The Rumours Thread

[redv13]

Big rig
another one we missed signed with goldcoast from 2024 ....

This is actually becoming concerning and embarrassing. When you look at the dogs, Tigers, Newcastle etc and we are signing players like Jack Shit and No One. Wow oh wow, we’re in massive strife

 

[randomdragon]

This is actually becoming concerning and embarrassing. When you look at the dogs, Tigers, Newcastle etc and we are signing players like Jack Shit and No One. Wow oh wow, we’re in massive strife

you don't trust our juniors?

 

[Parko1310]

you don't trust our juniors?

It would be great to see our juniors stepping up, but do you think our juniors in the forwards will get much of a run? I can see Coric getting a debut at some stage during the season, but apart from that I'm not sure players like the Couchman's, Webster and Shereb will see game time as they'd be pretty raw and new to the first grade set up. Have the Dragons just accepted 2023 as a write off and planning to develop these guys in seconds, or are they actually planning on blooding them into the top grade? Cheers.

 

[redv13]

you don't trust our juniors?

I doubt they are ready for the week in week out of first grade. So at this point I think it’s beyond a big ask for 2023 for these kids

 

[possm]

It seems to me that there is no 5-year recruitment plan in place and most of our juniors in the lower grades are not ready for first grade.

Why don't they sign Brown as our pathways and recruitment manager?

 

[thebigredv]

you don't trust our juniors?

Do you trust our juniors? Most of the young junior forwards have had zero game time as of yet or went missing when promoted.

The younger backs should be primed for a great year with talent to burn and experience under their belt, however, as per usual the club has failed to bulk up our forward pack and the whole backline suffers when there's no go forward. You think this might have been picked up on in the last 5 years.

Where are the signings that Webb promised? Other teams have once again schooled us in recruitment.

I'm fine putting faith in juniors but they are being set up to fail with the lack of balance in the team.

 

[BIG RIG]

It’s baffling with these other teams recruiting so we’ll and we are just happy with what we got ( which is not much )

Tigers getting Papalii , Koroisau , Klemmer and now potentially Bateman , Brown and Moses

Bulldogs getting Kikau and Mahoney ontop of Addo Carr and Burton last year am now I’m hearing Leniu and Stephen Crichton

What is so different between our club and theres

It’s actually quite sad being a fan and seeing all these teams on the up and us just being content with were we are at

I believe we will be hard pressed to finish outside of the bottom 4 this year and all this bullshit about 2024 being the shining light in the future is not making me optimistic

 

[justadragon]

Do you trust our juniors? Most of the young junior forwards have had zero game time as of yet or went missing when promoted.

The younger backs should be primed for a great year with talent to burn and experience under their belt, however, as per usual the club has failed to bulk up our forward pack and the whole backline suffers when there's no go forward. You think this might have been picked up on in the last 5 years.

Where are the signings that Webb promised? Other teams have once again schooled us in recruitment.

I'm fine putting faith in juniors but they are being set up to fail with the lack of balance in the team.

Correct BRV, what worries me though is our juniors had a pretty disruptive last few years and to say our KOE squad were woeful especially in defense is an understatement. I can only look at the coaching that team had and I found it to be highly inadequate. My huge concern is now that same coach is in our pathways system, and with what credentials ???

 

[justadragon]

It’s baffling with these other teams recruiting so we’ll and we are just happy with what we got ( which is not much )

Tigers getting Papalii , Koroisau , Klemmer and now potentially Bateman , Brown and Moses

Bulldogs getting Kikau and Mahoney ontop of Addo Carr and Burton last year am now I’m hearing Leniu and Stephen Crichton

What is so different between our club and theres

It’s actually quite sad being a fan and seeing all these teams on the up and us just being content with were we are at

I believe we will be hard pressed to finish outside of the bottom 4 this year and all this bullshit about 2024 being the shining light in the future is not making me optimistic

Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall and Gus Gould !!!!

 

[possm]

We need to have our junior player's expectations tempered and linked to set goals that are achievable and realistic. A coaching/training program should be developed together with a plan for first-grade inclusion.

Along this pathway, some juniors who do not reach expectations should be dropped from the program to make way for others who have good potential to achieve. Where local junior players are not available to fill some slots, junior players from other regions should be included.

Along with all of this, a five-year plan to include our juniors in the top 30 should be developed and constantly adjusted according to the progress of a member of the program. A five-year recruitment program should also be developed with adjustments being made to ensure we stay under our cap and stay competitive.

In my opinion, the Dragons take too many gambles when it comes to recruitment and junior development. Surely, the recruitment staff, coaching staff, and GM football can see what we see when it comes to below-average players or players who do not have good defensive skills.

 

[Dragon David]

Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall and Gus Gould !!!!

The Tigers and Bulldogs, having signed up more high profile coaches, assistants and football managers, have been able to attract higher profile players and appears to be looking at signing more. Both clubs have been in a mess for a while having been wooden spooners in 2022 and 2021 respectively. On paper all looks great with both clubs and they look like they will be much more competitive in the next few years.

On the other hand the Dragons on paper appear to have the opposite in coaching, managers, players etc however, I am hoping that we can at least be competitive enough to end up better on the ladder than what we did in 2022.

I don't think Hook will be with us in 2024 and our "real" position in the comp will be dependent on who will be Hook's replacement. It needs to be someone who is "high" profile. The current crop of young guys has to be closely scrutinised and developed to the utmost. Use of them in higher grades with the right coaching will get them in a better place for 2024 for the new coach, I hope.

I'm hoping a lot nowadays.

 

[The Word]

The sad fact of the matter is that we don't appear to be producing any junior forwards whatsoever capable of playing at NRL level. You can't compete as a club when that's the case. You end up paying over market rates for pretty much every forward you bring in to entice them to leave their home areas to come and play for the dragons. Which means your average quality is poor and the team cohesion isn't there.
Whether that's because of the demographics, poor junior coaching, or poor retention, I don't know, but someone needs to properly investigate it to see what's going wrong.
In the meantime it looks like the club has not been able to recruit the top level forwards we were all hoping for. I'm guessing that's why they've pivoted towards trying to recruit the younger guys to try and get quality into our system that way.
Either way, it doesn't look like 2023 will be super successful. I've lowered my expectations accordingly. I'm really hoping we finish above the Tigers and Bulldogs as I'm sick of being told what an amazing job these two clubs are doing before a ball has even been kicked.

 

[Qdf]

It’s baffling with these other teams recruiting so we’ll and we are just happy with what we got ( which is not much )

Tigers getting Papalii , Koroisau , Klemmer and now potentially Bateman , Brown and Moses

Bulldogs getting Kikau and Mahoney ontop of Addo Carr and Burton last year am now I’m hearing Leniu and Stephen Crichton

What is so different between our club and theres

It’s actually quite sad being a fan and seeing all these teams on the up and us just being content with were we are at

I believe we will be hard pressed to finish outside of the bottom 4 this year and all this bullshit about 2024 being the shining light in the future is not making me optimistic

It's all about the people in charge. We have a full board of incompetent individuals that sit back with their heads in the TROUGH, when it's not up their arse.
Players of any calibre won't come to the Dragons.
Mainly because of the people running our club.

 

[Dragons4me]

The sad fact of the matter is that we don't appear to be producing any junior forwards whatsoever capable of playing at NRL level. You can't compete as a club when that's the case. You end up paying over market rates for pretty much every forward you bring in to entice them to leave their home areas to come and play for the dragons. Which means your average quality is poor and the team cohesion isn't there.
Whether that's because of the demographics, poor junior coaching, or poor retention, I don't know, but someone needs to properly investigate it to see what's going wrong.
In the meantime it looks like the club has not been able to recruit the top level forwards we were all hoping for. I'm guessing that's why they've pivoted towards trying to recruit the younger guys to try and get quality into our system that way.
Either way, it doesn't look like 2023 will be super successful. I've lowered my expectations accordingly. I'm really hoping we finish above the Tigers and Bulldogs as I'm sick of being told what an amazing job these two clubs are doing before a ball has even been kicked.

 

[Illusion]

It's all about the people in charge. We have a full board of incompetent individuals that sit back with their heads in the TROUGH, when it's not up their arse.
Players of any calibre won't come to the Dragons.
Mainly because of the people running our club.

Been like this for a loooooooooooooong time .......

 

[Slippery Morris]

Canberra and Sharks have signed 1 player for 2023. Manly and Cowboys 2 players which one of those is Gosiewski and the Rabbitohs have signed none. Saints are not the only team not keeping up with the likes of the Dogs and Tigers in player recruitment.

The Management is a mess at Saints and after Hooks extension and disastrous signings of Burgess, Maguire, McCullough and Woods would you trust his judgement on bringing in any forwards? The Saints are probably waiting on him to finish off next season and give the new coach a clean slate to gut the team and start fresh with plenty of cap to spend which I can understand. They are right to force Hook to blood the youngsters by not bringing in more has-beens because he wasted a year on cheap buys and giving them heaps of game time when not injured or suspended and not bringing the kids through. Saints cannot even go and recruit for 2024 because they don't know who will be coaching then. 2023 is not one to expect much from but only to avoid the spoon. But then again the same was said in 1996 and they made the GF. Difference was David Waite could coach and this guy that is there now cannot.

 

[BIG RIG]

we have no junior forwards

 

[Parko1310]

we have no junior forwards

We do, they just aren't ready yet I wouldn't think. Couchman's, Coric, Shereb, Webster. Then in the years after that Ackers, Kaden Somerville (not really sure how he's going), etc.

 

[Dragon David]

It’s baffling with these other teams recruiting so we’ll and we are just happy with what we got ( which is not much )

Tigers getting Papalii , Koroisau , Klemmer and now potentially Bateman , Brown and Moses

Bulldogs getting Kikau and Mahoney ontop of Addo Carr and Burton last year am now I’m hearing Leniu and Stephen Crichton

What is so different between our club and theres

It’s actually quite sad being a fan and seeing all these teams on the up and us just being content with were we are at

I believe we will be hard pressed to finish outside of the bottom 4 this year and all this bullshit about 2024 being the shining light in the future is not making me optimistic

The Bulldogs reported to be going to sign Bronson Xerri in 2024.

SPEEDSTER RETURNS

The Bulldogs are reportedly set to offer former Sharks speedster a Bronson Xerri a deal from 2024 when his doping ban ends.

Xerri was banned for steroids following the 2019 season in which he made his NRL debut and played 22 games for the Sharks.


The then teenager copped a four-year suspension but he’s set to sign a two-year deal with the Dogs, according to Danny Weidler.

So it looks like the Bulldogs are looking at the future well and truly. Who else will they be going for?

 

[qld redvee]

The Bulldogs reported to be going to sign Bronson Xerri in 2024.

SPEEDSTER RETURNS

The Bulldogs are reportedly set to offer former Sharks speedster a Bronson Xerri a deal from 2024 when his doping ban ends.

Xerri was banned for steroids following the 2019 season in which he made his NRL debut and played 22 games for the Sharks.


The then teenager copped a four-year suspension but he’s set to sign a two-year deal with the Dogs, according to Danny Weidler.

So it looks like the Bulldogs are looking at the future well and truly. Who else will they be going for?

DD
dont you love how the dogs are looking after their juniors !!!!!!!!!!!! Gould is really investing in their pathways isnt he ... looks like gus wants instant success he must be on some sort of bonus ...
BUT at least they are signing name players I just wish we could do something similar