2025 pre season thread

[Oliver]

Klemmer back on the cheap would be great for a year or two. Great work ethic, would be a great mentor for the young blokes coming through.

Good cover for Leo leaving until the young guns are good enough to keep him out of the team.

I have to disagree. I don’t think Klemmer would be a great mentor for our young forwards. He still carries on like a pork chop and hasn’t mature since his time here.
I would rather wait an extra year and try and bring Mitch Barnett back if we are looking for a forward mentor at the twilight of their career.

 

[Albus Miles]

I would rather wait an extra year and try and bring Mitch Barnett back if we are looking for a forward mentor at the twilight of their career.

The 2 x Danny Buderus and Players Player winner. Should never have been let go in the first place. Dsaf was already phoning it in by that time.

Was the heart and soul of the pack, and the only mongrel in a pack of powder puffs. The stuff he would do off the ball, 110% every game.

 

[Seano]

No one "let" Barney go. If you listen to Barry Toohey's podcast it came down to the Knights offering him two years and the Warriors offering him three. In the same podcast, Barney describes the journey he had to go through to manage his neck injury. The Knights were right to be cautious.

If Barney had spent most of the last two years out injured people would be complaining that the club knew he had a problem...hindsight is 20-20. It's just unlucky for the Knights and a good move by the Warriors and their coach to move Barney to the middle.

 

[krustykraz]

No one "let" Barney go. If you listen to Barry Toohey's podcast it came down to the Knights offering him two years and the Warriors offering him three. In the same podcast, Barney describes the journey he had to go through to manage his neck injury. The Knights were right to be cautious.

If Barney had spent most of the last two years out injured people would be complaining that the club knew he had a problem...hindsight is 20-20. It's just unlucky for the Knights and a good move by the Warriors and their coach to move Barney to the middle.

He was let go. He still had a year left on his Knights contract.

 

[krustykraz]

I have to disagree. I don’t think Klemmer would be a great mentor for our young forwards. He still carries on like a pork chop and hasn’t mature since his time here.
I would rather wait an extra year and try and bring Mitch Barnett back if we are looking for a forward mentor at the twilight of their career.

That would be ideal.
But I'd doubt it would happen.
And if it somehow did he would be quite expensive, Aus & NSW rep.

 

[Seano]

He was let go. He still had a year left on his Knights contract.

Yes because the Knights were only going to offer him an extra year (ie two years) and the Warriors were offering three years. To stop him from taking the three-year deal when they weren't sure about his injury situation would have been a sucky thing to do.

And if they extended him for the three they still would have run the risk if his injury had not come good, with people asking why when they knew he had a problem. It's the same thing. It's easy to make these decisions with hindsight. Hopefully with POS on board the Knights will get fewer of these decisions wrong.

 

[Albus Miles]

To have a local boy, with a newborn baby, playing in front of family every second week leave the club. WOW.

I watched his interview. To paraphrase " I need to leave to go to that next level" "I want to play SOO" . He didnt believe he could be his best at the club.

Most really good players move clubs to win a Premiership. 50K -100K a year less is nothing when you're pulling in 500K+. It's peanuts.

 

[Seano]

DSaf said similar on signing with the Dolphins.

Barney left for contract security. I don't blame the Knights for being cautious, I don't blame Barney for seeking to secure his future or talking positively about his new club, that's not a slight on the Knights (unless people choose to take it that way) and I don't blame the Warriors for rolling the dice. That's how it goes. Hindsight is 20-20.

Right now most Knights fans would say the club did the right thing with DSaf, but who knows maybe at the end of the year we're all singing a different tune.

 

[what's that pong]

They don't get much tougher than Malcolm Reilly, interesting to listen to him talk about Joey being the toughest he's seen, and he briefly mentions his preparation right at the end:

Watched this again, then went down the rabbit hole.

2001 GF he kicked Parramatta to bloody death it was a dead set master class, I was only 13 at the time and hadn't watched it back 1 million times like the 1997 GF, so thanks james

 

[Brad tighe]

Corey Jansen would be perfect for us

 

[Les Misérables]

My guess would be Gamble and Sharpe are the halves in the B side, opposing Cogger and Pryce in the A side. Hastings at lock.

It's probably the case that there's an invisible line between the A and B team players.

Seems we're definitely going to see Sharpe at 6, especially if they've put Gamble at half.

 

[Billy]

It's probably the case that there's an invisible line between the A and B team players.

Seems we're definitely going to see Sharpe at 6, especially if they've put Gamble at half.

I want to see Sharpe at 6.
He has exceeded all my expectations so far.
Even if it's a bridge too far for him, it's worth giving him a chance to see if he has it in him.

 

[Thieves Like Us]

If ever there was any more reason to give Sharpe at go 6 then it’s the Rugby League Guru’s latest pod where he lambasts the idea! That guy has such a downer on Newcastle.

 

[Les Misérables]

A fun thing to do is watch a Tigers game from the last two years and just keep your eyes on Api Koroisau the whole time. He’s been playing out of his mind. He’s been so good. The guys around him let him down coconstantly.

I do it every time I watch the Tigers, and it's because he's just so damn good it's impossible not to want to focus on his game.

Its unreal actually now you mention it

 

[Chaister]

I personally wouldn’t want Klemmer back here in a million years. There’s the obvious issues of him getting into a fight with the trainer but also tbh I think the modern game has moved past his style of prop.

 

[Les Misérables]

I want to see Sharpe at 6.
He has exceeded all my expectations so far.
Even if it's a bridge too far for him, it's worth giving him a chance to see if he has it in him.

There seems to be a Buderus like manifest ability about young Fletcher, I really see your point.

 

[Roundtable]

No klemmer please. Past it.

 

[EASBay17]

I doubt we would want klemmer back,but his family still live up here, kids go to school here and he helps out abit at valentine jrlfc where his boys play and i believe he stays with his inlaws in sydney, your never going to find a bloke more willing to sign for a pie and coke deal.

 

[bremsstrahlung]

Hayden Knowles

Interesting. Ivan’s book mentioned how great he is. I think he may have even gotten a call up to write a tribute piece for Ivan in the book.

Cleary mentioned Knowles leaving and how he was so happy for him to move to a bigger and better role and couldn't believe the impact he had on their group.

When I read that, I thought he was at Newcastle, but couldn’t really remember him being mentioned recently.

Seems he is at Roosters now.

Quote from incident: “If our club, our roster, our management want success, they should be thanking me for trying to uphold the set of standards this team needs.”


As for Klemmer, don’t think it’s a direction we should be taking. Think we should be trying to bring in fresh players who know what success looks like. Klemmer probably has more wooden spoons than my grandma.

 

[EASBay17]

I want to see Sharpe at 6.
He has exceeded all my expectations so far.
Even if it's a bridge too far for him, it's worth giving him a chance to see if he has it in him.

Im at the point I just want it sorted before round 1. As unlikely as it is looking im still in the hastings/gamble camp. They are proven and hastings is still the best game manager we have.