WT v Knights round 1 ‘25 predictions

Fish88 said:
Knights back 5 are very very good and we will struggle to hold them on the edges where we struggle big time.

Still have nightmares of Best making 100 linebreaks at Tamworth against us.
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Someone on the team needs to take on Fletcher early. Get in his grill all night. Don’t give him an inch, he is close to the ruck easier to get at. Has to be the team’s objective, this is what good teams do. Set agenda’s!
 
lathami said:
Someone on the team needs to take on Fletcher early. Get in his grill all night. Don’t give him an inch, he is close to the ruck easier to get at. Has to be the team’s objective, this is what good teams do. Set agenda’s!
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agreed. I think he's going to have some significant teething problems defensively, so it's important we send plenty of traffic down that channel. we need Seyfarth punching holes between him and Lucas.
 
lathami said:
Someone on the team needs to take on Fletcher early. Get in his grill all night. Don’t give him an inch, he is close to the ruck easier to get at. Has to be the team’s objective, this is what good teams do. Set agenda’s!
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I think that we can match the Knights in the middle - it won't be easy but I don't think the game is won or lost there. Best, on his day, with room, can carve up most NRL defences. With Ponga swinging around to create a 3 on 2 we will be in for a lot of work on the edges. We have a lot of work to do to fix up the cover/scramble to support our up and in defence. Unless we do we are inviting them to score.

This is currently one of our weaknesses; but I also think that, with some hard work, it is a weapon we can use to beat the knights. As @lathami has pointed out we have the potential to disrupt the Knights attack by making the halves play early. The actions of our A and B defenders are as critical and although we have been OK in this area we have been caought short on a couple of occasions when the inside defenders get lazy and don't shut the gate.

I think we have the attack to score enough points to win provided we can keep Best and Ponga "contained".
 
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Vicious said:
Why ?
Latu’s front on defence is very strong and he’s much quicker than you would think, he wouldn’t get beaten laterally easily,
Then from an attacking point of view he runs the ball powerfully and has a high skill level.
When you say someone such as Latu would get shredded by the opposing elite attacking players, what potential left centre do we currently have that we can call a good defensive centre ?
Possibly Olam when he’s 💯 fit and healthy, I have doubts we will ever see that again,
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As each day goes past, the club may have to look at Latu as a left centre option.

FYI, I would rather see him being given time to develop as a 5/8 in NSW Cup but for the sake of the team, he may become our best current option.

-Olam (may be out for a while if not medically retired)
-Naden (at least the first 6 rounds)
-Doueihi (defensive liability)
-Faataape (depth only, solid but suspect in defence)
-Feledy (is he NRL quality)
-Saukuru (would rather he show consistency in Cup first for a couple of months)
-Luke Laulilii (queries over concussion, reportedly been training the house down, winger???)
-Skelton (is he more valuable for us on the left wing?)
-Turuva (is he more valuable for us on the right wing?)
-Bird (is he more valuable for us as a lock/utility?)
 
cktiger said:
Never forget when I was a young bloke playing in the second row. We came up against a team that had the current vice captain of the Australian schoolboys who was a centre.
My coach told me I’d be at centre marking him.
When I said he was too fast for me he gave me this advice… make him run slower.
Mind you this was early seventies 🤣
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Another stud on the forum that played in the secondrow
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
As each day goes past, the club may have to look at Latu as a left centre option.

FYI, I would rather see him being given time to develop as a 5/8 in NSW Cup but for the sake of the team, he may become our best current option.

-Olam (may be out for a while if not medically retired)
-Naden (at least the first 6 rounds)
-Doueihi (defensive liability)
-Faataape (depth only, solid but suspect in defence)
-Feledy (is he NRL quality)
-Saukuru (would rather he show consistency in Cup first for a couple of months)
-Luke Laulilii (queries over concussion, reportedly been training the house down, winger???)
-Skelton (is he more valuable for us on the left wing?)
-Turuva (is he more valuable for us on the right wing?)
-Bird (is he more valuable for us as a lock/utility?)
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Perfectly said, also consider although it would no doubt be great for his development, a player of Latu’s ability would highly likely be unhappy and start to get agitated if left playing NSW Cup for too much longer.
It might be a case of either find him a top 17 NRL spot or risk him demanding an early release.
 
lathami said:
Someone on the team needs to take on Fletcher early. Get in his grill all night. Don’t give him an inch, he is close to the ruck easier to get at. Has to be the team’s objective, this is what good teams do. Set agenda’s!
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Yep, that's what the good teams do.

Wests Tigers get penalised and sin binned out of the game.
 
Everyone saying Knights have a lot of strike on the edges. We don't struggle to score points either. If our pack lays a platform we will win. Knights are a bottom 4 team according to the bookies for a reason. If we're not competitive I will be really pissed.
 
upthetigers said:
Everyone saying Knights have a lot of strike on the edges. We don't struggle to score points either. If our pack lays a platform we will win. Knights are a bottom 4 team according to the bookies for a reason. If we're not competitive I will be really pissed.
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Knight are no chance of finishing bottom 4 unless they have a bad run of injuries to their key players.
They won’t be easy beats, but our bench forwards should give us an advantage over them.
If Luai and Galvin combine and play as well as we hope they can, that should be where the game is won.
 
Vicious said:
Knight are no chance of finishing bottom 4 unless they have a bad run of injuries to their key players.
They won’t be easy beats, but our bench forwards should give us an advantage over them.
If Luai and Galvin combine and play as well as we hope they can, that should be where the game is won.
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No easy beats in the NRL full stop. There is Penrith, Melbourne then the rest fighting it out for the remaining spots in the 8.
 
upthetigers said:
No easy beats in the NRL full stop. There is Penrith, Melbourne then the rest fighting it out for the remaining spots in the 8.
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Would include Broncos in that as well, assuming Madge doesn't lose the dressing room and politics / old boys stay out of it.
 
upthetigers said:
No easy beats in the NRL full stop. There is Penrith, Melbourne then the rest fighting it out for the remaining spots in the 8.
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i think you get at the knights around the halves . If you can jam and force them to make decisions earlier than they like , I think it will lead to errors .
Also I think if you dominate the ruck and thier forwards then they will suffer big time.
Otherwise if you allow them space they will be able to get it to Ponga with time , and that’s just dangerous . Especially in sweeping plays down thier left .
If you force them into having to pass/ kick thier way through you,I think it could really limit thier attack .
They have lots of speed and power in thier spine so forcing them away from their running game as much as possible should be the plan .
Also they scored a shit tonne of tries around the puddle of the field yesterday . I can’t see any other team being that loose around the ruck .
 
Definitely have to go at Sharpe as mentioned above... hoping he defends on our left so Luai/Sam Fainu can run at him all game.
 
Lestronge said:
i think you get at the knights around the halves . If you can jam and force them to make decisions earlier than they like , I think it will lead to errors .
Also I think if you dominate the ruck and thier forwards then they will suffer big time.
Otherwise if you allow them space they will be able to get it to Ponga with time , and that’s just dangerous . Especially in sweeping plays down thier left .
If you force them into having to pass/ kick thier way through you,I think it could really limit thier attack .
They have lots of speed and power in thier spine so forcing them away from their running game as much as possible should be the plan .
Also they scored a shit tonne of tries around the puddle of the field yesterday . I can’t see any other team being that loose around the ruck .
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Easts were atrocious yesterday may have made them look good, they will have to pull the thumb out or it will be a season of pain now that Manu doesn't look like coming back.
 
Lestronge said:
i think you get at the knights around the halves . If you can jam and force them to make decisions earlier than they like , I think it will lead to errors .
Also I think if you dominate the ruck and thier forwards then they will suffer big time.
Otherwise if you allow them space they will be able to get it to Ponga with time , and that’s just dangerous . Especially in sweeping plays down thier left .
If you force them into having to pass/ kick thier way through you,I think it could really limit thier attack .
They have lots of speed and power in thier spine so forcing them away from their running game as much as possible should be the plan .
Also they scored a shit tonne of tries around the puddle of the field yesterday . I can’t see any other team being that loose around the ruck .
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You need to move up and slide with the play on the edges, make sure the defensive line is evenly spread and not overly compressed, no heros rushing out of the line, the roosters were backpeddling giving the knights more space to attack. Never laced a footy boot but that's what I think.
 
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