We are rebuilding - some context

[FlamingRooster]

What I want to know is how big a difference was Craig Fitzgibbon, because our defence was exceptionally poor today. Is that a fitness issue or was Fitzgibbon just that good a defensive coach.

[Kelby]

We are short a hooker and an edge forward...........

[King Salvo]

It's a bit of a cop out this being underdone though - sure 1st game and all that which is the same for all teams but poor fundamentals can't be equated to being underdone though.

It's the same things year in year out - poor set completions/ errors/missed tackles/ill discipline etc which years gone by they could get away with but this side is not those sides.

If you are underdone the basic fundamentals are what you need to nail - the old what you do with and without the ball and they failed in all the relevant departments of these - i.e The Various offense and defence stats are poor reading.

• Possession 46% to 54%
• Set Completions 65% ( 25/39) vs 79% (34/43)
• Tackles in opposition 20 - 19 vs 31 - 16 of those for the Chooks were in the second half to Knights 10
• Set Restarts - 2 vs 1
• Line Breaks - 0 vs 7
• Offloads - 5 vs 11 - all 5 offloads for Chooks in the second half to Knights 3
• All Runs -168 ( 1410 metres ) vs 189 ( 1726 metres)
• Post Contact Metres - 555 metres vs 677 metres
• Tackle Breaks - 13 vs 35
• Kicks - 19 ( 502 metres) vs 21 ( 580 metres)
• Tackles - 392 ( 35 missed) vs 333 ( 13 missed)
• Ineffective tackles - 18 vs 11
• Errors - 12 vs 10
• Penalties conceded - 7 vs 7
• On Report - 2 (Radley and Collins) vs 0
• Sin Binned - 0 vs 1

[Bondicigar]

yeah, with four guys playing their first nrl game after a long break because of injury, two guys playing their first game for the club in years and the first game for our halves pairing a scratchy start isn't surprising. didn't think it would be that scratchy but it's too soon to start slitting wrists.

It would have been nice to hit the ground running but it will probably take 6 weeks to find top form. Hopefully we win 3 or four in the process

[Mickie Lane]

Sure, they were comfortably the better team on the day. I just wouldn’t read any more into it than that, they’re a very ordinary side.

Who knows R6 if the stars align for them they could be a good side.
Ponga was on fire today & is a world class player, I like Gagai & Best in the centres real strong players plus they have a pretty handy forward pack. When I said if the stars align I mean mainly that if Clune & Clifford click like they did today most weeks then who knows. Their are teams this year like Newcastle & the Broncos who have the players to be competitive but whether or not they can do for 26 rounds is another thing.
Penrith looked real good the other night without their main player yet the Chooks looked flat with their best side.

[roosterchook]

I agree with all the changes we are in a rebuilding phase. They did play like complete strangers. I thought the pre season was for these things. Other teams don’t seem to have dropsy as bad as us, I can only put it down to poor training methods.

[ism22]

We are in a phase of rebuilding. Now don’t mistake that for this being a rebuilding season, Robinson doesn’t do those. Nothing less than a premiership should or would be accepted as success for this year.

But there is a huge changing of the guard with the departures of so many greats over the past 24months and whilst we did an awesome job with all the bandaid fixes last year this is about rebuilding something that’s going to last. A lot of new combos, a new halves pairing, players switching edges and some new faces.

I can only really compare this to 2018 when Robinson made a deliberate decision to rebuild his side by bringing in Tedesco & Cronk and changing the way we played, we were 4 - 4 after 8 rounds. We lost in Round 1 to the Tigers, got belted by the Warriors in Round 4, lost to Souths in Round 6 and got belted by the Dragons on Anzac Day. Losses to teams we shouldn’t have lost to and beatings by rivals we hate losing to. 18 months later and we were the first side to go back to back in the NRL era.

I think it’s important to provide this context and perspective when assessing our performances over the first few months of the season.

Yeah I hear you mate. 'Rebuilding' is no excuse and this isn't like Gus' 5 year plan (which took 10-15 years & his sacking to bear fruits).

However, a heap of players are re-working their game and/or coming back from long-term injuries. Half of last year's team are playing for the Bears tomorrow so the combos we put so much time into (proudly) building last year are broken.

We have better combos to build-up but it wouldn't be an Easts season without some really shyte form/games. People can run off and root for the Drizz (or the Riff this year) if they can't handle the ups and downs (which are guaranteed to include losing to shyte teams because we have a habit of occasionally deciding to play like wooden spooners).

It'll come and by the time it does, Knights fans will all be sledging me for saying I'm not confident about our wins on a week-by-week basis because we 'always win'.

Not even Knights fans will remember this round come finals time coz we'll be completely different teams. Ponga will still be doing useless, flashie goosies / fake pumps 20m before the tackle... Gagai will still be doing a few decent runs where he beats 2 defenders (when beating 1 would be safer and adequate). People will still be talking about the potential of their newish halves (the Clone and the Caped Crusader). Whereas, we'll have built a fortress and put 50+ on a few teams (when we've decided to play properly), so will be seen as valid premiership contenders.

[Vasco]

We are in a phase of rebuilding. Now don’t mistake that for this being a rebuilding season, Robinson doesn’t do those. Nothing less than a premiership should or would be accepted as success for this year.

But there is a huge changing of the guard with the departures of so many greats over the past 24months and whilst we did an awesome job with all the bandaid fixes last year this is about rebuilding something that’s going to last. A lot of new combos, a new halves pairing, players switching edges and some new faces.

I can only really compare this to 2018 when Robinson made a deliberate decision to rebuild his side by bringing in Tedesco & Cronk and changing the way we played, we were 4 - 4 after 8 rounds. We lost in Round 1 to the Tigers, got belted by the Warriors in Round 4, lost to Souths in Round 6 and got belted by the Dragons on Anzac Day. Losses to teams we shouldn’t have lost to and beatings by rivals we hate losing to. 18 months later and we were the first side to go back to back in the NRL era.

I think it’s important to provide this context and perspective when assessing our performances over the first few months of the season.

Mate that was garbage. No point sugar coating.

[DP1990]

Robbo in the presser "We were underdone, we couldn't get enough guys to trial"......that's kind of intriguing. That many players weren't fit enough to trial 2 weeks ago but were fit enough to play today!? Hmmmmmmm, it could be a while before our first win tbh.

Covid hit the squad and it took the players a bit of time to recover and return. I believe that this pre-season had a fair bit of disruption. We didn't look fit and fast at all.

[Rooster_6]

Mate that was garbage. No point sugar coating.

Sugar coating what?

[Rooster_6]

I agree with all the changes we are in a rebuilding phase. They did play like complete strangers. I thought the pre season was for these things. Other teams don’t seem to have dropsy as bad as us, I can only put it down to poor training methods.

Hopefully the same poor training methods we suffered from in 2018 then.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

I get the don't panic, and be patient calls and agree to some extent.

However...the shittiest thing about an outcome like todays is the 2 comp points you can never get back. And should have been banked. Can come back to nip you.

Shitty.

[Bansai Pipeline]

Newcastle were very impressive. Great line speed, totally dominated us.

Still, you don’t win them in March do you.

[King Salvo]

Hopefully the same poor training methods we suffered from in 2018 then.

This side isn't the 2018 /2019 or even 2020 sides though - Those sides could get away with lot - poor set completions/errors/penalties etc as they could defend these and also turn defence into attack and rack up the points against sides.

Okay the 2021 side had a lot of injuries and retirements and players learning NRL on the run but this side need to vastly improve their defence and ball control for starters as they are not the side that can defend long periods or their mistakes.

I though it was a big ask for Keary to run the show first game back after not playing since round 3 last year - stats show Keary 2 runs 22 metres and Walker 5 runs 19 metres- so they need work out what they will do with this new halves pairing - play one on each side perhaps.

This could well be a tighter comp than the last 2 years with a quite a few sides improving their rosters so you need to nail the games you should win - today was one of those games. Chooks have one of the hardest draws as well so they can ill afford dropping to many of these games.

[Rooster_6]

This side isn't the 2018 /2019 or even 2020 sides though - Those sides could get away with lot - poor set completions/errors/penalties etc as they could defend these and also turn defence into attack and rack up the points against sides.

Okay the 2021 side had a lot of injuries and retirements and players learning NRL on the run but this side need to vastly improve their defence and ball control for starters as they are not the side that can defend long periods or their mistakes.

I though it was a big ask for Keary to run the show first game back after not playing since round 3 last year - stats show Keary 2 runs 22 metres and Walker 5 runs 19 metres- so they need work out what they will do with this new halves pairing - play one on each side perhaps.

This could well be a tighter comp than the last 2 years with a quite a few sides improving their rosters so you need to nail the games you should win - today was one of those games. Chooks have one of the hardest draws as well so they can ill afford dropping to many of these games.

How do you know this side can’t defend long periods? You’ve literally only seen them play together for 80minutes, surely you’re not drawing conclusions on that alone already?