2020 Pre Season and Trial Games

So you're warming up for a 800m sprint. By choice would you run 400m to warm up. Or jump up and down on the spot and stretch? We are warming up for at least 30 mins then try to go out and play 80 minutes of football. I'm sorry but if you see no logic in that then I can't help ya.

With your analogy, I would absolutely be warming up for an 800m sprint with about 400m of running. Not sprinting, no. But a combination of jogging and stretching. I'm no physio, granted, but only jumping up and down on the spot and stretching before sprinting for 800 metres could be risky for sustaining an injury. I've done exactly that before (Achilles). These are professional athletes trained to be fit for more than 80 minutes of play. Their 30 minutes of warming up isn't nearly at the same rigour as it will be in the game, and they're doing drills to minimise risk of injury during the game.
 
We played the Panthers at home on a hot Monday arvo. Knights came out to warm up at least 10 minutes before Penrith. Our warm up was high intensity while Penrith shorter in time and nowhere near our effort. We blew them off the park in the first 40 but come the last 20 of the game we couldn't pick our feet up and the Panthers ran over the top of us.
 
We played the Panthers at home on a hot Monday arvo. Knights came out to warm up at least 10 minutes before Penrith. Our warm up was high intensity while Penrith shorter in time and nowhere near our effort. We blew them off the park in the first 40 but come the last 20 of the game we couldn't pick our feet up and the Panthers ran over the top of us.
You think our warm up cost us the game???
 
The new coach has a lot of challenges. Finding what to do with Watson is one of the bigger ones.
Robinson and Brown both tried to find a regular spot for him and never quite found it.
The problem with him is that he is very, very good at some areas of the game like fitness, speed, agility and toughness, and very, very poor at all the playmaking skills.
It's a waste to have him on the bench because his energy for 80 minutes is just about his best asset, but no obvious starting spot for him stands out.
 
The new coach has a lot of challenges. Finding what to do with Watson is one of the bigger ones.
Robinson and Brown both tried to find a regular spot for him and never quite found it.
The problem with him is that he is very, very good at some areas of the game like fitness, speed, agility and toughness, and very, very poor at all the playmaking skills.
It's a waste to have him on the bench because his energy for 80 minutes is just about his best asset, but no obvious starting spot for him stands out.
I've actually wondered about centre. He has shown he defends well there. He'd be considered smallish, but he could concentrate on running. I'd kinda hate to be his winger though.

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The new coach has a lot of challenges. Finding what to do with Watson is one of the bigger ones.
Robinson and Brown both tried to find a regular spot for him and never quite found it.
The problem with him is that he is very, very good at some areas of the game like fitness, speed, agility and toughness, and very, very poor at all the playmaking skills.
It's a waste to have him on the bench because his energy for 80 minutes is just about his best asset, but no obvious starting spot for him stands out.

Said he has played some time at lock as well

6. Crossland
7. Pearce
9. Brailey
13. Watson???

Unless he starts 14. comes onto hooker role then goes back to 13?

Brailey wants to play 80 mins at hooker though
 
https://www.newcastleknights.com.au...ion-next-rookies-to-look-for-in-2020-part-ii/

Another article about rookies to watch.

Brandon Russell gets a mention.
He has not been mentioned much.
We picked him up from Qld in 2018. When we won the 2018 minor premiership in under 20s, he had a pretty slow start to the season, but as the season went on he got better and better till he was very close to our best forward in the last 3 or 4 games.
He played for Qld under 16s alongside David Fifita in the backrow, and I think under 18s as well. He was picked for Qld under 20s squad this year, but didn't make the final team because he was 1 game back from a 3 month injury layoff.
This year he trained with our reserve grade squad and got an injury late in the pre season that kept him out till about 5 weeks before the end of the season.
He played 3 games of reserve grade. The last game he played bench prop and got 55 minutes, ran for 180 metres, 68 post contact, and made 27 tackles. Those are better stats than James Gavet made all season, and only Jake Saifiti and Zac Hosking did better.
He is a no nonsense and not very big prop or lock who looks like a fitter version of Tyrone Amey.
Nothing fancy about him - just runs hard, straight and often and tackles the same way.
 
Just looking at the Raiders official site and they started their pre season last week with mostly reserve grade and under 20s players, with many not coming back for another 3 weeks.

Some of our guys look like they are training to run a marathon by how much weight they have dropped. Jake Saifiti looks smaller then when he played under 20s.
 
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Interesting that in an article about Jake Saifiti in the Herald they quote him talking about the young props coming through and he doesn't mention Saulo, Croker or Russell - he names Momoisea and Jack Cameron.
 
Just looking at the Raiders official site and they started their pre season last week with mostly reserve grade and under 20s players, with many not coming back for another 3 weeks.

Some of our guys look like they are training to run a marathon by how much weight they have dropped. Jake Saifiti looks smaller then when he played under 20s.

Prioritising endurance and mobility over bulk worked wonders for the Raiders, each team just needs to find the right balance. I'm keen to see how this refinement helps us in the final 20 mins
 
https://www.dailyliberal.com.au/sto...training-with-pearce-and-knights-best/?cs=113

Article about Bayden Searle from the Dubbo Daily Liberal.
Searle was probably our best junior recruit in 2019.
I see from the article he joined us as a Jersey Flegg train and trial player about 12 months ago, and now must be close to that last development player spot for 2020.
He says he wants to remain in Canterbury cup all season, but i'm pretty sure he's young enough for Flegg still, and if Lino, Mann, Hoy, Sasagi, Randall and Crossland are all fit he'll struggle to stay in reserve grade.
 
Unless he jumps some of those guys in the first grade pecking order and Obi wants him playing against the bigger bodies.

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It's interesting that Searle averaged 44 fantasy points per game in Canterbury cup.
Lino averaged 42 fantasy points.
Crossland averaged 33 fantasy points.
So Searle was statistically our form halfback in Canterbury cup in 2019.
He racks up the points because he is a goal kicker and also because he loves to get involved in defence and loves to take the ball to the line in attack, so is very involved all the time.
He played all his junior football up to under 18s level with Matt Burton, the Penrith 5/8, as his halves partner, so whoever his junior coach at Dubbo cyms was seems to know what they are doing.
 
I see a time coming in the not too distant future where some of our juniors have to leave because of who are in front of them and go on to rep careers at other clubs because they can't get a start here, a la Kimmorley, Ennis, Morris, Moodie, Howe, Ross (last two a little different, I know). We need to get who we retain right. Great position to get back to.

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So did Shibasaki train with the Knights yesterday?
Daily Telegraph reporting today he has signed, I couldn't read the article, just the headline, no news on him arriving or training outside if that.

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I see Bradman Best made the future Blues squad, but strangely I think the big Knights selection is 16 year old Jonah Pezet.
I suspect Pezet will be like Lamb and Cogger and Crossland and be named in under 20s as soon as he turns 17. If we end up with Pezet and Searle in the halves in under 20s we will have 2 guys over 6 foot in the halves. Don't know how often that happens.
 
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