The "Mark My Words" Thread

With the 2022 season a little over a month away, I think it's time for some new predictions. But first let's take a review of some of the notable predictions from earlier in the thread.
 
Joshhh said:
- Jacob to play 20+ matches this year & give Dan a run for his money
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mozza said:
-Jacob Saifiti will have a huge year and will be on even pegging with his brother by seasons end
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The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd said:
- JSaf first name on team sheet
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This was a good call, even though we could all probably see it coming, these predictions are from early 2020, when Jacob had just come off playing 8 games in 2018 and 7 games in 2019. Nowadays he legitimately is not far off Daniel. Jacob seems to be consistently good, while Daniel can be on or off, but when he's on, he competes with any other forward in the game.
 
mozza said:
-Hoy will impress with the limited First Grade he gets
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We all had high hopes for Tex. He's still got a chance but this one is looking less likely every day. Gone from the fans thinking about how we can fit both Hoy & Ponga into the one side to almost being released & getting a pity development contract late in the game. He's young & some guys just need a second chance, maybe this year specifically with the disruptions he might end up getting a run at some point & showing he's still got something to offer.
 
Billy said:
If Chris Randall gets a run he'll kill it, or kill himself trying.
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This was a beauty. Posted before he had debuted, Randall got his chance against the Panthers in 2020, started on the bench, then Pearce goes down in the first 10 minutes, forcing Randall onto the field to play out the game. He then goes on to set a new record for amount of tackles made by a debutant, with 71 tackles & we grind out a draw with the club that won the comp a year later.
 
Ethan said:
Shiba and Tuala turn out to be gems and Hunt and Lee end up being feared wingers.
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This one turned out to be a bit off the mark, towards Shibasaki specifically. The guy had some promising traits, clearly a great physique for a centre, strong & powerful, thought his effort was always high too. But just ended up being too much of a liability. Lack of concentration seemed to be his problem. He would be handy if he was dialled in. Ultimately however he will be remembered by Knights fans as a dopey player who was a terrible signing.
 
Rob said:
Toa to be Midley 2.0...maybe not this year
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Sadly now will just be a forgotten player in Knights history. Killed it in the juniors, we only got a small taste of what he could do at NRL level. I can't help but feel we're missing out on some exciting moments the more & more games he played.

But apparently his attitude or mindset has not held him in good stead. At times I remember thinking he lays down injured a lot for someone at this level where you do expect players to some extent play on through pain. In saying that though, I know he played through injury a lot in 2021 so clearly he's been making progress with just toughing it out & I can only wish him well at the Tigers. It can be tough moving to a new club with no name or reputation behind you, so hope he hits the ground running.
 
Joshhh said:
I'd love to make a positive prediction on the six tackles to make the game more exciting, but the NRL has not given me confidence over the years that they won't cave in to pressure if people get too loud about change.
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Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I do think the six tackles has made the game more exciting. So many people forget what the old system was actually like. 20 penalties blown a game, creating a stoppage, kick for touch every second set was NOT enjoyable. It was unbearable, the game slows right down, every team sets their defensive line & they all played the same safe style of football. There was no variation, defences were too good, talented players were shut down.

Now that there's a bit of chaos, you actually see the more exciting players taking advantage a bit more of crappy defensive lines. Yes there's blowouts & yes it's not perfect, it can be tweaked, but the previous system was not good & people have just seemed to forget about complaining about the game for the last decade, calling it slow & boring. I just feel like people can only focus on what's happening now & need something to complain about.

The last part of the sentence in the quote is still up for debate. It looks like the NRL finally got some balls about them & aren't caving into the pressure, but instead working on how to keep improving the new rules.
 
luke46 said:
3. Mitchell Pearce to be injured at some stage this year and newcastle to regret not throwing some $$$ at an up and coming back up half i.e. burton, clifford, etc.
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Not a straight forward prediction, you were wrong with Pearcey getting injured, he ended up playing 21 games in 2020, it was 2021 where he fell. But interestingly, you picked up on our interest in Clifford. That ended up being a great call.
 
Owey said:
Prediction for the next three weeks:

Andrew McCullough to be given the cursed Knights 9 Jersey. After a game and a half of killing it, McCullough is involved in an incident where the mythical "black panther" is finally proven to be real when it enters the field of play and mauls his left forearm. After having the wound stapled, McCullough attempts to enter the field of play again, but has his right shoulder dislocated by falling space debris. After having it put back in and again attempting to return to the fray, McCullough is finally ruled out 9 months after a freak gust of wind picks him up and slams him in to the fence, rupturing both ACLs.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
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Owey, I believe you might be a witch & I'm scared because you clearly hexxed poor old McCullough. It didn't take him long to go down with a horrible injury once he got that cursed Knights 9 jersey.
 
And now for my personal bold predictions for the year ahead:

- Ponga takes a step forward with his consistency, nothing mind blowing, but is in every game now, will take up his options with the club

- Clifford has some second year syndrome growing problems (I hope not)

- Clune starts the season as halfback, we sign Milford for the year shortly afterward

- We loan Jacob Liddle from the Tigers for a stretch of 4-5 weeks

- Jacob Saifiti to play Game 3 of Origin

- Brodie Jones to start the year out of favour, but works his way back in & solidifies his position both in the coach's & fan's eyes

- Edrick Lee will play a few games but won't be re-signed

- Dom Young will kill reserve grade, with calls to replace Tuala or Hymel with him, but the coach stays true to his first choicers, with an injury opening the door for Young towards the end of the year & he ends up holding the spot

- Sue & Saulo to leave at the end of the year

- Mitch Black, Dylan Lucas, Bailey Hodgson get a couple of games, Hodgson plays well & a lot of fans get excited calling for Ponga to the halves in 2023, but ultimately down the line Hodgson's small stature gives him some Matt Dufty-esqe problems the more games he plays

Don't be afraid to make some bold predictions! Whether they are on the money or way off the mark, it will fun to look back in a year or two to see how it all played out.
 
O'Brien will see the merits of Matt Croker after he plays long minutes in a few games.

Bradman Best will get his mojo back and be one of our best.

Reserve grade will win the title and Garth Brennan will find at least 6 stars of the future, who will be pushing for firstgrade by the end of the year. At least 1 guy we've never heard of is training with reserve grade now and will debut this year.

Jaron Purcell and Chris Vea'ila will look great in the trials.
 
Joshhh said:
This one turned out to be a bit off the mark, towards Shibasaki specifically. The guy had some promising traits, clearly a great physique for a centre, strong & powerful, thought his effort was always high too. But just ended up being too much of a liability. Lack of concentration seemed to be his problem. He would be handy if he was dialled in. Ultimately however he will be remembered by Knights fans as a dopey player who was a terrible signing.
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A Bit haha
 
Joshhh said:
Owey, I believe you might be a witch & I'm scared because you clearly hexxed poor old McCullough. It didn't take him long to go down with a horrible injury once he got that cursed Knights 9 jersey.
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You can hardly even call it a prediction that our hooker goes down with a season ending injury, it's just stating facts 😂
 
Joshhh said:
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I do think the six tackles has made the game more exciting. So many people forget what the old system was actually like. 20 penalties blown a game, creating a stoppage, kick for touch every second set was NOT enjoyable. It was unbearable, the game slows right down, every team sets their defensive line & they all played the same safe style of football. There was no variation, defences were too good, talented players were shut down.

Now that there's a bit of chaos, you actually see the more exciting players taking advantage a bit more of crappy defensive lines. Yes there's blowouts & yes it's not perfect, it can be tweaked, but the previous system was not good & people have just seemed to forget about complaining about the game for the last decade, calling it slow & boring. I just feel like people can only focus on what's happening now & need something to complain about.

The last part of the sentence in the quote is still up for debate. It looks like the NRL finally got some balls about them & aren't caving into the pressure, but instead working on how to keep improving the new rules.
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Ok, I'll add to this prediction (and I agree the changes have been a great thing) that lesser sides will get to grips a bit more with the rule changes in 2022 and we'll see less blow-out scorelines.
 
Go big or go home they reckon….

* Knights NRLW team to make the Grand Final in their inaugural year
* Dane Gagai to continue his form from South’s and to be first picked in the QLd origin squad
* Adam Clune to be considered our buy of the year at the end of the season
* Dylan Phythian to get regular first grade time throughout different parts of the year as a versatile fill in for rep duties, injuries, bench, etc.

OK - time to go home😛
 
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