It's not the squad or the coach that is the issue, it's the culture of the place. We've had a Jekyll and Hyde approach to our football for a long, long time. It was easy when Joey was about, just give him the ball as much as possible and we will win more often than not, regardless of which team turns up around him. Without him... it results in us looking great one week, and awful the next. We've had 2 consecutive brooms through the place to try and eradicate it. This obsession with Gidley as a key player in a squad will continue to hurt us more than not. It works when he's in an ad-lib role like fullback... but in a role where you need a cool head and structure, like halfback, he is always going to fail. Whenever we need a cool head, Gids - as the captain, takes it upon himself to provide it... and he's the most hopeless bloke in the team under pressure. Couldn't make a correct decision to save himself under the pump.
Bennett was quoted in our Manly press conference as saying "the hardest thing about coaching the Knights is you don't know which team is going to get off the bus". This is a sentiment that has echoed through recent years... and I don't know where the answers are if Bennett doesn't. It's distressing, not necessarily because it is the case, but because we've done all the right things in trying to rid ourselves of it and still seemingly come up empty handed.
Still, we always get pumped at Brookie, regardless of form. It's a long season, and I doubt that loss will define it for us, as much as many in this thread would love it to. It's actually not a bad kick in the pants for us to have after the Tigers game. If a loss like that were to happen, I'm glad it was Round 2, not Round 22.
Will Bennett get us a premiership? Don't know... if he gets us playing consistent football, then possibly.
