One of the most frustrating games I’ve seen in a long time.
We had ample opportunities to win that game but our halves could not organise a game of tiddlywinks let alone a game of football.
we lost that through poor execution in the first half , and hero ball . The knights did a great job of keeping the ball away from ken in the first half , making naden do the hard metres early . Which is not his game .
We just were lazy and not committed in the first half , and a metre off the pace .
a big reason for this was Pole at 13 and poor one on one defence , AD was a big culprit of this .
we just couldn’t execute in the second half and Newcastle defensively was not the same team as the last few weeks
See another one of our 6 home grounds is a fortress 😂
It was just awful. Management of the game by the halves was atrocious. We are rudderless without Hastings.
forwards were flaccid.
@avocadoontoast no but pretty clear he is part of the solution along with Hastings. The dream of some to move Brooks on and stick with Madden well that surely has to be forgotten after today.
As some have said on here the halves today couldn't have organised a fly to land on poop
@jedi-tiger brooks isn’t an organiser, that’s why he was moved from 7. Tbh I don’t think Madden is the answer but I don’t think Brooks is either.
@jedi-tiger Said last week Madden has to put in every week to be taken seriously well that’s all folks see ya.. Brooks is cooked so the club needs to look elsewhere for a 1/2 and 5/8 as the only thing Douehi has in spades is a huge opinion of himself !
Just for reference . I know we signed naden , but here is our best 1-17 prior to round 1 this year 1. Laurie 2. Nofa - Melbourne 3. Roberts - recovering from another injury in NSW cup 4. AJ played well 5 . Ken now out 6 . AD . Much better second half 7 brooks out 8 uto out 9 Liddle , banished to NSW cup 10 Tamou 11 garner out 12 luci nQ 13 Hastings out 14 musgrove 15 Twal out 16 blore out 17 uto out That's 5 players in our preferred 17 still going around . I don't know what that means but I was watching today and noticed most of this team I watched in NSW cup last year .
Most people have this one right.
We desperately need a game manager. Madden and AD aren't game managers and it's not a mentality you simply create. Some people are born leaders and some aren't. It doesn't make them bad players, just unsuited to the role.
I agree with @snake regarding AD (although somewhat less bluntly). Ego is dictating his play and he's looking to be the 'hero' rather than playing for the team. His decision making today was poor - running when he should have passed and vice versa. If he plays for the team this should sort itself out. The less said about his defence the better.
Madden was good today but when we really needed him - in the last 2 minutes - he took a tackle when we had a massive overlap. He was our best half and tried for 80 minutes.
Ignoring people's hate of Nofo, we missed both his set starts and finishing today. Ken is injured and merely taking up space. I think Nofo scores the one Ken didn't get to.
Our backline plays look pedestrian without Hasting's passing accuracy and Brooks' pace. He accelerates our plays whilst Madden and AD slow them.
Freebairn was great on debut - he didn't look out of place in first grade. Laurie, AJ and Naden were good. Musgrove was strong up front. Again Joffa was our best.
TL:DR - we were a ship without a rudder. I think we win with Hastings and/or Brooks.
Another ordinary effort. We looked asleep in the first half, Newcastle kept us in the game with their errors. Second half not much better. We just don’t have it with the mental side of the game. Instead of employing three coaches next year perhaps we can employ a psychologist or three.
Just as a side note, the coaches and players wearing suits to the game looks stupid.
Professional IMO.
Hastings is our game manager at lock much like Yeo at Penrith
Brooks and Douhie play wide either side
