Round 27 v Newcastle Knights the Must win

[Josh]

If Dolphins win, and I'm confident we will, are Broncos supporters going to get behind the Dolphins for the finals?

 

[Dolph]

If Dolphins win, and I'm confident we will, are Broncos supporters going to get behind the Dolphins for the finals?

Casual supporters will. Serious Broncos supporters like those over at Broncos HQ won't.

 

[Chris]

To put on my purely objective cap, I think there is something in this.

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

www.foxsports.com.au

If what Wayne is reported to have said when trying to entice Ponga from Newcastle is true, I'd be angry about it if I was a Newcastle supporter. But these days Wayne has a feud with some club official or some player or some coach nearly every game.

• With Ricky Stuart (Canberra)
• With Nick Politis (Roosters)
• With Craig Bellamy and Cameron Munster (Melbourne)
• With Kevin Walters, Darren Lockyer and I think a few others at (Broncos)
• With Phil Gould (Canterbury)
• With Kalyn Ponga and the entire city of (Newcastle)
• Anyone else?

 

[Red]

To put on my purely objective cap, I think there is something in this.

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

www.foxsports.com.au

If what Wayne is reported to have said when trying to entice Ponga from Newcastle is true, I'd be angry about it if I was a Newcastle supporter. But these days Wayne has a feud with some club official or some player or some coach nearly every game.

• With Ricky Stuart (Canberra)
• With Nick Politis (Roosters)
• With Craig Bellamy and Cameron Munster (Melbourne)
• With Kevin Walters, Darren Lockyer and I think a few others at (Broncos)
• With Phil Gould (Canterbury)
• With Kalyn Ponga and the entire city of (Newcastle)
• Anyone else?

• Gordon Tallis (is he still employed by Gold Coast despite his obvious support for the Broncos?)
• Anthony Seibold: Manly (biggest of the lot)
• Nathan Brown (I think he is employed by Parramatta as recruitment manager)

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

To put on my purely objective cap, I think there is something in this.

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

‘Motivated to prove Wayne wrong’ Twist in top 8 showdown over infamous ‘rock star’ dig

www.foxsports.com.au

If what Wayne is reported to have said when trying to entice Ponga from Newcastle is true, I'd be angry about it if I was a Newcastle supporter. But these days Wayne has a feud with some club official or some player or some coach nearly every game.

• With Ricky Stuart (Canberra)
• With Nick Politis (Roosters)
• With Craig Bellamy and Cameron Munster (Melbourne)
• With Kevin Walters, Darren Lockyer and I think a few others at (Broncos)
• With Phil Gould (Canterbury)
• With Kalyn Ponga and the entire city of (Newcastle)
• Anyone else?

On the Ponga thing.

I am a Ponga fan, would have loved him here. What Wayne said to him was the truth. Unfortunately, some people don't like hearing it. Ponga is managed by his father, who is difficult to deal with. In this case, any hard-hitting truths can be taken personally. In sport and business, first thing I learnt, was never take it personal it's just business.

He said ‘do you want to be a rock star and keep walking around like you’re a cool dude or do you want to be a footballer’. It was 100% right. Back then, he was their highest paid, but wasn't playing like it. Today, still their highest paid, playing heaps better. But that offense turned into some action I would say.

 

[Equaliser]

On the Ponga thing.

I am a Ponga fan, would have loved him here. What Wayne said to him was the truth. Unfortunately, some people don't like hearing it. Ponga is managed by his father, who is difficult to deal with. In this case, any hard-hitting truths can be taken personally. In sport and business, first thing I learnt, was never take it personal it's just business.

He said ‘do you want to be a rock star and keep walking around like you’re a cool dude or do you want to be a footballer’. It was 100% right. Back then, he was their highest paid, but wasn't playing like it. Today, still their highest paid, playing heaps better. But that offense turned into some action I would say.

It was true then. Now they are a One-man team. Though I know they beat us without him.

With Katoa, JMK and our forwards, no telling how good he could be.

 

[Equaliser]

Shut Ponga down and shut Newcastle down. Playing them is a bit like U10s. "Pass the ball to __________!"

• Dolphins by 16
• MoM = Herbie
• First try = Fuller

 

[Blockade]

Most Dolphin fans are talking up a comfortable victory and that could prove true but I'm not near as optimistic.

Both teams are quite similar. A makeshift halves pairing, a sub par boiler room but very strong backlines. Newcastle have won two straight but have struggled for the most part and the Dolphins have won 4 of 13 highlighted by a big win over an awful Bronco side.

This will be a really tough game in enemy territory where the passion for RL is unrivalled. This game will go down to the wire.

Dolphins by 2
FTS- Lemuelu
MOTM- Fuller.

 

[Dolph]

• Dolphins by20
• MoM = Fuller
• First try = Fuller

 

[Equaliser]

Most Dolphin fans are talking up a comfortable victory and that could prove true but I'm not near as optimistic.

Both teams are quite similar. A makeshift halves pairing, a sub par boiler room but very strong backlines. Newcastle have won two straight but have struggled for the most part and the Dolphins have won 4 of 13 highlighted by a big win over an awful Bronco side.

This will be a really tough game in enemy territory where the passion for RL is unrivalled. This game will go down to the wire.

Dolphins by 2
FTS- Lemuelu
MOTM- Fuller.

Agree 100%, They beat us without Ponga earlier this year. True the better team lost but obviously not that much better.

If we do win, it'll be a huge coup for the club. Not only making the finals in the second year but beating the Broncos in only the second year. Will help lure some of the best juniors to the Dolphins.

But have to win first.

 

[Jetty]

D-Day is upon us.

Dolphins by 10
First try: Bostock
MoM: Herbie

 

[mr_c]

On the Ponga thing.

I am a Ponga fan, would have loved him here. What Wayne said to him was the truth. Unfortunately, some people don't like hearing it. Ponga is managed by his father, who is difficult to deal with. In this case, any hard-hitting truths can be taken personally. In sport and business, first thing I learnt, was never take it personal it's just business.

He said ‘do you want to be a rock star and keep walking around like you’re a cool dude or do you want to be a footballer’. It was 100% right. Back then, he was their highest paid, but wasn't playing like it. Today, still their highest paid, playing heaps better. But that offense turned into some action I would say.

It was pongas old man that had the issue he had same issue at cowboys n wait him ans Kayla's agent still run behind scenes at knights

 

[mr_c]

His old man is the biggest flog out know for fact several Newcastle officials won't interact with him h

 

[mr_c]

in all fairness to wayne some of the so called fueds are just water under the bridge to him he gets on with the job like leaving broncos and all other clubs he leaves / or coaches he pisses off , but very few coaches n players dont ricky n trent is a far bigger one

 

[mr_c]

RL 2024: Wayne Bennett defends his time in Newcastle ahead of Dolphins vs Knights clash​

As Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins prepare for a do-or-die clash against Newcastle for a spot in finals, the super coach has hit back at claims he left the Knights in crisis when he departed the club.

Peter Badel

@badel_cmail

5 min read
September 8, 2024 - 6:00AM
News Sport Network
https://www.couriermail.com.au/spor...2da0a69e3264e9d79638b24fd9903?amp#share-tools

NRL: The Fox League panel discuss how Wayne Bennett would adjust to this Souths side and what he would change to make them a top contender.
Wayne Bennett has slammed suggestions he ruined Newcastle and declared the Dolphins fear no rival as the super coach prepares to pull off an epic finals fairytale.
Bennett is on the brink of one of his greatest achievements – his Dolphins will qualify for the finals in just their second season if they beat the Knights in Sunday’s blockbuster at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium.
Both are locked on 28 competition points.
The eighth-placed Dolphins (+7) are just ahead of the Knights (-48) on percentages and victory for Redcliffe in the very final game of the 2024 regular season will propel Bennett’s troops into the playoffs and be sweet vindication for the NRL’s expansion project.
For Bennett, the last-round epic before a 33,000-sellout – which could represent his 48th and final game as Dolphins coach – has an explosive personal edge.
The 74-year-old returns to Newcastle with vivid memories of his three-season coaching stint in the steel city from 2012-14, a period of turbulence that included a brilliant finals campaign, the Alex McKinnon tragedy and an explosive showdown with former owner Nathan Tinkler.
In the final months of Tinkler’s wild reign in 2014, the one-time coal billionaire attempted to take over a halftime speech from Bennett to blast Knights players. Bennett kicked a drunk Tinkler out of the sheds. The pair never spoke again and Bennett quit Newcastle at season’s end.

Wayne Bennett has hit back at claims he left the Knights in crisis when he departed the club at the end of 2014. Picture: Mark Evans
Against that backdrop, Bennett returns to Newcastle a decade later, determined to plunge the dagger into the Knights with a Dolphins outfit he believes can be the giant-killer of the finals.
The NRL Hall of Fame coach bristled when asked if the Dolphins would be making up the numbers in the playoffs.
“I don’t know why you ask me that question,” Bennett snapped.
“I don’t know if you guys do your homework, but we have matched it with the top teams all year.
“We have not been outplayed by the top teams.
“The Storm is the only team that got among us and that was two weeks ago (winning 48-6 in Melbourne).
“We will have to wait and see, we aren’t in the finals.
“We are sitting on the verge of the finals because the potential got us there, so I can see why they have the potential to play well (in the finals) if they play well (against the Knights), it will be another stepping stone for them.
“We don’t fear what’s in front of us, it’s just a case of getting our game right and playing to our capabilities.”

Bennett has also hit back at suggestions the Dolphins cant match it with the top teams. Picture: NRL Photos
There is a view the Knights still haven’t fully recovered as a club from the tumultuous Tinkler-Bennett regime.
After the seven-time premiership winner left at the end of 2014, the Knights won three consecutive wooden spoons under Nathan Brown, leading to accusations that Bennett handed over a club in crisis.
Bennett won 34 of 75 matches in Newcastle for a 45 per cent success rate. Tellingly, he coached the Knights on a remarkable charge to the 2013 preliminary final, knocking out the Storm before losing to eventual premiers the Roosters to fall one game short of the grand final.
It remains Newcastle’s most successful season in 23 years since their 2001 premiership victory.
Brown famously hammered Bennett for having to “rebuild” Newcastle, but the Dolphins mentor hit back at critics who claim he hit the eject button with the Knights in a mess.
“The critics never get anything wrong,” he said.
“It’s all in the record books what I’ve done.
“If they don’t want to look at it, that’s fine, but they might provide some of the answers to the rubbish they talk.
“The bottom line is I took Newcastle to within one game of a grand final.
“Some people forget very quickly.
“I had guys like Beau Scott, Willie Mason and Jeremy Smith and they all bought in.
“Despite what happened (with Tinkler’s dramatic exit and McKinnon’s neck injury in 2014 that left him a quadriplegic), it was a good time.
“I have no regrets about my time at Newcastle.”

Bennett has reminded his critics that he took the Knights to within one game of the grand final in 2013. Picture: AAP
Asked about returning to Newcastle to face a hostile pro-Knights crowd, he said: “It’s a great place to play. They are a great rugby league town and they love their rugby league there.”
During Newcastle’s golden 2013 finals charge, Bennett extracted more than the sum of the team’s parts and he has done it again with this Dolphins unit.
By rights, the Dolphins could have finished with the wooden spoon this season. Injuries have decimated the club. Queensland Origin workhorse Tom Gilbert didn’t play a single minute after snapping his ACL in pre-season. Marquee off-season recruit Tom Flegler played just four games due to shoulder nerve damage, while big guns Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Herbie Farnworth, Jeremy Marshall-King and skipper Jesse Bromwich all had periods on the sideline.
But it is a tribute to Bennett’s coaching, and a measure of the Dolphins’ fighting spirit, that Redcliffe remain in the finals race.

Bennett insists he has no tricks up his sleeve ahead of the Knights clash, praising the likes of Herbie Farnworth. Picture: NRL Photos
Can the super coach conjure one final magic act to make history for the Dolphins?
“I have no tricks this week,” he said with a wry grin.
“I’m really proud of this group of men. Guys like Max Plath and Herbie Farnworth, they are the guys you want in your footy team.
“We go down there (to Newcastle) in our second year and there’s so much at stake for both clubs.
“I’m sure the viewing audience will be huge. It’s great for rugby league and it’s been my life rugby league, so I’m very happy with that.
“I knew before I took the job what I was in for at the Dolphins. I had been through this at the Broncos in the early years (1988-91) and it has gone exactly the way I thought it would go.
“I knew what the teething problems would be.
“The similarities are very much the same to our early years at the Broncos. We won early games in the season, played well, then lost our way, because it’s about building a club and that’s the parts you go through, you go through the good, bad and the ugly.
“I’m just really pleased for the game what the Dolphins have brought over the last couple of years.
“I won’t be thinking about that (the finals). I just have a job to do on Sunday and we’ll see what happens for the Dolphins after that.
“I’m honestly not thinking that this could be the end.”

 

[Red]

RL 2024: Wayne Bennett defends his time in Newcastle ahead of Dolphins vs Knights clash​

Was this behind a paywall or free? If the former, please delete it and don't post stuff behind a paywall again. It's illegal. If you paraphrase anything behind a paywall, that's great. In about 24 hours it's usually free anyway. Not always but usually.

In the entire article, Wayne didn't address the issue. He had performance clauses where if they won a premiership, he stood to get a very large bonus. So he loaded up on the back-ended contracts, just fell short of the premiership then jumped ship.

 

[Equaliser]

Was this behind a paywall or free? If the former, please delete it and don't post stuff behind a paywall again. It's illegal. If you paraphrase anything behind a paywall, that's great. In about 24 hours it's usually free anyway. Not always but usually.

In the entire article, Wayne didn't address the issue. He had performance clauses where if they won a premiership, he stood to get a very large bonus. So he loaded up on the back-ended contracts, just fell short of the premiership then jumped ship.

I just wanted to say it's been over 10 years, hasn't it? If their woes were partly due to Wayne, it was a long time ago.

 

[mr_c]

I just wanted to say it's been over 10 years, hasn't it? If their woes were partly due to Wayne, it was a long time ago.

yup sure is but 99% them will never blame anyone else

 

[mr_c]

we play cowboys if we win

 

[Jetty]

we play cowboys if we win

Would much prefer to play Canterbury. But have to win today first.