The Overreaction Cycle

[Blood Shot Eyes]

I was very disappointed in the result yesterday not exactly that we lost (imo The Dogs didn't turn up to play they were far from impressive) but its the way we lost...after our effort against The Tigers it was evident that something is missing lately.... our enthusiasm to play collectively for 80mins has gone...before these games we looked structured and committed to the task.....our shape in attack has disappeared theres to much one out stuff again and panic off loads seem to be the order of the day......I know in the past we have been accused of not offering anything in attack but just attempting to keep the ball alive when its not on needs to be addressed......other teams and coaches in the comp know we are very strong in the forwards but are weak in our backline and have been concentrating in this area for weeks now...over to you Mary

 

[2010]

There was a game earlier in the season where one of the commentators on Foxtell remarked that we were tackling just as hard in the last 10 minutes as we were in the first ten mlnutes. Where is that now.
Say we finish in the top eight. Is that going to be seen as a successful year after last year.
Through the ups and downs this season the common scenario amongst us supporters is that changes need to be made with McCrone, he is obviously lacking in what a 1/2 should be in the current game. I think he is the worst 1/2 in the comp.
The bench, again has been an issue all year coach is reluctant to give our juniors a run. Mary still persists with the power game, but any astute coach will see that and adjust their game plan.
Mann is the one that really irks me. Last year Mann played wing and was the clubs leading player in tries.
MacDonald is not cutting it as a winger. He should be dropped and Mann given that role.
Mary needs to get away from his attitude that he says is "moving forward" we are not moving forward.

 

[Old Timer]

I was very disappointed in the result yesterday not exactly that we lost (imo The Dogs didn't turn up to play they were far from impressive) but its the way we lost...after our effort against The Tigers it was evident that something is missing lately.... our enthusiasm to play collectively for 80mins has gone...before these games we looked structured and committed to the task.....our shape in attack has disappeared theres to much one out stuff again and panic off loads seem to be the order of the day......I know in the past we have been accused of not offering anything in attack but just attempting to keep the ball alive when its not on needs to be addressed......other teams and coaches in the comp know we are very strong in the forwards but are weak in our backline and have been concentrating in this area for weeks now...over to you Mary

BSE
No doubt at the start of the season we were the fittest team by far but of course as the year goes on other teams get match fitness and your own team starts to show signs of wear and tear.
The power game as Mc Fookknuckle calls it plays into the scenario of increased wear and tear and when we lose that power we have nowhere else to go.
No doubt some of our blokes are carrying injuries but due to the useless way we are blooding our juniors we keep playing the injured because we live in fear of the replacements not being ready.
I am not sure how many times we have named people in the initial first grade side that have not actually played any football on a weekend but I think there are a certainly a few occasions and despite some others saying that it's great they get named IMO it is a shitfull decision if they don't play.
There should never be a normal circumstance where a developing young player misses out on a game in any round.

 

[JDHD]

I'm going to cop a lot of flack for this post but I feel like it's necessary.

Some of you people are so f**king short-sighted it's ridiculous. Yes the team was abysmal today, they lost a game that they were probably expected to win. i'm angry, we're all angry, but i'm sick of seeing this ridiculous overreacting after almost every single loss.

So many people were happy to see the re-signing of Mary (granted, some weren't). Everyone wanted to keep Milne, to re-sign Mann and were right behind the team as they were charging through the competition and holding down a top 4 spot. Many believed that we were a genuine shot at the title this year.
Now, after a loss, as it happens every time, suddenly the Mary extension was a bad decision, losing Milne to another club was the right decision, we are now pretenders with no chance of winning the comp and this is apparently the start of our big slide out of the top 8.

f**king grow up, seriously. This is basically the equivalent of stamping your feet like a child after not getting something that you want.
Now I understand this isn't all of you, and maybe you need some time to calm down and come at this with a fresh perspective, but i've seen enough this year to know that this team has what it takes to be challenging in September. We had an off day against a team who rallied for each other and showed up to win (remember, they beat the Broncos after losing badly to Manly).

Let's just relax before you write the season off after one loss.

I think I love you. Everything about this is wonderful, honest and true. We were never a genuine premiership threat, we would have been ecstatic to scrape into the 8. Making week two of the finals would have been a massive overachievement with the roster we have. Now we look like finishing top 4 because we have a kissed on the dick soft draw for the last half of the season but we lose one game badly and suddenly the season is over. Christ.

 

[Sheridan Stand]

I'm going to cop a lot of flack for this post but I feel like it's necessary.

Some of you people are so f**king short-sighted it's ridiculous. Yes the team was abysmal today, they lost a game that they were probably expected to win. i'm angry, we're all angry, but i'm sick of seeing this ridiculous overreacting after almost every single loss.

So many people were happy to see the re-signing of Mary (granted, some weren't). Everyone wanted to keep Milne, to re-sign Mann and were right behind the team as they were charging through the competition and holding down a top 4 spot. Many believed that we were a genuine shot at the title this year.
Now, after a loss, as it happens every time, suddenly the Mary extension was a bad decision, losing Milne to another club was the right decision, we are now pretenders with no chance of winning the comp and this is apparently the start of our big slide out of the top 8.

f**king grow up, seriously. This is basically the equivalent of stamping your feet like a child after not getting something that you want.
Now I understand this isn't all of you, and maybe you need some time to calm down and come at this with a fresh perspective, but i've seen enough this year to know that this team has what it takes to be challenging in September. We had an off day against a team who rallied for each other and showed up to win (remember, they beat the Broncos after losing badly to Manly).

Let's just relax before you write the season off after one loss.

Our last premiership was 2010 and before that well let's not depress ourselves again.

I'm not short sighted.

I'm as long sighted as they come.

We have an awful in-bred management hell bent on jobs for the boys and with total disdain for any outsider who calls their weaknesses out.

There is an old saying in business "sh!t breeds sh!t".

Week after Mary gets his extension he can relax again and the team reverts to type A.

Work in facts , work in facts.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

BSE
No doubt at the start of the season we were the fittest team by far but of course as the year goes on other teams get match fitness and your own team starts to show signs of wear and tear.
The power game as Mc Fookknuckle calls it plays into the scenario of increased wear and tear and when we lose that power we have nowhere else to go.
No doubt some of our blokes are carrying injuries but due to the useless way we are blooding our juniors we keep playing the injured because we live in fear of the replacements not being ready.
I am not sure how many times we have named people in the initial first grade side that have not actually played any football on a weekend but I think there are a certainly a few occasions and despite some others saying that it's great they get named IMO it is a shitfull decision if they don't play.
There should never be a normal circumstance where a developing young player misses out on a game in any round.

Mate your dead right re the the power game, was going to add that to my post as well.....now it is starting to wain we are struggling to find alternatives.....we dont have the speed in our backs to lay on length of the field tries and leave it just to our forwards to get us within striking distance....on top of this we have for the most part a weak kicking game.......niggling injuries will always be part and parcel of any season but as you point out Mary would sooner play players out of their regular positions rather than blood some up and comers in those spots.....hes had 2 coaching appointments now and is safe for another 2 years but still wont give these young blokes early exposure.....you will never have ready made replacements if you dont know what capabilities these bloke hold......on another point I have noticed that we do very little running from dummy half....not so much with our wingers who come in to run the ball back, but in particular with Mcinnes.....if we have lost some of our power as in bash and barge by our forwards then its an ideal way to pinch some cheap metres and give our big boys a rest....I was never a Rein fan and our new hooker is head and shoulders above him, but he did on most occassions run well from that position

 

[Old Timer]

BSE
You are on the money yet again.
No doubt we will be swamped with every possible reason why we shouldn't make changes but unfortunately if we don't the outcome will be mostly the same.
We don't have a lot of speed with the current team
We don't have a tear away length of the field person
We don't have anything if the power game flops.
Yesterday the Dogs as did the Eels they played our game plan against us and we folded like a cheap suit.
Yes we hung in for a long time but that hanging in just sucked the energy reserves and in the end the Dogs won pretty easily everywhere but the scoreboard but then again if B Moz doesn't bomb his try it would have been bigger.
Also TBH the Dogs didn't actually play that great they just countered us very easily in the end.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Mate your dead right re the the power game, was going to add that to my post as well.....now it is starting to wain we are struggling to find alternatives.....we dont have the speed in our backs to lay on length of the field tries and leave it just to our forwards to get us within striking distance....on top of this we have for the most part a weak kicking game.......niggling injuries will always be part and parcel of any season but as you point out Mary would sooner play players out of their regular positions rather than blood some up and comers in those spots.....hes had 2 coaching appointments now and is safe for another 2 years but still wont give these young blokes early exposure.....you will never have ready made replacements if you dont know what capabilities these bloke hold......on another point I have noticed that we do very little running from dummy half....not so much with our wingers who come in to run the ball back, but in particular with Mcinnes.....if we have lost some of our power as in bash and barge by our forwards then its an ideal way to pinch some cheap metres and give our big boys a rest....I was never a Rein fan and our new hooker is head and shoulders above him, but he did on most occassions run well from that position

I am not sure our "power game" is waning but rather that opposition coaches have devised tactics to counter us.
We are 2 dimensional and predictable.
The players will put the effort bu the coaching set up is not good enough.
Still mystifies me why they coul
I think McInnes has been huge for us and that upgrade in the spine has been the main reason we have done better this year.
The problem is that it is not enough.

 

[Old Timer]

I think I love you. Everything about this is wonderful, honest and true. We were never a genuine premiership threat, we would have been ecstatic to scrape into the 8. Making week two of the finals would have been a massive overachievement with the roster we have. Now we look like finishing top 4 because we have a kissed on the dick soft draw for the last half of the season but we lose one game badly and suddenly the season is over. Christ.

If as you put it we were never a genuine premiership threat and you think the roster we have can't cut it why are we sticking with some of the players?
Surely now is the very time to sort the wheat from the chaff and know exactly what we've got in the locker as we do lose 2 internationals at the end of the season and so far only pick up Hunt so I can't see that making the difference to win the comp.
Honestly the coach picks the same side as last time we had players out are we doomed to a life in the missionary position namely being screwed the same way every time?
Time for the kamasutra and live a little bit on the wild side.

 

[JDHD]

If as you put it we were never a genuine premiership threat and you think the roster we have can't cut it why are we sticking with some of the players?
Surely now is the very time to sort the wheat from the chaff and know exactly what we've got in the locker as we do lose 2 internationals at the end of the season and so far only pick up Hunt so I can't see that making the difference to win the comp.
Honestly the coach picks the same side as last time we had players out are we doomed to a life in the missionary position namely being screwed the same way every time?
Time for the kamasutra and live a little bit on the wild side.

I agree, we should be blooding younger players to see who can cover for Packer and Dugan. We should also be seeing if any of our younger outside backs could replace some of our first grade squad. Dufty or Garrick should have gotten a crack on the wing this week, and Leilua and Field should have been on the bench over Sele and Milne. I just think that yesterday was a ridiculous overreaction to a loss. I'm enjoying the season for what it is.

 

[hazzbeen]

I agree, we should be blooding younger players to see who can cover for Packer and Dugan. We should also be seeing if any of our younger outside backs could replace some of our first grade squad. Dufty or Garrick should have gotten a crack on the wing this week, and Leilua and Field should have been on the bench over Sele and Milne. I just think that yesterday was a ridiculous overreaction to a loss. I'm enjoying the season for what it is.

Mate its not that we lost yesterday its they way we lost . Have seen it before with Mary coached team we put in but can't get over the line when things don't go their way . He doesn't make changes that need to happen , he comes out at the beginning of the year telling coaches that we are playing a power game . F**k its hard enough without telling coaches how we are going to play . Its been coming to this the last couple of games , I don't have a good feeling with what's unfolding . Boy I hope I'm wrong ....

 

[Life's Good]

I don't believe it's an overreaction more a reality check. Ever since the bye, the teams performance has dropped in what could be seen as a combination of complacency & burn out from the power game.
Along with a Halfback that provides a woeful last option kicking game, our team will struggle to match the real contenders. The team is better than last year, but we have plenty of shortcomings that will be exposed with a coach that doesn't seem to address our weakness.

Pretty much how I see it. We don't have the best squad and our initial advantage(a strong forward game)is being picked off so that advantage is diminishing. Because of player limitations(eg. McCrone) & coach limitations (poor bench rotation, risk averse selections etc.)means we don't have another style of play or level to go to. I've no doubt we can make the 8 but some tough decisions need to be made which I think Mary should make now that he isn't coaching for a contract.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

I am not sure our "power game" is waning but rather that opposition coaches have devised tactics to counter us.
We are 2 dimensional and predictable.
The players will put the effort bu the coaching set up is not good enough.
Still mystifies me why they coul
I think McInnes has been huge for us and that upgrade in the spine has been the main reason we have done better this year.
The problem is that it is not enough.

When I say its waining Ive noticed Vaughan, Packer and Sims dont seem to be as dominant as they used to be ...having said that its not through the lack of trying ..maybe you have a point when you say we are to dimensional....and throw in to predictable

 

[possm]

I'm going to cop a lot of flack for this post but I feel like it's necessary.

Some of you people are so f**king short-sighted it's ridiculous. Yes the team was abysmal today, they lost a game that they were probably expected to win. i'm angry, we're all angry, but i'm sick of seeing this ridiculous overreacting after almost every single loss.

So many people were happy to see the re-signing of Mary (granted, some weren't). Everyone wanted to keep Milne, to re-sign Mann and were right behind the team as they were charging through the competition and holding down a top 4 spot. Many believed that we were a genuine shot at the title this year.
Now, after a loss, as it happens every time, suddenly the Mary extension was a bad decision, losing Milne to another club was the right decision, we are now pretenders with no chance of winning the comp and this is apparently the start of our big slide out of the top 8.

f**king grow up, seriously. This is basically the equivalent of stamping your feet like a child after not getting something that you want.
Now I understand this isn't all of you, and maybe you need some time to calm down and come at this with a fresh perspective, but i've seen enough this year to know that this team has what it takes to be challenging in September. We had an off day against a team who rallied for each other and showed up to win (remember, they beat the Broncos after losing badly to Manly).

Let's just relax before you write the season off after one loss.

Sorry there are a few o here who aren't 'short sighted' and have good memories. These members like you love the Dragons and now have grown very tired of the crap our Club dishes out. What you failed to say in your rant was that many said don't sign Mary until season end. We said that because we wanted a decision to be made on a least the results of one good season under Mary. Now we are stuck with this hopeless coach for another two and a half years.

 

[slippery5]

There was a game earlier in the season where one of the commentators on Foxtell remarked that we were tackling just as hard in the last 10 minutes as we were in the first ten mlnutes. Where is that now.
Say we finish in the top eight. Is that going to be seen as a successful year after last year.
Through the ups and downs this season the common scenario amongst us supporters is that changes need to be made with McCrone, he is obviously lacking in what a 1/2 should be in the current game. I think he is the worst 1/2 in the comp.
The bench, again has been an issue all year coach is reluctant to give our juniors a run. Mary still persists with the power game, but any astute coach will see that and adjust their game plan.
Mann is the one that really irks me. Last year Mann played wing and was the clubs leading player in tries.
MacDonald is not cutting it as a winger. He should be dropped and Mann given that role.
Mary needs to get away from his attitude that he says is "moving forward" we are not moving forward.

Last year Mann played on the left where most of the play was sent, this year MacDonald is playing on the right & all the play is sent to the left with Widdop & Lafai. So I wouldn't be too harsh on him.. FYI McDonald played on the left at the Titans.

 

[possm]

When I say its waining Ive noticed Vaughan, Packer and Sims dont seem to be as dominant as they used to be ...having said that its not through the lack of trying ..maybe you have a point when you say we are to dimensional....and throw in to predictable

The team has been relying on these same forwards to dominate the whole of this season. This takes a toll on the boys and now they seem to have grown tired or have niggling injuries. The 'power game' has power no more.

 

[Crush]

Crush
You are risk averse and comfortable in the stuff quo and believed we could get top 8.
Some believed top 8 was possible but a significant amount and potentially ongoing change would be required.
Same expectation different way to get there.
You believe in the Mary story and others are sceptical of it and despite the improvement YTD do not perceive it sustainable without further changes.
For some the expectation of top 8 is one thing, how we get there is another and where to from there the ultimate vision.
Your vision is merely top 8 and that rubs your tummy and you roll over and go to sleep.
For myself, if people rub my tummy it is merely foreplay and I get a hard on and want to go as far as I can.

Is that what you think? That I am just hoping for a top 8 finish and will be happy with that? Or are you just trying to get a rise out of me?

 

[Crush]

Quite simple really...you're happy with a top eight finish and losing in the first week of the finals and I am not.
"Expectation" does not the same as "satisfaction".
Some people are just satisfied with mediocrity, it is not an accusation.

Dennis, you wouldn't know the first thing about me. When have I ever said that I am happy with a top 8 finish and happy to lose in the first week of the finals?
Please, spare me the English language lesson on the difference in the meaning of expectation and satisfaction. The two words are often used in the same sentence though. Exceeding expectations usually equals satisfaction on some level.
Anyway, I am over this a bit, next thread.

 

[Old Timer]

Is that what you think? That I am just hoping for a top 8 finish and will be happy with that? Or are you just trying to get a rise out of me?

Go back and read your own posts.
You have posted how happy you are and we shouldn't expect too much even to the point you have had several cracks at me about my expectation and almost called me a zealot because in your words I wouldn't be happy with anything but a premiership.
You are a person who is happy as long as the team plays well, wins a few games and makes the 8.
As soon as people say we want a premiership you defend the coach, Millward anyone who is even likely to cop a serve for our mediocrity and now you are trying to make out you are also not happy with just a top 8 spot.
If you want a top 4 or god forbid a premiership you can't possibly be happy with what is going on.
You can't be having it both ways so make your mind up.

 

[Crush]

Go back and read your own posts.
You have posted how happy you are and we shouldn't expect too much even to the point you have had several cracks at me about my expectation and almost called me a zealot because in your words I wouldn't be happy with anything but a premiership.
You are a person who is happy as long as the team plays well, wins a few games and makes the 8.
As soon as people say we want a premiership you defend the coach, Millward anyone who is even likely to cop a serve for our mediocrity and now you are trying to make out you are also not happy with just a top 8 spot.
If you want a top 4 or god forbid a premiership you can't possibly be happy with what is going on.
You can't be having it both ways so make your mind up.

Relentless