Semi-final 1 - Warriors V Knights - Saturday 16 September 4:05pm - Go Media Stadium, Auckland

Match result

  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .
Kurriboy said:
Have to say its distasteful whoever wins it save the Warriors.

Melbourne, yeah nan not keen.
Penrith. Seriously can someone else have a turn.
Brisbane. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Warriors. Yeah, I could take that. Would be a great reward for their COVID sacrifice.
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Sick of seeing the same teams over and over the NRL is a joke to be frank
As good as these teams are
It can't be a coincidence that the defending champs, the club that's in AFL central, the team that sacrificed the most to keep the game going and the state that had the games during covid in which there main club is going to vegas next year, still going in the finals
 
Watcher said:
Warriors here, When you take into account the energy lost the previous week, travel, an away game in a partisan stadium against a full strength Warriors team. I thought before that the Knights would have to get the start the Warriors got to stand a chance. After that start every set drained your blokes that bit more. Whoever lost that game was going to be bitterly disappointed but if I may say it may be too early to celebrate your guys went well this season and you have a foundation to build on.

To our guys, a really good performance, can we beat the Broncos? No good showing up otherwise. A mountain to climb, no doubt, but they put their pants on one leg at a time as well. Anyway guys hope summer goes well for you and yours, see you next year. Go the Knights
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Congrats @Watcher ...I'd been keeping an eye out for a post from you. 😉

👏👏👏 well done to the Wahs...they were too strong and out enthused the Knights all across the paddock and we had no answers.

Re next week's game, it will be a mountain to climb and I think you will be at long odds BUT if you are in the game for the first 25 minutes and can get them into a grind, you guys can certainly make then nervous. I do think that, even though the Brocos are a fairly young side and it is possible they might get a bit rattled if you can keep it close on the scoreboard, they are likely to be hard to beat in Brissie with Reynolds there to steer them around the park.

Best of luck though my friend...I would be more than happy to see the Wahs there on Grand Final day🤩
 
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
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Best wishes for a long and happy marriage Lord!
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
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Congratulations mate 🎊
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
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Congrats Lordy, that's awesome news!!!
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
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Congrats GPJPL. :)
 
Brailey’s 2020 ACL was on March 24 and he was back to do pre-season and ready round 1. 2023 one was April 11. So you’d think he’ll be back for round 1, but I don’t know if it being the second time on the same knee affects the timeline. I think they spoke about sending him to America to see a specialist & see if there’s anything which can be changed about how he runs etc to reduce risk of recurrence.
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
Got married on Saturday and had family and friends back for my dinner after so only got to see highlights.

Nothing to be ashamed of, what a streak, with Hastings and Brailey back next year, Lucas's growth reckon he'll be huge next year and hopefully we have low rep selection, we can come in with a full squad for the preseason and hit the ground running.

Any idea when Brailey is back?

Like with everyone I'll repeat the sentiments - go the Wahs!
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Congrats on tying the knot Lord... 🍻 to a long and happy marriage mate
 
There's one thing I really hope we take out of this game, apart from finals and big match experience of course.

All week after the Canberra game I heard that it was a lot of pressure for the side playing in front of a sold out expectant home crowd ... and that the Warriors will be playing with that pressure this week.

Well the Warriors showed us how to do it. A huge home crowd like that should be a huge advantage, like a 14th player on the field, not a source of pressure and nerves!

So embrace that home crowd next year and let it propel you to new heights. Don't see it at a burden. If you go down fighting the Newcastle crowd will still be on your side.
 
The problem wasnt the crowd at either venue I don't think.

The knights had played in front of 2 previous sold out crowds in the games before Raiders.

Both Raiders and Warriors we started poorly. Warriors only showed us how to capitalise on opponent poor start. From then we were never really in it.

If anything, I put it down to sudden death nerves and how they handled it. We tried to play like we just needed to run around them and score, not knuckle down and establish ourselves in the tussle.
 
Kurriboy said:
The problem wasnt the crowd at either venue I don't think.

The knights had played in front of 2 previous sold out crowds in the games before Raiders.

Both Raiders and Warriors we started poorly. Warriors only showed us how to capitalise on opponent poor start. From then we were never really in it.

If anything, I put it down to sudden death nerves and how they handled it. We tried to play like we just needed to run around them and score, not knuckle down and establish ourselves in the tussle.
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Well this is comments that came from AOB and the players, both before and after the Raiders game, so that’s what I was going off.
 
The crowd was good, AOB using it as an excuse, probably trying to make himself and players feel better.
Home game with home crowd, big or small, is an advantage as long as crowd is with you, you lose the crowd you lose the match
 
Frank McWilliams said:
The crowd was good, AOB using it as an excuse, probably trying to make himself and players feel better.
Home game with home crowd, big or small, is an advantage as long as crowd is with you, you lose the crowd you lose the match
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I'm not saying the crowd was bad in any way?

They've mentioned quite often over the last few years they feel the pressure of expectation when playing in front of a big home crowd.

I've probably worded my post poorly, sorry if it didn't make any sense.
 
The diabolical starts in both games is what undid us. If they were even remotely able to hold the ball against the warriors, considering we got back to 6 points 10mins into 2nd half. Who knows. I think they were spent. Mentally and physically. Mentally not in it to have such poor ball control. How we got away with it against Canberra was a strike of luck.
 
jamesgould said:
Well this is comments that came from AOB and the players, both before and after the Raiders game, so that’s what I was going off.
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I took it as the occasion of it all. We had a miracle run of 9 wins playing confident, fun, free flowing football. That's cool and all, but the finals is a step up. That's when the reality of sudden death sets in for everyone.
 
Think it was more being a bit overawed by finals footy and fatigue from being totally switched on for two months than playing in front of a sell out vs Canberra.

The boys got up massively for home sell outs vs Souths and Cronulla.
 
Also probably worth considering the games we have played away, looking at the teams we have won away versus those we have lost against it seems we have become a team that's very hard to beat at home, we probably don't travel too well.
Tigers (W)
Manly (D neutral)
Cowboys (L)
Eels (L)
Sharks (L)
Broncos (L)
Panthers (L)
Dogs (W)
Raiders (W)
Dolphins (W)
Dragons (W)
Warriors (L)
 
Let’s just hope we are better for the finals run now. I guess you could look at the Broncos as an example. They dropped off a cliff last year after playing good footy. Now they are a confident side knowing the footy can beat any side.

We will hopefully have the same mentality next year. Make the top 4 and not be overawed.
 
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