V Panthers

[Saint_JimmyG]

Tonight's disappointing loss can be broken down into a few parts:

1. Ben Hunt's injury was terminal to SGI's chances (call me Captain Obvious)

2. With his absence, the side reverted to the 2017 monstrosity we'd all like to forget.

3. As demonstrated over the past four--years, Widdop cannot do everything by himself.

4. The attack was stifled by a truly shocking display from dummy half.

(Insert "flogging the dead horse" meme here - the truth is usually unpalatable though)

5. Dufty only performs well against lowly teams (again, another truism)

6. Flicking Nightingale simply because he's "too old" - never mind Graham - won't do a ficking (sic) in strengthening the Dragons' weaknesses.

7. Saints should still reasonably, comfortably make the semis but there are real doubts whether it can stay in the top four.

 

[ozbuck]

If you want to stick your head in the sand, then just do that. I doubt whether you could spin our performance tonight. We got beaten by a better team but the signs are there that coach is under pressure.
Hunt and JDB playing injured and not being rested to recover. It is again been proved we have no Plan B.

All players play with injuries and physical niggles. It's the NRL mate, not a pinball tournament at the local retirement village.

It sure if any team would've beat the panthers tonight. Hats off to them. Plan B won't come or hasn't come yet?

 

[ozbuck]

Everyone here should turn off your computer and come back online 1 week before the finals....everything before the finals is just fairy floss. No one remembers the wins or losses of regular games compared to finals games.

 

[This Year?]

I really wish people would stop talking about finals until we have the runs on the board. Until we are on 30 competition points finals is not even in my vocabulary, This loss screams of the last 3 seasons and I'm so disappointed we didn't compete tonight,

 

[Drag Queen]

NRL 2018: Ben Hunt, Jack de Belin, Tariq Sims injured in Dragons loss to Panthers
Dragons

• May 26, 2018 10:01pm
• John Dean@johndean_
• Source: FOX SPORTS

Ben Hunt leaves the field injured.Source: FOX SPORTS
ST GEORGE Illawarra coach Paul McGregor reckons his injured trio of stars won’t be in any doubt for State of Origin selection following Saturday night’s heavy 28-2 defeat to Penrith.

Ben Hunt (cork), Jack de Belin (hip pointer) and Tariq Sims (cork) all failed to finish the game, succumbing to their injuries throughout the second half in what started out as an enthralling battle at the foot of the mountains.

Both Hunt and de Belin’s injuries were reaggravated from previous weeks, but McGregor believed they’d be available for Origin selection.


“(Hunt) got a bump in the leg and Tariq got a bump in the leg,” McGregor said.

“They were affected but won’t be in any doubt for selection or when we play next.



“Jack de Belin re-injured an injury that he’s already got but I’d say he’d be okay too.”

Jack de Belin leaves the field with a hip injury.Source: FOX SPORTS

Hunt spoke to Fox League post-game and revealed he tried to get back on later in the game but wasn’t able to.

“It’s not too bad, it’s got a pretty bad cork in there,” Hunt said.

“I tried to free it up a bit at halftime but I just couldn’t get it going.

“If I am picked (for Queensland) I think I’ll be pretty right (to play).

“It’s 10 or so days from now and it’s only a cork so hopefully I get it right.”


https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/0340e14d2b3656bd17e98b41a420b68b

Couldn't see that coming. I probably put the mocker on the team for being injury free. I did call it last week though. JDB and Hunt should not have played last night. Poor choice Mary.

 

[betcats]

Boysss lucky we had a few injuries otherwise we probably would’ve put 50 on

 

[This Year?]

Boysss lucky we had a few injuries otherwise we probably would’ve put 50 on

Then that thread in the NRL section would be bumped.
Congrats on the win

 

[Dragon Blood]

Boysss lucky we had a few injuries otherwise we probably would’ve put 50 on

Lol!,,,
You very funny Boi!!!!

 

[Blues Riff]

Mate we want to play a full strength team so we can ruin the myth that Goulds 20 year plan might eventuate.

And to make you understand it will be back to the drawing board for you.

And to revitalise your Sack Griffin thread!

Yeah, good luck with that champ.

 

[Frank Facer]

Dragons have not been in good form for several weeks now.
We contributed to the loss by running one out, poor kicking, not controlling the ruck, and playing injured players.

Having said the above, I believe a great game was ruined!!
Sure Panthers had great line speed, it was too good to be real.
I am sure they were off-side most of the game.
There is no way they can be on top of our players one off the ruck all game and not be taking off early.
I could see the Panthers off side on some occasions but for most of the game, the camera angle doesn't give you a look at the defensive line 10m back.

The Panthers were allowed too much latitude in tackles often pushing back 5m and wrestling for several seconds after the "held" call.

The refs allowed Dufty to get man-handled after being tackled, Nightingale to be hit high in the head before being forced out, Nene getting the ball stripped by 3 defenders and called a loose carrry etc.

Before this gets called a big whinge, I am disappointed that we cannot judge the Dragons'effort against these unfair tactics. The Dragons definitely played poorly but I can't think what they could have done with the defence sitting on top of them all night.
I think they did extremely well to be only 1 try down at half time.

On a good point, I was pleasantly surprised with Lawrie's work (his tackle on the kicker was fine btw).
I don't think he is the dominant forward we need just yet but worth keeping and developing further.

Can't believe how in-love the commentators were with Penrith, always making excuses for them and calling any errors as harsh or unlucky.
Hope this game doesn't affect the team's confidence and positivity for the rest of the year.

Rant over, try to salvage the rest of the weekend with the kids.

Very good post Max. I agree with everything you said.

I totally agree with you about the commentators. Anasta really grated on me tonight.

 

[Frank Facer]

I think you can blame Gould, Fittler, Johns and co for that one.
They tried to crack down on offside play at the start of the year and the refs got howled down by the commentators for too many penalties, that has now gone, the teams know it, offside is now the rule of the day.

I think you are right about that.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Big games.
A coach can get his team to perform for big games.
Like last year, if your leading the comp every team wants to beat you, hence they are all big games.

Mary has proved time and time and time again he cannot get the players up for big games, he goes into every effing game with the same plan.

Wetene Zelesniach has been killing teams all year, but no, by all means don’t look at the tapes of his games and not kick it to him all effing night.

Just continued effing stupidity.

The answer is simple - McGregor just doesn't know any better.

 

[sco22]

I am so disappointed with tonight , I just wanted us to win to finally convince my self that things had really changed from last year . But in the back of my mind thought the slide was coming . Gee I hope Mary proves me wrong , not holding my breath .. ..

Me too nothing has changed from the last few years. What are the coaches going to do now or is it a cunning plan.

 

[kit66]

The mark of a good coach is to fix things at half time when your first half tactics are not working.

Hard to win a game when your first 3 hit ups every set are taken by wingers and centres and when you're only 5th tackle option every fkn time is kick it straight to DWZ in space.
We have the forward pack, when fit, to get us to the semis but our backline just isn't a match for N.Z. or the Bunnies or Penrith. When DWZ gets the ball his runs are fast, incisive and dangerous. When Dufty gets the ball he hops around a bit until Flo gets close enough to pass to - just seconds before he's tackled. Dufty should watch DWZ and Slater and stop worrying that he might get tackled if he runs.

People will say we were out enthused but we simply didn't have the game plan to counter Penrith's tactics. Could have played deeper in attack. Could have stopped them rushing up with some kicks behind their line for Dufty or Nene. Could have got Lafai some early ball. Could have kicked for the sideline for scrums instead of handing it to DWZ on a friggin plate. Looks like we spent most of the week at training teaching Aitken the fine art of the hospital pass.

Very disappointing.

 

[mickeylane]

Panthers were awesome. Big congrats to them!!!

We'll be back.

Panthers are a top 2 or 3 team. We'll panthers. See you in the finals

No hunt , no sims since halftime did cost us any potential comeback. We got smashed fair and square .. Should be a good motivator for us going forward.
Btw Merrin is a grub carrying on as if he's win a grand final! Won't worry will get you f**kers in semis

The mark of a good coach is to fix things at half time when your first half tactics are not working.

Hard to win a game when your first 3 hit ups every set are taken by wingers and centres and when you're only 5th tackle option every fkn time is kick it straight to DWZ in space.
We have the forward pack, when fit, to get us to the semis but our backline just isn't a match for N.Z. or the Bunnies or Penrith. When DWZ gets the ball his runs are fast, incisive and dangerous. When Dufty gets the ball he hops around a bit until Flo gets close enough to pass to - just seconds before he's tackled. Dufty should watch DWZ and Slater and stop worrying that he might get tackled if he runs.

People will say we were out enthused but we simply didn't have the game plan to counter Penrith's tactics. Could have played deeper in attack. Could have stopped them rushing up with some kicks behind their line for Dufty or Nene. Could have got Lafai some early ball. Could have kicked for the sideline for scrums instead of handing it to DWZ on a friggin plate. Looks like we spent most of the week at training teaching Aitken the fine art of the hospital pass.

Very disappointing.

agree 100%

 

[ouryears]

The mark of a good coach is to fix things at half time when your first half tactics are not working.

Hard to win a game when your first 3 hit ups every set are taken by wingers and centres and when you're only 5th tackle option every fkn time is kick it straight to DWZ in space.
We have the forward pack, when fit, to get us to the semis but our backline just isn't a match for N.Z. or the Bunnies or Penrith. When DWZ gets the ball his runs are fast, incisive and dangerous. When Dufty gets the ball he hops around a bit until Flo gets close enough to pass to - just seconds before he's tackled. Dufty should watch DWZ and Slater and stop worrying that he might get tackled if he runs.

People will say we were out enthused but we simply didn't have the game plan to counter Penrith's tactics. Could have played deeper in attack. Could have stopped them rushing up with some kicks behind their line for Dufty or Nene. Could have got Lafai some early ball. Could have kicked for the sideline for scrums instead of handing it to DWZ on a friggin plate. Looks like we spent most of the week at training teaching Aitken the fine art of the hospital pass.

Very disappointing.

Yes mate, very disappointed.
Shattering loss.
On field leadership was poor as were the coaching tactics.

Again, we must bounce back next game. Its critical that we do.

Come on SAINTSSSSSSS!!

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Everyone here should turn off your computer and come back online 1 week before the finals....everything before the finals is just fairy floss. No one remembers the wins or losses of regular games compared to finals games.

We came back one week before the finals last year when we only had to beat the rabble that was and is the Dogs to make it.
We all remember how that day ended.
The similarities to last year are glaringly obvious.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

The mark of a good coach is to fix things at half time when your first half tactics are not working.

Hard to win a game when your first 3 hit ups every set are taken by wingers and centres and when you're only 5th tackle option every fkn time is kick it straight to DWZ in space.
We have the forward pack, when fit, to get us to the semis but our backline just isn't a match for N.Z. or the Bunnies or Penrith. When DWZ gets the ball his runs are fast, incisive and dangerous. When Dufty gets the ball he hops around a bit until Flo gets close enough to pass to - just seconds before he's tackled. Dufty should watch DWZ and Slater and stop worrying that he might get tackled if he runs.

People will say we were out enthused but we simply didn't have the game plan to counter Penrith's tactics. Could have played deeper in attack. Could have stopped them rushing up with some kicks behind their line for Dufty or Nene. Could have got Lafai some early ball. Could have kicked for the sideline for scrums instead of handing it to DWZ on a friggin plate. Looks like we spent most of the week at training teaching Aitken the fine art of the hospital pass.

Very disappointing.

While we are on the subject of Dufty, he has the reputation now of being rag dolled when tackled. However for the second week in a row he has hit the ground and the tacklers have then been allowed to pick him up again and thrown around.
There was one last night where he hit the ground twice and the Panthers players were still allowed to try to drag him towards the sideline.
When the ball or the arm carrying the ball hit the ground, that's a tackle, why are the refs allowing players to drag him around.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Couldn't see that coming. I probably put the mocker on the team for being injury free. I did call it last week though. JDB and Hunt should not have played last night. Poor choice Mary.

I think that headline should have read "Hunt, JDB and Simms injured BEFORE the game against Penrith"

 

[dragons77]

McIdiot needs to bring Lomax in and nightie out, but that ofcourse will never happen. We were starting to win the arm wrestle till that stage. In press conference laughing like a clown, no other coach would do that after such a flogging. Widdop and Hunt offer nothing in attack, thats absolute, we have no structure and forwards just one up, thats McIdiots tactics. Mann comes on like a chook with no head, makes it worse, he has not done one good thing all year. Shows we are not top 4, but top 8 side this year. Which is an improvement, but McIdiot said this is team he always wanted. Panthers have great depth, because they give good minutes to juniors, McIdiot gives 2 mins for 17th man a match, though thought Lawrie played strong and got minutes.