After a promising start to the season, Newcastle Knights ended their horrific season with a 38-16 demolition by the Cronulla Sharks at home on Old Boys Day.
It seemed from last year, we could be on the rise to where we want to be as a team but now the question I ask is, where did it go wrong?
Here are some answers.
1. Releasing Mitchell Pearce without a decent replacement
Mitchell Pearce brought the leadership to the club which it has so lacked. He may not have been able to set the world on fire with the Knights but his effort did help bring a potential winning culture back to us. Losing him was a massive blow.
2. Jayden Brailey’s injury
Our captain in the pre-season tore his ACL and was set to be out for the season. Thankfully, he was able to return but by the time he did so, Newcastle’s mission wasn’t to make the eight, it was to avoid the wooden spoon. If Kalyn Ponga remains co-skipper, he should be given the right mentorship in the role.
3. Mitchell Barnett’s elbow strike
Newcastle were playing amazing free-flowing football until that incident. Look how well they went, winning their opening two with a 46-10 for and against and having the attitude you want to see in a football team who don’t just want to play, want to win. That send off brought the team down and that’s the point I knew our season was over.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
Murthy’s Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Now the psychological effect will bring you down and for the matter of a football team, they’ll follow suit and won’t be able to lift their heads. Manly after the jersey saga can verify that.
Where to go for the Knights?
1. Fix the culture
Our players need to be educated on how the team was brought up – win for the town, the fans and each other. Focus on fighting for the win.
2. Will sacking the coach work?
It’s a no for me. It doesn’t matter who the coach is. Adam O’Brien came to town off a team built by Nathan Brown. While the club’s culture needs to be fixed, no coach will make a difference.
3. Build and stick with a consistent team
The chop and change technique has become very obsolete. It brings inconsistency and they can’t work on combinations. If I could pick my spine, I’ll go with:
1. Kalyn Ponga
6. Tyson Gamble
7. Phoenix Crossland
9. Jayden Brailey
We’ve got a great back line and top forwards. If we can build a great long-term spine, we’ll cause some serious damage.
Just want to see them play full 80 and win.
4. The fans need to back off
There has been so much online bashing about how players aren’t “first grade standard” or how the coach sucks. Well, if you’ve never played in the NRL or coached a team in the NRL or even work for the Knights, you’re not qualified to make a call on it.
I know one Knights group that has become an online toxic environment. Here’s an idea: if you think you can do better then prove it, and if not, shut the hell up! The players know what the online “experts” say. I believe in right to free speech and if people want to criticise me negatively, I really don’t care but not everyone shares that kind of attitude.
When I go to football games, I don’t want to just see the Knights play, I want to see them win. Maybe we need to encourage our players to win and they will.
We are the most passionate and loyal fans in the league. We need to back that up every single week and show our team we want them to succeed. Us fans can give constructive criticism and not go online bashing.
Now for the finals, I always look forward to finals footy and my pick to win is Cronulla. They have worked their system in a way to get to where they want.
So, Roarers, what do you think? Where to for the Knights?
And who will win the grand final and why?
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Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Well said Pomoz
Klaus Schwab
Guest
Shhhh , actually, you won't be .
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
I feel the passion dripping off every syllable KOTW. Your first point to fix your pain,”focus on the win” seems to me to be a statement of hope. “Focus on the win” reminds me of Mike Tyson’s boxing strategy quote, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”. I want to win, unless it hurts too much. I agree with Choppy Cleal, every player wants to win and saying focus on that will achieve nothing. As 7 x Mr Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman said, “everybody wants to have a great body like me, but not many want to lift heavy weights”. A focus on winning is nothing without a culture of accountability behind it. Accountability means a player owns the result. It burns into their soul when they lose. It’s Josh Morris tackling Greg Inglis in SOO with a busted pcl joint. It’s Dylan Edwards playing a grand final with a busted foot, Sam Burgess with a busted cheekbone, it’s never blaming the referee, the weather, or injuries for a result. It requires a relentless pursuit of excellence with no compromise. Your star player is consistently late for training what do you do? Welcome to NSW Cup. Your GPS data shows you consistently do less running then any other player. Enjoy your time at your new club. You have six players missing for SOO and lose the game, what do you say? Craig Bellamy says “no excuse, these are trained players in their place they need to do better”. The devil is in the detail of course, but you know when a team has it in their culture. No excuses given in press conferences, junior players step up as replacements and deliver a good performance, a pride in their goal line defence. The Roosters and the Storm have enmeshed this culture into their teams for the last ten years and the results show. How do they do it?
Albo
Roar Rookie
They don't have any money to own a COE , Klaus. But they will still be happy !
Redcap
Roar Guru
"We’ve got a great back line and top forwards" Sorry, I can't agree with this, not even remotely. Newcastle has got David Klemmer and I've heard rumours of a guy called Bradman Best, who must be good, but I don't recall actually seeing him play. The rest of the forward pack's ok - not bad but certainly not great. The backline is very poor. Gagai's a long way past is best, and his best was never that good (outside of the occasional Origin game). Tuala is replacement level. Lee's no great loss. Young might be pretty handy at some stage, but I'll reserve judgement on him.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Yeah, the Delaney pub.
Klaus Schwab
Guest
Do they have a centre of excellence?
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Realistic? There's quite a few things in there that are far from realistic: 1. Maybe we need to encourage our players to win and they will: we did, and they didn't 2. We need to back that up every single week and show our team we want them to succeed: as stated, thousands turned up week after week and the result was 2 wins at home, 10 losses. 3. If we can build a great long-term spine, we’ll cause some serious damage: that is applicable to every team in the comp, and not just specific to the Knights. It also doesn't address the issue of how to build a great long-term spine. 4. Focus on fighting for the win: Bonhomie at its best. The current game is incredibly structured, detailed and positonally specific. Every team focuses on fighting for the win. I've no doubt they spoke about it. And the results throughout the year only worsened. 5. Gamble and Crossland: Gamble and Crossland are not consistent first graders. They are not one half of a great spine. They bring what Adam Clune brought. If the knights play rubbish, they will get bagged. If players play rubbish, they will get bagged. It's a billion dollar industry and these are very high profile players in a one team town. The psychology you mentioned is the difference between fan expectations (the knights will fight, be competitive, play tough) against reality (none of those things). In fairness, you mentioned that the culture, pathways and office have been screwed for ages. So if they fix that, then the trolls should sink back under the bridge.
max power
Guest
6. Tyson Gamble 7. Phoenix Crossland if this is your halves then look out wooden spoon. your love for the knights causes you to write articles with a massive bias and detached from reality. "Our players need to be educated on how the team was brought up – win for the town, the fans and each other. Focus on fighting for the win." - this makes no sense
The King of the World
Roar Guru
It’s called being realistic. I’m not going to write a bunch of BS. I’ve seen it so many times. How the fans treat the team will reflect on them. It’s kinda like the effect of bullying. People who get bullied into believing they won’t ever amount of anything more often then not believe so and lose self-esteem. Anyone who’s ever studied psychology, counselling or life-coaching (which I have) would know this. The Knights have a long way to go sir. As much as it pains me, that’s how it is. Our culture, pathways and office has been screwed for ages. We are the most passionate fans in the league but what you don’t see is all the ruthless online bashing the same people predominantly say about them. Talking about which player needs to be sacked or is a waste of space. That affects most people.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Oh dude seriously enough already! The stop picking on the knights campaign is tired, laborious and effective as a Knights 5th play option. "Maybe we need to encourage our players to win and they will"? Despite the knights ladder position and losses week after week, big crowds still rocked up and cheered the team on. And the knights at home won two, lost 10. Equalling their worst ever at home record. Further to that, during this period there were very few players dropped for poor form (Dan Siafiti and Jake Clifford early on the notable exceptions). Week after week the same team was selected, and AOB stating they were going to stick with the process and one day it would hopefully click. It didn't. The knights problems are way bigger than Pearce, Barnett and Brailey. And the answer to any question is never Phoenix Crossland (3rd year of grade and is behind Adam Clune, who was erroneously targeted and demonstrated why). A forward pack on paper that could rumble with any team, yet was consistently outperformed. Inability to score tries or stop them. All but Dom Young showing genuine improvement this year. The list grows long. Peter Parr was brought in and not before time. The concerns that AOB has lost the playing group, an overused cliche if there ever was one, might be true. But when the Knights in their last game, down by 10 with time left take four one out hit ups then a kick, that's very telling. Don't you think? My question to you is: if things don't improve next year, and many of us aren't confident it will, what then? The Knights are riddled with issues (apologies, Piggy) and cheering them on/Crossland/etc. is scratching the surface