Roar Rookie
Joined April 2017
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Newcastle Knights Fanatic. My motto: "No Pain, No Pain" I believe the best thing I can do for my kids is to not let them grow up to be Broncos or Roosters fans!
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With confirmation that the NRL is keen on a second Brisbane team to enter the competition, all the attention has been on the various…
A lot has been said recently in regards to recruitment at the Newcastle Knights. The team showed signs of improvement last year, climbing off…
As we head into 2018, there's plenty of reason for those at NRL HQ to be filled with optimism. However, as with any business,…
Play the whistle. It's a mantra that's drilled into our boys and girls at sporting fields across the country, from sun up to sun…
I read recently, with much dismay, of Laurie Daley's intention to stick with Robbie Farah as NSW hooker. Daley even went so far as…
We all know rugby league is the greatest game of all, but let's face it, there are some rules that really frustrate fans. Rugby…
I think the more likely scenario is Lino into the halves, with Ponga at Fullback and Watson on the bench. Lino may well spend some time at dummy half, (more than likely off the bench) but he was brought to the club as a half, and I expect that’s where he will be most effective.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
They finished 11th last year, with Pearce and Watson missing half the season. Fully fit, with the addition of Klemmer, Lee, Ramien, Glasby, and Gavet, moving only two or three spots up the ladder seems like an underachievement. They have the potential to finish higher than that.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
It would seem Nathan Brown would agree with you, judging by the Knights attempt to sign Isaac Luke. That deal only fell through because Luke needed shoulder surgery, which gave the Knights cold feet.
Since then they’ve signed young Zac Woolford. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of their remaining roster spots is taken by another hooker.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
Kevin Walters was a halves coach at the Knights during the Bennett era. It would be interesting to see if he’d be welcomed back. I don’t see it working in my opinion.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
I like the fact that Nathan Brown has signed an open ended contract. It means that he would feel the pressure week to week, and a string of sub-par performances should have him feel nervous. He’s done a great job with the rebuild, but there’s no trophy for that. He needs to convert the rebuild into tangible success, or there will be pressure from both the fans and club bosses.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
The other option is Ponga at fullback, Lino in the halves and Watson on the bench. To be honest I expect there to be a few variations. Brown has said where Ponga plays will be up to him.
The team sheet above was just my attempt to get the bet 17 players on the park to make comparisons to the 2016 side.
The true extent of Knights' rebuild revealed
I love the idea of a captains challenge. Would limit the use of the video ref for tries where the player clearly knows whether he grounded it or not!
The NRL’s new years resolutions
Newcastle are now owned by one of the richest leagues clubs in the land, so I would say they are entering into the most stable period in the clubs history.
I agree, the bagging of refs needs to stop, the main culprits of which are the channel 9 commentary team.
The NRL’s new years resolutions
I think speculation is good. Plus I doubt there’s a model you could implement that would do away with it. At least with my suggestion the NRL could hold a post season event where it announces the changes to each clubs roster. Similar to how other sports hold events and televise their draft picks.
I think the fans would buy into an event like that. It would generate interest in the game during the off season and turn what is currently a massive negative for the game into something positive.
The NRL’s new years resolutions
Lose the battle but win the war. Interesting take. Would hopefully see the end of Daley as well
Does Laurie Daley even want to win Origin?
I don’t particularly like picking players out of position for Origin. Hayne is not a 5/8 IMHO. The number of fullbacks that have failed to transition to 5/8 is longer than the list of those who’ve succeeded, and I don’t think Origin is the place for another experiment.
Does Laurie Daley even want to win Origin?
The same argument has been rolled out every year. “We must have defensive centres”. Hasn’t done us too well over the past decade.
Does Laurie Daley even want to win Origin?
Fair point, although I was mainly referring to scrutiny from media and coaches.
I think the NRL would open up about on field errors a bit more if there was less open slather ref bashing. In the current ‘us vs them’ environment, referees are forced to bunker down (no pun intended) to protect themselves from criticism due to the sheer volume of it. If everyone just calmed down a bit, I’m certain we could have something like this in the NRL.
Referees are killing rugby league, and it's your fault
Appreciate the feedback mate. Bring back in goal touchies hey!
Referees are killing rugby league, and it's your fault
This isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s pretty much the exact opposite, offering a possible cause to the perceived problem of referee bias (which is the actual conspiracy theory)
Referees are killing rugby league, and it's your fault
There was no stripping rule at all prior to 1991. This was never a problem back then.
The rules rugby league must change
There was no stripping rule at all prior to 1991, and we still had offloads
The rules rugby league must change
A charge down only restarts the tackle count if it was deliberately played at. If the ball was simply kicked into an opponent (a crap kick) the tackle count doesn’t restart.
The rules rugby league must change
I think your first table has an error. Didn’t Melbourne miss the prelims in 2013? I think they were beaten by Newcastle. So only three of the top four sides made the preliminary final that year.
The NRL semi finals: The statistical truth