Dodged a bullit

[denis preston]

I think that at seasons end we are grumbling on the games "we should have won " we should remember yesterday. In all my years of watching the game , this one had the classic symptoms of Dragons losing it.Backs turned & not playing to the whistle for 2 of their tries, Canberra making inroads on our outside defence but then for some reason stopped exploring that avenue , , momentum changes at critical times with 2 play the ball infringements , ball stealing & at least 5 loose ball carries and offloads to players in a worst position.. Their former worst defender cutting down Tariq 3 or 4 times when likely to score. All this in the middle of us scoring two scintillating tries! Yes we were lucky our opposition didn't get motivated to kick on as they were given many opportunities.

This was our worst performance of the year by far and now we really will see how good our coaching staff is to get the Dragons up for next weeks game.

 

[jak]

I think that at seasons end we are grumbling on the games "we should have won " we should remember yesterday. In all my years of watching the game , this one had the classic symptoms of Dragons losing it.Backs turned & not playing to the whistle for 2 of their tries, Canberra making inroads on our outside defence but then for some reason stopped exploring that avenue , , momentum changes at critical times with 2 play the ball infringements , ball stealing & at least 5 loose ball carries and offloads to players in a worst position.. Their former worst defender cutting down Tariq 3 or 4 times when likely to score. All this in the middle of us scoring two scintillating tries! Yes we were lucky our opposition didn't get motivated to kick on as they were given many opportunities.

This was our worst performance of the year by far and now we really will see how good our coaching staff is to get the Dragons up for next weeks game.

all true im afraid.

 

[Mickthedragon]

We will need a massive improvement from the last 2 weeks to get anywhere near the panthers on their home turf.
Obviously we want the win but at worst, if we lose, we have to be more competitive with less silly errors and dumb penalties. The attack also needs to be more consistant than the last few weeks with more supporting the ball player/options and building pressure/consistant sets.

 

[Belta]

"Denis Preston said;

"I think that at seasons end we are grumbling on the games "we should have won " we should remember yesterday. In all my years of watching the game , this one had the classic symptoms of Dragons losing it.Backs turned & not playing to the whistle for 2 of their tries, Canberra making inroads on our outside defence but then for some reason stopped exploring that avenue , , momentum changes at critical times with 2 play the ball infringements , ball stealing & at least 5 loose ball carries and offloads to players in a worst position.. Their former worstdefender cutting down Tariq 3 or 4 times when likely to score. All this in the middle of us scoring two scintillating tries! Yes we were lucky our opposition didn't get motivated to kick on as they were given many opportunities.

This was our worst performance of the year by far and now we really will see how good our coaching staff is to get the Dragons up for next weeks game."

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I only saw patches of the game and I can see your point and I don't fully disagree. I guess it's the glass half full v half empty view point. I was disappointed with their execution close to the opposition try line. I thought they made a lot of poor decisions. However what did impress, especially when things didn't come off for us, like Simms being cut down, the Hunt kick to the in goal, which led to a quick tap and try, the brain snap with Leilua's try, and several momentum changes after being on the wrong side of (50/50 calls) all could of resulted in a likely loss. We didn't lose in my opinion because key players injected themselves and swung the game our way.

Three such moments (unlike previous years)

1. McInnes cutting through, pass to JDB, to Dufty who chips for Widdop

2. Late in the game when Canberra were rampaging down field, JDB tackled a Canberra player player front on and back slammed him into the turf.

3. Dufty breaking the deadlock at 18 all with a Solo try.

This showed me their was determination to get the job done.

 

[hazzbeen]

Said before players like Dufty win you games I'm sure we would have lost this game if he wasn't playing ..

 

[jeffdragon]

Lucky that whitehead or bateman put the ball down on dufty's leg .
We gifted them 12 points.
Surprised they didnt kick for their wingers at all.
It looks like the raiders arent a happy camp with all the players who are not being resigned eg Boyd

 

[giboz71]

Said before players like Dufty win you games I'm sure we would have lost this game if he wasn't playing ..

100%.

When you’re not playing well, you need a Dufty like player to pull something out of a hat. Ponga does the same thing consistently for the Knights.

We never had that type of player prior to this year.

 

[Old Timer]

I think that at seasons end we are grumbling on the games "we should have won " we should remember yesterday. In all my years of watching the game , this one had the classic symptoms of Dragons losing it.Backs turned & not playing to the whistle for 2 of their tries, Canberra making inroads on our outside defence but then for some reason stopped exploring that avenue , , momentum changes at critical times with 2 play the ball infringements , ball stealing & at least 5 loose ball carries and offloads to players in a worst position.. Their former worst defender cutting down Tariq 3 or 4 times when likely to score. All this in the middle of us scoring two scintillating tries! Yes we were lucky our opposition didn't get motivated to kick on as they were given many opportunities.

This was our worst performance of the year by far and now we really will see how good our coaching staff is to get the Dragons up for next weeks game.

Excellent summation albeit many will just continue to think a win is a win so there is nothing to complain about.
The blatant laziness and turning off yesterday was a grim reminder of times not so long ago when we were highly unorganised and in the wilderness.

 

[st.phil]

We will need a massive improvement from the last 2 weeks to get anywhere near the panthers on their home turf.
Obviously we want the win but at worst, if we lose, we have to be more competitive with less silly errors and dumb penalties. The attack also needs to be more consistant than the last few weeks with more supporting the ball player/options and building pressure/consistant sets.

Wow just wow - hell of a supporter. We are outright comp leaders and you are hoping we are at least competitive whilst losing? Seriously go support the panfers if you don't think we can get near them, what a joke. Sure we did not play great but that is precisely the game we lose last year. Each game starts at 0-0 you know and just as we did for Roosters and Storm, the boys will be pumped for a big one

 

[st.phil]

Excellent summation albeit many will just continue to think a win is a win so there is nothing to complain about.
The blatant laziness and turning off yesterday was a grim reminder of times not so long ago when we were highly unorganised and in the wilderness.

oh wahhh wahhh wahhh keep crying what about the brilliant tries were they a reminder too? They played below best and pulled out the win - sign of a good side. We missed the 8 last year you know...

 

[giboz71]

The Storm were horrible at home against one of the weaker sides in the comp. Bellamy said he couldn’t remember a worse performance.

Even good sides will have poor performances like we did yesterday.

At least we got to bank 2 points.

 

[Overseas dragon]

The Storm were horrible at home against one of the weaker sides in the comp. Bellamy said he couldn’t remember a worse performance.

Even good sides will have poor performances like we did yesterday.

At least we got to bank 2 points.

well said you can't play great every week boys and girls

 

[2010]

All teams have at least one game like this. I hope this is a wake up call for us. As said before it is lucky we have Dufty as fullback. He did make a few mistakes, so did a lot of others on both teams.
All we need to do is cut out the mistakes and penalties and improve the defence.
It will be a hard one next game and we will have to improve 100% on the game against the Panthers.
Just get back to basics.

 

[Eastview]

Said before players like Dufty win you games I'm sure we would have lost this game if he wasn't playing ..

Dufty was one of the main reasons we were in the position we were in due to some terrible decisions and errors he made. He hasn't been playing well for weeks. We are lucky he made up for it in the end though, shows he can bounce back during a game.

 

[hazzbeen]

All teams have at least one game like this. I hope this is a wake up call for us. As said before it is lucky we have Dufty as fullback. He did make a few mistakes, so did a lot of others on both teams.
All we need to do is cut out the mistakes and penalties and improve the defence.
It will be a hard one next game and we will have to improve 100% on the game against the Panthers.
Just get back to basics.

Mate if they win next week , we are looking pretty good and we really could be the real deal ...

 

[hazzbeen]

Dufty was one of the main reasons we were in the position we were in due to some terrible decisions and errors he made. He hasn't been playing well for weeks. We are lucky he made up for it in the end though, shows he can bounce back during a game.

Sure he is one of those unpredictable players , can make a mistake but also has an arrogance about him with ball in hand that makes him different . Im glad he plays for us ....

 

[Lovemedragons]

Most of us would have hooked Dufty after he dropped that first kick.....how many of you had that thought at the time, be honest.

 

[Gareth67]

I always thought that the match against the Storm would prove if or not we were real premiership contenders , however it will certainly be the Panthers . They have not put a foot wrong all season and are going from strength to strength , a pair of very classy halves plus one bitch of a forward pack . Only a very good team will overcome them , more so in front of their home crowd .

Dragons must go there as they did late last year with a ' siege ' mentality and also with a fully committed team in both attack and defence and hopefully be able to make full use of the bench , as this game will be played at 100 mph . Should the boys be able to do this then I reckon they can overcome the mountain boys in a very tight match .

( Have done it again have posted on the wrong thread - apologies . )

 

[mickeylane]

We will need a massive improvement from the last 2 weeks to get anywhere near the panthers on their home turf.
Obviously we want the win but at worst, if we lose, we have to be more competitive with less silly errors and dumb penalties. The attack also needs to be more consistant than the last few weeks with more supporting the ball player/options and building pressure/consistant sets.

no bigger motivation than SOO positions up for grabs...i think our 7 have more motivation than their 4 possibles if you include Merrin...I think the real Dragons will turn up this week - not sure which way it will go though but Id back our forwards being a lot more physical than theirs especially our back row....touch and go game w panthers slights favourites at home

 

[Old Timer]

oh wahhh wahhh wahhh keep crying what about the brilliant tries were they a reminder too? They played below best and pulled out the win - sign of a good side. We missed the 8 last year you know...

What a jerk off post you put together.
No one is crying merely stating the obvious.
So you were happy with not playing to he whistle and gifting them 2 tries almost unopposed?
Not sure how long you have been watching them but for sure I have seen many brilliant tries probably in the 100's and indeed I saw a couple yesterday but that doesn't cover up the fact that we were lazy and leaderless at times and that is in fact not the sign of good side at all rather the sign of a side that went to sleep and probably doesn't have a full understanding of the rules.