2020 Pre Season and Trial Games

knightime said:
Pretty sure it was for 9s, but if not, I strongly doubt Cogger will be on the wing in regular season. He'll be pushing Lewis and Wakeham for a spot in the halves surely.
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I could have got it wrong but I thought it was for the 17 man side but I just cant imagine him on the wing .
 
Are you guys fair dinkum? The numbers in 9's are whatever teams feel like they don't have to be positional and most teams they are just whatevers.
 
Our players to watch in the 9s according to NRL.com article;

Newcastle Knights: Kurt Mann
Able to play multiple positions comfortably, the playmaking Kurt Mann will be a valuable asset to his side's campaign.

"He's pretty quick and pretty agile and knows his footy," Gehamat Shibasaki said.

"I'd also like to see Sione Mata'utia there because he's really a big, mobile forward who'd be hard to catch."
 
One of our pool matches in the 9s will be against Penrith.
An interesting sidelight to that game is Bayden Searle v Matt Burton in the halves. Two years ago they were halves partners in under 18s in Dubbo. Bet they didn't think they'd play against each other in front of a big crowd in Perth.
 
https://www.triplem.com.au/story/pr...RjyHEh1Dw5WKWr30CfnikcP8RaunTtuHLxGB9FE2wYbwQ

Adam McDougall saying "the senior players" got what they wanted with the removal of Brown, and saying they have to perform now or it will "probably end their careers".

Senior players is a funny way to put it. I thought "Brown's boys" - Pearce, Guerra, Ponga, Watson - were all very much on board with Brown, and they are our senior players. It was most of the others who weren't having a go.
 
Gidley, Mann and Lino will all start in our first game.
Gidley saying his role will be fullback/halfback, so Mann must be dummy half I suppose.
 
Billy said:
https://www.triplem.com.au/story/pr...RjyHEh1Dw5WKWr30CfnikcP8RaunTtuHLxGB9FE2wYbwQ

Adam McDougall saying "the senior players" got what they wanted with the removal of Brown, and saying they have to perform now or it will "probably end their careers".

Senior players is a funny way to put it. I thought "Brown's boys" - Pearce, Guerra, Ponga, Watson - were all very much on board with Brown, and they are our senior players. It was most of the others who weren't having a go.
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Billy, had a listen to the Podcast and some of the stuff he says is correct, but to say the Senior players wanted Brown gone wasn't what they wanted ultimately, he got caught out playing politics and it back fired.

Read between the line with what we know - Brown set 2020 as his big year , players set 2019, they said they had the squad now , didn't look great but built momentum, backroom recruitment / retention politics caused Brown to - play players out of position, have better players overlooked for regime aligned also rans, crazy bench selections and usage, continual player rotations undermined cohesion, Players realised they weren't being supported by these actions- the rest is history.

No excuses this year everyone has a point to prove from the coach to the water boy.

I can't wait for the year to start , already filled the fridge for the Nines this weekend ( I know it means little but ) , they are the Knights and that is who I support.
 
Billy said:
https://www.triplem.com.au/story/pr...RjyHEh1Dw5WKWr30CfnikcP8RaunTtuHLxGB9FE2wYbwQ

Adam McDougall saying "the senior players" got what they wanted with the removal of Brown, and saying they have to perform now or it will "probably end their careers".

Senior players is a funny way to put it. I thought "Brown's boys" - Pearce, Guerra, Ponga, Watson - were all very much on board with Brown, and they are our senior players. It was most of the others who weren't having a go.
Click to expand...

I've mentioned it a few times but I'll say it again. After the big turnaround in form against the Eels Nathan Ross on Triple M said after the Titans game the senior players went to Brown unhappy about game plan etc etc. They were also wondering why in the lead up to season 2019 no work on attack whatsoever was done pre season. Since Brown left a number of players haven't been afraid to give it to him. It's up to them now put up or shut up. The issue with KP and Brown wasn't footy related.
 
So, I think the things to look out for in the nines are;

Jirah Momoisea - He's been a no nonsense prop forward who just grinds out the hard yards. We need to see if he has what it takes to play on the edge, and if he can't do it in 9s, he can't do it.

Simi Sasagi - I've probably seen half his games in under 18s, and he is unstoppable at that level, but he's never played a game at senior level and only 1 game at under 20s level. He's impressed everyone at training but this will be his first run against NRL standard players.

Star Toa - The best run I saw last year was by Toa as a fullback in Under 20s. If he gets any open space to run into, he can step his way around anyone. 9s should be his game.

Lino and Mann both have a lot to prove. They get a chance to run the side without Pearce, and I think whoever does it best will go a long way to locking down a round 1 start.

Tex Hoy - his running game really suits 9s I think

Watching 9s over the last few years I've come to the opinion that dummy halves are the most important players in 9s, and since we don't have any, I don't know how we are going to go.
 
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