Rnd 6 vs Tigers

[Dragon the chain]

Sloan responded perfectly today. Safe game, put his body in positions he hasn't been willing to before, took some tough catches, looked dangerous skipping to the outside on that right edge which set up our first. He doesn't need to thrill us every game, this is what Flano has been getting at with him. He will be very happy with Sloan's performance

He has to play like this every 9 out of 10 games.

 

[Bin Chicken]

Wow you're getting pretty far ahead of yourself there buddy. I'm sure there'll be a nice string of heavy defeats around the corner for you to realise that.

Do you really think after being ranked 14th for defence after six rounds that a narrow win over the reigning wooden spooners is one of the 'ups' on your so called roller coaster?

You do know what a rollercoaster season means hey?

 

[jeffdragon]

Liddle played 80 min.
Marhscke didn't get on.
Bird off, played with 15.

 

[Victoire]

Good win. Especially since they faced a bit of adversity in doing so which shows some hope for the team's mental toughness. Hostile noisy crowd, Jack Bird copping the HIA (always dangerous losing an outside back for the game), and the baffling non-sinbinning of David Klemmer. They held their nerve and were clearly the superior side - deserved the win. As mentioned somewhere elsewhere this is a game the old Dragons would lose. Pleasing stuff! Lomax was sensational, Sloan bounced back well, Su'A, Frankie Molo, Liddle & Eisenhuth superb and JDB was again a huge factor coming off the bench imo.

Improvements needed before we can even compete with a team like the Warriors: they still become a bit too keen to run & gun, when some patience is the order of the day. It's almost like they sense they need to strike while the iron is hot and kill a team with tries instead of just trusting their superiority and grinding them out. After the (brilliant) Su'A try they threw some risky offloads and handed the Tigers field position and a chance to come back. Should have held the ball and kicked deep at that point.
Also, I'm hoping Hame Sele is still well short of 100% fitness because he has been disappointing. The misread of the Stefano try was very poor, and he only ran for 63 metres. Blake Lawrie despite one standard shocking dropped ball was better in both attack and defence.

 

[Parko1310]

Good win. Especially since they faced a bit of adversity in doing so which shows some hope for the team's mental toughness. Hostile noisy crowd, Jack Bird copping the HIA (always dangerous losing an outside back for the game), and the baffling non-sinbinning of David Klemmer. They held their nerve and were clearly the superior side - deserved the win. As mentioned somewhere elsewhere this is a game the old Dragons would lose. Pleasing stuff! Lomax was sensational, Sloan bounced back well, Su'A, Frankie Molo, Liddle & Eisenhuth superb and JDB was again a huge factor coming off the bench imo.

Improvements needed before we can even compete with a team like the Warriors: they still become a bit too keen to run & gun, when some patience is the order of the day. It's almost like they sense they need to strike while the iron is hot and kill a team with tries instead of just trusting their superiority and grinding them out. After the (brilliant) Su'A try they threw some risky offloads and handed the Tigers field position and a chance to come back. Should have held the ball and kicked deep at that point.
Also, I'm hoping Hame Sele is still well short of 100% fitness because he has been disappointing. The misread of the Stefano try was very poor, and he only ran for 63 metres. Blake Lawrie despite one standard shocking dropped ball was better in both attack and defence.

Completely disagree on the Sele and Blake comments. Sele had limited metres because he had limited minutes. His physicality and line speed was very good in defence too. Yes, the Stefano try was a poor read and not good enough. Overall he had a good game. There's no way you can say with a straight face that Lawrie was better in attack and defence. Lawrie hits the defensive line and just drops on the floor. Did it again in every run yesterday. Defensively he was awful which was the real sticking point. Comes up with one big hit and then sits on the floor next to the play the ball instead of getting up. Tigers keep playing and he's still sitting there cross-legged like a kindergartener in assembly. Eventually drags himself up and doesn't get back the 10 metres ever, the Tigers got to 5th and put a kick up before Blake ever got back. That's not to mention how he directly negatively impacts our line speed. He literally cannot move. He hangs back while the rest of the team come up, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the field. To compensate, the other middles hang back slightly more to make the hole less glaring, meaning our line speed is slow and we end up waiting for the opposition to run at us. Also makes our entire line jagged and out of shape. He is an awful player, just terrible

 

[since77]

Also, I'm hoping Hame Sele is still well short of 100% fitness because he has been disappointing. The misread of the Stefano try was very poor, and he only ran for 63 metres. Blake Lawrie despite one standard shocking dropped ball was better in both attack and defence.

lol are you sure you watched the same game?
Sele had limited minutes but bent the line on every single carry with great leg drive. Meanwhile Flake Lawrie was dominated in every single run he made (as he always has been throughout his lacklustre career) and once again dropped the ball because he's easy pickings for the opposition defence.
Sele is a huge upgrade on Flake.

 

[This Year?]

It was nice to get another win. It might have been scrappy but I'll take it over a loss any day.

 

[Victoire]

Sele had 43 mins. Lawrie 42. Both had limited minutes. Anyway it's obvious you made your mind up on Lawrie some time ago so even if I point out that his (solo) kick pressure in the 77th minute with the Tigers still alive forced Sezer to chip and chase straight to Jacob Liddle instead of bombing Sloan it won't make any difference. He'll hold his spot this week though

 

[Victoire]

lol are you sure you watched the same game?
Sele had limited minutes but bent the line on every single carry with great leg drive. Meanwhile Flake Lawrie was dominated in every single run he made (as he always has been throughout his lacklustre career) and once again dropped the ball because he's easy pickings for the opposition defence.
Sele is a huge upgrade on Flake.

lol yeah I totally watched the same game bro! They had about the same minutes

I'm not saying Sele isn't an upgrade on Lawrie btw... just so you and your fellow pre-eminent Lawrie hater Parko can chill a moment... I thought I was pretty clear in saying I expected better of him and do believe he'll improve when he hits 100% fitness.

 

[Dragon the chain]

Sele had 43 mins. Lawrie 42. Both had limited minutes. Anyway it's obvious you made your mind up on Lawrie some time ago so even if I point out that his (solo) kick pressure in the 77th minute with the Tigers still alive forced Sezer to chip and chase straight to Jacob Liddle instead of bombing Sloan it won't make any difference. He'll hold his spot this week though

People don't like Lawrie because he looks a bit fat. Our culture has a weird obsession with body shape. Lawrie is actually quite fit. He played pretty well against the Tigers. He usually does play well and he has more great games than poor games. One dropped ball, yes, but even then that carry he was taking was the toughest one any of our middles took all game.

 

[baggygreen man]

Can we stop always giving to Hunt on the last. His kicking is terrible.

Was his forte now he is moderate. Mid field bombs, is he for real.

 

[baggygreen man]

Meanwhile Flake Lawrie was dominated in every single run he made

Su'a- 168m
JDB- 148m
Molo - 110m
Lawrie- 110m- he also had limited mins. He is certainly not at his best, not sure what is the matter, but he is no FLAKE.

 

[since77]

People don't like Lawrie because he looks a bit fat. Our culture has a weird obsession with body shape. Lawrie is actually quite fit. He played pretty well against the Tigers. He usually does play well and he has more great games than poor games. One dropped ball, yes, but even then that carry he was taking was the toughest one any of our middles took all game.

What nonsense. Lawrie is copping flak at the moment because he's just awful. Because we now have a few decent forwards compared to recent years, Lawrie is being exposed as the average player he has always been, the runt of the litter if you will.
"He usually does play well and he has more great games than poor games" - that's comedy gold.....
The criticism has nothing to do with body shaming. What a ridiculous comment.

 

[Dragon the chain]

lol yeah I totally watched the same game bro! They had about the same minutes

I'm not saying Sele isn't an upgrade on Lawrie btw... just so you and your fellow pre-eminent Lawrie hater Parko can chill a moment... I thought I was pretty clear in saying I expected better of him and do believe he'll improve when he hits 100% fitness.

They are both good players. I thought Sele was excellent in the first 10 or 15 minutes. His defence was outstanding and set the tone for the game. His carries were fine. But he tired quickly and retrospectively it is clear that Flanno left him out there too long as he was not up to the pace of the game the last 5 or so minutes of his first stint. He'll be able to play just as well for 20 minutes straight in a couple of weeks when he gets match fitness. I don't care that much about his meters. I think his best attribute is his defence. On that Stefano try (btw Lawrie was better than Stefano too), I think Eisenhuth has to trust Sloan, who is at A. Was Sele too wide? I think so, but it depends on the scheme. We'd have to ask Dean Young.

 

[Dragon the chain]

Su'a- 168m
JDB- 148m
Molo - 110m
Lawrie- 110m- he also had limited mins. He is certainly not at his best, not sure what is the matter, but he is no FLAKE.

Re. what is the matter, it could be his ribs still bothering him?

 

[st.phil]

Was his forte now he is moderate. Mid field bombs, is he for real.

I think seeing Flanno Jrs pop gun kick means we'll be seeing a lot more of it...

 

[baggygreen man]

’d be giving Lomax a go at fullback if that’s what it would take to keep him in the red v.

I think it is now a done deal with the Eels. He is taking a substantial pay cut to leave the club he loves, or loved before this BOD and a succession of dud coaches stuffed his career.

 

[baggygreen man]

it could be his ribs still bothering him?

He never drops the pill, so yes may be that. He is still carrying some tummy flab, didnt Lawson have him in the gym pumping iron in the pre season.

 

[Dragon the chain]

Sele had 43 mins. Lawrie 42. Both had limited minutes. Anyway it's obvious you made your mind up on Lawrie some time ago so even if I point out that his (solo) kick pressure in the 77th minute with the Tigers still alive forced Sezer to chip and chase straight to Jacob Liddle instead of bombing Sloan it won't make any difference. He'll hold his spot this week though

Sele is never going to play many more minutes than this anyway. He's not that kind of player. He averaged 39 minutes a game last year, which is a career high.

 

[baggygreen man]

Sloan responded perfectly today. Safe game, put his body in positions he hasn't been willing to before, took some tough catches,

That and his defensive attitude were the two facets he lacked last season. The kid is now looking like a first grader and a bloody good one. Dan Lawson adding some much needed kilos of muscle to his frame seems to have done the trick.