How to get CONSISTENCY

[LINESPEED]

It's a forum, analyzing every game and player is exactly what this is for last I checked..What are we supposed to talk about, the weather??

Exactly! Can't agree more!
So here're some thoughts to maybe help the Club & the boys:

As soon as Dugan re-commits, make him captain!

He's dynamic & has no fear!

Mary DON'T worry about ruffling feathers by making changes that improve the confidence & CONSISTENCY of the team?

Bring in Havili & Milne for some mongrel & confidence.
Bring in young guys who don't know fear - bring in Dufty & Field.
They'll follow Dugan's lead & feed off his mental strength.

Other teams have seen us as borderline chokers for too long.

Do this Mary & you'll get the fans and the commentators on side.
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE??? I loved watching you play.

Take the selection plunge.

It's SO obvious Widdop doesn't fully enjoy the captaincy !
Free up his mind & let him play.

The media is screaming for these changes as they know a successful Dragons side makes for a great NRL comp.

Overcome your fear guys with one single thought as you run on:

And that is: BRUTAL LINE SPEED

ONE Single thought in you head as you head down that tunnel.

You're superfit

Shut them out
And shut them down

And you don't even have to hold the ball to do it!

 

[LINESPEED]

The best teams never contemplate that they are out of the contest, no matter what the score is. Teams that expect to win do well until they are behind and then drop their bundle. If you watched the Storm in the Grand Final the clock was up but they still couldn't believe they would lose and played as if they still had a chance. Goods teams do not give anything easy to the opposition, even if they are losing they fight to not give them the next try.

SGI do not display the grit and fight that good teams do. Everyone can be a world beater when things are going right the real test of character is how you grit it out when things aren't going your way. Steve Waugh was the perfect example of not giving in and gritting it out even when your own form was suffering.

The Dragons showed grit in the second half of the Parra match. I liked how Widdop was launching himself through the air in tackles! That shows intent!

Remember that NO tries were scored through the forwards - it was the TOTAL vacuum in the centres that cost us our confidence & the match.

There has to be consequences for poor play or the coach surely loses respect.

In the AFL if a player in continually beaten he's hooked or moved.

How Aitken stayed opposite Jennings & co I'll never know.
Send a message Sat evening Mary!
Aitken must not be in the run on side.
And be CONSISTENT. ..... Remember you hooked Mann so damagingly ( in the long run) after only 2 games.
Milne & Mann must be in the starting lineup on Sunday or you'll lose all respect.

You know, sometimes I think the fans should be allowed 2 selection picks for their team per game. A bit like 'viewers' choice. Majority vote wins kind of thing? For example, just reading the posts on this forum would've meant Field and Mann or whoever might've had 2 games already, and offending Lafai & Aitken would've been taken out of Mary's hands, so that pressure's off him & the Board & whoever else has vested interests in the selection pie!
This would be great for fans who otherwise feel totally impotent and aggrieved so often by selections
So the players would be more responsible to the fans - after all, we essentially pay their wages.
I reckon it'd be great for the game .... whadaya reckon??Lol!!

And it'd cut out so much bitching and whinging on the forums?

 

[Qdf]

I think it's amazing that the same centre pairing that leaked so many tries against Parra is kept for another round. Poor form is rewarded? I've seen Flanagan hook a player during a game for not playing well!
There's no selection consistency at the Dragons
You can only suspect that the coach is too close to established players & doesn't want to rock the boat because the first sacking might create the domino effect - so the hierarchy sticks tight with the status quo.
A lot of heads might roll??

Yes I agree,
I really hate the idea of the coach trying to be one of the boys.(the team)
Let the assistants be (one of the boys)
But the coach needs to be seen as more of a father figure, to give advice & make the tough desicions when needed.
By the way LINESPEED, was your coach at PENSHURST RSL Kevin O'brein.?

 

[LINESPEED]

Yes I agree,
I really hate the idea of the coach trying to be one of the boys.(the team)
Let the assistants be (one of the boys)
But the coach needs to be seen as more of a father figure, to give advice & make the tough desicions when needed.
By the way LINESPEED, was your coach at PENSHURST RSL Kevin O'brein.?

Sure was & do you remember a Mr Lillus - a large guy who liked his schooners ( not sure how to spell his name, nor what his first name was now.) Stan Root was also there. Used to train at Penshurst Park. Great players around then too. Later in life I got to meet & have good chats to Reg Gasnier when he lived below mum at Waterbrook, Yowie Bay.

 

[Qdf]

Sure was & do you remember a Mr Lillus - a large guy who liked his schooners ( not sure how to spell his name, nor what his first name was now.) Stan Root was also there. Used to train at Penshurst Park. Great players around then too. Later in life I got to meet & have good chats to Reg Gasnier when he lived below mum at Waterbrook, Yowie Bay.

Yes I to played for Penshurst, Kevin O'brein coach, trained Penshurst Park.Mr Notley was the manager & his son Peter played hooker.
Ross Studwick played in same competition for Renown United.

 

[LINESPEED]

Sure was & do you remember a Mr Lillus - a large guy who liked his schooners ( not sure how to spell his name, nor what his first name was now.) Stan Root was also there. Used to train at Penshurst Park. Great players around then too. Later in life I got to meet & have good chats to Reg Gasnier when he lived below mum at Waterbrook, Yowie Bay.

Ray Lillus was his name. I think one of the of the young guns is out of Penshurst RSL.

 

[Qdf]

Ray Lillus was his name. I think one of the of the young guns is out of Penshurst RSL.

Ray Lillus was his name. I think one of the of the young guns is out of Penshurst RSL.

Yes DUFTY played for Penshurst.
I thought I may have been communicating with a fellow teamate,the year was 1966.

 

[dragonssamy61]

Ray Lillus was his name. I think one of the of the young guns is out of Penshurst RSL.

Yeap dufty is

 

[LINESPEED]

Yes DUFTY played for Penshurst.
I thought I may have been communicating with a fellow teamate,the year was 1966.

Played Union in 66 & 67 as that was what was played at Sydney Technical High. Had a couple of rep games for Sydney in the centres then played league.
Got a hospital pass at Hurstville Oval and crushed my sternum which ended footy for me.
Interesting thing is that Dragons juniors now are as consistently good as they were in those halcyon days.
They are always poached & sought after by other clubs - so many ex-Dragons across the NRL .
A proud tradition!

 

[possm]

Poaching Clubs should have to pay a junior development fee to the Dragons.

 

[LINESPEED]

Poaching Clubs should have to pay a junior development fee to the Dragons.

Bird was a big loss, but the Club was worried about his arthritic knees, and certainly he plays at the frenetic pace of someone who suspects he may have limited time in the NRL.
We must get in his face, using the incredible line speed he uses in everything he does. When we did this at our last meeting he and Holmes were totally off their game.
I know because I was sitting on the fence in the southern corner of Jubilee and could hear them arguing & and throwing their hands up with 'how did that just happen?'
They were mentally shot because of the speed we'd employed to force the errors.
As a lost junior I wish him well - manic & driven as he is!! Good luck kid

 

[RufusRex]

if you want consistency you probably need to have some speed in the team ...

Look at the backline and rate players slow/med/fast

Dugan - Med
Nightingale - Slow/Med
Lafai - Slow/Med
Aitken - Med
Nene - Med/Fast
Widdop - Slow/Med
McCrone - Slow/Med

Then add onto this we play a compressed line and then wonder why the likes of Widdop cannot match pace with Guthersons and allow easy tries.

We are too slow out wide which means if the power game up the guts fails then we are ripe for crucifixtion.

 

[possm]

If Widdop and Dugan move on.
Dufty fast
Garrick Fast
Milne Fast
Mann Fast
Macdonald Fast
Field Fast
Hunt Fast

Speed and more speed but short on experience in our spine.

 

[Qdf]

If that was the case why didn't our great leader Widdop harass the referee like Smith, Boyd, Thurston and Graham would have to get his team earning a fair deal. Just another nail in Widdops leadership coffin, No wonder England came last in the recent series!

Widdop is a Muppet and has no clue how Tobe a captain.
Just another bad desicion from our football commity.

 

[LINESPEED]

If Widdop and Dugan move on.
Dufty fast
Garrick Fast
Milne Fast
Mann Fast
Macdonald Fast
Field Fast
Hunt Fast

Speed and more speed but short on experience in our spine.

Great win without speed as such! Whether grit & defence can be sustained for a long season who knows.
I love your above team - with it's flair a speed.
Line speed still poor tonight - they were waiting for the Sharks to run to them far too often!
Give Duges his money!

 

[Drakon]

Great win without speed as such! Whether grit & defence can be sustained for a long season who knows.
I love your above team - with it's flair a speed.
Line speed still poor tonight - they were waiting for the Sharks to run to them far too often!
Give Duges his money!

Totally correct on the line speed. OK a couple of times but noticeably slow for the most part.

I know from my playing days - the hardest teams to play against were the ones who had good linespeed and in your face. Made it very frustrating and more likely to make a mistake.

 

[SaintPauli]

2 main issues to fix.
1. Our kicking game. Placement of kicks. Maloney gave us a lesson of what we need. Hunt should fix that but that's a year away!

2. We put no pressure on opposion kickers. Missing all night!

We won but it will be hard to sustain this grit week in week out. Our kickers must relieve some of this intensity otherwise we will burn out.

 

[LINESPEED]

2 main issues to fix.
1. Our kicking game. Placement of kicks. Maloney gave us a lesson of what we need. Hunt should fix that but that's a year away!

2. We put no pressure on opposion kickers. Missing all night!

We won but it will be hard to sustain this grit week in week out. Our kickers must relieve some of this intensity otherwise we will burn out.

McCrone's kicking is consistently poor - he's the obvious weak link in attack. Mann needs the run-on spot this week - especially to counter Johnson & offer critical speed around the ruck - and looking for offloads.
He's the proven try scorer on a consistent basis


There's current inconsistency in LINESPEED - sometimes they just clockoff & surrender easy metres. The commentators pick this up all the time. And if the team's into GRIT, then it's a real grit thing

LINESPEED is critical in the middle of the park to keep the opposition out of the Dragon's 20m zone, where chips in behind & bombs happen, giving easy repeat sets.

LINESPEED keeps the opposition out of the 20m zone - it's THAT simple - and it breeds mental CONSISTENCY and focus
Team leaders must urge their mates on with this, making it a team culture thing. It shouldn't be left up to Dugan to do this kind of urging.
It's an extremely tiring defensive exercise, but hey, it saves defending your line and conceding repeat sets!! It binds the team as they keep talking, communicating & playing for each other - focused, not temporarily clocked off - which is when most points are conceded.
The current form teams will run riot if we give them some of the space we gave the Sharks, who nearly scored another 4 tries.

 

[SGMax]

Totally agree about line speed. Its something we lost when Bennett left and need to realise how important it is.
Our defense won us last night's game but we shouldn't have to work that hard.
Every set the Sharks had ended with at least one attacking play near or inside our 20m zone.
Then its a hard slog to get back up the field. Scoring tries like this is very unlikely as you are constantly working it out of your end.
Its looking a lot like 2015 and we won't get much better until we move up and pressure the playmakers of the opposition.
Meekly waiting and giving up ground every tackle will play the opposition into form and stop us from being a genuine contender.
Sick of always seeing highlight reels for other teams and players involving the Dragons.

 

[LINESPEED]

Totally agree about line speed. Its something we lost when Bennett left and need to realise how important it is.
Our defense won us last night's game but we shouldn't have to work that hard.
Every set the Sharks had ended with at least one attacking play near or inside our 20m zone.
Then its a hard slog to get back up the field. Scoring tries like this is very unlikely as you are constantly working it out of your end.
Its looking a lot like 2015 and we won't get much better until we move up and pressure the playmakers of the opposition.
Meekly waiting and giving up ground every tackle will play the opposition into form and stop us from being a genuine contender.
Sick of always seeing highlight reels for other teams and players involving the Dragons.

Someone said over 35 plays inside our 20m - that"s playing Russian roulette big time - so unnecessary when you can keep the bastards out with LINESPEED in the middle of the park!!?