Who should be number 7 for next season?

Off contract for 2023/confirmed “permission to negotiate”:

1. Tyson Gamble - Absolute no-brainer pickup for next year no matter what else we do, proved he can do a job as either the dominant organising 7 alongside Milford/Mam, or the second fiddle alongside Reynolds. He’s not special in terms of natural skill, vision & athleticism, but he’s a competitor who revs up the guys around him and keeps them on task, and takes good options with his boot and pass selection. If you put his brain in Clifford’s body, Jake would be the player we wanted him to be.

2 (tie). Jock Madden - Most talented of a bad bunch of off-contract players, but publicly telling your club that if you’re not handed a starting jersey next year you walk, and then dishing up play which makes Luke Brooks look like prime Andrew Johns when you get your shot at putting yourself in the shop window, is not a great way to progress your career. Maybe the club let him go for a reason lol.

2 (tie). Cooper Johns - Looks good in a good team. Probably won’t for us.

4 (tie). Jaeman Salmon (Weak Gutted Dog) - You have to be pretty bad to not even look good playing for Penrith.

4 (tie). Phoenix Crossland - Moving on…

4 (tie). Albert Kelly - Has some understanding of the game of rugby league but absolutely on his last legs as a footy player.

4 (tie). Brandon Wakeham - Utility who has shown flashes of talent. In 2018 we would have offered him half a million to be our starting 6. Hopefully we have moved on from this.

8 (tie). Hayze Perham, Billy Walters - Utilities who have not shown flashes of talent.

8 (tie). Kurt Falls - I’ve seen his name around the traps as a player we should look at because he racks up some stats for Panthers NSW Cup, who like the first grade team are really dominant. If the bloke can’t get a run in firsts over the Weak Gutted Dog though, how good could he be?

11. Sam Williams - LOL no.
thanks for your input and your effort mate. I don't disagree with what you have said in both your responses to me, 100% both parties need to agree to break contracts, i was asking on the assumption that both parties were willing.

The options are poor for us, thats for sure
 
Should just snap Gamble up if he’s available and wants to come. Won’t cost much, all he wants is to fight for a shot in first grade rather than a bigger paycheck, and we only have 2 halves on the books + utilities as it is. The 2 specialist halves we have, it’s very hard seeing both retained beyond the end of next year, so it shouldn’t impact future planning for 2024 and beyond. Lock him down now, *then* figure out an answer to who else plays half/fullback regarding players who’ll need to be released eg Brooks, Garrick.
 
Was very frustrated when i first heard the Gamble thing was in the works because i want a star, i want a guy genuinely worthy of Joey’s playing number, but going back and watching some of his games… for a guy with so much less talent than a lot of other halves out there, he’s weirdly competent. Bit like Hastings in that regard.
 
He's also bigger than you'd think - Clifford's weight but a bit taller. I can't say I've watched his defence closely though.
 
I really hope Hastings is on the Knights radar, but like what HarVeeG has to say about Gamble. If we can get him cheap why not.
On Clifford, I really see potential in him as a good halve. He's played some good games and seems like a confidence player. If either Hasting or Gamble, are the kind of players that can do a job and have a voice, then players like Clifford and Ponga can thrive.
 
I honestly think Clifford is gonna be out of the NRL for good after this year. You can’t be a first grade halfback and disappear for entire halves or mope around the way he does.

It’s a shame because he’s super talented, but the inconsistency in his effort and application at the age he’s at is such a red flag.

Tyson Gamble shouldn’t be a better player than Jake. But he is, at the moment. Much.
 
Wow. Big call not playing NRL. You'd think football is his life. Surely he would have to pull his head out of the sand and get his **** together. The latest injury hasn't helped.
 
The only worry I have about Gamble is that I really don't think O'Brien is the right coach for him. Des Hasler would get a lot out of him by letting him play his natural, aggressive style, but O'Brien will hook him off the field if he makes a mistake when trying to push the envelope - which is what he tries to do.
 
Gamble is just another Clune. Career reserve grader. Going nowhere fast with him or Clune in the team.
I really don't get the point of your input on here so much of the time. You're not hitting us with searing insight with takes like "the guy who has played most of his career in reserve grade, is a career reserve grader." Wow, did you figure that out all by yourself?

You can literally only sign players who are off contract, or given permission to negotiate with other teams, and it seems like every person on this forum except for you understands that. Yeah in a perfect world we'd simply sign Nathan Cleary, but we can't. We're looking at it through the context of: We have exactly two specialist halves on the books for 2023; The list of off-contract halves for next year is very bad with Jock Madden and Cooper Johns arguably the headliners; What the **** do we do?

We know Jackson Hastings isn't an Origin calibre half. We know Gamble is a good QCup player, not a really good first grader. We are looking at the players we have, then comparing it to the list of players who are available, and trying to propose how to make the best of a bad situation for next year.
 
The only worry I have about Gamble is that I really don't think O'Brien is the right coach for him. Des Hasler would get a lot out of him by letting him play his natural, aggressive style, but O'Brien will hook him off the field if he makes a mistake when trying to push the envelope - which is what he tries to do.

He just signed off on signing Hetherington and he put Barnett straight back into the team after his suspension so I reckon he thinks the team needs a bit more mongrel if anything.
 
I really don't get the point of your input on here so much of the time. You're not hitting us with searing insight with takes like "the guy who has played most of his career in reserve grade, is a career reserve grader." Wow, did you figure that out all by yourself?

You can literally only sign players who are off contract, or given permission to negotiate with other teams, and it seems like every person on this forum except for you understands that. Yeah in a perfect world we'd simply sign Nathan Cleary, but we can't. We're looking at it through the context of: We have exactly two specialist halves on the books for 2023; The list of off-contract halves for next year is very bad with Jock Madden and Cooper Johns arguably the headliners; What the **** do we do?

We know Jackson Hastings isn't an Origin calibre half. We know Gamble is a good QCup player, not a really good first grader. We are looking at the players we have, then comparing it to the list of players who are available, and trying to propose how to make the best of a bad situation for next year.
Probably shouldn’t of let Pearce go for starters or atleast have a plan in place when you did, not sign Clune and now Gamble. But hey I don’t get paid the big bucks to make these decisions.

Could of chased after a certain premiership winning half last season to replace Pearce (there were murmurs all year he wanted out so there was time to get a replacement) 2 were on the market and both those teams look likely in making the finals this season.

This year granted but that’s due to bad planning for not having a replacement this year.

Never ending cycle just replacing sh*t with sh*t, hopefully Parr can change that for you guys but I wouldn’t hold my breathe with the decimation of a squad he did to my mob in his last few years in charge.
 
Probably shouldn’t of let Pearce go for starters or atleast have a plan in place when you did, not sign Clune and now Gamble. But hey I don’t get paid the big bucks to make these decisions.

Could of chased after a certain premiership winning half last season to replace Pearce (there were murmurs all year he wanted out so there was time to get a replacement) 2 were on the market and both those teams look likely in making the finals this season.

This year granted but that’s due to bad planning for not having a replacement this year.

Never ending cycle just replacing sh*t with sh*t, hopefully Parr can change that for you guys but I wouldn’t hold my breathe with the decimation of a squad he did to my mob in his last few years in charge.
1. Townsend and Reynolds were both signed before Pearce left.
2. Clune was also signed before Pearce left and was intended to be Pearce's backup.

What was the club supposed to do considering there were no decent halves off contract???

Anyways only one team wins at the end of the year and that team won't be either of the Cowboys or Broncos...

I would sign Hastings over Townsend and Reynolds any day of the week (age being the main factor, particularly for Reynolds), so if we somehow get Hastings this sh*t season will have been worth it in the long run...
 
Was very frustrated when i first heard the Gamble thing was in the works because i want a star, i want a guy genuinely worthy of Joey’s playing number, but going back and watching some of his games… for a guy with so much less talent than a lot of other halves out there, he’s weirdly competent. Bit like Hastings in that regard.

We just are not going to get one.

For starters there are very, very few of those, and they are snapped up by the top 4 consistently.

Joey we got lucky that we home grew an immortal that loves Newcastle.
 
1. Townsend and Reynolds were both signed before Pearce left.
2. Clune was also signed before Pearce left and was intended to be Pearce's backup.

What was the club supposed to do considering there were no decent halves off contract???

Anyways only one team wins at the end of the year and that team won't be either of the Cowboys or Broncos...

I would sign Hastings over Townsend and Reynolds any day of the week (age being the main factor, particularly for Reynolds), so if we somehow get Hastings this sh*t season will have been worth it in the long run...
As I said in the quoted post there were murmurs all year of him wanting to go so when you finally did approve him on leaving it was too late to sign a suitable replacement. Could of and should of thrown your hat in the ring at the experienced premiership winners, signed one of them before letting him leave.

Hastings over Townsend and Reynolds :lol:

Luckily you have no control at the Knights or at least I hope you don’t for all Knights fans.
 
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