Bennett To Blame For Newcastle

[Kaz]

The blame should be pointed at the players.

The players have always run the club. And they always will.

There was nothing Bennett could have done to change it, well apart from sacking the entire squad & starting from scratch.

 

[gordjw]

As far as bringing blue-chip players in, I'd imagine the Knights would be very hard to recruit for, like Canberra. You have to pay massive overs because they're neither successful, nor a big city team. There's nothing to speak of in the way of business or industry in the area, so very few TPAs.

Wikipedia says that only 5 players made their FG debuts for the Knights in 2012 and 2013. 12 others transferred in from other clubs/comps.
In 2014 it was 7-1 in favour of FG debutants.

Maybe Wayne finally convinced the board to let him do things his way in 2014?

 

[Mr Fourex]

How much blame does Wayne Bennett deserve for all the hardship at the Knights?

Wayne is the black widow of the NRL.

Happened to the Knights...happened to the Merge

and happened to us.

Clubs generally go through a rough few years after WB leaves them.

 

[Big Pete]

Black widow? Are you suggesting he sabotages clubs before he leaves them Fourex?

Could be a bit of weight in that.

 

[Mr Fourex]

White ant them even .....

 

[mrslong]

My Saints friends worship Bennett and love him for everything he did at the club. They lay the blame for the demise of their club solely at the feet of Doust.

The Knights were terrible. Remember the outrage when he tried to dump their beloved Uate and Mullen. I'm surprised they didn't burn him at the stake. "How dare you suggest Uate is anything but a superstar winger second only in history to Eric Grothe Sr."

It's interesting to see how Matt Johns talks about Wayne's time at the knights vs Andrew Johns talking about Wayne's time at the knights. Sir Joey has nothing good to say about it, Matt is a bit vague and non commital and never finger points anything but the circumstances - McKinnon/Tinkler etc. I think Joey has a lot more power than they like to let on.

 

[mitch222]

I can only assume the reason Mullen keeps getting contracts there is purely because of joeys love obsession with him

 

[tommy]

Joey worked for the Sea Eagles and now the Roosters. Why does Newcastle let him wield such power over what happens at their club? He could at least teach their halves if he wants to have such a big say.

 

[tommy]

[h=1]Knights coach Nathan Brown says club can’t waste time blaming Wayne Bennett for woes[/h]April 14, 2016 5:11pmBARRY TOOHEYThe Daily Telegraph

[h=3]Hodges praises Broncos[/h]

NEWCASTLE coach Nathan Brown has defended Wayne Bennett’s three-year coaching tenure at the Knights, dismissing suggestions he is to blame for the club’s crippling salary cap position and lack of depth in the playing squad.
Despite being boosted by their first win of the season over Wests Tigers, Brown’s youthful side will still go in as massive underdogs against Bennett’s Broncos on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The Knights coach, who has already used seven NRL debutants this season, is understood to be considering blooding another rookie against the competition frontrunners with young prop Josh King in line to replace veteran Jeremy Smith, who is set to be ruled out with a knee injury.
But despite admitting the club’s playing resources have been stretched to the limit during the opening seven rounds, Brown says he was well aware what he was walking into when he took on the job.
“I knew the state of the club before I came here so I’ve never complained about it or pointed the finger at anyone,” Brown said.
“I accepted a job where I knew that the club was struggling. I knew the salary cap was not in a great state.
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“I knew the club had had a lot of older players and I knew the situation meant that I was going to have to introduce a lot of younger players. That’s what I’ve done.
“What you need is the support of the board to give you time to fix it and we’ve got that and that’s what we are doing now.”

Asked if Bennett should in any way be held accountable for Newcastle’s current roster problems, Brown said:
“Wayne was paid to come in and win a competition in the shortest time possible. So when you want to win a comp in the shortest time possible, you need to sign players who are ready to win you one. That’s the reality.
“I don’t like to look into whose fault it is. It’s counter-productive. I look at what jobs coaches are brought in to do and that was the focus for Wayne.
“Don’t forget, you look at the young guys who came through like Danny Levi, Jake Mamo, Joe Tapine, the Saifiti boys, Jaelen Fenney and others — they were kids that Pete Mulholland (former Knights recruitment boss) brought in while Wayne was here.”

Nathan Brown has urged the Knights to move on from the blame game.Brown suggested he may not have even been given a chance to coach the Knights if the club wasn’t at the start of a major rebuild.
“If the club was ready to win a comp, they might have signed some other coach,” he said.
“I might have been overlooked altogether. I’ve been brought in to do a certain job and it’s similar to what I have done at some other clubs.
“I’m certainly not going to be blaming anyone or complaining because I’m lucky to have a job. It’s a good job to have and over time, we can get it right.
“It’s going to be a big challenge against the Broncs up there but hopefully, we’ll turn up with plenty of energy and effort and see how we go.”