Dennis Papaioannou
Bench
- Messages
- 2,866
LINK: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/b34a08f5565d1e57db719dcc9405c363
ADMIN EDIT: PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE URL LINK TO ORIGINAL SOURCE AS DONE ABOVE FOR YOU - THIS IS A FORUM RULE
Fox League journalists Pamela Whaley, Simon Brunsdon, John Dean, George Clarke and Mark St John tackle the biggest issues in the NRL this week.
Biggest reason - De Belin Saga.
Next - Widdop injury
Third - Graham injury.
"Clarke: The distraction of Jack de Belin’s ongoing court case can’t have helped, along with the long-term injuries to Gareth Widdop and James Graham. The Dragons had five Origin players called up for Origin in total. But that hasn’t affected their worrying form for better or for worse. Maybe the club should have delayed
Brunsdon: The spine has failed to click and there’s not a lot of strikepower in the outside backs.
Whaley: A whole lot of disruptions and by the looks of things, players trying to play for themselves rather than for the team. It seems as though there’s plenty of individual brilliance, but not much teamwork happening.
St John: Sometimes it just isn’t your year and the Dragons have had to deal with more than most this season on and off the field. Losing their chief playmaker and captain in Gareth Widdop placed a huge burden on the club’s leadership and point scoring departments. Jack de Belin was the glue that held the pack together. If the pack isn’t laying the platform even Origin players like Ben Hunt and Corey Norman can’t work their magic. The Dragons depth has been tested this season and they are short a couple of strike players out wide and in the pack.
Dean: The Jack de Belin situation has taken its toll on and off the field, while injuries have cruelled them for much of the year. De Belin’s absence can’t be underestimated. He brings line speed and brutal defence which the team has lacked — they concede the second most metres in the competition, while their latest loss to the Raiders now sees them as the worst defensive team. But you can’t pin poor results solely on De Belin’s standing down, or on the shoulder injury to Gareth Widdop. In Widdop’s case, he won’t be at the club next year so the current spine is what Dragons fans will get in 2020. The outside backs have seriously lacked cohesion or potency and the chopping and changing hasn’t produced an answer — I think they’re missing Nene Macdonald more than they thought. But something doesn’t seem right, especially after the way they played against the Raiders. With the finals door closing every week and playing at home, they had everything to play for, but they packed it in almost straight away. Looking more broadly, the Dragons have won just one finals game since their 2010 premiership and it’s simply not good enough. On paper, the team has more rep stars than most, but they’re underachieving and tough questions need to be asked of the coaching staff."
McGregor's name not mentioned even once.
Comments please.
ADMIN EDIT: PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE URL LINK TO ORIGINAL SOURCE AS DONE ABOVE FOR YOU - THIS IS A FORUM RULE
Fox League journalists Pamela Whaley, Simon Brunsdon, John Dean, George Clarke and Mark St John tackle the biggest issues in the NRL this week.
Biggest reason - De Belin Saga.
Next - Widdop injury
Third - Graham injury.
"Clarke: The distraction of Jack de Belin’s ongoing court case can’t have helped, along with the long-term injuries to Gareth Widdop and James Graham. The Dragons had five Origin players called up for Origin in total. But that hasn’t affected their worrying form for better or for worse. Maybe the club should have delayed
Brunsdon: The spine has failed to click and there’s not a lot of strikepower in the outside backs.
Whaley: A whole lot of disruptions and by the looks of things, players trying to play for themselves rather than for the team. It seems as though there’s plenty of individual brilliance, but not much teamwork happening.
St John: Sometimes it just isn’t your year and the Dragons have had to deal with more than most this season on and off the field. Losing their chief playmaker and captain in Gareth Widdop placed a huge burden on the club’s leadership and point scoring departments. Jack de Belin was the glue that held the pack together. If the pack isn’t laying the platform even Origin players like Ben Hunt and Corey Norman can’t work their magic. The Dragons depth has been tested this season and they are short a couple of strike players out wide and in the pack.
Dean: The Jack de Belin situation has taken its toll on and off the field, while injuries have cruelled them for much of the year. De Belin’s absence can’t be underestimated. He brings line speed and brutal defence which the team has lacked — they concede the second most metres in the competition, while their latest loss to the Raiders now sees them as the worst defensive team. But you can’t pin poor results solely on De Belin’s standing down, or on the shoulder injury to Gareth Widdop. In Widdop’s case, he won’t be at the club next year so the current spine is what Dragons fans will get in 2020. The outside backs have seriously lacked cohesion or potency and the chopping and changing hasn’t produced an answer — I think they’re missing Nene Macdonald more than they thought. But something doesn’t seem right, especially after the way they played against the Raiders. With the finals door closing every week and playing at home, they had everything to play for, but they packed it in almost straight away. Looking more broadly, the Dragons have won just one finals game since their 2010 premiership and it’s simply not good enough. On paper, the team has more rep stars than most, but they’re underachieving and tough questions need to be asked of the coaching staff."
McGregor's name not mentioned even once.
Comments please.
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