2022 Squad: Gains, Losses & Re-signings.

[jak]

Woods has lived in Oatley for a long time now.
Maybe your powers-to-be thought they were bringing another local junior home...

wrong yet again sheldon.

 

[bad boy bubby]

wrong yet again sheldon.

I was only going off what he told me, take it up with him,jakoff. Hopefully he realises that he'll be training in the Gong and not our old home ground.

 

[randomdragon]

lets not let this thread go off topic with where a bloke lives within 5 kms...

 

[thebigredv]

This is an observation, not meaning to stir the pot but when you look at a large faction of players at our club it makes for a very dysfunctional and 'risky' playing group, only getting moreso under the new coach.

After the BBQ affair can anyone on this forum really sit there and say they have confidence in the group? I'll leave that glaring issue to one side but it did already show utter disrespect to the club and coach, not a happy basis for a team that is gunning for a title.

The consensus is we are happy to give Amone, Sullivan, Feagais, Ramsey, Burns and Coric time to develop in first grade. That's cool but take a look at this:

Bird - history of chronic injuries
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury
Suli - history of poor attitude
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers!
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not

Add to the fact it means Hunt, who should be our protected halfback, does the work of two players in defence and attack and winds up busted and broken mid season.

Throw in a few sheep who always rely on others to be of any value in a first grade team, namely Alvaro, Kerr and Faamasili. Sims is not really a happy camper and has publicly stated it. Thinks he deserves big bucks on name alone.

I am generalising a lot here but as a collective I just feel will be walking on egg shells with this lot. There's no radical thing that will happen this offseason that will flick a magic switch. Yes each player has some redeeming quality but it is heavily disproportionate to their strengths.

On the balance of things, our squad is nowhere near the quality of 2018, the last time this club got a pass mark.

 

[BBTB]

This is an observation, not meaning to stir the pot but when you look at a large faction of players at our club it makes for a very dysfunctional and 'risky' playing group, only getting moreso under the new coach.

After the BBQ affair can anyone on this forum really sit there and say they have confidence in the group? I'll leave that glaring issue to one side but it did already show utter disrespect to the club and coach, not a happy basis for a team that is gunning for a title.

The consensus is we are happy to give Amone, Sullivan, Feagais, Ramsey, Burns and Coric time to develop in first grade. That's cool but take a look at this:

Bird - history of chronic injuries
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury
Suli - history of poor attitude
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers!
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not

Add to the fact it means Hunt, who should be our protected halfback, does the work of two players in defence and attack and winds up busted and broken mid season.

Throw in a few sheep who always rely on others to be of any value in a first grade team, namely Alvaro, Kerr and Faamasili. Sims is not really a happy camper and has publicly stated it. Thinks he deserves big bucks on name alone.

I am generalising a lot here but as a collective I just feel will be walking on egg shells with this lot. There's no radical thing that will happen this offseason that will flick a magic switch. Yes each player has some redeeming quality but it is heavily disproportionate to their strengths.

On the balance of things, our squad is nowhere near the quality of 2018, the last time this club got a pass mark.

Agree, this current group of players, have lot to prove....
Hook is basically put his job on the line.....with a team of
ordinary players,at best.
I hope they realise this is it,
Perform or Get'thef**kout.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

Time for a break from the forum for me. I have heard of "glass half empty" posters, but it seems the glass is not only half empty, it's not big enough to begin with, and the filling is a bit dirty looking, and there is no ice, and there isn't a straw and I think someone else had a sip from the glass!
It's a bit early, but have a great Christmas and stay well, both physically and mentally. See you on the other side! (Of Christmas I mean).

 

[randomdragon]

This is an observation, not meaning to stir the pot but when you look at a large faction of players at our club it makes for a very dysfunctional and 'risky' playing group, only getting moreso under the new coach.

After the BBQ affair can anyone on this forum really sit there and say they have confidence in the group? I'll leave that glaring issue to one side but it did already show utter disrespect to the club and coach, not a happy basis for a team that is gunning for a title.

The consensus is we are happy to give Amone, Sullivan, Feagais, Ramsey, Burns and Coric time to develop in first grade. That's cool but take a look at this:

Bird - history of chronic injuries
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury
Suli - history of poor attitude
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers!
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not

Add to the fact it means Hunt, who should be our protected halfback, does the work of two players in defence and attack and winds up busted and broken mid season.

Throw in a few sheep who always rely on others to be of any value in a first grade team, namely Alvaro, Kerr and Faamasili. Sims is not really a happy camper and has publicly stated it. Thinks he deserves big bucks on name alone.

I am generalising a lot here but as a collective I just feel will be walking on egg shells with this lot. There's no radical thing that will happen this offseason that will flick a magic switch. Yes each player has some redeeming quality but it is heavily disproportionate to their strengths.

On the balance of things, our squad is nowhere near the quality of 2018, the last time this club got a pass mark.

Bird - history of chronic injuries (in a contract year, undeniably helped us last year)
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury (no other quality hooker on the market, if we don't sign him we don't have a hooker for last year)
Suli - history of poor attitude (can break a game open, as you get older you tend to get wiser)
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers! (28 years old and played rep footy, hardly ageing)
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL (low risk, low money)
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse (good player when he's on the field, however agree need to curb suspensions, again in a contract year)
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control (played well this year when on the field, suspensions were extremely unlucky)
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack (only 30 years old and potentially only 1 maybe 2 year contract, good for culture too)
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not (who cares if he's a polarising figure if he curbs the misdemeanours he's a good player)

summary: too many negative people out there looking for the worst in players. there are plenty of positives too.

 

[BIG RIG]

Bird - history of chronic injuries (in a contract year, undeniably helped us last year)
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury (no other quality hooker on the market, if we don't sign him we don't have a hooker for last year)
Suli - history of poor attitude (can break a game open, as you get older you tend to get wiser)
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers! (28 years old and played rep footy, hardly ageing)
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL (low risk, low money)
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse (good player when he's on the field, however agree need to curb suspensions, again in a contract year)
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control (played well this year when on the field, suspensions were extremely unlucky)
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack (only 30 years old and potentially only 1 maybe 2 year contract, good for culture too)
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not (who cares if he's a polarising figure if he curbs the misdemeanours he's a good player)

summary: too many negative people out there looking for the worst in players. there are plenty of positives too.

As I have said some people on here would find something negative to say even if it was Tom Trbojevic joining the club

 

[Old Timer]

I wonder when fans will realise a couple of key issues
1. You have to fill your squad
2. Not all your juniors are going to step up let alone make it to top 30.
3. You need some senior players (with considerable 1st grade experience) to help guide the most promising juniors through the system including whilst playing reggies.
4. You can only attract those that wish to be attracted by either money, a chance to prove themselves and play regular 1st grade, those on the slide, those wanting to have a crack at the finals in a team that is competitive, those that believe the coach can improve them to a higher level.
5. In respect of the point above we have to understand what criteria 's apply to players when they are viewing us an option.
6. All clubs but a select few suffer from points 4 & 5 at different parts of the cycle before it finally clicks due to a higher than normal influx of quality juniors making the difference and unfortunately that cycle is not very quick.
7. Ultimately to a large degree I believe we sign the best of that which we can attract or afford and in some cases some considered worth the risk be it from an injury or behavioural perspective.

 

[Adolf_Spritzer]

How do you think multiple players, over multiple seasons getting on the nose beers looks for Bellemy and Melbourne's image? Surely the 'disrespect' shown by our lot (getting together after a win to have a quiet get-together, only to be thwarted by some pretty silly lockdown laws that had only come into place a week or so earlier, considering Shellharbour was well away from the hotspot at the time and they were all in the NRL bubble together in the first place) pales in comparison to continual disregard shown by Melbourne.

And the way the media has come out in full protection mode, past players too who are saying "you've got to be smarter, and know who you're partying with" really shows you that it's not an even playing field.

But no it's the dragons who have massive attitude problems.. grubs for life as it were.

 

[thebigredv]

Bird - history of chronic injuries (in a contract year, undeniably helped us last year)
McCulloch - aging, slow, major recent injury (no other quality hooker on the market, if we don't sign him we don't have a hooker for last year)
Suli - history of poor attitude (can break a game open, as you get older you tend to get wiser)
Mbye - aging and let go by the Tigers, the Tigers! (28 years old and played rep footy, hardly ageing)
Burgess - unprecedented injury in NRL (low risk, low money)
McGuire - perpetually suspended and only getting worse (good player when he's on the field, however agree need to curb suspensions, again in a contract year)
Fuimaono - perpetually suspended, no self control (played well this year when on the field, suspensions were extremely unlucky)
Woods - aging and emphatically ineffective in attack (only 30 years old and potentially only 1 maybe 2 year contract, good for culture too)
JDB - polarising figure whether anyone likes it or not (who cares if he's a polarising figure if he curbs the misdemeanours he's a good player)

summary: too many negative people out there looking for the worst in players. there are plenty of positives too.

Summary: there's always some random dragons fan to tell us why things are great when they clearly need to look at the ladder. Years of people justifying the club's movements and every year you are proven wrong.

I've had it up to here with " he was the only one available" or " there's no one else available". Seems to be the catch cry of the positive fans. That is an excuse. If we haven't developed our own players then we needed to make players move over. It can be done. It just isn't something our management is capable of and it's clear for all to see.

You can talk up any of those players and put a positive spin but apart from Hunt, De Belin and Bird they aren't proving their worth and I bet my house on Woods and Mbye being just as bad.

 

[TruSaint]

Summary: there's always some random dragons fan to tell us why things are great when they clearly need to look at the ladder. Years of people justifying the club's movements and every year you are proven wrong.

I've had it up to here with " he was the only one available" or " there's no one else available". Seems to be the catch cry of the positive fans. That is an excuse. If we haven't developed our own players then we needed to make players move over. It can be done. It just isn't something our management is capable of and it's clear for all to see.

You can talk up any of those players and put a positive spin but apart from Hunt, De Belin and Bird they aren't proving their worth and I bet my house on Woods and Mbye being just as bad.

Your house is safe.

It's not about being negative or positive . Its about reality. At the minute we are irrelevant in terms of our squad and dare I say our management.

Of course we will all be back ( myself included ), enjoying the match day threads and encouraging the team, but that doesn't change the fact that we are bog average.

A decade of mediocrity seems not be enough for some.

 

[Old Timer]

Summary: there's always some random dragons fan to tell us why things are great when they clearly need to look at the ladder. Years of people justifying the club's movements and every year you are proven wrong.

I've had it up to here with " he was the only one available" or " there's no one else available". Seems to be the catch cry of the positive fans. That is an excuse. If we haven't developed our own players then we needed to make players move over. It can be done. It just isn't something our management is capable of and it's clear for all to see.

You can talk up any of those players and put a positive spin but apart from Hunt, De Belin and Bird they aren't proving their worth and I bet my house on Woods and Mbye being just as bad.

Can you send us a photo of the house?

 

[blacksafake]

How do you think multiple players, over multiple seasons getting on the nose beers looks for Bellemy and Melbourne's image? Surely the 'disrespect' shown by our lot (getting together after a win to have a quiet get-together, only to be thwarted by some pretty silly lockdown laws that had only come into place a week or so earlier, considering Shellharbour was well away from the hotspot at the time and they were all in the NRL bubble together in the first place) pales in comparison to continual disregard shown by Melbourne.

And the way the media has come out in full protection mode, past players too who are saying "you've got to be smarter, and know who you're partying with" really shows you that it's not an even playing field.

But no it's the dragons who have massive attitude problems.. grubs for life as it were.

Good post @Adolf_Spritzer
The excuses from Munster etc about not remembering anything is laughable as well as not knowing what the "white powder" was is embarrassing for the NRL & Storm club.
The storm have history of players being involved with "white powder" yet their culture is supposed to be admired. LOL.
If it was us the media would be circling the blood in the water.

 

[Crush]

Here I am like most die hards just trying to get over that season, following another finals series with our absence and then comes the news we've landed old man Woods. A reject from a coach who rejected us in an instant. All the while still awaiting the announced signing of a player who rejected us last year. Please try convince me we aren't the bottom feeders of the competition.

Honestly it just upsets me no end knowing we will go into another off-season with Buckley's chance of giving the title a crack. The top 8 looks a long way off. Our young ones are too green and these over the hill blokes are too old and too many in number to contribute greatly towards what is the ultimate goal on professional sport - win matches. A completely unbalanced squad devoid of star quality.

Cue the dreamers to butt in and remind me we have Molo and Sua, and tell me how Woods will bring leadership and Mbye will bring his articulate manner of speaking. Seen it all before. Molo and Sua will fade into oblivion when they realise they have no one to help them on a consistent basis, Mbye will tell us why our future looks good and come on and complete some useless cameos, and Woods will do nothing but serve his self interests at a club that enables it time and time again. A club that is quite frankly not in the business of competing fiercely like the St George teams of old or is simply incapable of getting the foundation set.

Woods may just appear like another depth signing to some but on the back of recently waving goodbye to Vaughan, Host, Frizell and McIness and enduring a year when there was not a decent forward in our team save the guy back from the courts, to me, it is an emblem of our recruitment inferiority and a bloody white flag waved to all other teams in the comp. What did we finish, 12th? A busted Burgess, a tiger off cut and a prehistoric shark is only going to see us slide further down.

I'm furious right now and at the end of my tether with this joke of a club. I'm tired of my team being defeated before a ball is even kicked.

Nailed it.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I see manly have officially released 5 players (Suli included) and the Storm have released another 8 on top of the big 3 in Finucane, JAC & Hynes.

The scramble is on to sign players, and it is a frenzy atm and add to that the pending announcement of 17th franchise (Dolphins being the odds-on fav) with probably the super-coach Bennett in charge.

The point here is that both Storm and Manly need to replace those let go (that's 16 players) not including other teams need to complete squads, including us. It is a buyers market at present. Securing the signature of a top flight player is almost guaranteed to be fraught with 'paying overs' and attracting the wrong type of player to your squad.

Any player whose contract expires in '22 is on the table as of Nov1, including 11 of our own. Those being:

Alvaro, Bird, Burns, Mat & Max F, Faamasili, Ford, Lawrie, Maguire, Sims and Bud.

In this list there are some must re-signings, with Bud being on top of the list. Some of these players we may have to bump salaries in '22 just to keep them, that impacts the salary cap.

Who would you keep and who would you let go?

The issue here is, for everyone let go you have to find a replacement.

 

[Dragons4me]

Each day with no news of Sullivan's re-signing worries me. I wish I had more confidence in the Dragons hierarchy but I don't.

 

[TruSaint]

 

[SnowDragon]

Yes, storm have released players.

how about Tyson Smoothy! Hooker, 22yrs old, and Great name ( we need a hooker right? What’s he like?)

 

[blacksafake]

I see manly have officially released 5 players (Suli included) and the Storm have released another 8 on top of the big 3 in Finucane, JAC & Hynes.

The scramble is on to sign players, and it is a frenzy atm and add to that the pending announcement of 17th franchise (Dolphins being the odds-on fav) with probably the super-coach Bennett in charge.

The point here is that both Storm and Manly need to replace those let go (that's 16 players) not including other teams need to complete squads, including us. It is a buyers market at present. Securing the signature of a top flight player is almost guaranteed to be fraught with 'paying overs' and attracting the wrong type of player to your squad.

Any player whose contract expires in '22 is on the table as of Nov1, including 11 of our own. Those being:

Alvaro, Bird, Burns, Mat & Max F, Faamasili, Ford, Lawrie, Maguire, Sims and Bud.

In this list there are some must re-signings, with Bud being on top of the list. Some of these players we may have to bump salaries in '22 just to keep them, that impacts the salary cap.

Who would you keep and who would you let go?

The issue here is, for everyone let go you have to find a replacement.

Bud, M&M, Burns & Bird keepers for me.