NRL Round 23 - Knights Vs Panthers - 6:00pm Friday 8th August - McDonald Jones Stadium

Surely if playing Arthur it’s 7 not 6 and if so then Gamble would be better at 6 than Cogger.
Yes Gamble wasn’t at best last week but he wasn’t awful, Cogger has been better of late but is a better 7 than 6.
Not easy selection when none stand out as automatic selections.
Am happy if Arthur is selected, throw in his brother at 14, it is time to give fringe players, 2-3 at a time, options
 
Seano said:
I didn't say anything like this. Just pointed out he has awful halves (he does), and he cops it if he sticks with them and he cops it if he doesn't. So he's really in a no-win situation.
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Cmon, it’s a joke to change the halves combo for one week before deciding it doesn’t work and jettisoning the player to NSW Cup though.

As others have said, was Cogger/Hastings going that badly to make the change in the first place?

AOB may have limited talent in his halves, but the way he rotates through a million different combos per season is never going to get the best out of anybody. It’s very local league stuff.
 
I understood getting Gamble into the 6 jersey, he is more natural there as opposed to Hastings. If AOB is going to get rid of him after one game against the top team on the ladder then that is pretty disappointing and poor coaching imo.
 
Seano said:
He's largely stuck with the same halves through most of this season. Injuries forced most of the other changes.
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He’s used six different combos this year by my count, which is the same as last year when he said himself he switched it too often.
 
Feel for Gamble given his injury woes but ultimately our first-choice halves for next season are locked in, all we're doing now is getting a clearer view of the depth chart. Unfortunately for Gamble he is the worst defensive half on our books which hurts his chances of landing atop that chart.

Arthur is arguably the form half of NSW Cup so is deserving of a shot, if he shows something then Gamble would probably be better served being shipped to England to land a final payday while we keep Arthur on a bottom dollar deal.
 
Anyway, clearly Hastings wasn’t injured, Gamble if dropped isn’t injured, and Hastings still isn’t injured.

Last year at the start of the season when we cycled through every possible combination of Gamble/Hastings/Cogger there were no injuries.

AOB is just addicted to rotating halves, more and more frequently. One game is a new record.
 
Oh, I thought the "OK Champ" was a joke, but apparently you're annoyed...oh well in for a penny...

I'm not defending AOB's halves selections (or coaching in general), this was the bloke who selected a clearly injured Adam Clune and Milf despite signing with the Phins and sucking ferociously buuut....Hastings came into the season with ankle and mental health issues, Gamble has been out most of the season, and we unfortunately lost Fletch for the rest of the season. So injury has played a part in AOB's halves selections this season.

And we still don't actually know if anyone is being dropped or why, only speculation about Gamble's form and that Arthur has potentially been activated to play next week.

Given the state of our roster, the current situation in the playing market and his potential, I'm hopeful that the club can find a way to keep Jake. So not overly upset at seeing a halves change in what is essentially a dead season.
 
Of course we are anticipating Gamble as dropped due to playing Cup this round.
Maybe it’s just to give him some extra time in the middle ready to play next week and Arthur hasn’t been selected yet just a rumour(?).
AOB might not make any changes🙄🤭😜
 
I think it would be silly at this stage to not see if Jake can show he’s someone we should give a contract to next year and it would be very hard to argue that the guy who leads NSW Cup in try assists by the length of the straight doesn’t deserve a shot.

That’s not me giving Gamble - who I like a lot - ****, he’s clearly just not in the kind of shape you need to be for the NRL right now through no fault of his own. Hastings hasn’t played well. Cogger’s been fine. Cogger and Arthur seems like the right combo to me atm.
 
Billy said:
Gamble and McCarthy missed that tackle cold, without even making much of an effort.
O'Brien hates that.
Most times that happens, the player gets dropped.
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Perhaps Billy that's so, but we don't see Cogger and some others dropped for same thing. Any player coming back from injury, especially if like Gamble who has had 3 procedures within a few months of each other and very limited games this year, I think is a bit harsh to bring back for 1 game then dropped following game. Confidence levels plummet and even though they are professionals, they are still human. An example of good coaching I believe was the confidence in promoting Deardon when he went to the Cowboys after being broken at the Broncos. Albeit he was very young when at the Broncos and has matured since arriving at the Cowboys.
The missed tackles are a concern and would be even more so if playing finals which we definitely won't be doing. I believe today will be the last round of NSW cup so is the last chance of game fitness for most of those players.
 
Alleycat said:
Perhaps Billy that's so, but we don't see Cogger and some others dropped for same thing. Any player coming back from injury, especially if like Gamble who has had 3 procedures within a few months of each other and very limited games this year, I think is a bit harsh to bring back for 1 game then dropped following game. Confidence levels plummet and even though they are professionals, they are still human. An example of good coaching I believe was the confidence in promoting Deardon when he went to the Cowboys after being broken at the Broncos. Albeit he was very young when at the Broncos and has matured since arriving at the Cowboys.
The missed tackles are a concern and would be even more so if playing finals which we definitely won't be doing. I believe today will be the last round of NSW cup so is the last chance of game fitness for most of those players.
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O'Brien will put up with guys missing tackles if they make an effort, but as soon as they look like they didn't have a go, it's name on the **** list time.
 
Alleycat said:
Perhaps Billy that's so, but we don't see Cogger and some others dropped for same thing. Any player coming back from injury, especially if like Gamble who has had 3 procedures within a few months of each other and very limited games this year, I think is a bit harsh to bring back for 1 game then dropped following game. Confidence levels plummet and even though they are professionals, they are still human. An example of good coaching I believe was the confidence in promoting Deardon when he went to the Cowboys after being broken at the Broncos. Albeit he was very young when at the Broncos and has matured since arriving at the Cowboys.
The missed tackles are a concern and would be even more so if playing finals which we definitely won't be doing. I believe today will be the last round of NSW cup so is the last chance of game fitness for most of those players.
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Sorry, made a mistake - there are a few more rounds to go for NSW Cup. Don't know what I was looking at before.
 
Billy said:
Gamble and McCarthy missed that tackle cold, without even making much of an effort.
O'Brien hates that.
Most times that happens, the player gets dropped.
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Gamble looked so foolish and not having a real crack in that instance. That wasnt even NSW cup quality.
 
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