Who will Bennett axe, retain & recruit for 2013?

My attempts at humor are obviously very ordinary. The comment about us not being interested in the date of the Grand Final had nothing to do with pre season training. It was more to do with the fact that we were probably on the end of season trip on the long weekend in October as we have been for a number of years.
 
BIRD OF THE KNIGHT

WHILE the Blues were doing their best in the middle of the field, former NSW enforcer Willie Mason was high up in the stands telling anyone who would listen that the Knights were after Greg Bird.

Mason was in the Legends Lounge and overheard saying the cleanout Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett has instigated is to make way for Bird, a local junior from Maitland. Interestingly, Bird had flown to his home town after Origin I in Melbourne - although he is signed with the Titans until the end of next season and has told others he intends to re-sign with them.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nsw-independence-day-looms/story-e6frexnr-1226397140022

Any truth to it or is Willie taking the p*ss? :lol:​
 
Mose Masoe don't know if this guy is signed yet but 1 site says he is'nt 23 yrs old 6'3" tall and 118 kg i watched him play the other day and he hits and runs hard, would'nt mind him coming here.
Snowden Buderus Masoe
Mason Scott
Bird
Mcmanus Mckinnon Roberts Carney Gagai Uata

Boyd (Tahu,Tetavano, Simms,Houston)
 
Salary cap prevents Wayne Bennett from any meaningful cleanout of Knights roster

Barry Toohey
The Sunday Telegraph
June 17, 2012 12:00AM


658131-wayne-bennett-and-newcastle-roster.jpg

Source:
The Daily Telegraph

THE Wayne Bennett revolution is coming - it will just take another year before he can stamp his full imprint on the Newcastle Knights.

NSW Origin star Greg Bird may well be on the Knights' radar for 2014 but there is little room in the salary cap to make any big moves before then.

"The real action will come at the end of 2013 when there is more than $1 million worth of players coming off contract," a club source said.

The Knights' salary cap for next season has largely been spent on player upgrades and the signing of Beau Scott from St George Illawarra and Dane Gagai from Brisbane.

Newcastle's fall from grace has prompted suggestions the knives are being sharpened for a cleanout similar to 2007.
Even contracted players such as Wes Naiqama and Junior Sau are being shopped around in a bid to free up salary cap room.

"But there won't be any more marquee signings for next year. Maybe a couple of middle-of-the-range players will be added, but that's about it," the source said.

As for the predicted player cleanout this year?

"There will be no player cleanout," Knights chief executive Matt Gidley said.

"Every club is looking at their roster right now and we are no different. There are certainly players we are looking at in relation to their performance and if they are off contract. It stands to reason they need to be performing at their absolute best.

"It's the same at any club.

"I think the biggest thing with us right now is this club has certain standards and all our stakeholders - our supporters, our ex-players, our sponsors, everyone - expect them to be upheld.

"They are frustrated, as we all are. It's fair to say the current playing group is quite detached from those standards right now.

"That's what Wayne and the club is trying to address."

Bennett, who was signed on a $1-million-a-season deal, is looking at missing the finals for the first time since 1991.

Knights players were booed by their home fans last week when they lost to Canberra.

That didn't happen even during the 13-game losing streak in 2005.

"They don't mind if we get beaten, as long as they think the players are having a go," said former Knights forward Marc Glanville. "Right now, their belief is too many of the boys aren't having a real dig.

"That's where we are at."

The sobering news for Knights fans is there is likely to be more pain before there is any major improvement.

Bennett has found himself without his best player, Kurt Gidley, and short on team leadership with a forward pack largely firing blanks.

"I can't see us getting out of it this season," Glanville says.

"Losing becomes habitual and a lot of the boys seem almost resigned to it, which is a real worry. Losing doesn't seem to be hurting some of them enough. That's always a bad sign.

"When our two best players over the past month are our oldest - Danny Buderus and Willie Mason - you have a problem. Should the rest of the playing group be embarrassed about that?

"Absolutely they should.

"I'm looking at the Parramatta game in a fortnight and thinking if we lose that one, we'll win the wooden spoon."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...f-knights-roster/story-e6frexnr-1226397658301​
 
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"Hunter Sports Group was formed 20 months ago with the vision of giving every child in the region the chance to proudly wear the red and blue."

They need to add providing of course you are a Bennett type player. I'm just about over Bennett, the Knights and all this clean out grand plan BS to be honest. Been playing,coaching or supporting rugby league for 45 years and this is the first season I've completely lost interest.
 
Josh Hill said:
What? I'm talking about to do with football. They started very late November for 2 weeks when Bennett wasn't there doing fitness & a bit into December before Christmas break & on into January. It was all fitness, then they started basic football skills in the early few months & only would have had a month or so in the pre-season to organize set plays & game plans. So doing fitness, about 2 months, doing basic football skills, about 1 month, 1 month coming into the trials fixing up their game plans & getting ready for Rd 1 & 3 & a half months of genuine footy being played. So even if you wanted to include all the fitness stuff & basic football skills it still doesn't add up to 9 months! Maybe you should concentrate more on your maths.

- - - Updated - - -

And the difference between the Dogs & us is they have a better squad that has made many finals in the last few years & should have been minor premiers in 2009. They have the roster, the winning culture & their squad was just ready to be become a force, Des was the perfect coach for them.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry mate I had no idea when the pre season starts. I would have thought that teams knocked out of the race to the grand final would start training immediately. Thus saying september or there abouts. So theyve had about 7 months since december which is still a fair bit of time. Only leaving roughly 1 month to game plan and tactics surprises me a bit. Its certainly bitten us in the arse.

I think you'll actually find that the Knights have finished above the bulldogs on the ladder the last two years. That basically shows that the knights were a better team in 2010 and 2011. The Knights therefore had a better winning culture coming into the season. Coming into the season you could say our squad was on par with theirs. It's pretty bloody obvious the coaches have played a huge factor. Des knows what hes doing with his cattle, Wayne doesnt have a clue! Des has them playing a great game plan and those boys go out and play with mongrel and heart. Wayne gets our boys out there with a **** poor game plan and theres no need for me to mention heart and effort.
 
Not me im interested to see what happens for the rest of the year. I have come to grips with the fact that this year is a write off but im still interseted to see what happens for the rest of the year and the off season.
I will still go and watch the boys play, they may yet come good .
 
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