2019 NIB Knights

Thank fuck newcastle didnt sign scott
Would be 32 coming off a knee reco and asking the best part of a million a year for 3 years.

Fuark that

Wonder if they pulled the offer after his knee injury? You'd think if that offer was still there the Cows wouldn't be able to go close to the Knights offer and he would have left, but now with no alternative offer Scott might have had to accept closer to $500K than $1M.

Surely the Cows couldn't be paying basically $3M/Year to JT, JT and Scott. I know the Storm would be top heavy with their salary, but at least their big 3 are all spine players, not 1 spine player + 2 running forwards.

yeah surely after the knee injury, with the ongoing neck injury and at his age - he would have had to take a pay cut to stay where he is

Knights pulled their after the injury is what I read.

Which is great news, I thought we were paying overs already for him so I'm glad we're not. That's Bromwich money, not Scott money.

I feel we're about 16/17 more signings away from being top 8 contenders.

Alright. I'm watching Sterlo, interview with Nathan Brown...

He is basically saying we need experienced guys to help out the younger fellas. Problem there is, they can't actually get anyone.

Ennis joked and said he is fine to play another year if the money is right. Well why dont Ennis +Parker speak to each other, jump in and play the rest of the year?

It's a big call from both players, but wouldn't it be good to see both from a fans point of view, but more importantly for the Knights as a team? Or would it be a waste of time?


They probably wouldn't do it, but Nathan Brown seems like a decent guy, the Knights seem like a team which need help.


Thoughts?

If they both sign on for this year and next year sure, but I don't see how them playing just the rest of the year would benefit the team much.

In saying that, Its not a terrible idea, Ennis and parker would both teach professionalism and a bit of work ethic - I reckon if something like that was to happen tho, they would have to do it for next year too for there to be any real benefit.

Last I read Newie we talking to Foran on the weekend. There is someone who would benefit the team for a few years if we can get him.

Newie really do need a prop or 2 tho, was hoping we would try and get Matulino and or packer. Our most experienced forwards in Buhrer and Kostjasyn both getting hurt didnt fucking help either lol.

If we dont get foran, I think a halves partnership of Hodkinson and Lolohea would be awesome.

Not so sure about Parker, but I'd be happy if it was Ivan Cleary they were interviewing and Ennis put it to him fo an 18 month contract.

Someone like Ennis could really help turn our sides from a bottom of the bottom 8 to a top of the bottom 8 sort of team

I don't see why we would want Ennis when we're rebuilding. It's short sighted and doesn't make sense to me long term. Levi isn't horrible. There's reports we're right in the mix of Matulino - which I think is a mistake as well. We need hungry players that want to be apart of something bigger. From all reports he's a lazy trainer and doesn't have the right mentality. That doesn't fit in well with the Brown's policy of "no dickheads"

If he doesnt fit browns policy, why would he sign him?
The guy has been dropped etc, he might be hungry to make a point. The guy was one of the better props in the league a few years ago. Plus he prob comes pretty cheap. We need experienced forwards, thats what Matulino is. Newcastle need props badly.

Levi isnt horrible, he also isnt that good. Having a time share with ennis would help him immensely I reckon. Ennis was/is a quality player and a professional. I dont know why we are talking about it tho, it wont happen. I would 100% take someone like ennis at the moment if he wanted to come out of retirement. It would be an absolute no brainer.

Bringing in say Graham and Matulino would be amazing next season.
Graham, Matulino, Foran, Ponga...

Pieman wrote:If he doesnt fit browns policy, why would he sign him?
The guy has been dropped etc, he might be hungry to make a point. The guy was one of the better props in the league a few years ago. Plus he prob comes pretty cheap. We need experienced forwards, thats what Matulino is. Newcastle need props badly.

Levi isnt horrible, he also isnt that good. Having a time share with ennis would help him immensely I reckon. Ennis was/is a quality player and a professional. I dont know why we are talking about it tho, it wont happen. I would 100% take someone like ennis at the moment if he wanted to come out of retirement. It would be an absolute no brainer.

I think because we are desperate for big props and BM and his manager know that, so they give lip service to say he's changed blah blah. I just don't want to spend overs on someone like BM.

I think Levi has the potential to be very good if we get the props rolling forward fast enough - that's our issue as you've already alluded to.

Ennis gives us a good year and a half if he joins.. out of retirement. For the money. Is that the message we want to be sending to our club and players?

The ennis thing is nothing, it doesnt need to be spoken about.
But he also left to dogs and was prob the most important player for the sharks in their premiership win... sooo

Honeysett wrote:

I think because we are desperate for big props and BM and his manager know that, so they give lip service to say he's changed blah blah. I just don't want to spend overs on someone like BM.

I think Levi has the potential to be very good if we get the props rolling forward fast enough - that's our issue as you've already alluded to.

Ennis gives us a good year and a half if he joins.. out of retirement. For the money. Is that the message we want to be sending to our club and players?

The point that was being made on the show (by Browny) is that currently the Knights are having a crack but lack a few experienced heads to actually get them across the line in some of these close losses.

Ennis' was a tongue in cheek comment and is not a valid option but overall it's a valid point IMO and you only have to look at my Brissie Lions in the AFL for an example of a club that has gone down the path of a rebuild without the right balance of experience.
All that ends up happening is the young blokes don't fully develop because they are held back by too many losses.

The hard part is getting that balance right so you bring in experience and don't damage your rebuild in the process.

Playing ability is one thing but I'd be looking more at the influence behind the scenes

Silly question, but is there any reason from a off-field point of view Newcastle can't attract big names? If Townsville with a population of about 200K can offer enough 3rd party deals to keep guys like JT1, JT2, Matt Scott, MM etc, then why can't Newcastle with a population of 300K+?

Surely if you get the boardroom right, then they should be able to put the structure in place to get the right coach, and the opportunity to at least compete on the player market with other teams. Or is Townsville an anomoly at the moment and other teams with under say 500K people (Gold Coast, Woollongong etc)?

I think you will find that players want to play with JT and sponsors want to be involved with the club that has JT. So there are more opportunities there.

In newcastle, there is literally no one there at the moment who players would love to play with. As soon as newie can actually jag a few more good players, continue working on changing the culture and if Ponga ends up being the superstar he is supposed to be and so on - newcastle will be able to attract more big names. Sponsors dont want to be involved with shit clubs, as soon as they string some wins together then the money will come in. I love that Brown got rid of all of newcastle's 'big names'.

Off Field - newcastle is an awesome city. So different to what it use to be, great beaches and still a relatively low cost of living. It all comes down to wins on the field and playing in a competitive side.

Dip wrote:Silly question, but is there any reason from a off-field point of view Newcastle can't attract big names? If Townsville with a population of about 200K can offer enough 3rd party deals to keep guys like JT1, JT2, Matt Scott, MM etc, then why can't Newcastle with a population of 300K+?

Surely if you get the boardroom right, then they should be able to put the structure in place to get the right coach, and the opportunity to at least compete on the player market with other teams. Or is Townsville an anomoly at the moment and other teams with under say 500K people (Gold Coast, Woollongong etc)?

I think up until now this has probably been the issue.

Players and coaches don't want to walk into a Tigers or Parra-esque debacle and Newcastle was just that (hence why they lost Bennett).

They seem to be on the right track now but IMO and as I mentioned earlier, they are too skewed towards rebuilding and don't have enough experience.

As a fan and if they stay on this path, I'd be concerned for the development and retention of the young bloke they seem to be banking on, Ponga.

Kurt Gidley wouldn't be a bad bloke to get back into the team.

We're going for that experience now. We're in talks with James Graham and Ben Matulino if you believe such rumours. I'd love to have James Graham in our side.

Honeysett wrote:We're going for that experience now. We're in talks with James Graham and Ben Matulino if you believe such rumours. I'd love to have James Graham in our side.

I think every club in the comp would like to have James Graham in their side.

Ponga will potentially be a very good player, but from what I saw on Saturday night at fullback (which is the first time I've seen him play there), he seriously needs to spend some time in the gym. On kick returns once they caught him they just monstered him and your team is going to struggle when you're pushed back 5m in every first tackle. Fullback is littered with small guys throughout history, but he'll need to get stronger to permanently hold that position. Guys like Slater, Bowen etc are small but still have enough strength not to be rag dolled every time they get caught. He's only young though, so no reason he can't put on some muscle fairly quickly.