ROUND 1 - Knights V Warriors - Friday 3 March, 6:00pm - Sky Stadium, Wellington

Miller sort of the opposite of Ponga at fullback. Definitely a few times where he should have spun the ball to a winger and got him to carry it back rather than taking it back himself.

Not to be critical of his effort and commitment at all, it was first class, but Dylan Edwards mixes it up like that for example, he doesn’t try to do it all on his own. Sometimes the winger has a better run back and both Young and Hunt are bigger, stronger bodies.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Miller sort of the opposite of Ponga at fullback. Definitely a few times where he should have spun the ball to a winger and got him to carry it back rather than taking it back himself.

Not to be critical of his effort and commitment at all, it was first class, but Dylan Edwards mixes it up like that for example, he doesn’t try to do it all on his own. Sometimes the winger has a better run back and both Young and Hunt are bigger, stronger bodies.
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He's got a lot to learn about contact on both sides of the ball, perhaps a hangover from his years in 7s.

Definitely needs to spread the load a bit better, too many times on kick returns or he gets locked up by a couple of defenders, wheeled back and turned around. Resulting in an ineffective run compounded by a slow PTB which effectively kills the momentum of that set. Teams will definitely continue kicking to him if it keeps the ball away from Young/Hunt/Marzhew returns.

That attempt on Barney when he broke into the clear made some of KPs fullback defence look like prime GI, an unenviable position no doubt but he did not want a bar of it and was lucky that Bradman made the effort to get back.

Admirably keen and prepared to take on the workload, missed a couple of assignments at the back of clunky shifts but that's understandable given his lack of time with us so far. One of the brighter sparks but much to improve upon over the next few weeks.
 
Brailey was very rusty and unfit when he returned from injury last year and was pretty ordinary.
I thought he was great in this game though. He topped the tackle count with a lazy 49 and topped our fantasy points list with 51 for his 80 minute game, and even in the last 20 minutes was still looking to run.
I gave him my 3 points for MSMOTM because that was the best hooker game for the Knights in a long, long time I thought. Some of his games at the end of last year were rubbish though.
 
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Maxibon said:
Wow so we are calling Brailey bad now…. He’s one of the best hookers in the game and probably the leagues most underrated player.
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For some reason lots of good hookers get underrated in the NRL. People act like if a guy isn’t as good as Cameron Smith or Harry Grant, he stinks. It’s weird. For most of Jake Friend’s career for example Chooks fans fkn hated him lol. He was a good player!
 
Grant, Api and Robson are clear cut the top 3 hookers in the comp with a handful of players on the next rung below. I’d place Brailey in that group.
 
Robson is really good, also maybe the most underrated player in the comp, but trying to slap that name through to the keeper alongside Grant and Api is a little like when legislator tacks a somewhat unpopular rider onto a really popular bill hahaha.

If I was sorting all the #9’s into tiers I’d personally have Harry Grant on the top one, on his own. I recognise Api has been a very important part of that Penrith machine, and that they were mediocre for a few years before he arrived, but the thing about that was that all of the hookers Penny had in the years leading up to that were dog**** - that team was ready to be great, and they were being held back.

We’ll get a pretty good test of my theory that Grant is in a class of his own now that Api is at Wests - albeit with a stronger roster than the absolute dog**** Harry was able to make competitive when he played there for a year (as a rookie!) - because we can make something closer to a direct comparison. I think Harry is a once-in-a-generation player and he’s probably the single player I’d most want the Knights to sign if I had my pick of anyone in the comp, sorry Jayden…

Tier 1: Harry Grant.
Tier 2: Damien Cook, Api Koroisau.
Tier 3: Reed Mahoney, Reece Robson, Jayden Brailey, Blayke Brailey, Brandon Smith (though he needs to get in better shape, he’s a game-breaker), and it’s starting to seem like Jeremy Marshall-King might belong here too now.

No particular order within tiers, before anyone leaps down my throat.

Josh Hodgson used to be one of the better ones going but for me he’s like Robbie Farah, terrific during his peak years, but I have serious doubts about his hero-ball style now he’s so far past his physical prime.

Never really know how to rate guys like Cory Paix and Tom Starling, where you need to have someone play the first 20-30 minutes of the game for them, but I quite like both of them as well.
 
Maxibon said:
Wow so we are calling Brailey bad now…. He’s one of the best hookers in the game and probably the leagues most underrated player.
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I don't think it should be controversial to say he provided a mixed bag this game and was relatively poor returning from injury last year.

Egan wiped the floor with him by comparison and no-one considers Egan as one of the best hookers in the game.
 
A look at where our defence fell down:

Try 1 - Came from the break by Barnett. On the fourth tackle with the Warriors getting a roll on in the set, but play the ball speed was only average. Really nice piece of play from Harris firstly. He sells it well that he is going out the back to Johnson. Our defensive line is horribly staggered, Elliot comes forward to tackle Harris, next in line DSaf is on his heels at this point, Fitzgibbon is more worried about Johnson out the back. Barnett really is DSafs assignment but he ends up taking nobody. Miller looks all at sea I must say. Best comes in to make the tackle on Barnett leaving us short on our left. Shot to pieces at that point, no blame assigned to anyone really on the next play, scrambled as best they could. Try was on DSaf. 25th minute of the game, warriors with a bit if a roll on, DSaf may just have been exposed physically.

Try 2 - Starts with the kick off going out on the full ffs. Got to nail things we are fully in control of. Warriors work our middle forwards over continually inside our 10m zone. Given 6 again for inside the ten on the fourth. Thompson comes up with a good tackle one on one with Walker about eight out from the line, but is swung around and lands on his back with Walker on top of him. Walker fights hard for a quick play the ball, which Thompson is in no position to stop. Thompson is next to the play the ball on the left side of the ruck as the ball is played and there is no marker. Egan takes a couple of steps from dummy half, engaging Elliot and passing to Afoa. Mann comes from outside Elliot, making a legs tackle on Afoa about three metres out. Elliot is in no position to help Mann, the two players in position are Miller and Thompson, who was coming from an offside position BTW. Miller gets slightly caught up with the Elliot and Egan engagement, and in skipping to the outside of that, basically goes past Afoa and isn't any help to Mann over the top. Thompson is never really in position for the last attempt and doesn't stop him. The play the ball was the key with this one, taking Thompson out of play and a bit of guile from Egan accounting for Elliot. Nothing wrong with Mann's attempt, entitled to expect some help over the top. Hopefully Miller provides more help then this usually, but getting caught up with the inside players didn't help him. Looks like a soft try, but I'm not sure there was much we could have done about it.

Try 3 - Much talked about bad luck with Tuala being taken out by Hastings making a tackle on the inside. I'm sure he makes the tackle on Williame otherwise.

Try 4 - the weird one from Egan at dummy half after the stoppage for the Mann injury. Play the ball is about 4 metres from the line. No one has set up at marker after all that time. Elliot defends like he is the "A" defender and begins to chase out, which is ok when you have a marker. A real lack of concentration after a stoppage in play.

I would like to point out something I'm very happy with. In the first half the warriors created some space down our right a couple of times, and it was Hastings second effort from the inside to cover that stopped more dangerous issues developing. That in itself is a welcome addition from our new halfback.
 
Yeah the extra effort in defence was one of Pearce’s best attributes & something we have really missed in his absence. Remains to be seen how well the spine can gel in attack or how much the boys will get behind him, but Hastings is a guy who’ll give everything and live or die with the result, and won’t hide or drift in and out of games like certain other halves I could mention.
 
Sarge said:
To be fair club prob wouldn't be here if it wasn't for wests money . Obi has had more resources then the original coaches could of dreamt about. Played with more heart & passion when they trained out of shipping containers & portaloos . Dolphins looked like they believed in what they were doing?
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No club would be better than this ******** 😒
 
mullenmagic said:
Brailey is who Brailey always has been; a dependable, safe dummy half. Can absolutely still be part of a good team if the playmakers around him make up for what he lacks, but there's a reason the Sharks went with Blayke before he had even proven himself in first grade.
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He lacks skill and attack
 
danknights said:
To be honest I don't think the dolphins spine gelled all that well. They were super clunky but had a controlled portion and most of what they did was luck of the bounce or opposition defence making the decision easier. They just went to attack combos straight away. None of the 2,3,13,8, what are we actually doing sets the knights muster up.
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28 points is pretty darn good

How many teams scored 28 on debut?
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Miller sort of the opposite of Ponga at fullback. Definitely a few times where he should have spun the ball to a winger and got him to carry it back rather than taking it back himself.

Not to be critical of his effort and commitment at all, it was first class, but Dylan Edwards mixes it up like that for example, he doesn’t try to do it all on his own. Sometimes the winger has a better run back and both Young and Hunt are bigger, stronger bodies.
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Young and Hunt were lazy
 
Owey said:
A look at where our defence fell down:

Try 1 - Came from the break by Barnett. On the fourth tackle with the Warriors getting a roll on in the set, but play the ball speed was only average. Really nice piece of play from Harris firstly. He sells it well that he is going out the back to Johnson. Our defensive line is horribly staggered, Elliot comes forward to tackle Harris, next in line DSaf is on his heels at this point, Fitzgibbon is more worried about Johnson out the back. Barnett really is DSafs assignment but he ends up taking nobody. Miller looks all at sea I must say. Best comes in to make the tackle on Barnett leaving us short on our left. Shot to pieces at that point, no blame assigned to anyone really on the next play, scrambled as best they could. Try was on DSaf. 25th minute of the game, warriors with a bit if a roll on, DSaf may just have been exposed physically.

Try 2 - Starts with the kick off going out on the full ffs. Got to nail things we are fully in control of. Warriors work our middle forwards over continually inside our 10m zone. Given 6 again for inside the ten on the fourth. Thompson comes up with a good tackle one on one with Walker about eight out from the line, but is swung around and lands on his back with Walker on top of him. Walker fights hard for a quick play the ball, which Thompson is in no position to stop. Thompson is next to the play the ball on the left side of the ruck as the ball is played and there is no marker. Egan takes a couple of steps from dummy half, engaging Elliot and passing to Afoa. Mann comes from outside Elliot, making a legs tackle on Afoa about three metres out. Elliot is in no position to help Mann, the two players in position are Miller and Thompson, who was coming from an offside position BTW. Miller gets slightly caught up with the Elliot and Egan engagement, and in skipping to the outside of that, basically goes past Afoa and isn't any help to Mann over the top. Thompson is never really in position for the last attempt and doesn't stop him. The play the ball was the key with this one, taking Thompson out of play and a bit of guile from Egan accounting for Elliot. Nothing wrong with Mann's attempt, entitled to expect some help over the top. Hopefully Miller provides more help then this usually, but getting caught up with the inside players didn't help him. Looks like a soft try, but I'm not sure there was much we could have done about it.

Try 3 - Much talked about bad luck with Tuala being taken out by Hastings making a tackle on the inside. I'm sure he makes the tackle on Williame otherwise.

Try 4 - the weird one from Egan at dummy half after the stoppage for the Mann injury. Play the ball is about 4 metres from the line. No one has set up at marker after all that time. Elliot defends like he is the "A" defender and begins to chase out, which is ok when you have a marker. A real lack of concentration after a stoppage in play.

I would like to point out something I'm very happy with. In the first half the warriors created some space down our right a couple of times, and it was Hastings second effort from the inside to cover that stopped more dangerous issues developing. That in itself is a welcome addition from our new halfback.
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In other words the Warriors attack was average but they still got 4 meat pies
 
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