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2018 Premiership Betting. Dragons tipped for 5th last. What's your Top 8.

O

Objective View

Bench
Messages
2,639
Roosters
Eels
Broncs
Cows
Storm
Sharks
Raiders
Dogs

Dragons - agree with Benny V.

As close to fact as a prediction can be.

Straight Shooter
 
B

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,570
Objective View said:
Roosters
Eels
Broncs
Cows
Storm
Sharks
Raiders
Dogs
Click to expand...
I cant see Dogs making that much of a jump this soon. Pay is iffy, they've lost a bit of talent and there's too many volatile players in the squad.

I think Tigpies, Souffs, Manly and Penriff will fight out for the last spot in the 8. The rest of the list is close enough.

As I've said before, whether or not we marginally improve wont make a difference when plenty of other teams will lift around us.
 
grouch

grouch

First Grade
Messages
8,393
Fingers crossed the patented McGregor losing streak happens at the beginning of the year this time around and he gets sacked mid-season. Might be worth putting a few dollars on them to sneak into the 8 at that point, depending on who the replacement is
 
Old Timer

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,945
Crush said:
We should just make every thread title Sack McGregor. Why bother with any other thread title. It all ends up with the same posts. "Sack McGregor"
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It ends up that way because people want to make negative comments about players which in some people's eyes is unwarranted as they see the players as better than the people critiquing.
So simple fact is if it is not the players fault where does the blame sit?
The coach is the obvious answer.
If we had one with ability then the threads wouldn't get so distorted.
So whilst ever we have Mc Fookknuckle the outcome of the threads will remain similar.
 
B

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,570
grouch said:
Fingers crossed the patented McGregor losing streak happens at the beginning of the year this time around and he gets sacked mid-season. Might be worth putting a few dollars on them to sneak into the 8 at that point, depending on who the replacement is
Click to expand...
Lol will be Millward or Young for at least the remainder of the year. Eyes on 2019.
 
O

ouryear

Juniors
Messages
780
Crush said:
We should just make every thread title Sack McGregor. Why bother with any other thread title. It all ends up with the same posts. "Sack McGregor"
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We could...and if it helps exit mcgrexit.....I second your idea crush!
 
Crush

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,519
Old Timer said:
It ends up that way because people want to make negative comments about players which in some people's eyes is unwarranted as they see the players as better than the people critiquing.
So simple fact is if it is not the players fault where does the blame sit?
The coach is the obvious answer.
If we had one with ability then the threads wouldn't get so distorted.
So whilst ever we have Mc Fookknuckle the outcome of the threads will remain similar.
Click to expand...
Unless its a player that is on your shit list OT then it's their fault.
 
Crush

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,519
ouryear said:
Is it possible our players are f...ed and without Mary they would all be in NSW Cup?
Maybe Mary is a genius?!
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It will be interesting to see how we go with a proper half. I always thought that Mary was doomed for failure by having Benji and McCrone as halves. But maybe he is just useless?
Time will tell.
Lets hope we go deep and he is flying next year!
 
O

ouryear

Juniors
Messages
780
Crush said:
It will be interesting to see how we go with a proper half. I always thought that Mary was doomed for failure by having Benji and McCrone as halves. But maybe he is just useless?
Time will tell.
Lets hope we go deep and he is flying next year!
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For sure mate, I will always fly our flag, Hunt is in for massive expectations.

Jimmy Graham coming on board will help a lot.
 
CronullaSaint

CronullaSaint

Juniors
Messages
137
Massive upgrade to last year. We were tipped to come15th. We should scrap into the 8 and come from behind and win the premiership.
 
Dennis Papaioannou

Dennis Papaioannou

Bench
Messages
2,866
Be
Crush said:
It will be interesting to see how we go with a proper half. I always thought that Mary was doomed for failure by having Benji and McCrone as halves. But maybe he is just useless?
Time will tell.
Lets hope we go deep and he is flying next year!
Click to expand...
Benji Widdop combination failed because of McGregor.
McCrone was a McGregor/Widdop initiative.
Best thing that can happen is a continuation of 2017 for the first 10 rounds, McGregor finally gets the sack and the incoming mentor turns things around and we storm into the finals with a late surge.
Basically the opposite of what happened in 2017.
While McGregor is in charge don't expect much improvement.
 
Crush

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,519
Dennis Papaioannou said:
Be

Benji Widdop combination failed because of McGregor.
McCrone was a McGregor/Widdop initiative.
Best thing that can happen is a continuation of 2017 for the first 10 rounds, McGregor finally gets the sack and the incoming mentor turns things around and we storm into the finals with a late surge.
Basically the opposite of what happened in 2017.
While McGregor is in charge don't expect much improvement.
Click to expand...
I think we played a pretty decent style of footy last year we just struggled on 5th tackle options and poor decision-making. Hunt will help with that. How many games did we JUST lose because of McCrone factor? I think the halves are very important. The most important thing, along with forwards winning the battle.
I don't think that the coach is as important as some others. Perfect example is Ricky Stuart. 2 years ago his team was flying and he won Dally M coach of the year. Last year they failed because they lost their depth players and that hurt them. Coach didn't change anything yet the change in roster made the difference.
Madge won a comp because the Burgess boys, Inglis were firing. Once they dropped off Madge couldn't get them winning and was sacked.
Flanno won a comp because of Ennis and Barba(along with plenty of others) but last year they weren't the same without those 2 players.
My point is, the players are more important than the coach. Yes the coach is important for building long term but even an average coach can win a comp if the players are there.
Bennett couldn't succeed at Knights because he didn't have the roster and I bet even the great Bellamy may struggle without the BIG 3.
 
Dennis Papaioannou

Dennis Papaioannou

Bench
Messages
2,866
Crush said:
I think we played a pretty decent style of footy last year we just struggled on 5th tackle options and poor decision-making. Hunt will help with that. How many games did we JUST lose because of McCrone factor? I think the halves are very important. The most important thing, along with forwards winning the battle.
I don't think that the coach is as important as some others. Perfect example is Ricky Stuart. 2 years ago his team was flying and he won Dally M coach of the year. Last year they failed because they lost their depth players and that hurt them. Coach didn't change anything yet the change in roster made the difference.
Madge won a comp because the Burgess boys, Inglis were firing. Once they dropped off Madge couldn't get them winning and was sacked.
Flanno won a comp because of Ennis and Barba(along with plenty of others) but last year they weren't the same without those 2 players.
My point is, the players are more important than the coach. Yes the coach is important for building long term but even an average coach can win a comp if the players are there.
Bennett couldn't succeed at Knights because he didn't have the roster and I bet even the great Bellamy may struggle without the BIG 3.
Click to expand...
Crush - you make some valid points but I look at things differently.
No roster, however competent, can perform without a coach that binds them together.
Everyone is hopeful that Hunt will make a difference but unless he has the structure and template to work within (ala Brisbane) even he will struggle.
You have to realize that the NRL cauldron does not remain static.
You have another 15 coaches out there the next year fine tuning their game plans and their strategies in order to counter others fighting for competition points.
The top liners like Bellamy, Green and the ageless Bennett just do it better and always seem to keep ahead of the pack.
So don't expect McGregor to suddenly surge up the ladder because we added 2 players to our roster.
Graham is a straight swap for Packer and is supposed to bring subjective leadership qualities and Hunt fills a major weakness in our line up which is just about the only tangible improvement that we can hang our hat on.
If we lose Thompson, it will also marginally compromise our forward pack because he is such an efficient and driven player.
As for the games we "just" lost there were others that we were lucky to win.
Swings and roundabouts if you know what I mean.
The games that stick in my craw are losses to Newcastle (we were outplayed and deserved to lose), Souths comeback win second round - losing the unlosable game.
AND the final indignation with our whole season on the line - capitulation to Canterbury in the last round.
In answer to your Souths example - our stats in 2017 proved that we did have a strong playing roster that performed on the clipboard but we kept losing game after game.
A good coach with a strong roster is a premiership contender.
A good coach with a so so roster is capable of a place in the final 8
You can draw your own conclusions as to what we have.
We desperately need a professional coach so we can start enjoying our footy again.
 
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