Very fair assessment mate.
We had a major sponsor until those dip sticks stuffed it up and we nearly made the eight last year. Hope it all falls into place for next year.
for 2nd row, would you take CHN back? I think Fifita is pie in the sky. I’d love him, but to get him we’ll be needing 1.3 I honestly think for him to relocate considering Titans will throw between 1 to 1.15.
I think the chances of CHN ever being in a Dogs jersey again is slim to none. There’s too much baggage there now.
Nearly hit the “optimistic” button too lol
I heard an interesting stat today we are one of two clubs to receive 28 repeat sets(highest in the league)since the rule was Introduced yet we are the lowest scoring side which really highlights the point you make about our point scoring ability,we have been far to focused on getting into defensive grinds for two years and that has left us so far behind the rest of the competition with respect to scoring points
It shows you how over structured we are in attack. Instead of taking our advantage and exposing a defence under pressure we revert back to taking hit ups until we try something on tackle 5.
I wouldn't mind Alex Johnston as a winger (also some fullback coverage), but I don't think we need anymore wingers. Coates is a good option. I haven't seen Koroibete or Rona play since they were in the NRL so hard to say regarding them two.
Yeah and every side we play is happy to give us repeat sets because they know we offer fuck all in attack and they will defend the set
On the flip side we can't defend repeat sets. Last week looked like we were very scared to give them away and because of that we got slaughtered in the ruck.
I think this has been as issue since 2015. If you compare our attack to other teams (with the exception of the Dragons) the biggest difference is SPEED. Everything we do is just slow. Gould and Joey have pointed this out numerous times going back a few years when we were playing Desball. Joey mentioned how all our passes were those slow end over end passes (not the quicker torpedo passes) and they were usually passed to a flat footed forward playing first receiver (and half the time the ball was behind the ball receiver). Compare that to the Roosters and its night and day. I mean seriously, you wonder why we struggle to score points. That was 4-5 years ago and NOTHING has changed. NOTHING - how is that even possible?
Club: Knights
Using one example doesn’t really say much either way. Knights took a big risk on Ponga giving him a huge deal for where he was with his career and it paid off. He was the first domino to fall and others followed. If Newcastle didn’t get Ponga the rest don’t come IMO.
Pay and Brown are not comparable mate Brown was not a rookie coach at Newcastle he coached at St George with some success and then went overseas had some more success in the ESL and when he was actually sacked knights were still in the hunt for the finals... if anything Holbrook is a better comparison but even he has less experience than Brown.
Grant was our Ponga.
Brown was still one of the worst coaches in the NRL. He also has a worse win % than Pay and that includes one year with a competitive roster (he had Ponga and Pearce for two seasons too). Last year he finished on the same points as us. Unacceptable considering what we're going through. That's also why he got sacked (as well as losing the dressing room).
Yep as soon as the fatigue kicks in we surrender the ruck and this isn’t helped by a coach who has no idea how to rotate a bench