Round 17 vs Melbourne

[TomRedVRiver]

We were heavily Origin affected last night and had a late collapse. It's impossible to take anything out of that game.
Our ISP team is currently tied 1st.
Nicholls has steered the ISP team around well, he had to play Melbourne in Melbourne last night. Give him a break.
Agree on Nighty, but he was asked to defend in the second row last night. Massive ask.
Dufty's defence is improving week to week, he had a poor game in defence last night but to be honest... So did everyone else. Are you going to just ignore the try-savers he's made in the last few weeks?

Relax.

 

[Anon]

If the team that played last night was going to be he team for the rest of the year you may have a point but it isn't so you don't

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

It’s hard to blame Dufty for missing tackles when the forwards and the back just let Melbourne run straight through the line all night.

You take four starting forwards out of any team and they will struggle.

That being said, our linseed in defence has been a concern for six weeks.
You heard Melbourne calling “linespeed” in defence last night, our defence seems to be based on hanging back and waiting for the player to hit the line, it’s putting everything be on the back foot, Smith carved us up for it.

 

[Redhoopz]

Some of the criticism seems a little over the top and people are over analyzing the game. It was a good game to watch. Few things I took out of it.

- The Dragons were in it for 60 odd minutes and weren't playing bad.
- Losing Host early didn't help. It was a bit strange Nightingale played big minutes in his position
- The defense in the middle wasn't as strong as it normally is (missing SOO players)
- There were some bad one on one reads caused by rushing up.
- If Cameron Smith doesn't play, Melbourne don't win
- Dragons attack was good to watch, some different set plays i.e Lafai to Luc and Widdops chip and chase
- Nicholls started well but his defence let him down

All in all there weren't too many negatives to take away from the loss. Yes we have been flat for the last few weeks but I thought we looked good up until the collapse. Maybe Mary might use his bench differently now. It might help if he gave the juniors more match time instead of the 5-10 minute spells.

 

[giboz71]

Some of the criticism seems a little over the top and people are over analyzing the game. It was a good game to watch. Few things I took out of it.

- The Dragons were in it for 60 odd minutes and weren't playing bad.
- Losing Host early didn't help. It was a bit strange Nightingale played big minutes in his position
- The defense in the middle wasn't as strong as it normally is (missing SOO players)
- There were some bad one on one reads caused by rushing up.
- If Cameron Smith doesn't play, Melbourne don't win
- Dragons attack was good to watch, some different set plays i.e Lafai to Luc and Widdops chip and chase
- Nicholls started well but his defence let him down

All in all there weren't too many negatives to take away from the loss. Yes we have been flat for the last few weeks but I thought we looked good up until the collapse. Maybe Mary might use his bench differently now. It might help if he gave the juniors more match time instead of the 5-10 minute spells.

Good post.

And thankfully, we will never see Nichols, Nighty and Aitken defending together on one side ever again.

That’s where the game was lost. It was like a freeway down that side.

 

[hazzbeen]

Like I said before , just have to forget this game , but what is a worry for me not just last night but for a few weeks now we are going ok could even be leading in games , but in the back of my mind Im thinking there will be a period of 15 to 20 min all of a sudden teams will score a couple of tries mainly through our middle ..... This is happening frequently and needs to be addressed and fixed quickly .

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Like I said before , just have to forget this game , but what is a worry for me not just last night but for a few weeks now we are going ok could even be leading in games , but in the back of my mind Im thinking there will be a period of 15 to 20 min all of a sudden teams will score a couple of tries mainly through our middle ..... This is happening frequently and needs to be addressed and fixed quickly .

Not to take another shot at Mary, but in his entire coaching career at the Dragons have you ever seen him spot and address a concerning issue?
We went through the same deficiencies for the last 12 rounds last year and none of them were every addressed or fixed.
Can’t see that suddenly changing this year.

 

[Rob Dragon]

We have come through the Origin period (so far) reasonably well. We could of / should of / probably should have lost to both the Dogs and Eels and scraped out of both with 2 points; so I can take last night. We fell apart in the last 15 minutes and that had as much to do with ISP fitness levels, losing Host early and having a ridiculous bench rotation including an old winger and a young Under 20's hooker. What a joke!

I thought that Hame Sele went OK, big Luc is probably still a year away or so. Nichols was OK.

If someone had of said that we would be 13-4 after 17 rounds back in February I would have suggested they seek urgent medical attention; or at least consult a specialist who deals with delerium. We're going OK. We don't need any SOO injuries and McGregor needs to get the bench fixed urgently. I would be playing young Sele off the bench going forward. He's got a bit about him.

Finally, I reckon Kurt Mann is going pretty well.

 

[cussy]

Seriously! Why hasn’t Dino been blocked yet

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

We have come through the Origin period (so far) reasonably well. We could of / should of / probably should have lost to both the Dogs and Eels and scraped out of both with 2 points; so I can take last night. We fell apart in the last 15 minutes and that had as much to do with ISP fitness levels, losing Host early and having a ridiculous bench rotation including an old winger and a young Under 20's hooker. What a joke!

I thought that Hame Sele went OK, big Luc is probably still a year away or so. Nichols was OK.

If someone had of said that we would be 13-4 after 17 rounds back in February I would have suggested they seek urgent medical attention; or at least consult a specialist who deals with delerium. We're going OK. We don't need any SOO injuries and McGregor needs to get the bench fixed urgently. I would be playing young Sele off the bench going forward. He's got a bit about him.

Finally, I reckon Kurt Mann is going pretty well.

1 If Mary has not worked out how to use a bench in the 4 years he’s been coach he’s never going too.
2 we had our full squad against the Dogs and Eels, still looked pretty ordainary.
3 I think Sele is a bench utility at best, he’s too small for the front row and not enough impact for a wide running second rower.
4 Luc is always going to be a “year away”. He’s had a full preseason with the top squad and still looks unfit, ten minute bench impact player at best, but given Mary’s bench use why bother?
5 Flo was fed to the dogs last night for some reason I can’t quite get my head around, or as you say why we had a reserve hooker on the bench.

 

[st penguin]

Hello
The way we capitulated last night, gave me a felling of De ja vu. Is this the start of our dreaded choking?????

We got taught a few lessons last night:
Our ISP team is crap.
Nicholls should be released.
Luc should of been ready a couple of years ago, so get rid of him.
Our backline cant defend.
Nightengale should go his use by date expired 2 years ago.
Dufty even though his speed is an asset, his defence is woeful.
Mcgregor is still a stupid coach.
WHERE was our defence in the last 20- was it a case of fitness gone bad?
Where was Widdop in the last 20?????????

pff all it showed is that we aren't very good when you take away 5 of our best players.

Our game relies on forward pack dominance whether you like it on not.

 

[Redhoopz]

Good post.

And thankfully, we will never see Nichols, Nighty and Aitken defending together on one side ever again.

That’s where the game was lost. It was like a freeway down that side.

Their offloads were killing us towards the end. Nighty did well until fatigue set in.

 

[Dragonslayer]

There are many ways to analyse a loss.

This us not one of them.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Not particularly worried by that game. If anything I was impressed by the attack. Defence? Let's face it, it was always going to be a struggle with four forwards off playing Origin. Add Host to the injury list, Graham concussed, and the usual stupid bench rotations from supercoach MacGregor, and I am not surprised we let in several soft tries. Dufty, Nicholls, Aitken, Luciano all need to improve their defence. Nightingale - 34 tackles - that's about four games worth for him. No wonder he ended up missing some. Apart from the defence we struggled after 65 minutes - fitness?

 

[getsmarty]

DRAGONS


McGregor offers no excuses
Author
Andrew Marmont
Timestamp
Thu 5 Jul 2018, 11:13 PM

Dragons coach Paul McGregor isn't using any excuses for his side going down heavily against the Storm.

He might have been without five of his Origin stars but he called the 52-30 scoreline "a bit embarrassing". McGregor did acknowledge losing second-rower Jacob Host [shoulder] in the fifth minute was a big loss.

"I thought we attacked well," he said.

"We had some really good movement with the footy once we got into any decent field position. Defensively, our right edge was affected a little bit by the interchange early, and it wasn't efficient enough after that.

"The scoreline kicked out a bit at the end, which is disappointing, a bit embarrassing, but if you look at the night overall, there was some good to take out of it.

The Dragons led 30-28 through Kurt Mann's second try but couldn't kick on to a victory.

James Graham went off with a head injury assessment too, but again, McGregor had faith in his players out there.

Match Highlights: Storm v Dragons - Round 17, 2018

"You're in front with 17 minutes to go, but then James went off with an HIA, which is pretty important when you've already lost your four [Origin] forwards that didn't start.

"And when you lose obviously another senior player at that time on the field, when you need them out there to close the game out, yeah of course..[there's disruption].

"But I'm not going to use any of that as an excuse. These blokes have been preparing and waiting for that opportunity for a very long time, and that's when everyone needs to be able to be a little bit better."

McGregor reserved some praised rookie halfback Darren Nicholls, who was playing his first Telstra Premiership game at age 29.

"He had a mixed game, didn't he. It was a good opportunity for a good person. With ball in hand, he looked pretty good at times. Defensively, he was on that right edge and he lost his backrower early, which was very hard in that situation.

"Overall it's a night he will remember."

Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop says conceding a half-century of points isn't good enough and they need to bounce back quickly.

"It was tough. Our attack was quite good to be honest. To score 30 points, you should be winning games," Widdop said.

"That's the disappointing thing. Defensively we were good - but to concede 50 points is not what we're about. It's something we need to look at. We need to correct pretty quickly."



https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/07/06/mcgregor-offers-no-excuses/

 

[jeffdragon]

After 65min i was thinking just get the next try. Top effort until then..
The storms heads would of went down like ours did.
Unfortunately the last 15 min gives fans a chance to blast them.

 

[The Damo]

Exactly the same point a made in other posts in 'predicting' Saints will languish in semis, despite their current standing. Most posters on here don't display sophisticated analyses, they simply point to the mid season ladder.

Straight Shooter

Now now OV, I’d be more inclined to take this seriously if you actually displayed some analysis more than once in a blue moon. Repeating ‘coach’ ad nauseum isn’t actually a sophisticated analysis, or any analysis at all in fact.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

“ Defensively, our right edge was affected a little bit by the interchange early, and it wasn't efficient enough after that”

I honestly thought it was the coaches job to sit up in his box and recognise deifiencies and fix them during the game, not just point out the bleedingly obvious at press conferences.

“I’m not here to make excuses, but here’s a list of my excuses”

 

[The Damo]

Saints have been playing poorly since late May (six weeks ago). Gloss up the stats as much as you can.

Not sure how stating a win loss record is glossing up the stats. They have been playing poorly, they’ve also won 3/5 in the rep period. If they are still playing poorly in rounds 19 and 20 after finishing the rep period that’s when it’ll be really worrying as that’s when the rubber really needs to hit the road.

 

[The Damo]

Not to take another shot at Mary, but in his entire coaching career at the Dragons have you ever seen him spot and address a concerning issue?
We went through the same deficiencies for the last 12 rounds last year and none of them were every addressed or fixed.
Can’t see that suddenly changing this year.

Mann replacing nighty on the wing this year.
Dufty taking over fullback from Dugan last year
Dropping Luc early this year
The dude is way to slow to adapt and too enamoured with experience and conservative in his mindset. But there’s some examples of it happening. Not enough, but some.