NRL Round 3 - Knights Vs Warriors - 3:00pm Saturday, 21st March - McDonald Jones Stadium

I’m a bit worried we might struggle for points without KP and Brown. But then we have Sharpe back in the side. I wonder if he’s right to do full training with the squad?

I agree Hunt was getting bullied last season but seems much stronger in the games I’ve watched him play. Well I have faith in the coaching staff so if it’s Hunt, Sharpe, Smith, Crossland, let’s do this.
 
Junior said:
i think it is pretty evident after our first two games that the roles of 1, 6 and 7 and pretty hybrid compared to other sides and traditional roles. Don’t think it’ll matter the number on their back, think they’ll be playing to their strengths regardless
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Yeah very true, it's just that if you were going to point to the key "structural" aspect of the system we're playing with, I think a heat map so far this season will overwhelmingly show the halves playing their channels on a side each, while Kalyn roams everywhere. Not to say that Dylan and Sandon haven't popped up on the other side, they have, it's just not been the general rule (maybe just to keep things simple as they develop combos, with the halves maybe looping around and swapping sides more as the season goes on).

That doesn't mean we'll play like that on the weekend though, maybe we'll see Sandon on the ball a lot more with both Fletchers roaming around on the second layer. This may mean Crossland moving to lock after 20-30 mins or so to give us extra ball playing through the middle, I think Harrison Graham showed he's pretty trustworthy at 9 on the weekend.

Either way, while we go into this game without the level of skill and finesse Mr Moneybags 1 & 2 give us, we still come into this one with a better mixture of attacking spark & reliability in the spine than we had in the dark days of 2025. Our coach understands the attacking side of the game better than I could ever hope to, clearly, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he cooks up. My head is saying "we need to replace Kalyn!" Justin is likely smarter.

The bigger challenge in this one is absolutely the one facing our forwards. Wahs may honestly be cooking up the best pack in the game.
 
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Less than a full game to go off but Hunt looked bigger and stronger than last year.
He's definitely got raw natural talent.
Happy
For him to get a go and have a crack. He will be better in the future for the experience
 
Ponga and Brown are huge losses, they've been on fire, so it definitely does worry me coming up against some better sides.

But one thing that it looks like Holbrook's done for the group, is just loosed up the leash and encouraged them to play what's in front of them which in turn has seen the team look more relaxed and confident.

As long as the team's mindset doesn't capitulate with no Ponga and Brown, I still think the freedom in attack can jag us wins against any of the teams that are weaker, cynical or just off on the day. Sandon is good and Sharpe is quickly starting to bring a similar status to Ponga/Brown.
 
Yep and as good as Ponga & Brown have been, a huge reason for the improvement in attack is a team wide understanding of role & everyone executing at pace, with intent. The guys winning us quick play the balls are ****ing smashing into their target in the line or getting the better of them with late footwork at pace. Every decoy line is fast, hard & everyone running under their man and through the line beautifully. Players are alive to offloads and make quick decisions. That’s really where you see the night and day gulf in coaching most of all. Everyone’s performance on a footy field is linked and if others don’t do their job it becomes orders of magnitude harder for the spine to create anything.

Your forwards and these days your backline yardage workers win you the game, the spine decides by how much (or turns a game that would be a close loss into a win). Take Ponga & Brown out and I can’t imagine us putting 30 on in a half again, but 30 in a game? Doable.
 
He's so positive. Such a breath of fresh air. I know it's always easier when you're winning, but when he expresses confidence in the players we need to do a job, you believe it, you buy he feels that way. And that will give our young players confidence. AOB tried his best but you could tell that the key player injuries made him feel like the sky was falling in. And he would revert to an extremely negative playing style as his only answer.
 
Be interesting who they name captain today.
In the Manly game Gags made a challenge and the ref asked him if he was captain and I think he said "there's no one else here".
I think Holbrook could think about rewarding a young bloke - Crossy, Lucas, Crokes - but he'll probably give it to Gags or Saf or Frizz.
Dom is probably the smartest guy in the team, but he'd be a bold choice.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
He's so positive. Such a breath of fresh air. I know it's always easier when you're winning, but when he expresses confidence in the players we need to do a job, you believe it, you buy he feels that way. And that will give our young players confidence. AOB tried his best but you could tell that the key player injuries made him feel like the sky was falling in. And he would revert to an extremely negative playing style as his only answer.
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Taking to a guy in the inner sanctum . All the players are very positive regarding Holbrook . Very good communicator . Obi would be telling players you did this wrong you did that wrong . Holbrook you did this wrong , now this is how you fix it !
 
Billy said:
Be interesting who they name captain today.
In the Manly game Gags made a challenge and the ref asked him if he was captain and I think he said "there's no one else here".
I think Holbrook could think about rewarding a young bloke - Crossy, Lucas, Crokes - but he'll probably give it to Gags or Saf or Frizz.
Dom is probably the smartest guy in the team, but he'd be a bold choice.
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Good question. I think it could be the making of one of the younger blokes, Lucas in particular. Would be happy with any of those three, or even Best or Sharpe. One of the core younger guys we have.
 
Billy said:
Be interesting who they name captain today.
In the Manly game Gags made a challenge and the ref asked him if he was captain and I think he said "there's no one else here".
I think Holbrook could think about rewarding a young bloke - Crossy, Lucas, Crokes - but he'll probably give it to Gags or Saf or Frizz.
Dom is probably the smartest guy in the team, but he'd be a bold choice.
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Dylan Lucas.
 
The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd said:
Was surprised this didn’t get more call outs after Hunt’s performance at the weekend. My mate who’s never heard of him said “who the **** is that……coming off the bench for KP and didn’t miss a beat.” More of the same please young man! 🙌🏼
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Agreed, Hunt has been fantastic for us at the back. Does his job wherever he plays, always up in support. It's majestic watching that mullet at full flight.
 
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