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There's going to be more injuries no doubt. Gamble off the bench is good. Great back-up if Ponga plays origin and injury.
 
www.newcastleherald.com.au

Will Tyson Gamble hold his spot when Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga returns from concussion?

"He'll be in the team."
www.newcastleherald.com.au www.newcastleherald.com.au

Article about where Gamble plays next week.
Gamble says he was meant to play lock a few weeks ago and is happy to do so.
Article points out that Mann has gone well at lock.
Also speculates on Ponga starting from the bench.
Anyway - all as clear as mud after reading the article.

Jones will be out for 4 weeks it says at the end of the article, but JSaf fills his spot, leaving 18 guys to fill 17 places.
 
1. L Miller
2. D Young
3. D Gagai
4. B Best
5. G Marzhew
6. K Ponga (c)
7. J Hastings
8. D Saifiti
9. P Crossland
10. L Thompson
11. T Frizell (c)
12. L Fitzgibbon
13. T Gamble

14. K Mann
15. J Saifiti
16. J Johns
17. M Croker

18. J Hetherington
19. D Lucas
 
The question about Gamble would be how much petrol he'd have in the tank playing in the forwards. At 5/8 he's been making an average of 18 tackles in 80 minutes at 85% efficiency. Decent enough for a 5/8, but he'd need to double that in 80 minutes at lock, or do 18 in 40 minutes at lock perhaps. Mann has shown he can take on that sort of workload, but how many minutes Gamble has in him is something we will find out.
For safety's sake, i'd start Mann at lock and bring on Gamble when the sting has gone out of the forwards - just in case it turns out that Gamble can't keep up with the starting pace in the forwards.
 
Okay but who’s gonna protect Mann for the first part of the game, before the sting goes out of it?

I really don’t know what to say sometimes. The starting middle of Dan, Leo and Croker really brought it with their defensive intensity and rattled the Panthers, the week after they started a game where we scored 6 tries against a team which is now equal 2nd on the ladder. It’s working. Why mess with it?

Kurt’s worst 2 games of the year were the first two, starting at lock, especially in round 1 when he got run over by Bunty Afoa for the Warriors’ second try. He looked way better coming off the bench to cover lock and hooker the last two weeks. I would go as far as to say that when JBrailz got injured, I honestly had the thought “well at least this means he can’t start Kurt at lock anymore”.

Tyson Gamble has never, in his career, started at lock; he has done 30 minute stints off the bench there for Brisbane. I’m not sure what we would have seen to think we should all of a sudden ask him to start there.

Where is the argument for forcing these changes to the starting line up? Beyond just “I like Gamble”?
 
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As I said earlier in the season, I think the whole small mobile lock thing was already over by the time AOB clocked onto it with Mann playing there last season. Or certainly by the end of the set restart craze, when a penalty in your own half became a normal penalty again, anyway … which was early last season, I think. I definitely wouldn’t be starting Gamble there.
 
Yeah it’s hard to put specific time on when things changed, but because mobile, ball playing middles, especially locks, became essential to breaking down defences, yes guys like Radley, Peachey, Watson etc had a nice run playing there… but what’s happened at the same time is that middles who are mobile *but also 10-20kg bigger than those guys* have massively improved their ball playing. So it’s become less of a “special” point of difference for the guys mentioned above - if you’re playing Brisbane, Patty Carrigan can do a lot of the same stuff with ball in hand, so all you’re doing in that match up is conceding a weight division disadvantage if you pick Kurt Mann at lock.

Basically as soon as Jason Taumalolo is playing a lot of first receiver as a play initiator, the clock is ticking on the career of most little ball playing 13’s. Cameron Murray looks like the only one who can still dominate at his size, but he’s an athletic marvel.
 
It’s a bit like how the fullback playing like a second five-eighth was once a “trend”, but is now an expectation.

Here’s my prediction for the next trend in the NRL: the decline in the prevalence of 80 minute hookers. It’s gonna become way more common to either start a Mitch Kenny/Siliva Havili type, then bring on the more attacking 9, or just have two decent to good 9’s and split the minutes pretty evenly between them.
 
I am excited to see what Ponga can add to this current side. I wonder if he will take over the goal kicks too?
 
this isnt going to be popular, but id make gamble the 18th man. we looked just as good with ball in hand with crossland there. ponga is coming back in regardless and i dont want to upset our middle rotation and effectivness by finding a spot for a bloke who hasnt played in the forwards. we love the way he plays but his not the calibre of player you need to find a spot for.
 
I’d have Croker starting at lock then Gamble / Mann share that role from 20 minutes in. I’d have the same starting pack with Gamble on the bench for Jones and Jsaf on the bench for Hetherington. Keeping Johns on the bench generally as cover for Friz / Fitz but I’d understand if they want to go Hetherington for that spot.
 
If we leave someone out - and it looks like we have to lose 1 - it should be 1 of the guys playing injured. I think DSaf and Croker are the two most in need of a break to rest their injuries.
 
Billy said:
If we leave someone out - and it looks like we have to lose 1 - it should be 1 of the guys playing injured. I think DSaf and Croker are the two most in need of a break to rest their injuries.
Click to expand...
Or maybe play them off the bench? Limited minutes if they can.
 
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