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

Honestly the problem Hunt is gonna have now in terms of his perception is how good some of the other young guys have been. But compared to any reasonable expectations he’s done a fine job and never shied away from anything. Gotta remember that Hunt would have actually had fewer NRL pre-seasons than them though. Pretty sure he’s done one in total.
 
L
Die Hard said:
Can Klein get fired and then shot into the @$%#ing Sun already? Biggest piece of **** ref everyone hates. Had to challenge and get the bunker to overrule the low morale, pathetic piece of **** ref. How the %&$& can an imbelic addicted gambler keep the sanctity of the game. #@&% off
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Liam Kennedy deserves an honourable mention .
 
Interesting that the media keeps talking about the Horsborough incident as if the Raiders had the penalty and then he lashed out at Gags...is it me, or wasn't it that Gags pushed Horsborough away because he was crowding the ruck, something you see in just about every 2nd play, and Horsborough lashed out, which resulted in players rushing in.

Klein, apparently dismissing any high contact and the clear spoiling going on from Tapine & Horsborough in the ruck, gave a crucial penalty against possession to the Raiders even though Horsborough was the instigator for most of it.

Indeed, I think KP was shocked the penalty hadn't gone to the Knights and that he challenged because they thought there was high contact.

Not sure if the challenge was even considered or if the bunker just intervened because of the slap at that pt. Either way, Klein got bailed out of another contentious (clearly wrong imo) call that could have sunk the Knights. It's Henry Peranara flashbacks every time Klein refs our games now.

PS. Kent said Ricky has been blaming his side's poor discipline all season for the position they found themselves in, has warned them numerous times because it has cost them games, and that's why he blew up at Horsborough.
 
Hunt is a total freak. He moves sensationally well for someone 190cm tall, has just about every skill you could ask for. He is just raw. He is probably 3 or more years away from arriving at his approximate best

The only candidate who is any chance of pinching centre off him next season is Winter, and he's yet to play FG. So we really don't have any measure on the probability of that happening.
 
BlackbuttOG said:
I like Sasagi and he has turned into a high-end talent undoubtedly. He is 25, had a great season last year but was still in full "development mode" up until then. Hunt doesn't even turn 21 until December this year. It's not guaranteed Hunt becomes a top line 1st grader but for the right price a little patience is surely justified.
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I say Hunt and Winter will battle it out for the right centre spot. Two very good prospects.
 
what's that pong said:
L

Liam Kennedy deserves an honourable mention .
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Liam Kennedy is the worst referee in the game who has a slight chip on his shoulder about the knights.... Klein is one of the best refs in the game with a massive chip on his shoulder re the knights. Thats how I distinguish the two anyway. Neither make it easy for us, but I feel Klein makes it the hardest.
 
Bit tough on Hunt, yes he got outplayed by Sasagi who is pretty decent but keep in mind that Hunt doesn’t have an established position yet, fills in where ever needed, f/b, left and right centre, bench and usually a last minute injury replacement.
He has filled in really well on most occasions for a young inexperienced 21yr.
Give him time and I am sure he will develop further and will be pushing for a regular position in 1sts
 
So we are all aboard the Manu train, and rightfully so. So much to get excited about. But I'd like to give our halves a rap, and point out how far both have come along this year.

Smith has slotted in seamlessly since Brown went down. Some of his playmaking the last few weeks has been sublime. But the area I'd like to rap him most is defensively. It was an area where Brown has been sensational this year and where he was obviously going to be missed. But Sandon is holding his own here in that right side system, mainly by defending within the unit. Most of his issues earlier in the year were from him overchasing and opening gaps inside him. A big rap to the coaching staff and his own hard work on an area that has been nailed down like that.

Sharpe is way ahead as a playmaker to where i thought he would be by this stage of his career, even as someone who knew he had it in him. His short passing game has seen him really start to rack up try and line break assists to his edge backrower the last few months. Sure, it helps that both Lucas and Manuleulua are superb hole runners, but you still need to find them at the right time. Sharpe is consistently doing that so well. I loved too that in the lead up to Gags try the other day he had the poise to cut out Kp, who wanted the ball, as he sensed the space was really further out.

Big raps to both the halves, and to the coaching they have received this year!!
 
Owey said:
So we are all aboard the Manu train, and rightfully so. So much to get excited about. But I'd like to give our halves a rap, and point out how far both have come along this year.

Smith has slotted in seamlessly since Brown went down. Some of his playmaking the last few weeks has been sublime. But the area I'd like to rap him most is defensively. It was an area where Brown has been sensational this year and where he was obviously going to be missed. But Sandon is holding his own here in that right side system, mainly by defending within the unit. Most of his issues earlier in the year were from him overchasing and opening gaps inside him. A big rap to the coaching staff and his own hard work on an area that has been nailed down like that.

Sharpe is way ahead as a playmaker to where i thought he would be by this stage of his career, even as someone who knew he had it in him. His short passing game has seen him really start to rack up try and line break assists to his edge backrower the last few months. Sure, it helps that both Lucas and Manuleulua are superb hole runners, but you still need to find them at the right time. Sharpe is consistently doing that so well. I loved too that in the lead up to Gags try the other day he had the poise to cut out Kp, who wanted the ball, as he sensed the space was really further out.

Big raps to both the halves, and to the coaching they have received this year!!
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Was going to say Sandon has been super calm and professional since Dyl went down and its been massive in past two weeks. Echo your points on Sharpe as well.

Bret White has done an immense job fixing the defence over the past few weeks, with the outs on the edge you'd think gaps would be happening, but our contact and decision making has been great
 
Seano said:
True.

But we can't have it both ways with AOB, ie., players were scared of their own shadows but also should have been OK to approach him to ask what they need to do to be better.
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I do get divided on AOB, so I reserve the right to have it both ways haha. To be fair to him, our resilience is great atm and that's something AOB brought to the club. Apart from when it all fell apart at the end of 2025, you couldn't question our desire to win or defensive effort.

Sadly his attacking theories hadn't developed since Melbourne introduced wrestling in 2006.

And yes, man management seems to be a weakness. But I don't think Jenkins is the best example. It's on record that he requested a release from us after playing five games (that was Round 7). And he admits his training wasn't good enough and he wasn't performing well. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...d/news-story/ff7d794bf1579b07b76ce263559cbaa1

For all we know that was AOB wondering "does he actually care enough to come and ask what he needs to do to stay here and get back into first grade".
 
Jar head said:
Liam Kennedy is the worst referee in the game who has a slight chip on his shoulder about the knights.... Klein is one of the best refs in the game with a massive chip on his shoulder re the knights. Thats how I distinguish the two anyway. Neither make it easy for us, but I feel Klein makes it the hardest.
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Neither are fit to lace old henry perenaras boots when it comes to knights hate. In all seriousness though no refs hate us or anyteam, they all make mistakes (id say its the hardest officiating job in world sport). The biggest issue around referees percieved performances is the average fan just doesnt understand the rules fully or dont pay attention.
One of my favourites is people/media included complaining about ruck infringements and saying they dont know what thats for when the ref says what its for every single time, you just need to listen.
 
Owey said:
So we are all aboard the Manu train, and rightfully so. So much to get excited about. But I'd like to give our halves a rap, and point out how far both have come along this year.

Smith has slotted in seamlessly since Brown went down. Some of his playmaking the last few weeks has been sublime. But the area I'd like to rap him most is defensively. It was an area where Brown has been sensational this year and where he was obviously going to be missed. But Sandon is holding his own here in that right side system, mainly by defending within the unit. Most of his issues earlier in the year were from him overchasing and opening gaps inside him. A big rap to the coaching staff and his own hard work on an area that has been nailed down like that.

Sharpe is way ahead as a playmaker to where i thought he would be by this stage of his career, even as someone who knew he had it in him. His short passing game has seen him really start to rack up try and line break assists to his edge backrower the last few months. Sure, it helps that both Lucas and Manuleulua are superb hole runners, but you still need to find them at the right time. Sharpe is consistently doing that so well. I loved too that in the lead up to Gags try the other day he had the poise to cut out Kp, who wanted the ball, as he sensed the space was really further out.

Big raps to both the halves, and to the coaching they have received this year!!
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Yeah I was thinking about another mea culpa re: Sharpe.

My huge, huge worry about Fletcher was around his ball playing as I ranted about over and over and I can't believe how far he's come this quickly. Guys who have started at a higher baseline have taken way longer to really come good. It looks to me like there's basically no difference in how he shapes to pass whether he's going long or short, and his ability to release the ball a half beat earlier or later than the defence is expecting has been a big part of why he's created I would guess about five times as many breaks with his passing this season. I think what he does is very simple still and there's not a lot of particularly complex deception like you'd see from the real top tier ball players, but the fact he threatens the line so much with his running game means he doesn't necessarily need that.

Also think it's inarguable at this stage that while he's filled in capably at fullback and centre, his best games have all been at five-eighth and it's not close. From Kalyn & him not being able to combine well last season to the team pivoting to a more Fletcher/Kalyn-centric attacking style with Brown injured - and winning. I'm not sure I could name five five-eighths running around right now who are better than him. Certainly not Ethan Strange heh heh heh.

And yeah Sandon has been very very solid. He had more highlights when he was playing five-eighth but at the moment there is no real pressure on him to create points and he's giving us what we need with Brown out.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Bit tough on Hunt, yes he got outplayed by Sasagi who is pretty decent but keep in mind that Hunt doesn’t have an established position yet, fills in where ever needed, f/b, left and right centre, bench and usually a last minute injury replacement.
He has filled in really well on most occasions for a young inexperienced 21yr.
Give him time and I am sure he will develop further and will be pushing for a regular position in 1sts
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Hunt is only 20
 
It was clear the PCL injury hampered Sharpe for a good chuck of the year. He seems to be fully over that now. And now, a more traditional combination of him, Sandon and KP in the spine is suiting his game. He could be on fire this lasts two months of the season. 🔥

I think we are flying under the radar atm, most written us off losing both Dyls. But the emergence of Manu and guys like Sharpe and Sandon building every week we could be a sneaky shot to go deep. Put that with the timing of having close to a full strength squad for finals, we could create some magic.

That was a tough win in Canberra. Weather, players missing, Canberra having there season to play for, and come away with a win down there was impressive.

Lastly Sandon kicking at 100% I think. I can see us dominating Titans and Manly at home, Wahs will be a good test to see. Although I would be tempted to rest players if we have secured 5th or 6th.
 
With halves of Hasting and Gamble/Cogger Obi made 23/24 seasons pretty exciting. Good healthy seasons injury wise helped. Lucas Debuted 23 season, Crossland took his game to another level, Sharpe moved to 6 because Obi and Co noticed it in training and our defence was pretty sound from 23-26 season up to the Wahs game that was lost on the buzzer. just ripped the heart out of the place. He did plenty of good with what he had in the halves. The change was right to happen though and we are much better for it.
 
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