Do we have a shot this weekend or what?

[Guest]

Should that happen, we enjoy the win, but we don't delude ourselves into believing everything is fine

Rep disruptions?

manly had 8 guys back up and beat St George

we got flogged by the Cowboys at home

you're kidding Mario

manly are mostly a ****ing premiership winning team only two years ago dont compare our situation to manly we are strugglers and dont forget our own halfback was missing carney hasnt played much nrl in the last 18 months anasta is ****ing useless also and manly backed up the night after not three days later which most players agree is harder than backing up immediately

**** off with stupid comparisons

[Guest]

manly are mostly a ****ing premiership winning team only two years ago dont compare our situation to manly we are strugglers and dont forget our own halfback was missing carney hasnt played much nrl in the last 18 months anasta is ****ing useless also and manly backed up the night after not three days later which most players agree is harder than backing up immediately

**** off with stupid comparisons

lol

****ing this ****ing that oh **** me **** it all and **** me

they played St George, we played the Cowboys in Sydney without Thurston

you see temper twit, being in this comp means that we have to compare ourselves with, wait for it, the team that won the comp 2 years ago. We're in the same comp, you see. We play them in a few weeks. We'll have to compare ourselves then too. Or maybe we could just miss that game. They did win the comp 2 years ago

have a cone and calm down

[Vasco]

Watched Knights v Titans again last night, and the Knights are certainly beatable

Their defence is very poor at times, which might give our very poor attack the odd chance

Maybe we should revert back to scoring tries off kicks.

[BUDDY]

And just posing a question here buddy.

What happens if we don't get rolled and SKD, along with the other much malligned players, have great games and lead the team to a well earned win???

Do we still cut half the team or do we put last week down to a poor week caused by rep disruptions ????

What, do you believe that last week was an aberration?

Do you honestly believe that the team we had last week (no changes at all) can beat the Knights? And if we do win you want to praise them all and feel that we are heading in the right direction. Seriously mate some of us need to take off the rosey coloured glasses. We have won a cople of games this year by playing well and we have won games by playing crap. But we have had some abismal performances. In the overall scheme of things, we need some changes desperately to our roster and mainly the guys that are just not upto first grade standard. Those same guys that 3 out of 4 games are plain shit. Those that have had many chances to prove themselves but haven't. Those that have played over 100 NRL games yet are still shit. Those that no matter how much coaching you put into them are still shit. BTW I am probably being generous with a 3 out of 4 for SKD.

I am not at all confident going into any game at the moment. To me that means we need changes and many at that.

[stsae]

What, do you believe that last week was an aberration?

Do you honestly believe that the team we had last week (no changes at all) can beat the Knights? And if we do win you want to praise them all and feel that we are heading in the right direction. Seriously mate some of us need to take off the rosey coloured glasses. We have won a cople of games this year by playing well and we have won games by playing crap. But we have had some abismal performances. In the overall scheme of things, we need some changes desperately to our roster and mainly the guys that are just not upto first grade standard. Those same guys that 3 out of 4 games are plain shit. Those that have had many chances to prove themselves but haven't. Those that have played over 100 NRL games yet are still shit. Those that no matter how much coaching you put into them are still shit. BTW I am probably being generous with a 3 out of 4 for SKD.

I am not at all confident going into any game at the moment. To me that means we need changes and many at that.

Who do we replace, who do we replace them with, how confident will we be with several rookies and how long do we give a side with several rookies to click???

[Guest]

Riddle me this Riddle me that!!!
Fact is we will never know how the new guys will go if they don't get a chance...eg... Hannant at the Broncos........Soward at Dragqueens... etc...
At least give them a shot now whilst we are in a good position still...........

[BUDDY]

Backwards,
Linnett for SKD (unknown in NRL but can't possibly be worse), Symonds for Koups (can't be worse), if Kennedy is ready for Lopini (ditto) and I'd bring in Foran at halfback just for this week for Jones. Carney back to fullback, Graham back in the centres where he played great at the beginning of the year and Mini on the wing. Our attack would look better and even better when Pearce is back, our defense is stronger and we get rid of three underperforming hacks ni SKD, Koups and Lopini. I doubt Smithy could/would change our captain but if he is playing injured he should not be on the field.

Your thoughts?

[Guest]

ALL I KNOW is if we cant be NEWCASTLE even without Pearce.

We just straight out deserve not to be in the TOP-8

SIMPLE!

[elo]

Backwards,
Linnett for SKD (unknown in NRL but can't possibly be worse), Symonds for Koups (can't be worse), if Kennedy is ready for Lopini (ditto) and I'd bring in Foran at halfback just for this week for Jones. Carney back to fullback, Graham back in the centres where he played great at the beginning of the year and Mini on the wing. Our attack would look better and even better when Pearce is back, our defense is stronger and we get rid of three underperforming hacks ni SKD, Koups and Lopini. I doubt Smithy could/would change our captain but if he is playing injured he should not be on the field.

Your thoughts?

It's not going to happen. (that many changes smells of panic)

At least one of Linnett, Leilia or Blair MUST be given a crack at becoming a strike centre this season at some time though - plenty of kids break in that position at a young age, give one of them a crack Brian!

[Guest]

We've been going WLWLWL for a while now so by that reckoning I think we're due a W

[BUDDY]

It's not going to happen. (that many changes smells of panic)

At least one of Linnett, Leilia or Blair MUST be given a crack at becoming a strike centre this season at some time though - plenty of kids break in that position at a young age, give one of them a crack Brian!

I know it won't happen. It's not in Smithy's nature to replace SKD and Koups.

I don't see it as a drastic change though. Symonds should be in the team if fit as too should be Kennedy. Carney will go back to the position he has been playing all year as too will Mini. The only change would be introduce a centre who has been killing it in Newtown for one that has done nothing for three years and bring in a guy who plays half back for one game so that Carney can go back to fullback and give us better attacking options.

[Guest]

ALL I KNOW is if we cant be NEWCASTLE even without Pearce.

We just straight out deserve not to be in the TOP-8

SIMPLE!

Considering where we are coming from I don't think we are.....yet.

[Rooster_6]

Massive game leading into the bye... 4 point games as they like to call it.

[supermario]

What, do you believe that last week was an aberration?

Do you honestly believe that the team we had last week (no changes at all) can beat the Knights? And if we do win you want to praise them all and feel that we are heading in the right direction. Seriously mate some of us need to take off the rosey coloured glasses. We have won a cople of games this year by playing well and we have won games by playing crap. But we have had some abismal performances. In the overall scheme of things, we need some changes desperately to our roster and mainly the guys that are just not upto first grade standard. Those same guys that 3 out of 4 games are plain shit. Those that have had many chances to prove themselves but haven't. Those that have played over 100 NRL games yet are still shit. Those that no matter how much coaching you put into them are still shit. BTW I am probably being generous with a 3 out of 4 for SKD.

I am not at all confident going into any game at the moment. To me that means we need changes and many at that.

chillax buddy, i was not taking a shot at you, just posing the question. as to winning this week, yes we are a chance, how many people thought we would beat the broncs after the dogs flogged us.

The team as a whole has a consistancy problem. When we lose, errors like those made by skd and mini on the weekend are emphisised, no doubt. The main problem for the coaching staff is how to get the good consistant football out of these players.

We all know that the maligned players have the talent and the skill, they have shown this before. We also know that these players are playing their first year under a coach that is not sucking on a lollipop or munching on a bran muffin. Their channces to improve over the past 2 seasons were stunted at best.

In the end we have to consider, on a level playing field, what is a fair opportunity for a player to show his wares. If a player is "truly" not worthy of their position, then they should be rightfully punted.

We currently have a win loss ratio of 5-4, we are in the top 8 (we are only 8th thanks to for and against) and our last 5 games have a win loss pattern. Are we really in such a bad position? Are we really in the need to cut so many players who have to learn new combinations and actually take the step up to firsts?

Once the team can play consistantly as a group, things like poor passed, dropped balls, poorly timed runs and poorly executed set plays will significantly reduce.

I mean, look at the dragons and the storm, both highly drilled and consistant sides.........why? Their coaches have kept a large majority of the team playing together consistantly.

That is what the Roosters are lacking, consistancy.

[stsae]

Backwards,
Linnett for SKD (unknown in NRL but can't possibly be worse), Symonds for Koups (can't be worse), if Kennedy is ready for Lopini (ditto) and I'd bring in Foran at halfback just for this week for Jones. Carney back to fullback, Graham back in the centres where he played great at the beginning of the year and Mini on the wing. Our attack would look better and even better when Pearce is back, our defense is stronger and we get rid of three underperforming hacks ni SKD, Koups and Lopini. I doubt Smithy could/would change our captain but if he is playing injured he should not be on the field.

Your thoughts?

I wouldnt have a problem with those changes Buddy. I hope they eventuate thru the season and into next year including Bwaiff. There are more that Id move on in the long run also.

But as elo said mass changes reeks of panic, that may affect the team worse than not making all those changes.

We are doing better than I thought we would be at this stage, especially considering weve had enough injuries that I cant recall us having the same team for a few weeks running.

I guess its what people expect. I aint looking for miracles. I reckon the coach knows whats the best way for us to go, hes been doing this shit a long time.