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The thing I’m worried about is him finding a dominant voice as a playmaker, and controlling the speed and tempo of a game with his kicking game.
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Dylan is naturally a really laid-back guy. If he’s getting paid $1.3 million a year, he’s got to be barking at the team at training in every session, especially on the field. That’s going to be a challenge for him.
I have no doubt that from round one to 27, he’s going to play really well. I like the combination of Brown, Fletcher Sharpe and Kalyn Ponga all playing together. But Newcastle have to be patient with how that comes together and how Dylan fits in. They do have 10 years.
But the big test of Dylan and that combination will come in the big games. If he’s getting paid that money, he needs to deliver premierships and he needs to be winning grand finals and finals.
You look at the big four teams in this year’s competition – Penrith, Melbourne, Brisbane and Manly are the standouts from round one. Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo just get the Panthers home, they might only win by two or four points, but they just find a way to drag them over the line and have won four premierships as a result.
The Storm – Hughes and Munster get them home in the halves. The Broncos have senior halves Hunt and Reynolds, who between them have won a premiership and performed at Origin and Australian level. It’s the same for the Sea Eagles with Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic. The other teams haven’t got another gear and I think that comes from the halfback.
For Dylan, the question is; can he elevate himself in those big games and find another gear, and drag his team with him? Can he make the players around him better players?
As for the pressure of big money, we’ve seen players buckle under it. And the expectation on Dylan will be heightened because he’s jumping into the Newcastle fishbowl.
Everyone will be watching him and everyone will be talking to him about footy. It can become exhausting. The external pressure will be constant. Ninety-five per cent of that constant interest and talk will be positive from the town of Newcastle. But even then, it can be exhausting.
Can you imagine the next off-season, the build-up to round one and his first game for the Knights? It’s going to be so intense.
In five years’ time we may be looking at this record-breaking deal as a steal, an absolute bargain. But the Knights could also come up with a pair of sixes out of this gamble.
We’ll get a good look at what Dylan will be working with next year on Thursday night when the Dolphins hit the road again for their second away game in six days, along with all the added difficulties and stress at home caused by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
The Knights managed to get away with a win against the Tigers after completing at 64 per cent last week with 16 errors, which is usually not good enough to win footy games.
Once again, Ponga was the reason why. It’s stating the obvious and Newcastle know it – they need to be less reliant on Kalyn to win games.
Kalyn Ponga: The Knights talisman.Credit: Getty Images
His footwork off different angles to the defensive line is the best in the game, but what people don’t talk about too often is his toughness. His effort to get out of his in-goal and to avoid a dropout in the second half, that was such a key play in a very tight game.
The Knights will come down Ponga’s favoured left-edge on Thursday night in attack and ominously for Kristian Woolf, it lines up with a struggling Dolphins right-edge defence.
Jamayne Isaako and Herbie Farnworth weren’t on the same page in defence against the Rabbitohs.
The match-up between Bradman Best and Farnworth is a beauty. They are two of the game’s best centres. Herbie is all speed and footwork, whereas Bradman is speed and power, he’s near-impossible to stop one-on-one.
Both players have an area to improve though. For Bradman, it’s his two-on-one opportunities and making sure he nails his overlaps for his winger. Herbie needs to improve his defensive decision-making, so I’m looking for Best and Greg Marzhew to get plenty of ball, along with back-rower Dylan Lucas.
Dylan Lucas is one of the most improved players in the NRL.Credit: Getty Images
Lucas just keeps improving and I have no doubt he’s a future rep player. I think he’s on Laurie Daley’s radar as an Origin bolter. He can play anywhere, he’s got centre and back-row in his game, he can come off the bench and he’s just a fantastic hole-runner.
The Dolphins ruck attack will be their focus with Jeremy Marshall-King and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow trying to control the Knights’ big middles by wearing them down with quick play-the-balls. Their back-rowers can be targeted at Newcastle’s small halves Sharpe and Jack Cogger. That pair aren’t big bodies in the defensive line.
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I thought the Dolphins were too conservative with the ball against South Sydney and that’s the job of young halfback Isaiya Katoa.
Kodi Nikorima’s return in the halves will help and there needs to be more ball movement to use their strike weapons like Tabuai-Fidow and Farnworth.
The other area that went under the radar, but ended up being critical, was Isaako’s goal-kicking tweak.
Last week at Commbank Stadium he was making contact with the ball higher than usual, and it was travelling higher. But he wasn’t compensating for that, so his kicks weren’t swinging, he only converted one from three attempts and that ended up being the difference.
I’ve got the Knights getting home in a tight one where the forward packs all but cancel each other out. I think the home-ground advantage in Newcastle is worth six to eight points and the Knights left-edge attack around Ponga will be the difference.
Joey’s tip: Knights by six
First try-scorer: Greg Marzhew
Man of the match: Kalyn Ponga
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
The thing I’m worried about is him finding a dominant voice as a playmaker, and controlling the speed and tempo of a game with his kicking game.
Loading
Dylan is naturally a really laid-back guy. If he’s getting paid $1.3 million a year, he’s got to be barking at the team at training in every session, especially on the field. That’s going to be a challenge for him.
I have no doubt that from round one to 27, he’s going to play really well. I like the combination of Brown, Fletcher Sharpe and Kalyn Ponga all playing together. But Newcastle have to be patient with how that comes together and how Dylan fits in. They do have 10 years.
But the big test of Dylan and that combination will come in the big games. If he’s getting paid that money, he needs to deliver premierships and he needs to be winning grand finals and finals.
You look at the big four teams in this year’s competition – Penrith, Melbourne, Brisbane and Manly are the standouts from round one. Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo just get the Panthers home, they might only win by two or four points, but they just find a way to drag them over the line and have won four premierships as a result.
The Storm – Hughes and Munster get them home in the halves. The Broncos have senior halves Hunt and Reynolds, who between them have won a premiership and performed at Origin and Australian level. It’s the same for the Sea Eagles with Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic. The other teams haven’t got another gear and I think that comes from the halfback.
For Dylan, the question is; can he elevate himself in those big games and find another gear, and drag his team with him? Can he make the players around him better players?
As for the pressure of big money, we’ve seen players buckle under it. And the expectation on Dylan will be heightened because he’s jumping into the Newcastle fishbowl.
Everyone will be watching him and everyone will be talking to him about footy. It can become exhausting. The external pressure will be constant. Ninety-five per cent of that constant interest and talk will be positive from the town of Newcastle. But even then, it can be exhausting.
Can you imagine the next off-season, the build-up to round one and his first game for the Knights? It’s going to be so intense.
In five years’ time we may be looking at this record-breaking deal as a steal, an absolute bargain. But the Knights could also come up with a pair of sixes out of this gamble.
We’ll get a good look at what Dylan will be working with next year on Thursday night when the Dolphins hit the road again for their second away game in six days, along with all the added difficulties and stress at home caused by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
The Knights managed to get away with a win against the Tigers after completing at 64 per cent last week with 16 errors, which is usually not good enough to win footy games.
Once again, Ponga was the reason why. It’s stating the obvious and Newcastle know it – they need to be less reliant on Kalyn to win games.
Kalyn Ponga: The Knights talisman.Credit: Getty Images
His footwork off different angles to the defensive line is the best in the game, but what people don’t talk about too often is his toughness. His effort to get out of his in-goal and to avoid a dropout in the second half, that was such a key play in a very tight game.
The Knights will come down Ponga’s favoured left-edge on Thursday night in attack and ominously for Kristian Woolf, it lines up with a struggling Dolphins right-edge defence.
Jamayne Isaako and Herbie Farnworth weren’t on the same page in defence against the Rabbitohs.
The match-up between Bradman Best and Farnworth is a beauty. They are two of the game’s best centres. Herbie is all speed and footwork, whereas Bradman is speed and power, he’s near-impossible to stop one-on-one.
Both players have an area to improve though. For Bradman, it’s his two-on-one opportunities and making sure he nails his overlaps for his winger. Herbie needs to improve his defensive decision-making, so I’m looking for Best and Greg Marzhew to get plenty of ball, along with back-rower Dylan Lucas.
Dylan Lucas is one of the most improved players in the NRL.Credit: Getty Images
Lucas just keeps improving and I have no doubt he’s a future rep player. I think he’s on Laurie Daley’s radar as an Origin bolter. He can play anywhere, he’s got centre and back-row in his game, he can come off the bench and he’s just a fantastic hole-runner.
The Dolphins ruck attack will be their focus with Jeremy Marshall-King and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow trying to control the Knights’ big middles by wearing them down with quick play-the-balls. Their back-rowers can be targeted at Newcastle’s small halves Sharpe and Jack Cogger. That pair aren’t big bodies in the defensive line.
Loading
I thought the Dolphins were too conservative with the ball against South Sydney and that’s the job of young halfback Isaiya Katoa.
Kodi Nikorima’s return in the halves will help and there needs to be more ball movement to use their strike weapons like Tabuai-Fidow and Farnworth.
The other area that went under the radar, but ended up being critical, was Isaako’s goal-kicking tweak.
Last week at Commbank Stadium he was making contact with the ball higher than usual, and it was travelling higher. But he wasn’t compensating for that, so his kicks weren’t swinging, he only converted one from three attempts and that ended up being the difference.
I’ve got the Knights getting home in a tight one where the forward packs all but cancel each other out. I think the home-ground advantage in Newcastle is worth six to eight points and the Knights left-edge attack around Ponga will be the difference.
Joey’s tip: Knights by six
First try-scorer: Greg Marzhew
Man of the match: Kalyn Ponga
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
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