Why do we suck? #emothread

[The Showstopper]

The fact Bennett has only really been linked with a return to Brisbane speaks volumes. We should have Neil Henry's number ready to go cos I am a believer that he is a huge reason why the Titans are going so well. Look at what happened when the Cowboys finally bought into his philosophy AFTER they announced they were moving on without him. They went on a 2 month unbeaten streak or thereabouts. He also doesn't mind giving young talent their chance.

 

[Peppers]

Biggest reason we suck compared to last year ?
No Buderus

 

[League_God]

Biggest reason we suck compared to last year ?
No Buderus

wow, forgot all about that! I remember the difference he made to our side when he was on the field for us both in D and attack.

God I love buderus, probably my favourite player of all time. All heart.

....then there's Darius....

 

[mean_maori_mean]

If Joseph Tapine doesn't get a go soon then honestly I don't think he ever will, the kid can not do anymore, he's a beast, they literally can't handle him in NYC. It's not like we have great players in front of him either

Both him and Danny Levi are future FG'ers.

 

[1qaz]

Just finished watching a few games from this year.
One thing that stood out for me is how much the halves have been hitting the lead runner instead of going out the back to Boyd/Minto.
Kevin Walters ex Storm assistant coach have been working with the halves all season.
And you can tell how the Knights are trying to copy their style of attack.
Hoffman and Proctor running off Cronk - Scott/Houston/Rochow running off Roberts/Dobson/Mullen
When the Knights made the break last week against the Broncos,
Mullen had the perfect opportunity to go out the back but instead and hit the lead runner Mason.
Boyd hasn't even had one linebreak or one try assist all season.
Why change what worked so well last season?

 

[1qaz]

youtube.com/watch?v=B03ZqOZesSc

When was the last time we seen a simple shift like this from the Knights?
Buderus long ball to Mullen long ball to Gagai flick to Uate to score in the corner.
Quick ball movement with plenty of space for Gagai and Uate to work in.
Also highlights how shit Gidley is at hooker.

 

[Joker's Wild]

I don't really buy this oh he needs time in NSW cup stuff, NSW cup isn't what it use to be, guys like Josh Papalii, Tohu Harris, Aaron Woods, Trent Merrin, Boyd Cordner, Kelepi Tanganoa, David Klemmer, Jesse Bromwich, Jared Waerea Hargreaves, and Josh McGuire are just a examples of forwards who made the step up with very few to no NSW cup experience. Tapine isn't a young 18 year old kid, he's 20 years old and was playing against grown men in Bartercard cup when he was 17. If we had good genuine edge forwards ahead of him then I can see why he wouldn't be in the team, but we have players who shouldn't even be in 1st grade ahead of him in that left edge backrow spot.
Tapine isn't just playing good football, he's absolutely unstoppable at the moment, he's scored some like 9 tries in 4 games

I didnt realise he had played any NSWCup, just NYC

I have watched him in NYC and agree he is impressive but I have seen 20yolds belt around other 20yolds before and then get found out in NSWCup, let alone the NRL

Im happy to defer to others with more knowledge of him then if he has played against men before. It may be time to blood some fresh legs I guess

 

[Allstar Knights]

Yeah, he played a few games of NSW Cup at the back end of last year. One of them was shown on Fox and he looked really solid. He was definitely up to it at that level.

I think it's worth giving him a crack. Blood him off the bench and let him share the left edge role with Rochow.

 

[Noname36]

Good point re changes to our attack since Walters came on board. I hadn't thought of that. It would make sense considering it's changed quite a bit from last season and I don't know why we would go away from what worked for us then when we have virtually the same roster (minus Bedsy of course who we're obviously missing).

We're just not putting the defence in two minds anymore and that's what we need to start doing. If they know exactly what we're going to do it's easy for them to shut it down.

 

[Yosh]

What's the point of having two of the best centres in the comp and never using them. Under Stone we used to spread the ball quickly to the backs and let them so their thing. Not only do we give our centres no room, our second rowers have no idea how to give their centres room or good room.

We have some great tools but not using them we'll.

Boyd can go, Kidley can go and we just need to watch the storm more. Just copy their plays. We don't need create anything new, just copy and keep our possession, field position game.

 

[Belly007]

Mamo to fullback, Boyd to wing, Clydsdale the 9 to start at least.

I think that would solve a lot IMO.

I'm not sure this solves the issues. I believe Clydesdale at Hooker is a start. His timing and speed from dummy half shows why Gidley at hooker does not work. I think Boyd's problem is a lack of confidence, and that our halves aren't creating the opportunities that they did last year.

Before a ball was kicked in anger we lost a player we were hoping to give us forward momentum. I thinks thats hurt us more than we realised as we no longer seem to get over the advantage line giving our halves the time and space needed....thus giving our fullback the time and space to chime into the backline like he was doing last year

 

[Bring it home Knights]

I'm not sure this solves the issues. I believe Clydesdale at Hooker is a start. His timing and speed from dummy half shows why Gidley at hooker does not work. I think Boyd's problem is a lack of confidence, and that our halves aren't creating the opportunities that they did last year.

Before a ball was kicked in anger we lost a player we were hoping to give us forward momentum. I thinks thats hurt us more than we realised as we no longer seem to get over the advantage line giving our halves the time and space needed....thus giving our fullback the time and space to chime into the backline like he was doing last year

That arrogant smile he constantly demonstrates tells me isn't low on confidence. For the record, a lack of confidence shouldn't lead to a player playing in a skirt.

 

[DRAGONZ_RULE]

One thing I find interesting with Newcastle is that their backline would appear to be their strength, and yet in the Bulldogs game I felt Newcastle won the battle of the forwards but lost the game anyway.

I thought Tetevano and Rochow were quite good, Houston, KSims and Faalogo were very strong and Cuthbertson was absolutely immense ... he made about 40 tackles, 120m and 4 offloads. Beau Scott missed a lot of tackles in an otherwise solid game.

Snowden and Gidley were probably the two weakest forwards for you in the game, which puts Bennett in an awkward position given one is close to a club hero and the other is one of the big names in the pack. Snowden has had a bad start to the year, Gidley is just too old.

If I was Bennett I would probably go with a forward pack looking something like this:

8. Tetevano
9. Clydesdale
10. Cuthbertson
11. Scott
12. Rochow
13. Houston

14. Faalogo
15. KSims
16. Kidley .. just for 30 minutes a game until Clydesdale has the fitness to play 80.
17. Mason

I don't think J-Dawg (as much as I still love him from his time with us!) or Snowden really deserve to be in the lineup.

 

[Noname36]

^ mate, Snowden has been consistently our best forward for the past two years. He had a poor game on Saturday compared to some of the others I agree but he's usually our best (with Scott, and Smith when he's not injured close behind).

Certainly agree that Gids has the club and coach in an awkward position though. Like you said he needs to be bench hooker/utility at best.

 

[perverse]

Snowy always starts the year slowly... double the case this year because he didn't have an off-season due to injury. He should improve by mid-year I would think once his fitness is back up there.

Agree that Smith is under-performing this year and Cuthbo has been immense. To be honest, the bloke is almost always immense for us... I don't know why he drifts in and out of favour with Wayne.

Gids being a tit-head is obvious... Clydsdale is clearly the future and the more minutes we can get him playing sooner, the better.

Lastly, I do love Tetevano's go-forward. His leg drive and ability to power over the advantage line is great... but his defence is deplorable sometimes.

 

[eozsmiles]

F**k Tim Sheens.

The bloke that should be made an example of is in the Australian team.

I'll bet Darbs is in everything but a s**t sandwich on Friday night. He should be feeling fresh. Probably do a hammy with 10 to go, miss 3 weeks, and be fit for origin.

At least with Gids at FB he'll never be accused of not attacking the footy.

 

[Noname36]

F**k Tim Sheens.

The bloke that should be made an example of is in the Australian team.

I'll bet Darbs is in everything but a s**t sandwich on Friday night. He should be feeling fresh. Probably do a hammy with 10 to go, miss 3 weeks, and be fit for origin.

At least with Gids at FB he'll never be accused of not attacking the footy.

This. So much this.

 

[Spot On]

One thing I find interesting with Newcastle is that their backline would appear to be their strength, and yet in the Bulldogs game I felt Newcastle won the battle of the forwards but lost the game anyway.

I thought Tetevano and Rochow were quite good, Houston, KSims and Faalogo were very strong and Cuthbertson was absolutely immense ... he made about 40 tackles, 120m and 4 offloads. Beau Scott missed a lot of tackles in an otherwise solid game.

Snowden and Gidley were probably the two weakest forwards for you in the game, which puts Bennett in an awkward position given one is close to a club hero and the other is one of the big names in the pack. Snowden has had a bad start to the year, Gidley is just too old.

If I was Bennett I would probably go with a forward pack looking something like this:

8. Tetevano
9. Clydesdale
10. Cuthbertson
11. Scott
12. Rochow
13. Houston

14. Faalogo
15. KSims
16. Kidley .. just for 30 minutes a game until Clydesdale has the fitness to play 80.
17. Mason

I don't think J-Dawg (as much as I still love him from his time with us!) or Snowden really deserve to be in the lineup.

Mate, 100% correct. You know them well. Tets has improved out of sight (still a lot of improvement left which is great for us) and Cuthbo was simply outstanding last week. Korbin has also been improving each week.

I've never seen a bloke take so long to get "fit" as it takes with Snowden. If he was 120kg you'd understand it would take a while to get your legs.

He would be awesome if he had a lot more leg speed.

 

[Noname36]

Mate, 100% correct. You know them well. Tets has improved out of sight (still a lot of improvement left which is great for us) and Cuthbo was simply outstanding last week. Korbin has also been improving each week.

I've never seen a bloke take so long to get "fit" as it takes with Snowden. If he was 120kg you'd understand it would take a while to get your legs.

He would be awesome if he had a lot more leg speed.

For Snowy's lack of speed though he certainly makes up for it in other areas. He usually takes a hell of a lot of hit ups and always bends the line.

 

[perverse]

Snowy is also a very good ballplayer - I'm actually surprised he doesn't have more of an offload in his game, because he has fantastic hands.