Andrew McCullough joins Newcastle Knights effective immediately

bradyk

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He’s average but geez who dont the knights try to sign
They are in a good position to attract talent right now. McCullough just a stop gap solution obviously but a good one that they needed.
 

Freakzilla

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This is a backwards step for the knights considering they had Danny Levi who was young, cheaper and better than Macca and allowed him to leave. Strange choice.
Levi is more likely to lose you a game with a dumb play. McCulloch might not be flash hot but he's solid in attack and a good defender.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Murchie also signed with the Warriors. It’s a pity we didn’t look at him. He looks like a potential gun
I know exactly who he is but I honestly can't ever remember seeing him play or where he played lol.
 

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I know exactly who he is but I honestly can't ever remember seeing him play or where he played lol.
He’s a big mobile forward who can play in the middle or out wide. He reminds me of Paul Vaughan but with less footwork
 

KambahOne

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McCullough is bog average, no idea what the Naughts were thinking.

You should have a crack at Connor Watson, good speed and would take advantage of the new rules, good versatility and is probably looking for a first grade gig.
 

JUNKYARD DOGS

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McCullough is bog average, no idea what the Naughts were thinking.

You should have a crack at Connor Watson, good speed and would take advantage of the new rules, good versatility and is probably looking for a first grade gig.
Don’t mind Watson tbh, very quick and capable player. Has the ability to catch opposition napping around the ruck.
 

bradtalo

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This really further shits me about our poor recruitment. Can we recruit the Knights recruitment manager FFS ? Now they've signed a decent young hooker in Brailey and when he gets injured they also manage to snatch a very experienced NRL hooker in McCullough - all while we're stuck with useless JMK and Kotoa (who was 3rd string hooker at the Panthers remember and HE had to approach US). We have the 350K from Foran's injury plus probably 500 - 600K from the sackings of CHN and Oka and the club are reportedly asking if they "have to" fill the 3 spots left in our top 30 ?. WTF ? Why are they sitting on their hands ? Are they hoping to score some interest from their bank or something by not spending ? Did our recruitment team even know McCullough was available ? I very much doubt it. Do they have any kind of decent relationship with the majority of player managers ? Doesn't seem so.

From what I've read Stimson (who'se shit by the way) wasn't going to be offered a new contract by the Storm. I'm unsure about Britt. Even Thompson - well done to them on that one but from what I read only 2-3 clubs were chasing him in the end and it's likely we offered the most coin so I'm not convinced our recruitment team have reached anywhere near a pass mark yet.
 
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bradyk

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This just really further shits me about our poor recruitment. Can we recruitment the Knights recruitment manager FFS ? Now they've signed a decent young hooker in Brailey and now when he gets injured they also manage to snatch a very experienced NRL hooker in McCullough - all while were stuck with useless JMK and Kotoa (who was 3rd string hooker at the Panthers remember and HE had to approach US). We have the 350K from Foran's injury plus probably 500 - 600K from the sackings of CHN and Oka and the club are reportedly asking if they "have to" fill the 3 spots left in our top 30 ?. What are they sitting on their hands for or are they hoping to score some interest from their bank ? Did our recruitment team even know McCullough was available ? I very much doubt it. Do they have any kind of decent relationship with the majority of player managers ? Doesn't seem so.

From what I've read Stimson (who'se shit by the way) wasn't going to be offered a new contract by the Storm. I'm unsure about Britt. Even Thompson well done to them on that one but from what I read only 2-3 clubs were chasing him in the end and it's likely we offered the most coin so I'm not convinced our recruitment team have reached anywhere near a pass mark yet.
A lot of clubs were chasing Thompson just the teams at the bottom of the ladder were offering a lot of money which they had to if they wanted to secure his signature. That's why it went from almost everyone interested into a few teams. Britt has looked like a good depth player (we still have only seen him in 2 NRL games tho) that can snag a bench position but of course we need and want better. I'm not the biggest fan of loans because I don't think we're in a position to do anything, I'd rather give our current players more game time. We want better than McCullough for 2021 as well. There is a lot of pressure on the board and recruitment team atm to deliver.
 

Blueandwhiteblood1968

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Looks like the Knights coach likes a defensive 9 with Brailey and now AM.

Supercoaches who were going to get Conor Watson need to change strategy.
Couldn't care less that we didn't sign McCullough, what I get pissed off with is that any big name player always turn down any offer made by our club and other clubs just announce that they have signed a big name player, also curious how the knights can afford another big name player?
Is our club destined to get all the dreggs no other club want's, talk about pissing me off, we better sign some fucking superstars for next season or Pay can fuck right off and so can the useless turds on the board.
 

bradyk

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Couldn't care less that we didn't sign McCullough, what I get pissed off with is that any big name player always turn down any offer made by our club and other clubs just announce that they have signed a big name player, also curious how the knights can afford another big name player?
Is our club destined to get all the dreggs no other club want's, talk about pissing me off, we better sign some fucking superstars for next season or Pay can fuck right off and so can the useless turds on the board.
They would of went into the season with at least one spot to fill and they must of been sitting on close to the maximum salary cap space (we'd be doing the same) they didn't have to spend going into the season (I think it's 5% which ~500k). Almost every player would rather sign for the Knights than us as the Knights are expected to do a lot better than us, a finals team who has a higher chance of winning the premiership (especially next year) then I think a lot of people actually think. If we haven't signed enough top or quality players going into the 2021 season I'm going to be calling for the board's head too but I'm giving them benefit of the doubt until then (I don't blame the coach as much as he's our coach for a reason - personally I would of kept Hasler, Cronk said yesterday he was one coach he wished he was able to play for and many other players have high praise of him).
 
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JackDog

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McCullough is bog average, no idea what the Naughts were thinking.

You should have a crack at Connor Watson, good speed and would take advantage of the new rules, good versatility and is probably looking for a first grade gig.
McCullough is better than what we have, maybe at the wrong time of his career.

Of course, Watson is also better than what we have. But no, let’s chase Grub...
 

Thegoldtoothrat

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I fail to see how we can sit in a tower and look down at a player like McCullough. Would he normally be a targeted signing IMO, probs not. However under our circumstances and let's face it, circumstances since we showed Ennis the door and decided the current Aussie hooker had nothing to offer we have been useless in this position.

So for me at a time where we're discussing signing Reynolds again then I will take someone who can pass a ball from dummy half any day of the week. Has played Origin and I would sign him for 2-3 years no worries. Atleast that would be a position filled by a solid player moving forward.

If we knew he was looking to go somewhere else and didn't even check out the possibility then for me that's an opportunity missed. Meanwhile we will sit back and discuss JMK and Reynolds playing there and whinge about how we don't sign anyone!

Reality check, we have had a sub-standard team for like 6 years now.
Hasler doesnt like a creative hooker so ennis had to stick to haslers game plan. Lichaa, friend, mccullogh all good hookers just no attacking options. We need a hooker like granville from the cowboys or api korisou which we nearly had
 

Thegoldtoothrat

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Levi is not in the same league as McCullough sorry.
Levi is ordinary even buderus said he is still playing nrl like the juniors when he was stronger and quicker then everyone else. He doesnt play smart and tries to out muscle everyone what doesnt work in the nrl
 

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Hasler doesnt like a creative hooker so ennis had to stick to haslers game plan. Lichaa, friend, mccullogh all good hookers just no attacking options. We need a hooker like granville from the cowboys or api korisou which we nearly had
McCullogh is a similar type of player to Granville, both "burrowing" type of hookers. I would actually be happy with Granville too, probs more him then Mc if I'm honest.
 

Thegoldtoothrat

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Couldn't care less that we didn't sign McCullough, what I get pissed off with is that any big name player always turn down any offer made by our club and other clubs just announce that they have signed a big name player, also curious how the knights can afford another big name player?
Is our club destined to get all the dreggs no other club want's, talk about pissing me off, we better sign some fucking superstars for next season or Pay can fuck right off and so can the useless turds on the board.
The knights were like it a few years ago they signed ponga and then players started to get on board. The bulldogs are a great club with top facilities we never stay down for long. We only need to get a big name then others will follow. We used to say bred not bought too.... If hasler had of won a comp you could justify the mess he left. Signing Mybe the flop on big money, letting finucane go, Klemmer,ennis, tapau. Signing b morris on fullback money for an aging winger.
 
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