeah, I forgot he played for NSW" but yeah I'll conclude this post by saying that I really hope some people get off his back and hopefully he'll have a big 2016 season with a new coach and new halves partner.

 

[The Showstopper]

Mullo deserves every chance. However you cannot keep giving him the benefit of the doubt if a genuine halfback does not bring out his best. We have been going on and on for years about him playing as a halfback in the 6. Mullo is one of the best ball runners in the game wHEN allowed. I have every belief he will kill it but he has got to make good on his promise next season. We need that long kicking game to choke teams like in 2013. If he does we go top 8. We will have enough points in us.

If he and Hodko click Mullo has to have his best shot at Origin redemption but Daley's Pearce obsession will f### that idea.

 

[1qaz]

This is my take on things.. bare in mind I haven't watched a Knights game for a few years.

First off.. I would get rid of both Clydsdale and Randell.
They are nothing players, wouldn't make the 17 at most clubs.
They are depth players are best. Ennis would've been good signing at the start of this season. Dud rep player but always performed well at club level.
I would sign Ballin for 2 years, and have Levi come off the bench.

I would get rid of both Chanel and Pat, they are overpaid NSW Cup players. I would ask Sione to take a massive pay cut. $200,000 a season. The comparison between him and Lyon are ridiculous.
A young Jamie Lyon used to burn players on the outside for speed. Lyon also always had the skills to played in the halves. You can't say the same for Sione. Sione runs the line of a back row even when he was at fullback. He's going to end up like a bigger version of his brother Pete. Ask yourself.. would you pay Pete $450,000 a season?

As for Uate and McManus. I would be happy to keep both at $280k a season. Uate is still the most dangerous winger at the club but he's not worth the 500k+ he's currently on.
McManus is only worth the 280k to the club if he can manage to nail down a centre position.
But both are replaceable when you consider a player like Koroibete could do a better job for much less $$$

I would also get rid of Smith. I can't believe the Knights went into a bidding war to retain him beyond this season.. 1 decent game every 15 games doesn't cut it in my books. I would use his money to sign someone like Dunamis Lui.

Houston and Fa'alogo can both retire.


As for Mullen... I don't rate him as highly as the majority Knights fans do. However, unless someone better on the market comes along, he should remain at the club for the time being.

Top Halves

Thurston
Cronk
Johnson
DCE
Hunt

Middle

Foran
Reynolds
Milford
Austin
Mullen
Sezer
Morgan
Pearce
Maloney

 

[Spot On]

I wouldn't pay around a dozen or so blokes half of what they are currently on 1qaz. The club has a bunch of millionaires running around unwilling or unable to play at a standard required. Not sure how much of that is a coaching problem or recruitment failure. Saddest thing is some of the younger blokes we keep will be on squillions the next time they sign a contract due to the new TV deal being reported.

Let's hope the new coach brings a dose of reality to the place and puts an end to the perennial millionaire underachievers we have here. It's got out of hand.