NRL Round 23 - Knights Vs Raiders - 2:00pm Sunday, 9th of August - GIO Stadium

Just watched a fox league clip of the horsborough Gagai incident. Maybe it’s just the camera angle, but looked to get the hands in Hopoate areas for moment there.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but our calculation after this round is:

0 wins could still mathematically miss the 8 (time to log off this forum until things blow over...could take months).
1 win definitely top 8.
2 wins probably top 6 and a home semi.
3 wins definitely top 6 and possibly top 4, but only in some weird alternative universe where the teams above lose a bunch of easy games....hello Flat Track Bully Sharks....and the twice-conceded 50 Phins...
 
Just watching our 2 veterans today, I think Gags is pretty much done as an NRL centre. He looks old and tired, and gives away too many soft penalties. His defence is fair at best, and his best days are well behind him. Not resigning him is the right call by POS.
Tyson Frizzell is looking like he could probably go around again though. I think our young pack can still use him as a mentor and leader, and also teach Nuikore about team culture.
If they can get him signed for a decent amount, he,d be a perfect bench middle for next year, playing 25-30 minutes a game. He still has a big motor, but has lost some leg speed with age, and would be more dynamic in short stints.
Let me say, there is no criticism here. Both Gags and Friz are Knights legends, and warriors of our club who have both shed blood for the Knights in bad times, and good. They deserve to be in the Knights Hall of Fame ( if there is one).
I’m hoping POS can cut a deal with Friz soon
 
ImissVuna said:
I’m a bit young to remember Andrew John’s days and golden days. Only really started to follow knights around 2009 when Gidley carved up NRL (still think we missed an opportunity that year only finishing 7th).

But I’ve never seen knights with this level of depth and quality depth and Manuleleua is more evidence of that.
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Unfortunately you missed watching the best player in the game at his peak. Joey made average players look great and was responsible for many of the best trends on the field today.
In a lot of ways it is unfortunate that the populous prefer to remember his off field predispositions more then his genius on it!
 
Seano said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but our calculation after this round is:

0 wins could still mathematically miss the 8 (time to log off this forum until things blow over...could take months).
1 win definitely top 8.
2 wins probably top 6 and a home semi.
3 wins definitely top 6 and possibly top 4, but only in some weird alternative universe where the teams above lose a bunch of easy games....hello Flat Track Bully Sharks....and the twice-conceded 50 Phins...
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Top 4 still a chance but probably unlikely. Would need to win our last three games, sharks to lose two out of their last four and phins to lose one by 13+.

Probably be hard for us to miss out on finals now but would be happy with a home semi against anyone.
 
Best and Crossland play and we win this game by 18, nice to win a close one after losing 3/4 our last 4 by less than 2 points, hopefully injuries can be kind to us.

The round 27 bye is massive for us, great chance to give the boys 2-3 days off come back fresh and hopefully rest up on all the niggles that everyone has.
 
Owey said:
There were stories around at the start of the year about Holbrook cracking jokes early in preseason and young players looking at eachother wondering if they could laugh or not.
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Was just thinking about this and the "players need a hard nosed coach" type argument. The more I read, the more it seems like AOB was that coach ... and the result was the players looked like they were afraid of their own shadows. I don't think Holbrook could be much further on the other end of the spectrum.

But different strokes work for different folks, of course. I think MBQLD is onto something that the character of Newcastle is a bit more humble and quiet, compared to some other clubs ... and maybe the stronger coach figure just doesn't suit the culture here as much.
 
Coaches/Bosses probably work in cycles, in my company we normally get a hard a$$ boss followed by a laid back one, usually good for 3-4 year before the style stops working, in 3-4 years we'll all be complaining about Holbrook because his style isn't working and asking for a coach that insists on standards.
 
Being laid back & even tempered doesn't mean you don't have standards. Ivan Cleary has barely ever even raised his voice at his players. Wayne Bennett has responded to his team shipping 50 by showing up at training the next day in a silly outfit and dancing around like a moron.

The key things are respect and belief. Doesn't matter how you get it.
 
In terms of coaches who've actually had long tenures, Bellyache is a bit of an outlier as the cranky screaming guy. Often those guys burn players out. I've also heard that Bellyache gets it out of his system in the coach's box & doesn't give the players the hair dryer treatment that much. And they often have a joke with him about how cranky he is in the box.
 
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