NRL Round 26 - Knights Vs Warriors - 2:00pm Sunday, 30th of August - Go Media Stadium

mozza said:
Good side considering the outs. Would love to see Hagan get a run but if we’re getting bashed and on the end of a big score it might be better to leave it and just let Cant plod for 15-20 minutes to give Graham a spell.
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Agree - if Phoenix is an uncertainty why bash a kid up … play the experienced players and rest them all next week ready for the finals.
 
Even with some outs this is a far stronger side than when we played them at home earlier this season. I have a sneaking suspicion Ponga will have a big game. Both Jsaf and Mooney will stand up to give out backs some opportunity. We will see a different side this week and surprise some people.
 
Grug said:
If we aren’t going to rest the stars at least structure the interchange so you can get them off the field as soon as we are behind by 14 or more (i.e. 22 mins in)
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Why?

If your assumption is that we're so far inferior to the Warriors that we'll be 3 tries down a quarter of the way through the game, what's the point of resting blokes for finals? May as well decline to play the finals too - give the lads an extra long preseason to focus on next year...

I'm not tipping us to win this week either, but there's a home semi on the line - and the attitude from a large contingent on this forum is talking about the team like we're wooden spooners
 
MontyBrogan said:
Why?

If your assumption is that we're so far inferior to the Warriors that we'll be 3 tries down a quarter of the way through the game, what's the point of resting blokes for finals? May as well decline to play the finals too - give the lads an extra long preseason to focus on next year...

I'm not tipping us to win this week either, but there's a home semi on the line - and the attitude from a large contingent on this forum is talking about the team like we're wooden spooners
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We are already in the finals.
We lost Crossland, Frizz and Young last game.
Are you saying that the home ground advantage is more than losing three players of that calibre.
Particularly on a game that we a long shots to win.
Look at the bigger picture.
 
will be a tough ask to jag a result over there, especially with how we played last week, hopefully there's a better effort in defense from everyone and we keep it as tight as possible then maybe lady luck will be on our side and we can produce an upset
 
Completely understand we are underdogs in this game. But I’ve heard a few people mention warriors will have too much size/big for the Knights. I was curious and actually matched the players profiles and most one on one match’s our boys a bigger! So be should do there research before throwing out claims.

But they are big and athletic all the warriors boys. Eg SAF is the biggest guy on the field but he is definitely not the most athletic forward. All there forward look like that could play in the backs! Lol
 
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frankLauda said:
Completely understand we are underdogs in this game. But I’ve heard a few people mention warriors will have too much size/big for the Knights. I was curious and actually matched the players profiles and most one on one match’s our boys a bigger! So be should do there research before throwing out claims.
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Much like Cant’s tackle efficiency, or our goal kicking percentage, never let the truth get in the way of a good whinge.
 
frankLauda said:
Completely understand we are underdogs in this game. But I’ve heard a few people mention warriors will have too much size/big for the Knights. I was curious and actually matched the players profiles and most one on one match’s our boys a bigger! So be should do there research before throwing out claims.

But they are big and athletic all the warriors boys. Eg SAF is the biggest guy on the field but he is definitely not the most athletic forward. All there forward look like that could play in the backs! Lol
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I think you are conflating size with power. The sides that dominate territory and possession aren't the biggest on paper

The wests pack is on paper the heaviest. Yet no one thinks they are a good pack and get owned through the middle most weeks. Conversely wahs, riff and the roosters are the top 3 packs in terms of ruck dominance stats. Each of these packs aren't exactly heavy: Radley, Clark and Smith for example aren't huge men. But they are all highly mobile, have a quick ptb and play big minutesand are aided by crafty dummy halves who bring them onto the ball quickly, maximizing the probability of winning the contact. Then there's the crazy line speed on defence that is a hallmark of these teams (more so the riff and wahs) which is central to them dominating the territory/possession game.

Wahs are no 1 in dominating territory and possession for a reason. Their last 3 matches, the riff, Broncos and bunnies hardly entered their red zone until it was too late. We don't have the kicking game to bail us out if we spend the majority of this game kicking on our own 40 which is what happened to their opposition in the last 3 matches.They did it to us in rd 3 and we were pretty much full strength in the forwards in rd3.

That's my fear for this game. Given it will be wet on Sunday and hence is made for their grind style. Might end up being the sharks game all over again.
 
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Saw a stat online. Over the last 5 weeks we rank last in ruck control and the warriors over the same period are first, we also rank last in PCM. we are going to be on the back foot all day.
 
I can't see anything other than the warriors destroying us through the middle.

It was so alarming how easy manly were rolling through us last week and let's face it their lack is pathetic if you compare it to the warriors. We were constantly on the back foot and rucking it deep from our end.

Our line speed has really dropped off and we seem to struggle to stop teams second phase lately. If we fix up both these areas then we are in with a shot, however with Crossy out it's going to be a struggle as he sets the tone for our defensive line.
 
I feel like we’ve been pretty much destroyed through the middle most weeks this year. Or if not destroyed, we’ve certainly lost the battle, particularly in the middle 40 minutes of the match.

Yes the Warriors are very good, but it’s something we’ve learned to adjust to. Holbrook has us playing very smart, and playing to our strengths, which isn’t winning the arm wrestle.

Was just looking at some stats and check out where we sit for tackles in the opposition 20 in 2026, it’s actually ridiculous how far behind the rest of the comp we are, combined with our ladder position.

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So I’m keeping my optimism that we can give it a big shake on Sunday, just have a feeling we’re primed for a great performance.
 
jamesgould said:
So I’m keeping my optimism that we can give it a big shake on Sunday, just have a feeling we’re primed for a great performance.
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That just means we're the most efficient down there as well compared to AOB ball. We'll finish likely 6th points scored (not that big of a difference between Dolphins and Souths) despite how much more the Bunnies have been tackled in Opposition 20. Similarly to Dolphins.

Just shows you how far less efficient a team like the Roosters or Warriors are.
 
Spot on James, that’s a huge reason Hollbrook has been so good. He’s a tactical genius! Lookin at the teams strengths and weaknesses and having a plan for that. Obviously it’s higher risk football, but as everyone has pointed out our forwards simply don’t match it with other packs most of the time. I think next year the likes of Hopwood, Crouch will be much stronger.
 
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