ROUND 1 - Knights V Warriors - Friday 3 March, 6:00pm - Sky Stadium, Wellington

KnightsUnite said:
Miller: Passable but he wouldn't be in any top 8 teams 17 let alone starting fullback.

Hunt: Effort but errors at important times

Enari: Didn't notice him?

Best: Needs EARLY ball not flat at the line

Young: Can go sip lattes in Bondi next week not worth 400k

Ponga: Too many unforced errors, defended well. Still plays touch footy though...

Hastings: Couldn't keep a halves spot at the tigers says a lot, kicking game is a 5/10.

DSaf: Okay

Brailey: Too slow said this before his injuries and now I think he is not the answer... my biggest take is we talk about replacing johns but we have never replaced Danny Buderus who makes John's a better player IMO.

JSaf: Needs to improve, look for offloads and stop falling over at first contact...

Tyson: Went okay but doesn't offer a lot in attack..

Fitz: One of his better games, still needs to improve and learn to run those inside shoulder lines more often.

Mann: Wouldn't be in any other teams starting 13 in the NRL.

Crossland: Reserve grade at best, does look okay out of dummy half.

Elliot: Never rated him but he is well underdone can't judge him on that performance

Hetherington: Rate him but same as above.

Leo: Improving I like what I see

Overall very poor attack with no decoys and one of the worse kicking games in the comp.

Issue is I don't see much changing with the attack...

Unless the scrap everything they did on the off season this flat, no offloads and one out forwards isn't going to trouble the wooden spooners.

Defensively not good, 4 tries against a very average warriors attack isn't a good sign.

Bring on next week and let's see if we can improve
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Pretty much summed it up, not many of our first graders get a start in any of the good teams.
 
KnightsUnite said:
Miller: Passable but he wouldn't be in any top 8 teams 17 let alone starting fullback.

Hunt: Effort but errors at important times

Enari: Didn't notice him?

Best: Needs EARLY ball not flat at the line

Young: Can go sip lattes in Bondi next week not worth 400k

Ponga: Too many unforced errors, defended well. Still plays touch footy though...

Hastings: Couldn't keep a halves spot at the tigers says a lot, kicking game is a 5/10.

DSaf: Okay

Brailey: Too slow said this before his injuries and now I think he is not the answer... my biggest take is we talk about replacing johns but we have never replaced Danny Buderus who makes John's a better player IMO.

JSaf: Needs to improve, look for offloads and stop falling over at first contact...

Tyson: Went okay but doesn't offer a lot in attack..

Fitz: One of his better games, still needs to improve and learn to run those inside shoulder lines more often.

Mann: Wouldn't be in any other teams starting 13 in the NRL.

Crossland: Reserve grade at best, does look okay out of dummy half.

Elliot: Never rated him but he is well underdone can't judge him on that performance

Hetherington: Rate him but same as above.

Leo: Improving I like what I see

Overall very poor attack with no decoys and one of the worse kicking games in the comp.

Issue is I don't see much changing with the attack...

Unless the scrap everything they did on the off season this flat, no offloads and one out forwards isn't going to trouble the wooden spooners.

Defensively not good, 4 tries against a very average warriors attack isn't a good sign.

Bring on next week and let's see if we can improve
Click to expand...
Miller: Tried his guts out and clearly has a dangerous running game but never given any space to work in, nor does finding him with an offload seem to be in the gameplan despite that clearly suiting the kind of fullback he is. Pleasing to see him blow up after we let in that simple try at marker - he’s not just here to collect a paycheck.

Hunt: Agreed with the assessment but errors were understandable I think. It’s Hunt who should be the Mr Fix It in the 2-5, not Tuala.

Tuala: Yep totally invisible. Had his chance to secure the spot, played soft.

Best: Oh no, we agree 100%. He’s strong in a way which compliments his speed, yet we only seem to think of him as a monster truck. He should be one of the best centres in the game but we’re not doing anything to help him get there.

Young: Pleasing to the eye when doing stuff but workrate down on his 2022 levels and looked at sea positionally at times.

Ponga: Absolutely looks better at five-eighth, handled it physically (head knock this time was a fluke accident), and the position suits where and when he likes to get the ball. Played tough and with unquestionable effort, clearly fired up. Almost carried us over the line pretty much single handedly.

Hastings: His main playmaking strengths are orchestrating ball movement & choosing when to pull the trigger on a spread in yardage sets and creating space for deep backline moves in good ball. AOB tried to have him playing wider and flat over the line. Trying to cram him into his rigid system rather than catering the system to the players.

Mann: Had to shift over to replace Frizell and mostly kind of demonstrated how important Friz is to us having a hope of matching other teams physically. Didn’t do that much wrong per se, he’s just not the same physical specimen.

Fitzgibbon: Best game in first grade for a while. For once not the problem defensively.

Frizell: No comment, didn’t get enough game time due to the HIA.

D Saifiti: I thought he was the best of our forwards tbh. Matched it with Fonua-Blake i thought. Unfortunately Tohu Harris outplayed every other forward on the ground.

Brailey: Typical Brailey game, worked his butt off, good service without doing anything special, played tough. A bit more guile around the ruck would be nice but there’s only a few hookers who really have that in a big way.

J Saifiti: Disappointing. Really needed to step up given how underdone some of his teammates clearly were, and just didn’t. Not good enough.

Crossland: Came onto the field and almost conceded a try straight away, then got binned. Yeah he “tries stuff” but he’s delusional about his ability to pull it off. He just sucks, man. No offence if you read this Phoenix, I know you’re having a dig.

Elliott: Clearly underdone, horrible defensive errors and clearly encumbered in his running game. Shouldn’t have played but we need him so he had to. Yet worked so much harder than J Saf. Hang your head in shame Jacob. Hopefully he’s back to full fitness soon because that was a far cry from his career best 2022 season.

Hetherington: Also underdone but it looks like he can actually impact the game defensively, should be a starter eventually this year. Happier with this purchase.

Thompson: Does look ready to step up and play big minutes now, looks like a genuine first grader instead of a prospect with question marks all over him. Which is good because we’d be so, so short on forwards now if he hadn’t improved. Still need to find a couple more like him who are capable of playing decent minutes at this level.
 
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HarVeeGee13 said:
Miller: Tried his guts out and clearly has a dangerous running game but never given any space to work in, nor does finding him with an offload seem to be in the gameplan despite that clearly suiting the kind of fullback he is. Pleasing to see him blow up after we let in that simple try at marker - he’s not just here to collect a paycheck.

Hunt: Agreed with the assessment but errors were understandable I think. It’s Hunt who should be the Mr Fix It in the 2-5, not Tuala.

Tuala: Yep totally invisible. Had his chance to secure the spot, played soft.

Best: Oh no, we agree 100%. He’s strong in a way which compliments his speed, yet we only seem to think of him as a monster truck. He should be one of the best centres in the game but we’re not doing anything to help him get there.

Young: Pleasing to the eye when doing stuff but workrate down on his 2022 levels and looked at sea positionally at times.

Ponga: Absolutely looks better at five-eighth, handled it physically (head knock this time was a fluke accident), and the position suits where and when he likes to get the ball. Played tough and with unquestionable effort, clearly fired up. Almost carried us over the line pretty much single handedly.

Hastings: His main playmaking strengths are orchestrating ball movement & choosing when to pull the trigger on a spread in yardage sets and creating space for deep backline moves in good ball. AOB tried to have him playing wider and flat over the line. Trying to cram him into his rigid system rather than catering the system to the players.

Mann: Had to shift over to replace Frizell and mostly kind of demonstrated how important Friz is to us having a hope of matching other teams physically. Didn’t do that much wrong per se, he’s just not the same physical specimen.

Fitzgibbon: Best game in first grade for a while. For once not the problem defensively.

Frizell: No comment, didn’t get enough game time due to the HIA.

D Saifiti: I thought he was the best of our forwards tbh. Matched it with Fonua-Blake i thought. Unfortunately Tohu Harris outplayed every other forward on the ground.

Brailey: Typical Brailey game, worked his butt off, good service without doing anything special, played tough. A bit more guile around the ruck would be nice but there’s only a few hookers who really have that in a big way.

J Saifiti: Disappointing. Really needed to step up given how underdone some of his teammates clearly were, and just didn’t. Not good enough.

Crossland: Came onto the field and almost conceded a try straight away, then got binned. Yeah he “tries stuff” but he’s delusional about his ability to pull it off. He just sucks, man. No offence if you read this Phoenix, I know you’re having a dig.

Elliott: Clearly underdone, horrible defensive errors and clearly encumbered in his running game. Shouldn’t have played but we need him so we had to. Yet worked so much harder than J Saf. Hang your head in shame Jacob. Hopefully he’s back to full fitness soon because that was a far cry from his career best 2022 season.

Hetherington: Also underdone but it looks like he can actually impact the game defensively, should be a starter eventually this year. Happier with this purchase.

Thompson: Does look ready to step up and play big minutes now, looks like a genuine first grader instead of a prospect with question mark all over him. Which is good because we’d be so, so short on forwards now if he hadn’t improved. Still need to find a couple more like him who are capable of playing decent minutes at this level.
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We agreed on something ❤️
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
I can do you one better mate, my whole family are Souths fans, I switched to Newy when they got booted from the comp. I’ve had an out the whole time. Unfortunately Joey infected me with love of the red and blue and I can’t wash it off no matter how much I shower.
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God damn Andrew Johns is cruel 😂

I was so sad when Souths got kicked out!
 
Crossland is being developed as hooker to cover Brailey who if gets injured leaves us in big trouble. Looks like Mann has been dropped from back up Hooker so we are likely to see both Mann and Crossland in top 17 often if not always.
Rather see Crossland in Cup playing long minutes at 9 with Mann back at 14 permanently.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Crossland is being developed as hooker to cover Brailey who if gets injured leaves us in big trouble. Looks like Mann has been dropped from back up Hooker so we are likely to see both Mann and Crossland in top 17 often if not always.
Rather see Crossland in Cup playing long minutes at 9 with Mann back at 14 permanently.
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And that is another one of the issues with AOB and why he needs to go. He has been trying to develop crossland as a backup hooker the past few years and it doesn't work.

He's a crap player just like the crap coach, so fkn over it.
 
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Frank McWilliams said:
Crossland is being developed as hooker to cover Brailey who if gets injured leaves us in big trouble. Looks like Mann has been dropped from back up Hooker so we are likely to see both Mann and Crossland in top 17 often if not always.
Rather see Crossland in Cup playing long minutes at 9 with Mann back at 14 permanently.
Click to expand...
Our 14 should be able to play at hooker. We should not need to have both Mann and Crossland on the bench.
 
slotmachine said:
Brailey is going to play 80 every week so your utility only has to play hooker in the event he is injured
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That is the issue 80 minutes with a hooker that isnt a threat from that postition, we desperatly need a backup for Brailey thats quick and dangerous from dummy half.

Looking at our 17 we don't have many players that can run 100m and score and are lacking pace out wide...
 
Lefty said:
Sportsbet have the Dolphins at $3.20 to get the wooden spoon, the Knights at $5.00, the Warriors at $6.50, the Dragons at $7.00 and the Titans and Tigers at $9.50.

I think Sportsbet are being harsh on the Knights, we are not the second worst team in the comp.
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Dolphins won't be favs after this weekend...
 
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