NRL Round 24 - Knights Vs Titans - 2:00pm Sunday, 16th of August - McDonald Jones Stadium

Sheent14 said:
I'd love for us to win in dominant fashion in this game, to really stick it to Titans for letting go of such a great coach in Holbrook.
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I'm still a bit haunted by that blown lead last year which we should have won, on top of the Titans making that comeback against the Tigers in the last round to avoid the spoon. It shows you they were definitely the worst team last year despite that.
Yes please show no mercy, run up the score. Score 80 points.
 
Looking at mskotw current rankings interesting that only 3 of the top 10, and 5 of the top 15 are local juniors. In what looks like our best season in 25 years.

Maybe the secret to being decent is just having lots of good players irrespective of where they grew up.
 
Billy said:
JSaf back next week.
Best and Crossland on track to play, but some doubt.
Jones has "hamstring tightness" and may only miss 1 week.
Frizz having a light training week and should be good to go.
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Was there any update on the Dylans?
 
slotmachine said:
Looking at mskotw current rankings interesting that only 3 of the top 10, and 5 of the top 15 are local juniors. In what looks like our best season in 25 years.

Maybe the secret to being decent is just having lots of good players irrespective of where they grew up.
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I'm lost. What point are you trying to make exactly? That there is no point cultivating our back yard? That isn't a major part of why we have sucked for 25 years? Did you see this as the last chance to have a dig like this before the likes of Hopwood, Hagan and Winter really became major players in coming years amongst others? (Yes, Winter is coming, dunno why anyone would be afraid of it). That the depth provided by having locals like Hunt, Hopwood and Crouch hasn't been important to the team this very year? That not having a young half like Sharpe develop to where he is without having to pay speculative overs isn't a good thing? Really, what was your point?

Six of those top ten made their nrl debut for us. Three were locals, we have done an excellent job developing two of the others long term at the club and it has been well documented how well Manu has come on since the penny has dropped with our coaching. Of the locals, JSaf would still be runaway player of the year if he was fit, and Crossland and Crokes epitomise the working class effort this club was built on and needed to return to. Please, you have broken my brain, what is your point?

Newcastle was at it's best when it was mining our rich junior area properly during the 90s. As we lost focus on that, we lost our way as a club. We have sucked for 25 years because we have had to outsource where our talent came from and pay overs for middling guys without ever being able to compete with big clubs for big talent. Our history shows we can't buy a premiership, we need to be a development club. And bringing juniors through helps big time with depth and balancing the salary cap. I have a point. What is your point?
 
slotmachine said:
Looking at mskotw current rankings interesting that only 3 of the top 10, and 5 of the top 15 are local juniors. In what looks like our best season in 25 years.

Maybe the secret to being decent is just having lots of good players irrespective of where they grew up.
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I mean we are also a top four team now… for “number of players in top 30 who made their debut for the club”. We weren’t anywhere near that before Wests took over. Player development and retaining a strong core of local juniors is why we can afford to throw more money at our two best players than any other club.

Developing halfbacks is hard and honestly as good as Penrith is at it for example, guys either have the sauce or they don’t. But athletic forwards & outside backs, and also just as importantly forwards who maybe aren’t as athletic but are tough & don’t have a rational person’s sense of self-preservation, tend to pop up in every region. Should be able to develop those.
 
There's definitely benifits to having a good core of locals in the team.
Happy to stay for a bit less.
Connection to the area helps with negotiations.
Not overpaying for squad fillers.
Replacing retired or leaving players with young guns who have been in the system for years, so they know the systems well.
 
The point you made Slots is relavabt now but with all the Juniors coming through that number will change over the next few years. Of course we will still need to look outside to fill any gaps we might be lacking. Which in the past has been the halves.

But with DB signed long term, and extending Sharpe (local boy) those most important positions are secured for the foreseeable future.

We are/have transitioned in the development club we should have never waived away from since the 90’s.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
number of players in top 30 who made their debut for the club
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I think you've missed my point. My favourite two Knights players at the moment debuted here but one is from the south coast and the other the north of England. Developing players is smart by any measure, they just don't have to have been born in the hunter valley. Thankfully POS casts a wide net.
 
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