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Opinion

What is Kurt Mann’s best position for Newcastle?

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Roar Guru
4th February, 2022
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Since his debut in 2014 for Melbourne, Kurt Mann has played every position in the backline, hooker and a bit of playmaking lock forward. A bit of a discussion among some Knights fans has centred around where he should play.

Before I go on, I should point out that he is a very good player in my opinion but one downfall he has is sometimes he does tend to be running side to side taking away momentum in the play. Another thing I should point out is I don’t like how some Knights fans tend to sh*t on him when he had a bad game.

He gets the most heat and it’s like some do it because it’s the popular thing. If you think he should be dropped, go say it to his face or tell Adam O’Brien you can do a better job.

A few positions I think I should rule out are fullback, wing and centre. Kalyn Ponga will be the fullback and we got the wings and centres covered very well. Kurt is too slow to cover the big-name wingers and centres. So, now let’s take a look at the three positions I think are best for him, a special mention and my personal preference.

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Special mention – bench utility
Kurt Mann has a utility X-Factor in which he can cover for whenever needed.

Five-eighth
Jake Clifford does have a halves spot reserved for him and should Kurt take the No.6 role, Clifford can easily shift to 7. Let’s not forget that Kurt does have his lethal torpedo bomb which is a useful weapon and I sure as hell feel sorry for any poor bastard who’s given the task to catch it. However, we do have a fair few who are in the line for the No.6 role, like Simi Sasagi and Phoenix Crossland, to name a few.

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Hooker
Without Jayden Brailey for the first half of the season, the dummy half role could be an option. However, Chris Randall does have dibs on that role. They could share the role, though.

Kurt came to Newcastle in 2019 set to be a bench dummy half and in his first grade debut for Newcastle, his run from dummy half and pass to Mitchell Pearce set up the match-opening try by Tim Glasby, also on his Knights debut, in their season-opening win against Cronulla 14-8. When Blake Green came to town in 2020, Mann shifted to the hooker role and owned it quite well.

Lock
The playmaking lock forward role has become a very common position in the modern game. With the loss of Connor Watson, that role is open. We may have Mitchell Barnett but he’s just as lethal as a second rower, which he backs up quite well. As a lock, Kurt can focus more on tackling forwards he can match speed with and also be an extra playmaking player.

His best choice is to be the playmaking lock. He could use it playing like an extra five-eighth.

So, Roarers, what’s your preference?

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