The Wayne Bennett Super thread!

[Bull Shark]

I was firmly in the pro-Bennett return camp too but gents, I really recommend laying off the smug 'told you so' stuff ... sport has a way of making the bullish look very stupid very quickly.

:tape2:

 

[Ari Gold]

Frankly, I'm not sure the Knights current predicament is really a testament to the pro-Bennett brigade. It really only serves to underline how poorly the club's roster was put together and was a big part of why I didn't want WB back.

Happily though he's playing Kodi and Parcell and Joe O rather than signing old ***** like Buderus, Gower and Mason. On that front I was 100% wrong and couldn't be happier to be so.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

@Huge
Some penalty stats for you:
We have won 5 penalty counts, lost 5 and drew 2.
At home it is W4, L1.
Away, it is W1, Drew 2, L4.

We have won 70 penalties so far this season with 67 against.

Best was 7-2 v the Eels.

Worst was 6-11 v the Sharks.

For shits and giggles, compare this to the Raiders who are supposedly getting smashed by the refs:
Won 6 counts, Lost 5, drew 1.
Home is W3, L2, D1.
Away is W3 and L3.

Total penalties 73 for, 71 against.

 

[broncos4life]

No, not sarcastic. Our defence is great - goal line and one-on-one. I was referring to our points conceded which is not good. For me, that is largely because our line speed is average. The reason we are sitting near the top of the table is because our attack is bloody good. However, as our game against the Dragons showed, their defence contained our attack, admittedly, just, which is a real positive.

The issue for me is that the top sides with a clearly good defensive record, the Dragons 126 points against v our 204 will become telling as their attack continues to improve while their defence remains rock solid. If we remain soft up the middle, they will outscore us as they contain us.

For mine, we are soft up the middle and sooner than later, we will be found out unless we nail the attack as we did v Roosters, since when we have gone downhill. Thank goodness our attack is getting better and better, but it won't be enough until we hold the middle a lot better than we are doing now.

I doubt the Raiders would have scored a point against the Dragons.

They scored 18 against them when they played a few weeks ago...

 

[Huge]

@Huge
Some penalty stats for you:
We have won 5 penalty counts, lost 5 and drew 2.
At home it is W4, L1.
Away, it is W1, Drew 2, L4.

We have won 70 penalties so far this season with 67 against.

Best was 7-2 v the Eels.

Worst was 6-11 v the Sharks.

For shits and giggles, compare this to the Raiders who are supposedly getting smashed by the refs:
Won 6 counts, Lost 5, drew 1.
Home is W3, L2, D1.
Away is W3 and L3.

Total penalties 73 for, 71 against.

Cheers, appreciate you taking the time. The only stat regarding penalties that really counts for me is penalties conceded, something we can actually have an effect on. I wish I could know how many we concede for offside ( not including accidental offside ) It might go some way to supporting my notion that we are letting teams come to us when in the mid ground . By that I mean the 25/ mid point /25 zone. When they are coming off their line I think our defence line moves up quicker and the same when they are in our danger zone but if we limit our offside midfield penalties by letting them come to us a bit more we concede a few more metres but limit our losses. I could easily be wrong, it's just a theory after all. No, not like a scientific theory; Evolution, Gravity, Magnetism etc...more like a Miss Marple theory !

 

[Dexter]

I was firmly in the pro-Bennett return camp too but gents, I really recommend laying off the smug 'told you so' stuff ... sport has a way of making the bullish look very stupid very quickly.

:tape2:

Totally agree BS, I wasn't really meaning to have a dig at QLDER I just happened to come across the post which to be fair was completely accurate at the time of posting and thought how much it had turned to shit since.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Wow, I completely forgot about Travis Waddell.

Wasn't he the bloke that was supposed to be in week in and week out in the Broncos side cause his the type of player Bennett likes?

 

[Porthoz]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Wasn't he the bloke that was supposed to be in week in and week out in the Broncos side cause his the type of player Bennett likes?

What a load of crap, not even AP said that about Wadell. Getting a bit fed-up with these swipes from hindsight heroes who can't even quote anything right.

Heaps of people were critical about his hiring, but most people who said something like that, were talking about Reed, not Wadell. Guess what... they were right.

Back to the matter at hand, it's open season on Taylor. That hit by Frei should've been a penalty.

And now, he scores an excellent try.

 

[Cult]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

What a load of crap, not even AP said that about Wadell. Getting a bit fed-up with these swipes from hindsight heroes who can't even quote anything right.

Heaps of people were critical about his hiring, but most people who said something like that, were talking about Reed, not Wadell. Guess what... they were right.

Back to the matter at hand, it's open season on Taylor. That hit by Frei should've been a penalty.

And now, he scores an excellent try.

Getting sick of the comments from hindsight heroes and then you go on to say those who said it were right? I don't think anyone was being serious but with the amount of shit that was said at the start of the year these jokes were bound to be made.

Why is Ash Taylor the 4th or 5th receiver? He's not involving himself at all. He just scored a second rowers try.

 

[Porthoz]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Getting sick of the comments from hindsight heroes and then you go on to say those who said it were right? I don't think anyone was being serious but with the amount of shit that was said at the start of the year these jokes were bound to be made.

Why is Ash Taylor the 4th or 5th receiver? He's not involving himself at all. He just scored a second rowers try.

Show me anyone that said that about Wadell and is not AP (I don't think even he did, but there are no guarantees with him).

People who said that about Reed weren't right?

Your anti Taylor bias is showing mate...

 

[Cult]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Yeah you didn't respond to what I just said at all. I did not say everyone said Waddell was a definite top 17 but there was a lot said, and hindsight heroes were bound to pop up eventually considering the amount of banter that occurred before the season began. But if you want to play that game.

What was said was that signing Waddell would hinder the growth of our younger players and that hasn't happened at all, and therefore means you were wrong.

I really hate this type of recruitment, because it seriously dents the path of our youngsters into FG, because you have these guys, who are just good enough to put in there without taking a risk on a rookie, but without the upside of that rookie.

I don't have a bias towards Taylor. He did nothing for most of that half but sit out on the left side. He was first receiver, how many times? Regarding that try, he got the ball as 4th or 5th receiver and ran through a hole. He looks to be defending ok but a lot of whatever his tackle count will be are second or third man in after the player has stopped moving. Watch the game, mate.

 

[Cult]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Also Taylor's attack isn't what my issue is with him. I know and have agreed that he can kick well and control games and whatever else. But I have seen him defend against teenagers and fail. That is literally the only negative thing I've said, and now you can add me saying he isn't involving himself a lot. Sorry for wanting to see him play like a halfback in the few opportunities the Magpies have received in this game.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

What a load of crap, not even AP said that about Wadell. Getting a bit fed-up with these swipes from hindsight heroes who can't even quote anything right.

Heaps of people were critical about his hiring, but most people who said something like that, were talking about Reed, not Wadell. Guess what... they were right.

Fair call Porthoz, what I said was uncalled for with regards to Waddell and unsubstantiated in this instance, my apologies.

As for Reed I have to disagree, Bennett has had that many varying styles of centres during his career that he definitely doesn't favour one over the other.

 

[Ari Gold]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Bennett's signings haven't halted the progress of our youngsters anywhere near as much as I thought.

That said, this is exactly what he did with Newcastle. They had basically no juniors come through under Bennett and it kinda shows right now. As the Knights were his last gig, I don't see why it's such a big deal people voiced similar concerns when he signed for us.

Not being concerned that WB would do a similar thing with us is like Taylor defending poorly at a lower level and then not being concerned about it at NRL level.

 

[Ari Gold]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Fair call Porthoz, what I said was uncalled for with regards to Waddell and unsubstantiated in this instance, my apologies.

As for Reed I have to disagree, Bennett has had that many varying styles of centres during his career that he definitely doesn't favour one over the other.

Have you seen the most recent press conference. My takeaway from that was that Bennett is not at all a fan of Jack Reed.

 

[Huge]

My take was he was happy with Reed and could easily become unhappy if Reed decided to have a big head or not bother going as hard as recently due to receiving kudos from WB and media backslaps. I think he is well pleased with Reed and Hodges was quite vocal in his praise of Reed, something I think would be unlikely in WBs presence if Hodges did not already know WBs mind on the subject.

Funny how two people can read different things between the lines hey !

 

[Porthoz]

Re: Round 13 ISC - Magpies vs Seagulls

Yeah you didn't respond to what I just said at all. I did not say everyone said Waddell was a definite top 17 but there was a lot said, and hindsight heroes were bound to pop up eventually considering the amount of banter that occurred before the season began. But if you want to play that game.

What was said was that signing Waddell would hinder the growth of our younger players and that hasn't happened at all, and therefore means you were wrong.

Wow, desperate much?
That is a general statement, not only meant at Waddell, but any other similar type of player recruited.
Fortunately, Macca has been solid and hasn't missed a game (knock on wood), so the theory is untested.
Regardless, I'm not continuing this topic and derail this thread further.

I don't have a bias towards Taylor. He did nothing for most of that half but sit out on the left side. He was first receiver, how many times? Regarding that try, he got the ball as 4th or 5th receiver and ran through a hole. He looks to be defending ok but a lot of whatever his tackle count will be are second or third man in after the player has stopped moving. Watch the game, mate.

Keep telling yourself that...

I'm watching the game... Taylor is not making the mistake of wanting to be involved in everything, but is doing a very good job, both in attack and defense.

Magpies clearly not getting the rub of the green. A few decisions going against them this arvo. They deserved better, while at the same time, they did a few unforgivable mistakes, otherwise they might be level or up on Wynnum.

 

[GCBRONCO]

That is how I saw it too Huge, it's similarly on the lines to what he has previously said about Wendall Sailor's antics on the field, he never had a problem with it but he had to back it up with substance, otherwise he would cop a mouthful.