.
Some of the suggestions I hear on here are ridiculous. Mullen prefers the 6 cos he doesn't get compared to Johns there? Pffft.
Seriously, Mullen's best aspects last night were his running and his long kicking. Running particularly would be better served if he was in the 6. We need another kicker out there. Dureau is the answer. Our offense was still impotent at times, Dureau's short kicking and ability to organise play is exactly what we need. Melbourne will be hard enough to crack on their line, let alone without any good attacking kickers.
Some of the suggestions I hear on here are ridiculous. Mullen prefers the 6 cos he doesn't get compared to Johns there? Pffft. How bout he prefers it because he played all his junior footy there?
I just wanna toss a idea up in the air. If i was Smithy, id be saying alright Jarrod i want you to play the exact same game you played last night, and id want Scotty to play the way he was playing before he got injured. I think that could be very effective, Mullen looks more comfortable at Half he says he prefers 5/8 i think hes saying he prefers 5/8 because of the fact he gets compared to Joey.
I agree we need another kicker out there
I think hilder took alot of pressure of mullen last night... kicking out of dummy-half a few times
durreau and mullen are the knights best attacking options ..i've often said that..
but it's up to the coach who he wants against melbourne
Last night also proved another point: If the Knights played so well with only 3 interchange players (well, virtually two, as most of the time, Ciraldo wasn't as involved in the game), it would've been a lot better and have made more sense to have used another forward on the bench, in replacement for MacDougall (as someone has already said on this forum). As I said, it's not that I hate Mad Dog or anything. I said, in the history of the club, he (in his prime, circa 1997-2003) was the most damaging backline player the club has ever had.
I'd definitely bring Dureau back in, Bailey's ball playing at five eighth has been dreadful at times in the last couple of games. He has done some great things as well, but I just don't think he's a five eighth. Lock would utilise the best aspects of his game better, but I can't see him getting a run there, so I reckon his best hope is the bench.
I'd rate Tahu easily the most destructive backline player we've had, over MacDougall.
Of course it was worth having MacDougall on the bench ahead of another back, because otherwise what would we have done if there was in injury to say Naiqama or Gidley? We don't have any forwards on the bench or on the field that can cover the backline, so we will always need a back (or usually, Hilder) on the bench. Unless we want to see Steve Simpson playing in the centres again, which surely nobody does.
Four forwards on the bench is suicide these days.

I'm sure Ben Cross could've played some fullback...![]()