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Our forward pack - positional changes

dragonssamy61

First Grade
Messages
5,549
Lesson is and has been a great player for the Dragons , however to me he is the ideal bench prop to come onto the field to keep the momentum going . Also I believe that we still require another ' big boy ' as Packers replacement .

The Dragons success this year ( at least in the first half of the season ) was due to those big boppers being able to hold their own against opposition packs , on most occasions dominating them .

Our middle order men could still use a bit of extra weight and youth to give the Dragons pack that extra punch . This unfortunately brings us back to just how much the coach (?) is prepared to blood the very players ( from the other grades ) needed to do this .

All in all , I believe that with our present pack we do have the necessary fire power to do the job , but with the addition of both youth and size , we could go that one step better .

Agree Gareth
I think we need someone who is a hard nut with plenty of mungeral.
We need a hard man.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
5,967
Read all the comments re forward changes/ideas.....some I agree with some not quite sure tbh......but one position that hasnt been discussed is hooker.....in my opinion McInness neads to run the ball more from dummy half.....if you look at the Hookers that have caused problems to opposition forwards lately Hunt (Bris) Cook( Souths) Hodgson (Raiders) Randell (Knights) Peats (TItans) they all have great running games and continuously put the opposition forwards on the back foot which as a result gets easy metres and takes a lot of pressure of his forwards....unfortunately McGregor fails to rectify this area of McInness game
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,406
True Saint , Red V Resurgence and gentlemen , yes indeed there certainly are the players needed in the juniors , to help build a solid forward pack for a successful Dragons future . As in regards to Kerr , the young bloke has more then served his apprenticeship in the lower grades and next year he should be blooded into the top grade along with a number of the other younger players . More so now that the fringe forwards will no longer be at the club .

I don't believe that I would be alone in saying that should the Dragons lose another match , then go ahead and begin to blood these younger blokes in the remaining 3 matches . Playing against the Broncos and Bulldogs packs would give them good experience and stand them in good stead for season 2018 .
 

JDHD

Juniors
Messages
1,082
I think Host would be lucky making most 17's. Ah Mau has served his time i think.
Id go hell for leather to get Fanua Blake back maybe mixed in with an experienced Lillyman, id have taken Lawrence as that role for sure.

Its also time if he had fitness Luciano to take over from Thommo who can move to bench

Fonua-Blake was let go for kicking his partner. We don't need wife-bashing human landfill like him in the club.
 

Uplifting

Juniors
Messages
457
I have a high opinion of all our players in general but watching that first half performance against the Bunnies... our forwards struggled to gain momentum.

Vaughan has led the way in the past but those super performances can't be sustained all year long.

I think a players natural physicality should dictate where they play. For instance Friz runs harder than anyone, has explosive speed and strength but he exerts too much playing in the middle. It's no wonder he's having injuries.

Others exert just as much effort but start looking tired when being held up by big defenders. You don't get a muscle car to do the job of a truck right?!
 

JDHD

Juniors
Messages
1,082
I have a high opinion of all our players in general but watching that first half performance against the Bunnies... our forwards struggled to gain momentum.

Vaughan has led the way in the past but those super performances can't be sustained all year long.

I think a players natural physicality should dictate where they play. For instance Friz runs harder than anyone, has explosive speed and strength but he exerts too much playing in the middle. It's no wonder he's having injuries.

Others exert just as much effort but start looking tired when being held up by big defenders. You don't get a muscle car to do the job of a truck right?!

I thought the pack were phenomenal, it was our outside backs and a lack of polish on our last play options from the halves that did more damage.
 

dragonssamy61

First Grade
Messages
5,549
Read all the comments re forward changes/ideas.....some I agree with some not quite sure tbh......but one position that hasnt been discussed is hooker.....in my opinion McInness neads to run the ball more from dummy half.....if you look at the Hookers that have caused problems to opposition forwards lately Hunt (Bris) Cook( Souths) Hodgson (Raiders) Randell (Knights) Peats (TItans) they all have great running games and continuously put the opposition forwards on the back foot which as a result gets easy metres and takes a lot of pressure of his forwards....unfortunately McGregor fails to rectify this area of McInness game

BSE
He has been told to get the ball to widdop or mccrone as soon as possible.
Agree he sould run more .
He also can kick but is restricted with the way we play
 

JDHD

Juniors
Messages
1,082
Cause if there's one thing we want it quicker ball to McCrone, those 7 tackle sets aren't gunna give themselves away.

f**king hell McCrone nearly killed me on Friday. He missed two tackles that led directly to two tries, gave away three penalties (including the penalty goal they kicked when down by 12), gave away several 7 tackle sets, kicked out on the full at least once and failed to find touch with a penalty kick.

I mean my god, if he's the best kicker in the whole club, as Mary has consistently stated, what the f**k have the coaching staff been doing? And I mean the entire coaching staff. How is he our best option??
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
In respect of Packer I don't think he is that big a bopper nor am I convinced that he makes all that much ground.
His greatest asset to our team is his ability to play the ball quickly as that gives us a roll on or gains us a penalty with a free ride downtown.
He has great upper body strength to get the wrestlers off him and get to his feet before they do.
His technique is terrific and a smart coach would have him training all our other players how to replicate it.
As he has got tired / busted during the season this facet off his game has diminished and his value lessened as a result.
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
I agree 100% Old Timer, Packer was brilliant at hitting the line, going to hands and knees, not getting rolled onto his back and playing it quickly. And you are right he has not been as good at this lately.
 

JDHD

Juniors
Messages
1,082
In respect of Packer I don't think he is that big a bopper nor am I convinced that he makes all that much ground.
His greatest asset to our team is his ability to play the ball quickly as that gives us a roll on or gains us a penalty with a free ride downtown.
He has great upper body strength to get the wrestlers off him and get to his feet before they do.
His technique is terrific and a smart coach would have him training all our other players how to replicate it.
As he has got tired / busted during the season this facet off his game has diminished and his value lessened as a result.

Bang on. You could count the number of times he's been put on his back this season on one hand. He hits the line, drops, gets up and plays the ball as fast as anyone in the comp.
 

True_Believer

Juniors
Messages
1,691
I thought the pack were phenomenal, it was our outside backs and a lack of polish on our last play options from the halves that did more damage.
Exactly.

I also don't think the pack is exhausted from the 'power game'. It appears that way because we aren't making as much ground as we were in the first half of the year. The reason for this is that opposition is aware of our game plan and compressing their defense and getting multiple people in the tackles. We just don't have a plan B to compensate for this - everything we do is predictable and stagnant. Even the attack - although not as lacking as previous years, has no real creativity.

And to add to that, we have developed a massive hole on our right side defence throughout the year.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,395
I have been one of Leeson's critics especially under the Price years when Price made the poor fella play 80 mins, but I feel he has been great the last couple of year especially this year. Forwards are doing ok, it is the bloody halves and backs that are not taking advantage of their good meters sometimes. Most tries are also scored wide because our backs are gettinb caught out especially McCrone. Not many tries scored down the guts mostly out wide which shows the forwards are doing OK. They also seem to make good meters but lately they haven't because they don't look 100%. Tyson, Vaughn and De Belin are playing busted. If they won against Dogs, Knights, Souths and Titans they would be in a position to rest but they dodn't so unfortunately they are now going to play busted.
 
Messages
3,582
We need to play Sele, Leilua, Host and Lawrie.

4 forwards required on the bench with a clever rotation. The kids need minutes.

Yes I know Mary is still coach.

Once they have a dozen games under their belts you will see a different group of players.

Playing Marketo and or Matthews is short term thinking that will get us nowhere.
 

Maxwell

Juniors
Messages
128
Agree LAM should com off the bench as a prop, I would blood and persevere with Kerr , saw him against Penrith and he is a big body but maybe because he is playing in a losing culture , he just plays in fits and bursts. Lucio should be included on the bench and come into game maybe as a impact player, in paly what he see's and go where he wants. He is just wasted and is not even given a go in top company, because of dud coach we have. He falls under that category player who we release to another club and becomes a star.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,395
Why didn't Luciano get a run at all this year in NRL? All this talk about him and based on last year, he did ok. Saints re-sign the kid and never play him?
 

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