ROUND 19: RISE FOR ALEX - Knights v Titans @ Hunter Stadium

listo -Mamo made a couple of mistakes but was visibly filthy on himself and the situation. I can cop that as it shows me he's super competitive. Remember the time Joey threw his mouth guard into the turf ? All the do gooders said it was bad sportsmanship but it's part of the reason why Joey was so great.
 
listo said:
Where do you start & where do you stop?
I agree with you Beaumont, I can't understand their hurt, but I'm still pretty p!ssed off with the performance for the occasion.
Tyrone probably was our best but Steddie Eddie with broken legs could have been awesome in our side today.
To pick out Mamo for not being a first grader after a missed tackle... Am I the only one that noticed 6 guys practice foreplay on Dave Taylor before allowing him a try? Uate with whatever you call that? There's too many to list.
Calling out a rookie is a bit harsh
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Well said!
 
I rate Mamo his going the be a star but I quiet clearly said he is still 12 months away from being ready for the week in week out grind of the NRL. He also has a few minor issues to fix in his game such as his defence and he can be slightly questionable under the high ball, his very impressive for a 19 year old who has had a mixed year with injuries.
 
Beaumont said:
I think it was pretty evident Gidley took the field injured. On a side note Roberts is getting plenty of praise for his effort which just shows how little stats mean if he indeed deserves the wraps.
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Quoting myself how bad's that ? Still makes a change from playing...minecraft. Roberts 67m, 2 lost balls, 7 tackles, 3 missed tackles.
 
Mamo has a lot of mistakes in his game.
He trys his guts out to keep the mistakes to a minimum in firstgrade, but in under 20s you never know if he is about to do something stupid or something brilliant.
He has risen to the occasion in firstgrade. That is as good as he can play at this stage.
He will get better and better as he gets more experienced.
He reminds me of Kev Naiqama - the player with the worst hands and most mistakes i've ever seen in the under 20s - but speed and moves to burn. Kev now has brilliant handling, which is amazing for a guy who couldn't catch a cold as a 19 year old.
 
Jonno said:
Its interesting how poorly the side have played this year, and how much of that you can attribute to the off field dramas (McKinnon, Ownership etc.)

I am a big Washington Redskins fan, and in 2007 one of their team members was murdered during the season. His name was Sean Taylor. At 24 he was extremely young like Mckinnon, he was also a very well liked teammate and extremely talented with the world at his feet.

Although two very different incidents, you can definitely say the impact on the playing group would be extremely negative. For many players football wouldn't be as important as it would open their eyes to much bigger things in the world. You could excuse them for not having their mind of the game 100% of the time.

What I find interesting though, that after the tragic death of their teammate, the Redskins lost their first game by a single point, but then went on to win their next 4 games to make an unlikely playoffs appearance. Their Coach (Joe Gibbs) was extremely experienced, just like Bennett. And he must have done an outstanding job to get the playing group performing at a high level for that final month.

That's whats got me beat, Bennett is equally as experienced, and is known for his motivational techniques and getting the best out of his players. But recent comments by Bennett have got me asking many questions. Its almost as if he has given up on this playing squad when they need him the most. I know it would be hard for him too, as he was so close to McKinnon, but Gibbs was extremely close to Taylor too.

If you said 12 months ago which coach in the NRL would you want in a situation like this, I would say Bennett 99 times out of 100. But it seems to me he has lost complete interest in trying to restore some pride in the jersey. The players just look completely lost out there, and I'll say a lot of it would have to do with the lack of interest from the coach.

Look at the great turnout from the Newcastle community today, and how much it played with Alex's emotions. You'd think a coach wouldnt need to do much to motivate his squad with a setting like today, but for 60minutes of the match we just weren't there. We were a top 4 side last year with this squad, so the talent is definitely there. Judging by today's performance, I don't know what to expect for the rest of the year, but it isn't going to be pretty...
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Well I know it's not the same, but look at the Bulldogs in 04 ... rape allegations, police interviews, a few years after getting all their points stripped. Pulled together and won the comp.

I find Bennett so weird. He's been contradicting himself heeeaps recently. One minute saying this isn't his hardest season, the next saying it is, one minute saying the year isn't to blame for how we've played, the next it is.

Whichever way he spins his stories, the moral always seems to be how wonderful he is, though.

This makes me feel like he's more concerned about coming up with face saving excuses than how the team is actually going. He is the supercoach, after all.
 
turtonrd said:
Some of these comments are ridiculous and I hope they're in the heat of the moment. We didn't play well and we made some silly mistakes - the type of mistakes a low-placed team makes. But our lads went out today and had a massive dig, they tried bloody hard. They made mistakes but they tried their guts out. Anyone that's surprised by that shouldn't be. Think of your own jobs - would you be able to perform it well after such an emotional moment? There's a big chance you wouldn't and that's what happened to them today.

Yes we were beaten and deserved, but anyone who says they're ashamed or embarrassed about that needs to pull their heads in. The way our boys have handled themselves through all of this Alex McKinnon situation is a reason to be proud of them, not embarrassed. If any day was a reality check, today should be. Yes, we played poorly, but ultimately we lost a game of footy. What else did our club do today? Help to raise a bucketload of money for one of our own in their time of need. We'll have good years like last year, and bad years like this year, but as long as we have that heart at the core of the club we should never be ashamed of the club.
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Here, here! Well said.

i am disappointed, but am feeling gutted for the guys, they must be so upset with themselves. It is totally obvious that they were overwhelmed by the occasion & "over tried", the amount of errors just in the first 10 mins, set the tone. That's probably our season over now, so we just have to hope that they can regroup & get a couple of wins in the nxt 7 weeks to salvage a bit of belief. Belief will have to come from within themselves as the coach doesn't believe in them anymore.

Agree with Listo, Wayne should go now & Rick should take over. Wayne has lost all interest in our guys, is always putting them down. How is that motivating? Time to lock in a new coach, let all the players who don't care about the jersey leave, start recruiting & setting up for next yr.
 
Saw Tim Sheens at the ground today, don't know if he had media commitments or if he was checking out the facilities ;) haha
Pretty disappointing game never really looked like we were gonna win at any stage.
How did Dave Taylor get MOTM it should've went to Uate he was the titans best by far.
 
If people are ashamed and embarrassed in the performance then fair play to them, this is a forum to discuss stuff, and if you feel like that then let it out!

Each to their own in how they feel at the end of the day.

I think they sure let a lot of people down today.
 
Knights can’t disguise disappointment after day for Alex ends in defeat


  • BARRY TOOHEY
  • THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
  • JULY 21, 2014 12:00AM

“WE let our mate down.”

With those few simple words, Knights enforcer Jeremy Smith captured thedisappointment of a shattered Newcastle dressing room after their loss to Gold Coast on Sunday.

“We had so much to play for, just for him,” Smith said of injured teammate Alex McKinnon.“It was his day so we’re pretty disappointed.

“He’s a big part of our team and to dish out a performance like that is definitely not good enough.”

Typically, it was McKinnon himself who brightened the sombre mood straight among the team.

“Macca’s still in there. He’s got a smile on his face,” Smith said.

“That’s just Macca. He’s always smiling the kid.”

Asked did he say anything to the players immediately after the game, Smith said:

“He didn’t have to say anything. We knew we had let him down.

“It’s one of those things we will never get back now.”

No one could quite fathom what went wrong for the Knights at Hunter Stadium.

A near capacity crowd, McKinnon’s inspirational presence for the first time at the stadium since his horrific accident in March and up against a team in the Titans that had lost seven of its last eight games.

Emotion everywhere but particularly on the face of McKinnon as fans stood as one in tribute and chanted his name over and over.

But if there was a script for this day, it somehow went out the window as the Titans took control in the first half, and but for a brief threat of a comeback from the home side, never let it go.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...x-ends-in-defeat/story-fni3gf5j-1226995343394
 
Beaumont said:
I think it was pretty evident Gidley took the field injured. On a side note Roberts is getting plenty of praise for his effort which just shows how little stats mean if he indeed deserves the wraps.
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Wayne said he hurt himself at training, I guess they knew they had roberts if he didnt get through
 
jamesgould said:
If people are ashamed and embarrassed in the performance then fair play to them, this is a forum to discuss stuff, and if you feel like that then let it out!

Each to their own in how they feel at the end of the day.

I think they sure let a lot of people down today.
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I'd cop a sub par performance if there was some light at the end of the tunnel. It's ok saying the players had a dig and they would be hurting but surely someone needs to be accountable for why the team couldn't respond to a big occasion yet again ? At the moment it's like trying to win the Bathurst 1000 with a driver who got his license in a model T Ford behind the wheel of a Lada Niva. We need Jamie Wincup in a supercharged VF Commodore until then we'll keep getting lapped.

- - - Updated - - -

willlowtree said:
Saw Tim Sheens at the ground today, don't know if he had media commitments or if he was checking out the facilities ;) haha
Pretty disappointing game never really looked like we were gonna win at any stage.
How did Dave Taylor get MOTM it should've went to Uate he was the titans best by far.
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Tim Sheens was there applying for a job selling hot dogs.
 
What about all that crap Matty johns said through the week about how the team lifts for the town and all that. That win today by the titans is probably considered to be one of the biggest in their history nothing could really top that for them beating knights with all that emotion at a packed hunter stadium Maybe a bigger win for them than premiership! Beating knights at hunter used to be a challenge. But now we seem to roll over. Not only all the Alex emotion there's also a huge crowd, we had momentum. We could've made the finals but now I'm pretty sure we have to win every single game to make it. I gave up on us after the loss to manly. It's that bloody 4 I'm a row curse. Last year was a one off and half of them were in finals matches. Haven't done it in a regular season in so long. (btw met Matty johns today and he signed my hat, also got a pic with the big Marn)
 
Poor Mamo probably thought he'd get his first NRL win going into this game. 0-5, hopefully it doesn't dishearten him too much.
 
Jekk said:
Can someone remind me of a time he hasn't caught a high ball?
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His dropped the odd one and juggled several others including one today, he appears nervous under them. His a great young player and I hope we keep him here long term but there is a few things he needs to sort out before his ready to be an nrl regular.
 
He has a knack of catching it, juggling it, but still holding on. Done it on multiple occasions in first-grade. Not a bad thing if he keeps catching them though.

God that was a bad game, maybe i have a short memory but i cannot remember being that bored watching a game live this year, just crap. Once we knew we were going to lose we threw a bit of caution to the wind, very little came off but it's better than watching them continuing to just one out run it & kick it away.
 
willlowtree said:
What about all that crap Matty johns said through the week about how the team lifts for the town and all that. That win today by the titans is probably considered to be one of the biggest in their history nothing could really top that for them beating knights with all that emotion at a packed hunter stadium Maybe a bigger win for them than premiership! Beating knights at hunter used to be a challenge. But now we seem to roll over. Not only all the Alex emotion there's also a huge crowd, we had momentum. We could've made the finals but now I'm pretty sure we have to win every single game to make it. I gave up on us after the loss to manly. It's that bloody 4 I'm a row curse. Last year was a one off and half of them were in finals matches. Haven't done it in a regular season in so long. (btw met Matty johns today and he signed my hat, also got a pic with the big Marn)
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We used to lift for the town etc, been a while now since that's happened, though.
 
Joshhh said:
He has a knack of catching it, juggling it, but still holding on. Done it on multiple occasions in first-grade. Not a bad thing if he keeps catching them though.

God that was a bad game, maybe i have a short memory but i cannot remember being that bored watching a game live this year, just crap. Once we knew we were going to lose we threw a bit of caution to the wind, very little came off but it's better than watching them continuing to just one out run it & kick it away.
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I still can't get over that set with five minutes left when we needed to score twice and just took one out run after one out run, culminating in Cuthbertson dropping it. Maybe the worst set in the circumstances of all time!
 
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