Sack Flanagan

[Slippery Morris]

That’s frankly not true.

There’s a lot of players who don’t want to come to the Dragons and be coached by Flanagan. That’s more significant then what the average fan thinks.

As a club, Flanno is not our problem but he isn’t a popular coach in the game anymore from what I can make of it.

I said mates of mine not players. My mates a fans of other clubs not players.

 

[Dragons4me]

Yep, I am a player agent in fact with about two dozen players...

Obviously you are not following the news. Do I need to spell it out? Players keep ruling Dragons out. Hence, it would be fair to say it's not true that they'd "love to have Flanno as coach" as previously suggested. Sure there would be other reasons too - a myriad of them - but he obviously doesn't have the pulling power we might have hoped.

For the record, I am happy with him as coach before anyone wants to call me a Flanno basher.

Post of the year! We needed a good laugh on here!! Well done!
I don't know if you're a Flanno basher mate, but I think you bash something else!! You're grand contribution of 48 messages on this forum says it all. Incisive!! LOL.

 

[Kolum Kid]

Yep, I am a player agent in fact with about two dozen players...

Obviously you are not following the news. Do I need to spell it out? Players keep ruling Dragons out. Hence, it would be fair to say it's not true that they'd "love to have Flanno as coach" as previously suggested. Sure there would be other reasons too - a myriad of them - but he obviously doesn't have the pulling power we might have hoped.

For the record, I am happy with him as coach before anyone wants to call me a Flanno basher.

We need a big strong fast front rower, a fast centre/winger and half capable of managing and icing close games. Surely you must have those in your stable.

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

We need a big strong fast front rower, a fast centre/winger and half capable of managing and icing close games. Surely you must have those in your stable.

Look, I'll have a word to Nathan but he is more concerned with his hammy right now.

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

Post of the year! We needed a good laugh on here!! Well done!
I don't know if you're a Flanno basher mate, but I think you bash something else!! You're grand contribution of 48 messages on this forum says it all. Incisive!! LOL.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day post on this forum where they will not be judged by the number of their contributions but by the content of their posts.

Oh and it's 55 posts now, biaaatch!

 

[Sage63]

I have a dream that my four little children will one day post on this forum where they will not be judged by the number of their contributions but by the content of their posts.
Oh and it's 55 posts now, biaaatch!

Oh, how very mature!
Thriving under your guidance, I'm sure your "4 little children" will grow up with extremely mindful grounding in social skills!

 

[Victoire]

My take on our coach.

Now in the 1st instance I admit I am a dog with a bone over the peptides saga and the non adherence to the subsequent suspension so Ill try and be 100% objective and put that aside.

Flanno was / is to many "the we must have coach" after-all he won a premiership with a club that never had one in the trophy cabinet, so no mean feat.

We all know we have issues with roster, recruitment, BOD etc etc so the task is not any easy one but let's just take a deep breath here and look at facts.

He's not a rookie and is by all accounts in the top 4 or 5 coaches (% win stats) since 2010. By all reports a hard nut.

As I said he is no rookie coach so therefore IMO comparing the teams win results to Mc Fookknuckle, Hook, Price etc is completely the wrong metric to use. They were a mixture of rookies & dumb f**k NFI's who imploded and were offloaded as a result and the very reason we looked for a better coach.

The correct metric IMO is to compare him to results (wins / losses / player development / recruitment etc) that the big 4 coaches Bellyache, Bennett, Robbo, Cleary achieve at their clubs and then hypothesise what they might achieve and subsequently do with our existing squad and how they would move our team forward.

So some of the following questions may be relevant to help make that assessment

1. Would they play favourites with selections and based on what we have seen from players this year would some of them have been dropped already?
2. Would Bird be picked at centre or be utilised off the bench ( gives far greater options) or selected at all?
3. Would Lawrie be retained in the top 17 and would they ever pick him at lock?
4. Would they be cowtailing to Ben Hunt and letting him rule the roost?
5. Would the existing game plan including the Ben Hunt kicking game / strategy remain as it is or would it have been forcibly changed?
6. Do you think that with any of the other 4 coaches in charge that we could have won that game yesterday by simply making better decisions from the coach's box?
7. Do you think any of the other 4 coach's would have signed C T and / or Nu Brown and you could possibly role K F into that equation as well?

In making an assessment of Flanno it is also fair to say "sacking him" is just pure emotion and in fact ridiculous however making poor / soft excuses on his behalf and not critiquing him correctly is equally ridiculous.

Nor should we overlook that he / management / media made some bold statements about what he could & would do and how the team would play and having done so he has to live by and be judged on those words. The fan base also offered up lots of reasons as to why Flanno should be our coach and they have to accept that also needs to be scrutinised.

a. We would be fitter, faster etc etc
b. We wouldn't beat ourselves and we would force others to play well to beat us.
c. Defence would be front and centre of our approach to games and we would be hard nosed.
d. He would be attractive to players at other clubs looking to further their careers.
e. He would make tough decisions and not tolerate slack performances.

Now for all the abject disappointment re our roster let's be truly objective whilst on the poorer side it is not without some good players nor is it without some that can be improved but keeping that in mind they need to improve at a greater rate than those of similar quality at other clubs do and there is plenty of evidence that some ordinary players at other clubs are actually doing that already. Nor is the team devoid of youth that must be assessed and transitioned.

So how long should all that take is the question and what pain should we endure in getting to that?

Again to be objective about that let's have a look at the South's scenario and the pending arrival of Bennett.

Will Bennett play favourites with players or will he make tough decisions?
Will Bennett quickly drop players who don't perform?
Will Bennett be frightened to go to his youth in an effort to get better results both short and long term?
Will Bennett be able to solicit players from other clubs ?
Will Bennett pull Walker & Mitchell into line?
Will Bennett move Mitchell to the centre's if it suits the team balance?

Bennett will be all over it by the time the season starts and will show the players who the boss is right from day 1 and results will flow automatically off of that.

Flanagan thus far has IMO been more Hook, Mc Fookknuckle who coached to try and survive rather than C B, W B, T R, I C who coach to win and that is what is most disappointing thing.

Almost every mistake made by Chinless, Mc Fookknuckle & Hook has already been repeated by Flanno and as a result Dragon's Footy remains alive & well at our club and I firmly believe that would not be the case if any of the other 4 coaches were at our club and I would even include Ryles as well for that matter.

It may well take time to sort it all out but the notion that decision making thus far is not highly questionable and in fact very poor in many circumstances is just sticking your head in the sand and the very reason we get f**ked over so many times.

I have given Flanno a bit of reprieve because I just found out we share the same birthday (not year) so that should count for something but in the end he is a well seasoned premiership winning coach and must be judged accordingly as was Madge at Souths and Green at the Cowboys.

lol you're not an objective observer by any stretch of your quite flexible imagination. For the bandwidth this insipid verbiage takes on the internet I'd rather watch a tik tok video. Maybe you should make a new LU account so you can post this drivel without the baggage of your obviously false promises to avoid this forum.

 

[Old Timer]

lol you're not an objective observer by any stretch of your quite flexible imagination. For the bandwidth this insipid verbiage takes on the internet I'd rather watch a tik tok video. Maybe you should make a new LU account so you can post this drivel without the baggage of your obviously false promises to avoid this forum.

Indeed I did say that but as life in general is short and much shorter for some than others I have chosen to re-engage so if I didn’t ask for your permission to do so then stiff shit for you because you’re not that important.

If you don’t like my posts by all means feel free to hit the “ignore” button.

 

[Victoire]

Indeed I did say that but as life in general is short and much shorter for some than others I have chosen to re-engage so if I didn’t ask for your permission to do so then stiff shit for you because you’re not that important.

If you don’t like my posts by all means feel free to hit the “ignore” button.

If by "re-engaging" you mean posting nothing but cynical gloomy shit bagging everyone and everything, then my god, what a truly miserable way to spend one's short life. I shall high-five that ignore button

 

[since77]

lol you're not an objective observer by any stretch of your quite flexible imagination. For the bandwidth this insipid verbiage takes on the internet I'd rather watch a tik tok video. Maybe you should make a new LU account so you can post this drivel without the baggage of your obviously false promises to avoid this forum.

As someone who has locked horns with @Old Timer quite frequently here I have to say that despite often disagreeing with him, I think his Dragons heart is in the right place and he wants to see the club rise back to the top - both in performance and reputation. And that is something I will always be in agreement with him on.
The three year stretch we had when Bennett was here should be the norm, not the exception. That's what Old Timer yearns for and I'm betting most of us here want the same.
Yes he's a self admitted dog with a bone on some issues but we all have our pet hates. A bit like me currently with Blake Lawrie and my negative opinions about JDB.....
So while my ignore list seems to growing a lot lately, I still find it worth reading what Old Timer has to say because his heart is in the right place and he's been around long enough to know what real long term success and club honour actually looks like.

 

[justadragon]

As someone who has locked horns with @Old Timer quite frequently here I have to say that despite often disagreeing with him, I think his Dragons heart is in the right place and he wants to see the club rise back to the top - both in performance and reputation. And that is something I will always be in agreement with him on.
The three year stretch we had when Bennett was here should be the norm, not the exception. That's what Old Timer yearns for and I'm betting most of us here want the same.
Yes he's a self admitted dog with a bone on some issues but we all have our pet hates. A bit like me currently with Blake Lawrie and my negative opinions about JDB.....
So while my ignore list seems to growing a lot lately, I still find it worth reading what Old Timer has to say because his heart is in the right place and he's been around long enough to know what real long term success and club honour actually looks like.

Well said mate, good post, I dont expect everyone to agree on everything, its an opinions forum, but being respectful that other people have opinions and you cant just exert your own (I'm Hornby), well maybe this isnt the place for you.

 

[Dragons4me]

I enjoy the forum. I bow to those with greater knowledge than I (not hard) even though I may not always agree with them. I liken it to having Dragon mates who don't get tired talking about the team I love. Boring to most perhaps but I enjoy it. It'd be even better if it was sharing a gameday beer or three with them after a mighty Dragons win!

 

[Old Timer]

If by "re-engaging" you mean posting nothing but cynical gloomy shit bagging everyone and everything, then my god, what a truly miserable way to spend one's short life. I shall high-five that ignore button

Since when is suggesting a different / alternate/ better way “bagging everyone and everything”
If you’re happy with the big flambé keeping Couchmans and others in reserves then be happy in your future less world

 

[justadragon]

Since when is suggesting a different / alternate/ better way “bagging everyone and everything”
If you’re happy with the big flambé keeping Couchmans and others in reserves then be happy in your future less world

There may be a reason why Flanno keeps the Couchmans out OT, a sort of grand plan, but who would ever know, I would like to see them in NRL at some stage this year though.

 

[dragon thomo]

I agree with OT I think Toby Coachman needs a run in NRL, I have not seen enough of the other brother but I heard he goes well.

 

[TheRev]

Toby will get his run soon enough, I just hope his energy and agility can make up for his lack of size as a middle.. thats the only thing holding the couchmans back I would say because their endurance and toughness is immense.

Really looking forward to seeing how they go 12mths on from debut.. I think 1 more pre-season will be even better.. but hopefully he can do a job already.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Round 10 "Review":

Team:
2024 - 5 wins 5 losses 0 byes - 192 for 248 against - ladder position 11 - end of season ladder position?

2023 - 2 wins 7 losses 1 bye - 186 for 213 against - ladder position 16 - end of season ladder position 16
2022 - 4 wins 6 losses 0 byes - 151 for 240 against - ladder position 12 - end of season ladder position 11
2021 - 5 wins 5 losses 0 byes - 211 for 213 against - ladder position 6 - end of season ladder position 10
2020 - 4 wins 6 losses 0 byes - 184 for 194 against - ladder position 11 - end of season ladder position 12
2019 - 4 wins 6 losses 0 byes - 178 for 231 against - ladder position 12 - end of season ladder position 15
2018 - 8 wins 2 losses 0 byes - 274 for 146 against - ladder position 1 - end of season ladder position 7

1. Equal best year since 2018 (last year we played finals)
2. 3rd best year in attack since 2018
3. Worst year in defense since 2018
4. Equal 3rd best year in current ladder position since 2018

Players:
Lomax =2 for points scored (in NRL - leader Garrick)
Sloan and Lomax equal highest try scorers with 7 (leader Turuva with 9)
Lomax is the only player to kick a 2-point fg (2 in total)
Ravalawa tops our line breaks with 7 (leader Domonic Young 13)
Lomax 4th for PCM 677 (leader AFB 766)
Lomax tops tackle breaks 36 (leader To'o 71)
Hunt tops the NRL in try assists 15
Eisenhuth tops tackle count with 386 (leader Mahoney 459)
Hunt missed tackles rank 11 with 33 (leader Hutchison 43)
Lomax tops the NRL for number of runs 216
Lomax our top running metres with 1818 (leader Edwards 2195)

Lomax having a very good year.

Heavy defeats by the Phins and Roosters have really impacted our for and against. Consistency should be the focus for the remaining games. Overall, i'd rather be higher up on the ladder, however, statistically we aren't travelling too bad, fix our defense (yeah you our Most Senior Assistant Coach) and we'll win more games than loose.

Sack Flanno, mmm No. Sack some of the lazy puddings we have in our squad, mmm Yes.

 

[since77]

Toby will get his run soon enough, I just hope his energy and agility can make up for his lack of size as a middle.. thats the only thing holding the couchmans back I would say because their endurance and toughness is immense.

Really looking forward to seeing how they go 12mths on from debut.. I think 1 more pre-season will be even better.. but hopefully he can do a job already.

What confuses me about Toby being left out so far is he is the first junior in quite a while who debuted and looked completely comfortable in first grade straight away. Was never behind the pace, never stopped working hard, never let the team down. He was one of the only positives from a dismal 2023.
And compared to Lawrie who looks completely and utterly off the pace in first grade, I just can't see why Toby is stuck in NSW cup.