Round 17: Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks

What is your prediction for this game ??

  • Knights 13+

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Knights 1-12

    Votes: 6 35.3%
  • Draw

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sharks 1-12

    Votes: 5 29.4%
  • Sharks 13+

    Votes: 6 35.3%

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .

rhugh89

Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
200
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FRIDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER, 2020 @ 6:00PM
MCDONALD JONES STADIUM, NEWCASTLE

OFFICIALS


REFEREE: TBA
SIDELINE OFFICIALS: TBA
VIDEO REFEREES: TBA

LOWER GRADES

JERSEY FLEGG CUP: COMPETITION CANCELLED
NSW CUP: COMPETITION CANCELLED

KNIGHTS TEAM

TBA

INFO

MATCH CENTRE
STATS

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- DANIEL SAIFITI REQUIRES 5 MORE GAMES TO REACH 100 NRL GAMES
 
I would like to think we continue our up down form and get a win here but I have no confidence, we were abysmal last week
 
Big test here. Glad we’ve got a decent opponent. Hopefully we can bounce back because yesterday was unacceptable for a Top 8 side.
 
Watching the kickers in today's games just highlighted how far off the pace Pearce is with his kicking game.

All he does is bomb, no kicking for field position at all.
 
This game won't prove anything in how we go in the finals, we either show up or we don't. We've played probably 5 decent games this year, we're in the 8 because we have a really good side but we haven't used it at all. Our first 4 games we actually showed effort, and maybe the Tigers game. Apart from that we just plot along and get a close victory because our lineup is better than 3/4 of the league. We should of decimated half the teams we've played.
 
I think one reason we aren't fresh and ready to play is the coach is still flogging them at training every week.
It's a fine balance to keep up the player's fitness and have them rested and ready to play.
My feeling is we are leaving some of our best footy on the training field, especially against the "easy" sides.
A couple of times the coach has said the side trained really well before a game they unexpectedly lost, and I get a vision of them belting the hell out of each other in a great opposed session and showing up on game day with their arses dragging on the ground.
 
I think one reason we aren't fresh and ready to play is the coach is still flogging them at training every week.
It's a fine balance to keep up the player's fitness and have them rested and ready to play.
My feeling is we are leaving some of our best footy on the training field, especially against the "easy" sides.
A couple of times the coach has said the side trained really well before a game they unexpectedly lost, and I get a vision of them belting the hell out of each other in a great opposed session and showing up on game day with their arses dragging on the ground.
I would'nt imagine his training regimen would be any different to Bellamy's or Robinsons , he's learnt from 2 of the best.
 
The biggest problem is Pearce and his horrendous kicking game, never builds pressure and just bombs constantly even from our own half.

What happened to controlling the game with kicks, put it in the corners and belt the opposition trying to come out.
 
The biggest problem is Pearce and his horrendous kicking game, never builds pressure and just bombs constantly even from our own half.

What happened to controlling the game with kicks, put it in the corners and belt the opposition trying to come out.


Seems to work for the opposition.
 
I said this in another thread....

Our biggest problem at present is that our game plan is so basic, for it to work we have to do 1 thing above all else for us to implement and be competitive and that is have a completion rate above 85% (preferably closer to 90%). Our season has largely been based on staying in the arm wrestle/grinding game where our defensive strategy can be maintained without too much fatigue and keep us in the competition, even where our attack is so vanilla.

We are playing on the base premise that defence wins games but that strategy also requires a very disciplined approach with no errors when we are in possession or giving away repeat sets when we are defending.


Just went through this seasons stats for us and the benchmark doesn't even need to be set that high (i.e. @85%):

  • Every game we have won or drawn this season except for our last win against the Cowboys (79%) we have completed at 80% or above
  • This stat is regardless of whether we had an equal or better share of possession (e.g. our worst possession share was against the Panthers was 41% to 59% for that draw)
If we can hold on to the ball and maintain efficiency in our completions when we do have possession, even with our bland attacking structures, it seems we are defensively capable of keeping oppositions to less points than us...if we can maintain our discipline, regardless of how clunky our attack is, we have the ability to win ugly and I can live with that for the rest of this season.
 
Holding the ball takes a lot of pressure off your defence too

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Long time lurker and new to the forum, shame that all my posts have been negative so far, I swear I’m not a wet blanket but jeez these blokes make it hard to remain positive. Not confident in this game. Sharks look like they’re playing with a lot more purpose than we are at the moment. If we win I’m sure it’ll be because sharks didn’t turn up and we are better on paper like majority of our scrappy wins. I hope I’m wrong. Sharks 1-12.
 
Match preview on NRL.com is predicting Lino dropped, Mann to 5/8, Randall starting hooker - and presumably Crossland to the bench.
 
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