Sack Adam O’Brien

slotmachine said:
All this premiership window talk is incredibly premature.

It's been 15 years since a side winning the comp finished outside the top 3 in the regular season and 22 years since Newcastle managed to finish top 3. I'd probably want to see the side be able to do that rather than scraping into the finals before getting too excited.
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Put Moses into our 26-28' team based on today's (projected) juniors and cap position, you dont think that team is top 3?
 
Chaister said:
That’s a bit dramatic. KP is amazing but the last few years has unfortunately been a bit of a write off for all the other clubs due to Penrith’s dominance and KP’s only really hit his strides in the last 18 months. He’s taking football a lot more seriously now. Brisbane got sort of close but even with that insane side they fell short. The next 2-3 years is when we’d have a chance but yeah, also can’t see it happening without a 7. That’s the missing piece 100%. I don’t know where it comes from that KP’s our only game breaker as we have some of the best centres in the game, but they can’t do anything without a 7 to get them the ball in the crucial moments in the finals.
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I was being facetious, Professional ineptitude isn't criminal.

Ponga (spine player) , and "best centres in the game" is a false equivalency. The media love to use the "one man team" articles because outside of an aging Pearce, at the back-end of his career, Ponga has had zero support. A spine that is objectively at the bottom of the table in terms of quality.
 
The addition of Moses could possible have todays team comfortably making the 8.

Panthers, Storm, Broncos and Roosters would still be way ahead in terms of general cattle to seriously challenge for a title + look at their respective spines, and that's what we need to match talent wise.

The team needs marquee signing in the spine, a high quality (high quality halves pairing) , a high quality lock, and a mongrel dog to be the pack leader, to even think about dreaming of making the 4 let alone a GF.

These projected juniors we keep hearing about will take 3 -4 years from FG debut to hit their straps
 
The Roosters 2025 roster is no better than ours. They’re looking at a Townsend/Sandon Smith halves pairing for a good portion of the season in addition to some big losses they haven’t adequately replaced and some aging players. I can definitely see them missing the 8 and I’d be bloody hilarious if they do.

That being said they’ll probably sign 5 Internationals for 2026 and be a Top 4 side again.
 
lol we’re not going to sign 2 halves, a pack leader prop and a new lock.

For starters there’s none available, and then there’s a salary cap.

I could see Hopwood becoming the lock or prop at least.
 
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Albus Miles said:
I was being facetious, Professional ineptitude isn't criminal.

Ponga (spine player) , and "best centres in the game" is a false equivalency. The media love to use the "one man team" articles because outside of an aging Pearce, at the back-end of his career, Ponga has had zero support. A spine that is objectively at the bottom of the table in terms of quality.
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The “one man team” articles are ******** because we’re not. We have a lot of quality players in the squad who can be game breakers. The problem is Ponga’s the only one in the spine. You obviously have to make some sacrifices as Ponga’s the highest paid player in the comp but we definitely need a good half to help unlock Ponga and the other outside backs.
 
Penrith and Storm are going be the main two for the foreseeable future cos they know how to win and evolve their game. It is not going away any time soon.
So focusing on your own game and being the best you can be every week is where you start. Cos those sides just accelerate into the big moments. Strangle you with possession. It is about the ambush. Putting your lights out. No side comes close to the patience the Storm and Panthers show. They are almost devoid of anxiety. I am not sure of who said it but allegedly Bellamy tells his players that the scoreboard is irrelevant. That the performance is the focus. And if you do that you will win. And if you do not then it is not meant to be.
 
Chaister said:
lol we’re not going to sign 2 halves, a pack leader prop and a new lock.

For starters there’s none available, and then there’s a salary cap.

I could see Hopwood becoming the lock or prop at least.
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I really like Connor Votano, maybe at standoff. He is a big body with incredible footwork. My only concern is how he would stack up defensively?
It is a kind time since I have seen an athletic player with such dynamic footwork.
 
Seth Gecko said:
So focusing on your own game and being the best you can be every week is where you start.
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This is all I've ever hoped for from the Knights! Moving from Brown and when OB was announced I thought great, we are moving from a struggling coach to a coach that has some pedigree to them although never having been head coach. They have learned the ropes at both Melbourne and the Roosters, 2 clubs that if OB learned how to drive that work ethic (especially the Melbourne way), then we may finally see some turnaround from the Knights.

Yet here we are, still struggling for consistency, struggling to be the best team we can be, and struggling to make the 8 still every year. Even that one year we had to put on a long winning streak to recover from the poor start to the season.

This coming season, I want to see the Knights pushing themselves to be the best team they can be, every game. Effort on effort. If grinding is what they need to be doing, then grind your backsides off. Up fast in D, understand every play matters and there is an opposition there that is going to do their best to rise above you, rise to meet them, to defeat them.

Sick and tired of seeing a team that expects the game to fall their way. Hard work followed by more hard work is the way.

Anything less and I hope the OB fence sitters come around!
 
AOB has certainly been on a learning curve. I've said before that Dsaf remaining in the team when he quite obviously was phoning it in was a red flag on what the team culture is like. That he departing saying he was in his comfort zone is another red flag. No Roosters, Storm or Panthers player would say that.

He's very conservative. Too much so. The above statement aside, I do believe given the cattle, particularly the spine, he's done reasonably well with that roster. So he can coach, instilling a culture maybe he's not so good at. I'm keen to see what he can do with a decent roster.
 
Defence wins games said:
I really like Connor Votano, maybe at standoff. He is a big body with incredible footwork. My only concern is how he would stack up defensively?
It is a kind time since I have seen an athletic player with such dynamic footwork.
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Me too. I’m pretty worried we’re gonna lose him given his path is blocked at fullback. He could develop into a 5/8 or centre but he might see an easier path at another club where he can go straight into fullback in FG. Pretty sure he can be negotiating with other clubs now as we speak…
 
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