Finals Bound

what's that pong said:
After having a good look at Parramatta's, sharks, and rabbits draws if we lose to Canberra we will not make the 8
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Fair assessment, it always looked like we could only afford to lose one more game for the season after the disappointing losses to chooks and panthers.

Since then have put away Tigers, Dogs and Storm. Beat the Raiders and we will be favourites against Dragons, Dogs and Phins and will need to win one of the Sharks and Rabbits games. Sharks are in ordinary form and getting worse, that is a home game for us too.
 
On current form and remaining games sharks will win 1 more game and dropmout of the 8.

Parramatta still has a bye and 2 games they should win takes them to 30 points means we need to beat the bulldogs dragons and dolpins and a win against either the raiders or sharks but ideally both.

I can see south's finishing the season strong with latrell back.
 
what's that pong said:
On current form and remaining games sharks will win 1 more game and dropmout of the 8.

Parramatta still has a bye and 2 games they should win takes them to 30 points means we need to beat the bulldogs dragons and dolpins and a win against either the raiders or sharks but ideally both.

I can see south's finishing the season strong with latrell back.
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Souths have been ordinary, but I think they will turn it around with Trell back, putals too much pressure on Cody without him.
 
I'm resigned to not making the 8. And I'm ok with it. We didn't do enough to start the year and are paying the price for it now.

We can still finish strong though and only just miss out I think is likely.

Hopefully it motivates them to realise you can't just rely on jagging enough wins at the end. We have had a better season this year then any since Brown came here.
 
Kurriboy said:
I'm resigned to not making the 8. And I'm ok with it. We didn't do enough to start the year and are paying the price for it now.

We can still finish strong though and only just miss out I think is likely.

Hopefully it motivates them to realise you can't just rely on jagging enough wins at the end. We have had a better season this year then any since Brown came here.
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krustykraz said:
That's a good run home with plenty of home games and a neutral venue.

The biggest hurdle for this team is maintaining the effort and consistency they have shown the last few weeks, especially in D.
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I hear what you're saying KB and this is where our biggest challenge is now....not looking past next week!

If we are not doing that and playing every game until the finals series as a sudden death game, we will come up short because they will get ahead of themselves.

This will be AOBs biggest challenge - reset after every game, keeping them hyper focussed on the game in front of them because nothing else will matter if they don't
 
Still_Nutty said:
I hear what you're saying KB and this is where our biggest challenge is now....not looking past next week!

If we are not doing that and playing every game until the finals series as a sudden death game, we will come up short because they will get ahead of themselves.

This will be AOBs biggest challenge - reset after every game, keeping them hyper focussed on the game in front of them because nothing else will matter if they don't
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Even at this point, they could play every game, rise to the challenge but still not make the finals.

It might seem strange I say in a year we miss the finals but it's our best year since Brown arrived, but this year they have aimed up and been much more consistent. They have just had a year where virtually the entire comp has also followed suit and it's a very close fought season for top 8 spots.

Just a couple of performances earlier in the year go our way and we aren't in this position now. Such is life.

It's a shame really as I'd love to see what this team could do finishing in a decent finishing position like 6th where you could lose week 1 and still be alive, with the team firing with the right attitude and really roll the dice. Vs happening to finish 8th or 7th and bundeled out 1st week.
 
They’ve absolutely played better and more consistent footy this year than any other under AOB or Browny, no matter what the W/L column says at the end of the year.
 
Kurriboy said:
Even at this point, they could play every game, rise to the challenge but still not make the finals.

It might seem strange I say in a year we miss the finals but it's our best year since Brown arrived, but this year they have aimed up and been much more consistent. They have just had a year where virtually the entire comp has also followed suit and it's a very close fought season for top 8 spots.

Just a couple of performances earlier in the year go our way and we aren't in this position now. Such is life.

It's a shame really as I'd love to see what this team could do finishing in a decent finishing position like 6th where you could lose week 1 and still be alive, with the team firing with the right attitude and really roll the dice. Vs happening to finish 8th or 7th and bundeled out 1st week.
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Those early rounds coincided with our marquee player having concussion issues. Totally different side with him confident and firing. Improvement in attitude and consistency across the park and this has absolutely been our best season since wests took over.
 
I love the way we have been playing the last few weeks. Particularly our attack. It’s exciting to watch! I was thinking might be cause of the opposition with the bottom two teams. But when we showed it against the Storm we are a legit threat.
 
Kurriboy said:
Even at this point, they could play every game, rise to the challenge but still not make the finals.

It might seem strange I say in a year we miss the finals but it's our best year since Brown arrived, but this year they have aimed up and been much more consistent. They have just had a year where virtually the entire comp has also followed suit and it's a very close fought season for top 8 spots.

Just a couple of performances earlier in the year go our way and we aren't in this position now. Such is life.

It's a shame really as I'd love to see what this team could do finishing in a decent finishing position like 6th where you could lose week 1 and still be alive, with the team firing with the right attitude and really roll the dice. Vs happening to finish 8th or 7th and bundeled out 1st week.
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6th is elimination, you lose week 1 your out.
 
It was interesting listening to the Knights HQ podcast this week, Croker was saying how when they look back on the game vs Penrith at home, they played terribly for the last half an hour. But he added they hadn’t been in that situation as a team before, where they were leading vs a top team, so had no idea how to play it.

They definitely got it right last week vs the Storm. Nice to see some growth in the side, and gives me some hope they will keep improving.
 
Pl
Owey said:
Those early rounds coincided with our marquee player having concussion issues. Totally different side with him confident and firing. Improvement in attitude and consistency across the park and this has absolutely been our best season since wests took over.
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Plus crossland has played enough hooker to start looking like a competent performer.
 
jamesgould said:
It was interesting listening to the Knights HQ podcast this week, Croker was saying how when they look back on the game vs Penrith at home, they played terribly for the last half an hour. But he added they hadn’t been in that situation as a team before, where they were leading vs a top team, so had no idea how to play it.

They definitely got it right last week vs the Storm. Nice to see some growth in the side, and gives me some hope they will keep improving.
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Interesting thing for Croker to say. Why is it any different being in the lead against a top team as opposed to a lower ranked team? I mean when I think about it, and put myself in that position, maybe your mindset is a bit different, but that would only be because you didn’t expect to be in that position (leading) to begin with. To me, that points to a bigger mindset issue i.e., going into games not expecting to win or be competitive. Am I wrong here?
 
You just get more nervous against a good team. You know if you make errors they can punish you, so you tighten up, and then tightening up makes you make more errors etc.
 
Tomacles said:
Interesting thing for Croker to say. Why is it any different being in the lead against a top team as opposed to a lower ranked team? I mean when I think about it, and put myself in that position, maybe your mindset is a bit different, but that would only be because you didn’t expect to be in that position (leading) to begin with. To me, that points to a bigger mindset issue i.e., going into games not expecting to win or be competitive. Am I wrong here?
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No, you aren't wrong. Unless you have a core of experienced winners, there is usually an evolution to a teams psychology. I have thought that a big turning point in our season was the hair pull penalty on Luai that night. Played a massive part in a Penrith win. If we'd beaten Penrith, i dont think our mindset is as flat or scared the next week against the cowboys, who could only beat us by 2. What if we'd won those two? Worth more than 4 points in my books.

Conversely, beating Melbourne is something we can take in to every game for six months, knowing we can dominate and beat the best. Do it to another big name team soon, it starts to become a habit, something you know deep down you can do, not something you hope to do.

Our psychology at home has come a long way. On the road there a still some things to prove to ourselves. A big showing today will help with that mindset.
 
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