Ando's New Signings

[Harry Bath]

Once again the club has had riga mortis in the player transfer market for the whole season....signed Aitkinson before the season and he's playing reserve grade and the only other signing is Kerr...another journeyman. No wonder the young kids are getting itchy feet when they see absolutely no action to strengthen the squad for 2026. We are now told 2027 will be the season we see big improvement...12 months ago we were told 2026 would be the break out year. The thing that annoys me most is that there are never any explanations from the club as to why these things are allowed to happen...why did it take nearly 2 years to employ a recruitment manager, why haven't we been active in the player transfer market, why is our supposed break out season been delayed another 12 monyhs..WHY WHY WHY??

Because the board and management are incompetent.

 

[Draginzaaar]

I doubt it! Young is still the heir apparent to Flanagan, if 2026 starts off badly I can't see Flanagan surviving.

Just extended him for 2 years. They won't sack him next year.

 

[Harry Bath]

Just extended him for 2 years. They won't sack him next year.

Well they extended Price, McGregor and Griffin only to sack each one with 2 years on their contracts. What is different here?, if Flanagan does not get the Dragons into the 8 by mid next season he will be a dead man walking. I hope I am wrong however unless Dragons can sign a top class organizing half back with a good kicking game and some good outside backs and a couple of big aggressive front rowers then Flanagan will be gone before the end of 2026.

 

[The Word]

At the moment the play has to be keep our powder dry until November and then go huge on 2027 available talent surely, including Haas and others. No point going for mid range players with our junior talent they’re not what we need. Then when we know who we’ve got for 2027 and onwards, for how long and for how much, we use the rest of next years cash on the best short term options.

 

[The Word]

We are two months away from the biggest conversations let’s not screw this up and go for ordinary players now so we have f.ck all cash left for the big guns. We will have to offer them significant overs, we need to keep as much cash available for those deals as we can. That’s the only chance we’ve got of turning things around anytime soon.

 

[mattw5]

At the moment the play has to be keep our powder dry until November and then go huge on 2027 available talent surely, including Haas and others. No point going for mid range players with our junior talent they’re not what we need. Then when we know who we’ve got for 2027 and onwards, for how long and for how much, we use the rest of next years cash on the best short term options.

I was told that 2027 is the year to expect things to take off but they want to be going hard from November 1 & stop sitting on our hands like usual

 

[possm]

Well they extended Price, McGregor and Griffin only to sack each one with 2 years on their contracts. What is different here?, if Flanagan does not get the Dragons into the 8 by mid next season he will be a dead man walking. I hope I am wrong however unless Dragons can sign a top class organizing half back with a good kicking game and some good outside backs and a couple of big aggressive front rowers then Flanagan will be gone before the end of 2026.

We just need two good assistants to make it work in 2026.

 

[thebigredv]

We just need two good assistants to make it work in 2026.

Peter Gentle and Matthew Elliot would be revolutionary.

 

[jeffdragon]

I was told that 2027 is the year to expect things to take off but they want to be going hard from November 1 & stop sitting on our hands like usual

Flano said 25 we'd improve.
Now 26 will be the year 12 months ago now it's 27.

Too much talk no action,,might as well say 2030.

 

[dwight12]

Flano said 25 we'd improve.
Now 26 will be the year 12 months ago now it's 27.

Too much talk no action,,might as well say 2030.

As much as our ladder position did not improve, I'm of the opinion that our play on the field did improve. Considering the players we currently have in the squad and then the injuries that took place I wouldnt be mad at Flanno for thinking or stating that there was improvement this year.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

As much as our ladder position did not improve, I'm of the opinion that our play on the field did improve. Considering the players we currently have in the squad and then the injuries that took place I wouldnt be mad at Flanno for thinking or stating that there was improvement this year.

I'm not seeing it. In 2024, we scored 508 points and let in 634. In 2025, we scored 498 and let in 628. We've basically stayed the same while other teams improved. With respect to injuries, there's an injury tracker that gets posted on Reddit. We lost 170 man-games to injuries this year, but that was nothing compared to Souths with 275. Yet they still finished above us.

I respect your opinion but improvement is not how I would describe this year.

 

[possm]

Peter Gentle and Matthew Elliot would be revolutionary.

I would prefer:
Peter Peters as Assistant Coach (Attack)
Todd Payton as Assistant Coach (Defense)

When it comes to recruitment, there must be some confidential information available regarding our salary cap position. For the past few season we have been recruiting carp players from other clubs. For 2026, we won't be recruiting any marquee players, but instead, we will develop our promising juniors and possibly bring in some promising young players. Another year of transition.

In my opinion we at least have the space for 3 lmarquee players in 2026 and so, there should not be another wasted season:
We need to strengthen our spine with marquee positons:
Fullback (Gutherson to replace Suli in the centers)
Halfback (Kyle Flannagan to 14)

We also need a marquee prop to lead our young forwards.

Build our first-grade 17 around these marquee players.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Don't underestimate the enormity of the job Ando has to do.
Besides the fact that we aren't the Roosters, he has to negotiate a mine field of leeches (sometimes referred to as player managers) who (a) try to sell their broken down hack looking for a retirement package, and (b) use us a a bargaining chip to inflate a price (or tpa, or some other form of compensation)

We currently have 4/5 spots open for '26. As many on here have said we need:
1. A half-back
2. An Alpha prop
3. A fast outside back
Others have also thrown in (4) a fullback

There's a fair bit of player movement going on atm. A lot of names being thrown around. However, are they really, truly what we need to improve our squad?
I say an emphatic no.

Throw in the Bears and the (possible) Rugby360 comp, and we are going to struggle to sign anyone of the 3 required positional players we want. This is why we are still 'holding on' to re-signing Klem, when normally it would be thanks, have a nice retirement.

Yeah, the goal posts keep moving, from '26 now to '27. But, in retrospect so does the landscape, example being the paragraph above, where these even a thing at the start of the '25 season?

There's also the fine balance of juniors v roadblocks. Like Reed. When do we introduce him to 1st grade. I read a lot of comments like "he's not ready' or "he needs time in Cup against men". Well he's turning 20 next year. Walker debut for the Roosters at 19. So, how long do we keep them in cotton wool? Seems also we have another gun half coming through in Ah Kee, again how long do we try to hide them before they are poached by Gould or some other smart operator.
Who was it that famously said "if they're good enough, they're old enough!"

In conclusion, I would say:
1. Halfback- unlikely
2. Alpha prop - like who?????
3. Outside back - probably our best shot
4. Fullback- unlikely

More deadwood will be moved on next year and that's why '27 is now the target year, both for the Club and for the future of the coach.

 

[possm]

Don't underestimate the enormity of the job Ando has to do.
Besides the fact that we aren't the Roosters, he has to negotiate a mine field of leeches (sometimes referred to as player managers) who (a) try to sell their broken down hack looking for a retirement package, and (b) use us a a bargaining chip to inflate a price (or tpa, or some other form of compensation)

We currently have 4/5 spots open for '26. As many on here have said we need:
1. A half-back
2. An Alpha prop
3. A fast outside back
Others have also thrown in (4) a fullback

There's a fair bit of player movement going on atm. A lot of names being thrown around. However, are they really, truly what we need to improve our squad?
I say an emphatic no.

Throw in the Bears and the (possible) Rugby360 comp, and we are going to struggle to sign anyone of the 3 required positional players we want. This is why we are still 'holding on' to re-signing Klem, when normally it would be thanks, have a nice retirement.

Yeah, the goal posts keep moving, from '26 now to '27. But, in retrospect so does the landscape, example being the paragraph above, where these even a thing at the start of the '25 season?

There's also the fine balance of juniors v roadblocks. Like Reed. When do we introduce him to 1st grade. I read a lot of comments like "he's not ready' or "he needs time in Cup against men". Well he's turning 20 next year. Walker debut for the Roosters at 19. So, how long do we keep them in cotton wool? Seems also we have another gun half coming through in Ah Kee, again how long do we try to hide them before they are poached by Gould or some other smart operator.
Who was it that famously said "if they're good enough, they're old enough!"

In conclusion, I would say:
1. Halfback- unlikely
2. Alpha prop - like who?????
3. Outside back - probably our best shot
4. Fullback- unlikely

More deadwood will be moved on next year and that's why '27 is now the target year, both for the Club and for the future of the coach.

In 2027 there will be even more competition for players. The Board has appointed Anderson as recruitment manager, maybe they should look at the quality of men he is managing. Souts like Haran, Millward, and whoever else who failed in their previous roles at the Club. Anderson needs a good team of recruiters/scouts around him so that he CAN get the job done now.

So, replace Anderson's helpers, and get rid of the deadwood before the competition for players really ramps up.

 

[dragon thomo]

If Reed is 20 next year, I would play him in first grade. If he can't handle the physical parf of the game at 20 he may not be the half we want.

 

[dwight12]

I'm not seeing it. In 2024, we scored 508 points and let in 634. In 2025, we scored 498 and let in 628. We've basically stayed the same while other teams improved. With respect to injuries, there's an injury tracker that gets posted on Reddit. We lost 170 man-games to injuries this year, but that was nothing compared to Souths with 275. Yet they still finished above us.

I respect your opinion but improvement is not how I would describe this year.

You could argue that stats dont lie, which is correct. But there is also context. Our last 3 games would have put us -100 in the for and against column alone which you could contribute to fatigue both mentally and physically.

In the one off season we lost our 2 most potent attacking options in Hunt and Lomax. For all the criticism Hunt cops on this forum (most of which I think is warranted) there is no doubting that most of our attacking opportunities last year were a result of a kick from him to lomax. Now losing those 2 players whilst trying to incorporate a whole new spine with the only incumbent Kyle, who as much as he gives 120% every minute of the game probably isnt up to the standard of a starting NRL quality half, let alone the main half, has severe effect on those numbers.

I for one am happy to give Shane the benefit of the doubt and I hope that with the addition of Ando we may be able to sign a few players that as a result can turn those close losses we had this year into close wins.

 

[Slippery Morris]

This talk about youngsters not ready for NRL. Has anyone seen the size of Ashton Ward? The guy is tiny. Also Purdue? Not much meat on him when he started. Look how good they seemed to go on their debuts.

Sick of this talk of players not ready, yet they get poached by other clubs and thrown in NRL and do just fine. Tamale and Finau should have been in the backline in 2026, Instead 1 is at the Raiders and the other will follow. If Saints had a backline of Lomax, Tamale, Bostock and Val Holmes that would be pretty awesome. Instead the 3 juniors are playing elsewhere and killing it. I hope Buchanan stays as he looks like the type that would kill it in another team. He seems to love the red V. Hopefully Anderson will sort it out and keep the right ones. Anderson's job is more about keeping the right guys that brining in others as than is where Saints fail the most.

 

[Draginzaaar]

I would prefer:
Peter Peters as Assistant Coach (Attack)
Todd Payton as Assistant Coach (Defense)

When it comes to recruitment, there must be some confidential information available regarding our salary cap position. For the past few season we have been recruiting carp players from other clubs. For 2026, we won't be recruiting any marquee players, but instead, we will develop our promising juniors and possibly bring in some promising young players. Another year of transition.

In my opinion we at least have the space for 3 lmarquee players in 2026 and so, there should not be another wasted season:
We need to strengthen our spine with marquee positons:
Fullback (Gutherson to replace Suli in the centers)
Halfback (Kyle Flannagan to 14)

We also need a marquee prop to lead our young forwards.

Build our first-grade 17 around these marquee players.

This is jokes yeah?

 

[Dragsters]

I would prefer:
Peter Peters as Assistant Coach (Attack)
Todd Payton as Assistant Coach (Defense)

When it comes to recruitment, there must be some confidential information available regarding our salary cap position. For the past few season we have been recruiting carp players from other clubs. For 2026, we won't be recruiting any marquee players, but instead, we will develop our promising juniors and possibly bring in some promising young players. Another year of transition.

In my opinion we at least have the space for 3 lmarquee players in 2026 and so, there should not be another wasted season:
We need to strengthen our spine with marquee positons:
Fullback (Gutherson to replace Suli in the centers)
Halfback (Kyle Flannagan to 14)

We also need a marquee prop to lead our young forwards.

Build our first-grade 17 around these marquee players.

This is jokes yeah?

I'm guessing Possm means Willie Peters!

 

[possm]

If Reed is 20 next year, I would play him in first grade. If he can't handle the physical parf of the game at 20 he may not be the half we want.

Reed has all the skills: Speed, elusiveness, kicks in general play, good passigng game and to top it all off, he is a goel kicker and was captain of the Flegg side.

I would start the season with:

1 Gutherson
6 Atkinson
7 Reed
9 Liddle
14 Flanagan

Reserve Grade

1 Ramsey
6 LKT
7 Ilias
9 Cook