2022 Knights Recruitment & Retention Thread

cowboyman said:
The Cheese ripping into Zammit on national television.

Cowboys poster with inside info on the club has previously posted that the club chose not to keep him on board not that he left at his own accord.

Cheese might of just backed that up with what he said on the Matty Johns show.
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Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s not great. Ponga, Cheese, Kikau let go, McLean brought in. Not an encouraging record.
 
Never got the impression Cheese was the brightest button in the box, but I at least thought he’d know the difference between recruitment & retention 😂
 
So let's do this slightly differently. Can our top 17 win a comp?

1. Ponga - Churchill medalist when we do
2. Hunt - not the reason we wouldn't, value throughout the season
3. Best - yes
4. Tuala - jury still out
5. Lee - yes, Toa wouldn't stop us either.l
6. Mann - like him but a reason we'd win?
7. Pearce - done it before
13. Watson - a real point of difference
12. Barnett - worried about some defensive lapses. His effort could be a difference, being targeted could defensive lapses that cost us.
11. Frizzel - Origin regular for a reason
10. DSaf - ditto
9. Brailey - absolutely
8. Klem - definitely
14. Sue - point of difference, can won a comp
15. JSaf - definitely
16. King - value for.money squad player, quality point of difference preferred
17. Jones - starting to prove his worth.

This to me suggests we are a centre, 5/8 and middle forward from being the complete package. What does everyone think?
 
Owey said:
So let's do this slightly differently. Can our top 17 win a comp?

1. Ponga - Churchill medalist when we do
2. Hunt - not the reason we wouldn't, value throughout the season
3. Best - yes
4. Tuala - jury still out
5. Lee - yes, Toa wouldn't stop us either.l
6. Mann - like him but a reason we'd win?
7. Pearce - done it before
13. Watson - a real point of difference
12. Barnett - worried about some defensive lapses. His effort could be a difference, being targeted could defensive lapses that cost us.
11. Frizzel - Origin regular for a reason
10. DSaf - ditto
9. Brailey - absolutely
8. Klem - definitely
14. Sue - point of difference, can won a comp
15. JSaf - definitely
16. King - value for.money squad player, quality point of difference preferred
17. Jones - starting to prove his worth.

This to me suggests we are a centre, 5/8 and middle forward from being the complete package. What does everyone think?
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I’m not sure this would be our first choice 17 at the moment - Fitzgibbon would be in there - but I’ll look at the players who I think are likely to comprise the main week-to-week team next season (I don’t think we’re a great chance of winning this year with all the disruption we’ve had):

The Spine

Ponga is of course the main man, the main reason anyone would even float the idea of winning a comp in the next few years, and the club should do whatever it takes to retain him for as long as he’s willing to stay. Brailey is easily good enough to anchor a contending team from dummy half, looks like he’s developing to be at worst in that sort of Jake Friend/Michael Ennis class as a player, if he isn’t already that good, and I’m not sure he’ll ever command absolute top dollar as a player which is good for us. Hopefully our no 9 & captain for at least 8 seasons.

Question marks of course over the halves. Jake Clifford has all the tools to be a great half, coaches just haven’t been able to help him take that step from junior grade stud to consistent first grader. Brailey’s been a much better player with us than at the Sharks so far so I have faith in our coaching staff. Pearce would have to recapture his 2018 form but Clifford I think is the right kind of halves partner to help him do that I think. We’re in a much better spot if someone like Tex Hoy steps up and demands selection over him.

Outside backs

No doubt in my mind we need reinforcement here. Bradman Best is of course the kind of strike player you need to contend, but the drop from him to the next best player is big. To’a has potential, Hymel Hunt is very reliable... but we’d want a couple of outside backs who are better players than Hymel, right now. A lot of prospects behind them - Sasagi, Young etc - but the very word “prospect” implies a lot of uncertainty. If we don’t sign someone don’t be shocked to see Kurt Mann become a first choice centre 😬. Weakest part of the roster, which is okay as it’s maybe the least important part, but you need the whole roster to be good to really compete. Shibasaki ain’t gonna cut it.

Back Row/Lock

I still really really don’t buy Mitch Barnett as an edge back rower. We’ll have a shot when we can get him to buy in to playing as a bench middle - his best attribute is his defensive intensity, his aggression, and tempering that & playing on an edge he’s just a sort of okay line runner who gets sloppy under fatigue.
We probably need to retain Fitzgibbon next year. Frizell has proven to be worth every penny of his pay packet. Brodie Jones’ emergence as a proper first grader couldn’t have come at a better time and he looks a guy who should be in the 17 somewhere every week (I think he’d be very suited to starting at lock).
Connor’s move to lock forward is working and I think even if the rules get changed back to 2019 rules I think he stays there. He’s a crucial cog to what we do and adds that extra bit of attacking threat and dynamism in the middle that we’ve needed for years.
Momoisea is the unknown, huge wraps but can’t stay fit.

Props

The Saifiti twins are good enough, but both of them haven’t totally exorcised their Nathan Browny inconsistency as players. D Saf needs to take that step from top ten prop to a contender for number one to put us over the top. J Saf also needs to find an extra 10-20%.
Klemmer is a model of consistency but I’m starting to become concerned about how much of a low-impact workhorse style of player he’s becoming. It’s hard to criticise a player who leads the comp in metres per game in his position, but I’m sure most of us think of D Saf as the better player now and he averages about 40m per game less. I’d like it if we could get D Klem to agree to play less minutes every week, maybe take 5 less runs a game, but have him run harder on the ones he does take, and defend with more enthusiasm and aggression. Otherwise we’ve got a great SuperCoach score, but not a guy who helps us win. Contrast with Tyson Frizell, who has a lower work rate than a lot of our other forwards, but the stuff he does always seems more eye catching and has more impact.
The drop off from J Saf to the next best prop is very high, but I’ve been impressed with the aggression players like King, Sue & Saulo bring to their 20 minute stints. When you’ve got the Saifitis, Klem & Watson playing big minutes, and two 80 minute back towers, sometimes that’s all you need to find from your other guys - 20 minutes of intensity and aggression.
 
nunnsy said:
Melbourne won last year with Jarome Hughes at half-back.
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Hughes has had a role carved out for him in that team and he plays that role very well. Pearce seems borderline uncoachable in a lot of ways, how many times have we seen Adzy blow up in the box after Pearce puts in a weird, dumb kick or takes the wrong option?
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
I’m not sure this would be our first choice 17 at the moment - Fitzgibbon would be in there - but I’ll look at the players who I think are likely to comprise the main week-to-week team next season (I don’t think we’re a great chance of winning this year with all the disruption we’ve had):
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TLDR;

Half the spine is great, Clifford an unknown (but I rate him), Pearce hopefully coming to the end.

We need a big boost in the outside backs - one strong signing and one kid coming through to step up.

Do not buy Barney as an edge back rower, but otherwise 2nd row/lock is a big strength of the team going forward (if we re-sign Fitz and Brodie). I want Barney to play as a bench middle.

Saifitis great but we need them both to take an extra step I am confident they have in them. It would be nice to see Klem run harder. “20 minutes of hard running” depth props have been doing a job & I’m happy with all of them, even Kingy.
 
McKenzie Baker's profile has gone from the Knights site and the NSWRL site after he played for us 2 days ago.
I suppose they could be upgrading him to a development contract or he might have got a contract somewhere else.
 
Billy said:
McKenzie Baker's profile has gone from the Knights site and the NSWRL site after he played for us 2 days ago.
I suppose they could be upgrading him to a development contract or he might have got a contract somewhere else.
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He might be about to make a top grade debut on the wing?
 
Billy said:
McKenzie Baker's profile has gone from the Knights site and the NSWRL site after he played for us 2 days ago.
I suppose they could be upgrading him to a development contract or he might have got a contract somewhere else.
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It’s been missing for a couple of weeks. He’s played a few games with it gone so wouldn’t think much of it beyond an error.
 
Don't think Lachlan will be here much longer as that other Fitzgibbon, the Craig variety, fancies him at the sharkies next year.
 
Is there any real heat to that rumour or was it just a Fox Sports thing?

Don’t get me wrong, I can see Fitzgibbon getting a pretty fair offer from someone. Plenty of coaches would look at him and see a sort of Aldi Kikau lol. Not saying it’s impossible.
 
Would love him to stay, but of Fitz and Jones, Jones is younger, looks to have a higher ceiling, is more versatile and is likely cheaper.
 
Big call on Brodie having a higher ceiling, but I’ve heard the club talk a lot about not having much cap space next year, which I have to assume means Lachie is in the club’s plans. I think if he left, between him & Eddie that’s actually a fair bit of space...
 
Yep. Club pulled out of the race eventually but wouldn't have even gotten to the point of meeting with Staggs if there wasn't money to spend.
 
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