Elimination Final - Knights V Raiders - Sunday 10 September 4:05pm - McDonald Jones Stadium

Match result

  • Total voters
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  • Poll closed .
If Newcastle becomes a consistent top 4 teams for a few years there will be lots of sell out games especially against well supported teams like souths, and when it gets close to finals they will sell out like recently.

I reckon increase capacity to say 40000 but have the new parts closed off unless enough tickets sell to justify opening those sections that way it would preserve the atmosphere
jamesgould said:
The average crowd at Newcastle is usually around the 20,000 mark or just under … no point building a 50,000 seat stadium, it would kill the atmosphere having it under half full each game. Hate to say it but Origin isn’t going to be heading to Newcastle no matter how big the stadium is. It will always be capital cities where the money is.
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Realistically in the short term the state government is struggling to find sufficient funds to meet their other responsibilities such as funding hospitals, schools, infrastructure projects and paying public servants wage increases.

However, the state government is funding the 2 new video screens at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Future improvements for McDonald Jones Stadium would have to be jointly funded by the state and federal governments. If the Knights continue to be successful, a persuasive argument could be made for improvements to the stadium.

A replacement stadium at Penrith has just been canceled and funding is always required for upgrading other suburban grounds in Sydney.
 
Gardener was saying in his usual over optimistic way that he sees us selling out the ground before the season starts with season tickets in the future.
It isn't impossible. If it looked like happening, people would rush to lock in tickets.
It happens with big teams in other sports in America and Europe.
 
mullenmagic said:
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Shot of the padding on Ponga’s shoulder from today. Herald says he was running and passing in both directions without problem but it was a light, non-contact ball work session. Might as well run around with a target stuck on it if they're planning on playing him looking like that.

Also says Hastings looked unimpeded.
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Clearly he is going to be in cotton wool when not playing.

Do you want him to needle it all week and run full contact training?

What a ridiculous take.

Ponga will be playing. Most players at this time of year have niggles to contend with.
 
Kurriboy said:
Clearly he is going to be in cotton wool when not playing.

Do you want him to needle it all week and run full contact training?

What a ridiculous take.

Ponga will be playing. Most players at this time of year have niggles to contend with.
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You've pulled a fair bit of meaning out of my comment that I didn't say or imply, was simply stating that it was a non-contact session. Bit on edge about it?
 
jamesgould said:
Newcastle is guaranteed by the NRL to play any home finals at McDonald-Jones in week one, two or three, luckily. No chance of them being taken away.
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Exactly , there will always be NRL in Newcastle . Last few weeks confirms that . Our stadium is good enough for the next ten years at least . I am there every week , hardest prob is parking !
 
mullenmagic said:
You've pulled a fair bit of meaning out of my comment that I didn't say or imply, was simply stating that it was a non-contact session. Bit on edge about it?
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The whole NRL knows Ponga has an injury. Padding or not he will be targetted.

Plenty of blokes wear padding in various spots for injuries, like chest pads for sternum, or big pads on players sides etc.

Hardly painting a target on him regardless of what he wears.

Apologise if my post was a bit strong, just this sentiment we should rest him annoys me.
 
Shout out to Leo

Leo Thompson (Knights)​

Losing a prop of David Klemmer’s quality was always going to be a challenge for the Knights this season, but the growth of Thompson has meant they’ve hardly missed a beat in the middle of the park.

After starting the season with a week in camp with the Māori All Stars, his form has been such that he’s now a player who is an automatic selection in Newcastle’s run-on side each week.

The 23-year-old sets the tone through the early exchanges with his aggression and line speed and is a strong defender, with a 94 percent tackle efficiency rate through 23 appearances. He's type of player you want on your side when the first few hit-ups are flying in.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/09/06/nrl-finals-each-teams-underrated-player-to-watch/
 
For those keen to spend the weekend watching footy at MJS, don't forget the NRLW double header on Saturday. I suspect the tickets would be cheap.
 
Kurriboy said:
The whole NRL knows Ponga has an injury. Padding or not he will be targetted.

Plenty of blokes wear padding in various spots for injuries, like chest pads for sternum, or big pads on players sides etc.

Hardly painting a target on him regardless of what he wears.

Apologise if my post was a bit strong, just this sentiment we should rest him annoys me.
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According to Joey it was talked about this week , Ponga insisted on playing. Hastings only 50% chance of playing

 
The Raiders are a no holds barred (some may say dirty) team, without the subtlety of some other teams in that category. If we don’t get a couple of injuries (HIA layoffs included) from this game I will be shocked.
The fact that they haven’t had more suspensions is wild. How can you be charged with tripping, that used to be an automatic send-off, so many times and only get fined.
 
“Resting” him for any elimination final would be ridiculous, never implied they should do that.

I’m certain he can be named an hour before kickoff, get a couple of needles and run out onto the field. That’s easy. Can he do his job and last the whole game once he’s out there with blokes trying to rip his arm off in every tackle? Less certain. Only one player has returned this quick from the same injury in recent years and he was clearly not ready, and he didn’t have the extra target of being the best player on the field in an elimination game.

Raiders have a few players who won’t mind pushing the boundaries to test it out either. Expecting plenty of high bombs with Rapana chasing through foaming at the mouth to see how hard he can hit that shoulder and how many different ways he can make it bend afterwards. He never needs more of a reason to try to hurt blokes.
 
mullenmagic said:
“Resting” him for any elimination final would be ridiculous, never implied they should do that.

I’m certain he can be named an hour before kickoff, get a couple of needles and run out onto the field. That’s easy. Can he do his job and last the whole game once he’s out there with blokes trying to rip his arm off in every tackle? Less certain. Only one player has returned this quick from the same injury in recent years and he was clearly not ready, and he didn’t have the extra target of being the best player on the field in an elimination game.

Raiders have a few players who won’t mind pushing the boundaries to test it out either. Expecting plenty of high bombs with Rapana chasing through foaming at the mouth to see how hard he can hit that shoulder and how many different ways he can make it bend afterwards. He never needs more of a reason to try to hurt blokes.
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Totally right. The discussion is there because the decision this week affects the week after.

I would say that I just trust in the medical staff - but that's meaningless, because he's definitely going to play. He'll want to, and no-one can stop him.

But it's a totally fair hypothetical discussion to have - do you want him at 70% this week and 70% next, or give him another week of recovery and have him at 90% next week.
 
my thought is - do you want him at 70% this week and 50% next ( or not at all next ) , or give him a week off against a team we should beat, and have him firing into the GF.

Apparently the coaching staff spoke about the week off and Ponga has insisted to play. Will be a really interesting game this one.

100% guaranteed the Raiders will be chick-winging him and bashing him left right and centre.
 
Area51 said:
my thought is - do you want him at 70% this week and 50% next ( or not at all next ) , or give him a week off against a team we should beat, and have him firing into the GF.

Apparently the coaching staff spoke about the week off and Ponga has insisted to play. Will be a really interesting game this one.

100% guaranteed the Raiders will be chick-winging him and bashing him left right and centre.
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what if we rest him and lose?
 
Sheent14 said:
what if we rest him and lose?
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I'm not even making a recommendation about whether to play him or not, don't have the info to know what the right thing to do is.

But this is a useless question. Can be countered with - what if we would win without him, and would only beat the Warriors the next week if he gets healthier through rest?

The question is - what decision gives us the best chance of winning 4 more games, not what gives us the best chance of beating the Raiders.
 
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