Second pre-season trial - Knights Vs Bulldogs - 6:00pm Saturday, 14th February - McDonald Jones Stadium

The 6 man bench is a great idea.

My only concern is what if a player sits as 18th man for 5 weeks straight. If he doesn’t play first grade or reserve grade, then that player isn’t going to develop and his match fitness drops

Im sure smart teams have a plan in place, but it is a concern for player development going forward
 
frankLauda said:
They are still only allowed to interchange 4 players. Say a back goes down for the game, then one of the forwards that would have played probably won’t because the back will come on instead.
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I get that but to me it should be for injury, this can be used tactically now. Don't like it.
 
The best part of the 6 man bench is you shouldn't have to leave an injured man on the field because you don't have a suitable replacement.
You often see backs or halves staying on when they are clearly making injuries worse because all we have are forwards on the bench.
Players 18 and 19 should be a utility like Gamble to let a half go off and someone like Hunt who can let us replace any outside back.
 
There was a stat last couple of seasons that if you lose a back in the first half, 80%+ chance you lose the game. Now you can carry decent cover. Games should not be decided by a winger doing a Hemi in the first 10mins of a game.
 
frankLauda said:
Spine
1. Sharpe
6. Brown
7. Ponga
9. Crossland/Smith
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I would love to see this even if its for say 20 minutes, I think Ponga should be the fullback and we shouldn't go moving him but it would be interesting see how he would go. Kp is a crazy talent and maybe just maybe he could actually pull off being a pretty good half back.
 
Mclovin said:
I would love to see this even if its for say 20 minutes, I think Ponga should be the fullback and we shouldn't go moving him but it would be interesting see how he would go. Kp is a crazy talent and maybe just maybe he could actually pull off being a pretty good half back.
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When the levels guys said Ponga should be at 7 I thought it was silly. Then I started thinking about it.

He plays like a half in attack, has the creativity, has the leadership skills, has the experience.

This would allow Sharpe to play fullback.

Imagine a spine of
1. Sharpe
6. Brown
7. Ponga
9. Crossland
That's an absolutely lethal spine.
 
Wasn't there talk earlier in pre season of Brown training on the right? Conspiracy theory is that was to accommodate ponga on the left.....

Should I grab my tinfoil hat out?
 
KPGreatness said:
Last time Ponga played in the halves he was almost medically retired, can we stop this stuff he isn’t a halfback and he isn’t a five-eighth
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To be fair he sat out the last two seasons medically from the back of the field anyway.

The bloke spends more time at first receiver than the halfback does. Has a long kicking boot.
Currently plays attack like a half, plays defence like a fullback.

Would unlock the young buck Sharpe to make 200m+ a game from fullback, hitting holes and playing like a proper fullback should.

Highest paid player in the game, can't tackle, maybe its time he learned how to.

I'm just saying, if Ponga played halfback (which he does most of the time anyway) our team instantly looks far more lethal.
No more talk of where everyone plays, where does fletcher fit in, smith etc.
No more awful attack.

The bloke spent the offseason bulking up.
We are starting a rebuild, it seems like the perfect time to make the switch to me.
 
CornChippy said:
To be fair he sat out the last two seasons medically from the back of the field anyway.

The bloke spends more time at first receiver than the halfback does. Has a long kicking boot.
Currently plays attack like a half, plays defence like a fullback.

Would unlock the young buck Sharpe to make 200m+ a game from fullback, hitting holes and playing like a proper fullback should.

Highest paid player in the game, can't tackle, maybe its time he learned how to.

I'm just saying, if Ponga played halfback (which he does most of the time anyway) our team instantly looks far more lethal.
No more talk of where everyone plays, where does fletcher fit in, smith etc.
No more awful attack.

The bloke spent the offseason bulking up.
We are starting a rebuild, it seems like the perfect time to make the switch to me.
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Also if I was inclined to make this change, and I was concerned about Ponga's defence, I probably wouldn't make it when he hasn't been able to do any contact work for most of the pre-season...

It's a non-starter though. They did try getting him into first receiver more, for a while, and they stopped because it was ****ing awful and just getting worse and worse. He is not good at the stuff you want your halfback to do in shape. You can't point to that one game against a somnambulant Dolphins team and say "see! It works!" and ignore all the games before and after it when he was very dominant on the ball and we were a ****ing abomination in attack. Or ignore that the attack only started to look less embarrassing once they really got a long way away from it.

He's a fullback. It is what it is. Get over it. He will never play in the halves again.
 
Omg fck no 🤮

Why would anyone want to throw the guy who hasn’t trained all offseason, into a position where the opposition will force him to make 30 tackles a game?

He hasn’t had any practice defending in the front line in years and when he did it nearly ended his career.

Also, he’s not a halfback in attack either. That was just AOBs stupid idea to get him the ball more but first receiver isn’t where you want KP getting the ball most of the time unless it’s running down a short side

He’s a fullback. Always has been.
 
Hey thats why I said I would like to see it for 20 minutes and that's it. 100% he is a fullback, I dont think anyone on here will deny that, I think a lot people and this includes myself just want to see it because he is so good and so exciting to watch that we just want him touching the ball and creating like we know he can do. I honestly think everyone knows it can never happen but it's the what's ifs and the I wish it could happen that makes it an easy and fun topic of conversation.

We are in a time where we have a potentially very good and exciting spine and just look at how much talk it's created, it's been both exciting and frustrating but seriously how good is that! People may be getting tired of the conversation but at least it's not boring and to the wider NRL fan base it must be like talking about who is going to be your draft pick for your super coach team and these are your options.
 
Mclovin said:
Hey thats why I said I would like to see it for 20 minutes and that's it. 100% he is a fullback, I dont think anyone on here will deny that, I think a lot people and this includes myself just want to see it because he is so good and so exciting to watch that we just want him touching the ball and creating like we know he can do. I honestly think everyone knows it can never happen but it's the what's ifs and the I wish it could happen that makes it an easy and fun topic of conversation.

We are in a time where we have a potentially very good and exciting spine and just look at how much talk it's created, it's been both exciting and frustrating but seriously how good is that! People may be getting tired of the conversation but at least it's not boring and to the wider NRL fan base it must be like talking about who is going to be your draft pick for your super coach team and these are your options.
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But why would he be any better or more exciting at 7 then 1?

Practically all the most exciting players are fullbacks now. Teddy at his best, Walsh, Turbo, Hammer, Papi, Latrell, Kino, Sharpe, Drinkwater, and KP at his best.

Fullback gives players the most freedom. Especially players like Walsh and KP who are strong runners and good ball players. They can run everywhere and create for others as well.

A player doesn’t need to wear the 7 to be the main creator in a team anymore. In 23 KP had the most Try Assists at Fullback. So did Walsh last year
 
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Newygirl said:
But why would he be any better or more exciting at 7 then 1?

Practically all the most exciting players are fullbacks now. Teddy at his best, Walsh, Turbo, Hammer, Papi, Latrell, Kino, Sharpe, Drinkwater, and KP at his best.

Fullback gives players the most freedom. Especially players like Walsh and KP who are strong runners and good ball players. They can run everywhere and create for others as well.

A player doesn’t need to wear the 7 to be the main creator in a team anymore. In 23 KP had the most Try Assists at Fullback. So did Walsh last year
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I would say having Sharpe and KP in the spine is exciting. It may be a better combination with KP 7 and Sharpe 1.

Which ever way Hollbrook ends up going I will support because he’s seen it at training.
 
KPGreatness said:
Last time Ponga played in the halves he was almost medically retired, can we stop this stuff he isn’t a halfback and he isn’t a five-eighth
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Why cant he play at 7 in attack and defend at 1?

Sharpe has shown to be a good defender in the frontline with 90% tackle success and sharpes best attributes right now is running/support play so let him pop up where ever in attack from 1.

Would look pre cool seeing KP with the 7 on his back and Sharpe 1.
 
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