{"id":378423,"date":"2024-03-22T04:45:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T05:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=378423"},"modified":"2024-03-22T08:03:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T08:03:55","slug":"joey-explains-pressure-behind-hastings-ilias-axings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=378423","title":{"rendered":"Joey explains 'pressure' behind Hastings, Ilias axings"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\ufeffndrew Johns<\/a> believes a number of NRL<\/a> coaches under pressure has led to a massive turnover in the halfback position heading into round three, but has backed the call from his former club Newcastle to drop Jackson Hastings<\/a> for a must-win clash.<\/p>\n

Hastings is one of many No.7s to be axed early in the season, with the likes of Lachlan Ilias and Jayden Sullivan also demoted by their respective teams.<\/p>\n

With the Knights<\/a> and Rabbitohs<\/a> both starting their campaigns with two-straight losses, the pressure has been turned up on Adam O'Brien<\/a> and Jason Demetriou<\/a> as they look to turn things around on the field.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Young gun's big contract news after coach fires up<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Tszyu's warning ahead of 'awkward' title defence<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> \ufeffThe 20-star AFL hit list as Tasmanian raid looms<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking on Wide World Of Sports' Immortal Behaviour<\/em><\/a>, the legendary playmaker admitted the omission of Hastings in favour of Jack Cogger came off the back of tight defeats at the hands of the Cowboys and Raiders.<\/p>\n

\"Jackson<\/p>\n

"Jackson deserved to start the year at halfback and Tyson Gamble [at five-eighth] \u2026 but the pressure was on, especially now they've lost two games," Johns said.<\/p>\n

"When you lose the tight ones, it ultimately comes back onto the halfback.<\/p>\n

"They've obviously gone with Jack Cogger now and there's also a young guy, Will Pryce, he'll be putting pressure on Tyson as well."'<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Cogger was part of Penrith's grand final win in 2023, coming off the bench in the second half and sparking the side towards a comeback, while Hastings was part of Newcastle's stunning late-season run into the NRL finals.<\/p>\n

\"PENRITH,<\/p>\n

Johns also pointed out the issues facing Demetriou and O'Brien, which has led to both coaches making the tough calls early in the season.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"It is a lot, but all those players probably didn't perform," he said.<\/p>\n

"They are all down on form. All those guys that have been dropped, there is competition for those positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"For all those teams that have dropped their halfbacks, they've just got to win."<\/p>\n

\"SYDNEY,<\/p>\n

The comments from Johns were echoed by league expert Phil Gould<\/a>, wh\ufeffo believes Ilias and Hastings had been on notice across the opening two rounds.<\/p>\n

"I don't see it as signs of panic," he told Wide World Of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

"If you're going to make a significant change, it's been on your mind for some time – it's just a matter of time. That's the 24\/7 nature of coaching.<\/p>\n

"Sooner or later, you've got to bite the bullet."\u00a0<\/p>\n

South Sydney will take on local rivals the Roosters on Friday night, while the Knights square off against the unbeaten Storm on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\ufeffndrew Johns believes a number of NRL coaches under pressure has led to a massive turnover in the halfback position heading into round three, but […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":329976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378423"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=378423"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":378426,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378423\/revisions\/378426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/329976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=378423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=378423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=378423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}