L7 v Bunnies

[DJDL]

I know a lot of people are down on Atkinson, but i watched him play last year as 5/8 for Cronulla when Hines and Trindall didnt play and he was brilliant.

No he wasn't.

He controlled them all round the park,

No he didn't.

And it wasn't last year, it was the year before.

Everyone keeps pedalling the myth that Atkinson is some genius half/five-eighth based on the Sharks winning some games while Nicho or Trindall were injured.
The main one they point to is the win in Melbourne when both of them were out.

Watch again.
Atkinson does nothing in any of those matches except keep the hell out of the way while the regular half controls play or, as was the case in Melbourne, while Brailey ran the show.
Then he'd step in on the last for a clearing kick.

He kicked the field goal against Melbourne, true.
But that's it.

He's a dud.

 

[coastiedragon]

Its a privilege to play for our Anzacs im embarrassed for what will happen next week to our club . Im sure it will be 0.8 were mid range i can see us making high range 0.15 good excuse for our drinking

 

[Dragonssupporter]

No he wasn't.



No he didn't.

And it wasn't last year, it was the year before.

Everyone keeps pedalling the myth that Atkinson is some genius half/five-eighth based on the Sharks winning some games while Nicho or Trindall were injured.
The main one they point to is the win in Melbourne when both of them were out.

Watch again.
Atkinson does nothing in any of those matches except keep the hell out of the way while the regular half controls play or, as was the case in Melbourne, while Brailey ran the show.
Then he'd step in on the last for a clearing kick.

He kicked the field goal against Melbourne, true.
But that's it.

He's a dud.

Sorry to correct you but late last year -2025- Atkinson took Trindalls place for a game and in my opinion did just a good job with great kicking when he got a chance. He certainly didnt let the team down nor play badly. The game i was thinking of was Round 27 if my memory is correct.

 

[Number of the Beath]

Next week we will be without Guler and Sua. I would be calling Vlandy for a mercy rule against the Rorters

Without Guler & Sewer?! Can only be a good thing.
I don't care if they never besmirch the Red V again.
If Flanno is still coach come Wednesday morning I'm done.
Retired hurt.
F*ck off and die, Dargons.

 

[DJDL]

Sorry to correct you but late last year -2025- Atkinson took Trindalls place for a game and in my opinion did just a good job with great kicking when he got a chance. He certainly didnt let the team down nor play badly. The game i was thinking of was Round 27 if my memory is correct.

I stand corrected.
Sorry, I misread your original post to read that he'd done it on multiple occasions, which was 2024.

I do recall that game.
He was solid, but not outstanding and, as per my original post, all he really did was kick.
He did throw a nice ball out to Ronnie for Ronnie to make a break, before backing up on the inside and scoring.
I'll give him that.
But that's it.

Other than that, he had 10 runs for 59 metres (~20 of this coming unopposed when he scored the try), 9 post-contact, 0 line breaks and 0 tackle breaks.
So he wasn't a running threat.

He kicked 8 times for 217 metres, including 5 bombs and a grubber, with 0 forced drop outs.
Nicho kicked 18 times for 619 metres, including 3 bombs.
So was he just there for bombs, not the main tactical kicking.

Defensively, he made 18 tackles, 4 missed and 2 ineffective at 75%
So he wasn't a defensive monster.

I'm really not sure which of those stats could be termed "brilliant".

Unfortunately you guys are clinging to hope that he'll be your saviour, but I'm here to tell you he won't.

I read the same sort of comments in the Sharks forum after the trials in 2023, when he first arrived.
He'd scored an opportunist try during one of them, involving a chip over the top and a second kick as the ball was bouncing around in traffic.
He got a lucky bounce and picked it up and fell over the line to score.
None of it looked fluent or in control, but he got a try out of it.

All of a sudden he's the messiah.
Never mind the fact the rest of the match he'd done SFA.
Every second Sharks fan was frothing at the mouth about him being the X factor we (still) need.
To me, all he had to offer was that he wasn't Will Kennedy.

Likewise for you lot - he's not Kyle.

I'll preach this till the day I die.
He's got nothing.

 

[Illusion]

Another complete shambles of a press conference as well from the Fraud Coach.

- Was a good contest
- Latrell was just in a mood

FMD Flanagan you s*** c***, how was it a good contest when we get done by 18 and our two tries were both from dummy half, same as last week, absolutely nothing to do with our halves.
Latrell being in a mood? Well FFS Atkinson and Holmes were also in a mood of not being able to tackle a steak sandwich!

Piss this dickhead off immediately please!

You could not have said it any better , the guys got nothing , talking complete crap he is in a daze , way out of his depth get Mary to pick him up on his Jet Ski and he can go off into the sunset ........ Enough is Enough .........

 

[TheRev]

Rev, like you and "everybody" else, I also wanted Reed to get on the field.
But how does it "work"?

Was Reed in the 17 at game time, or was he 18, or 19?

And if he was 18 and 19, when can they get on the field?

Me - no idea.
Rev?
Anyone?

Hey mate, so the 6-man bench, it doesnt actually matter what number is on the jersey... up to 4 of those 6 can take the field... and we still only have 8 interchanges.

Flanno likes to run 3 forwards and the spare hooker as his 4... and if we get any outside back injuries, he might use an outside back instead.. either way its very hard for a halfback in Reed to be one of the 4 players used.... and thats if Flanno wanted to play him.. and he doesnt.. because a 7 from the bench disrupts the spine, and means he has to move or bench his son.. and he feels like Kyle is his best chance of winning a game @7 anyway... and his job is on the line here.

I dunno who the interim coach will be, but the way to get Reed on I have said all year is when we have a hooker injury (aka like we do now), so Cook can be the starting hooker.. Reed comes off the bench after say 30mins and Kyle can drop back into hooker for 10mins.. then see how we go in the 2nd half.. but for me this is the only way to get Reed in and still keep 3 forwards off the bench... ideally want to keep Reed out of the early part of the game, and not make him play long minutes till hes a bit older, harder and fitter, he wont handle 80mins very well.. it will also help if he had a fully fit Dylan Egan or Sua next to him to try and limit the defensive work he does.

 

[Pablooo]

Sorry to correct you but late last year -2025- Atkinson took Trindalls place for a game and in my opinion did just a good job with great kicking when he got a chance. He certainly didnt let the team down nor play badly. The game i was thinking of was Round 27 if my memory is correct.

Flanno’s recruitment has been way off the mark. Atkinson was talked up as the next big thing in the halves, Holmes was signed on huge money, Cook and Gutho were sold as saviours, and Keaon on over $1M a season for five years is a massive gamble. Instead of building a strong spine, he’s doubled down on ageing players, unproven options, and his own son. The whole strategy feels reactive and desperate. He’s misread the squad’s needs and misread the moment.

 

[dragon thomo]

Kerr should never been in the side never lone started. Sua should be let go to Parra immediately.
I cannot understand why Sele is not in the side, I understand he can get injured a lot but he is better than Guler Kerr Luarie

 

[jeffdragon]

Hey mate, so the 6-man bench, it doesnt actually matter what number is on the jersey... up to 4 of those 6 can take the field... and we still only have 8 interchanges.

Flanno likes to run 3 forwards and the spare hooker as his 4... and if we get any outside back injuries, he might use an outside back instead.. either way its very hard for a halfback in Reed to be one of the 4 players used.... and thats if Flanno wanted to play him.. and he doesnt.. because a 7 from the bench disrupts the spine, and means he has to move or bench his son.. and he feels like Kyle is his best chance of winning a game @7 anyway... and his job is on the line here.

I dunno who the interim coach will be, but the way to get Reed on I have said all year is when we have a hooker injury (aka like we do now), so Cook can be the starting hooker.. Reed comes off the bench after say 30mins and Kyle can drop back into hooker for 10mins.. then see how we go in the 2nd half.. but for me this is the only way to get Reed in and still keep 3 forwards off the bench... ideally want to keep Reed out of the early part of the game, and not make him play long minutes till hes a bit older, harder and fitter, he wont handle 80mins very well.. it will also help if he had a fully fit Dylan Egan or Sua next to him to try and limit the defensive work he does.

We don't have a spine.

 

[Dragsters]

I stand corrected.
Sorry, I misread your original post to read that he'd done it on multiple occasions, which was 2024.

I do recall that game.
He was solid, but not outstanding and, as per my original post, all he really did was kick.
He did throw a nice ball out to Ronnie for Ronnie to make a break, before backing up on the inside and scoring.
I'll give him that.
But that's it.

Other than that, he had 10 runs for 59 metres (~20 of this coming unopposed when he scored the try), 9 post-contact, 0 line breaks and 0 tackle breaks.
So he wasn't a running threat.

He kicked 8 times for 217 metres, including 5 bombs and a grubber, with 0 forced drop outs.
Nicho kicked 18 times for 619 metres, including 3 bombs.
So was he just there for bombs, not the main tactical kicking.

Defensively, he made 18 tackles, 4 missed and 2 ineffective at 75%
So he wasn't a defensive monster.

I'm really not sure which of those stats could be termed "brilliant".

Unfortunately you guys are clinging to hope that he'll be your saviour, but I'm here to tell you he won't.

I read the same sort of comments in the Sharks forum after the trials in 2023, when he first arrived.
He'd scored an opportunist try during one of them, involving a chip over the top and a second kick as the ball was bouncing around in traffic.
He got a lucky bounce and picked it up and fell over the line to score.
None of it looked fluent or in control, but he got a try out of it.

All of a sudden he's the messiah.
Never mind the fact the rest of the match he'd done SFA.
Every second Sharks fan was frothing at the mouth about him being the X factor we (still) need.
To me, all he had to offer was that he wasn't Will Kennedy.

Likewise for you lot - he's not Kyle.

I'll preach this till the day I die.
He's got nothing.

Wasn't a bad long cutout pass to put the winger in a few weeks back!

For a bloke that's apparently "got nothing".

The commentary team were creaming their jeans!

 

[DJDL]

Wasn't a bad long cutout pass to put the winger in a few weeks back!

That just proves my point - he can come up with the odd play which makes the highlight reels.
But he is not a consistent half.

That was his moment for this year.
Nothing prior, nothing since.
And I'll wager he won't add anything for the rest of the year either.

 

[Dragonssupporter]

Im not saying Atkinson is the best 5/8 around but hes a massive improvement on Kyle or LKT. Hes improved our kicking game heaps since last year and got us down field far more than Kyle could ever had and he doesnt have LKTs defense weakness. Until you can come up with a better option i think we should be putting our complaints about the total losers that are still being selected. At least Atkinson has a go every week unlike Holmes, Kerr, Blocker, Guler etc. He doesn’t give away stupid penalties and has been a massive improvement on what we had and I’ll defend him above the rest every week. We could have still had Glover except Flanno let him go so i think the blame needs to go to our stupid coach.
PLEASE SACK HIM

 

[WepnutV]

Wasn't a bad long cutout pass to put the winger in a few weeks back!

For a bloke that's apparently "got nothing".

The commentary team were creaming their jeans!

Atkinson is allright. Its his first full year playing in the starting side as a half with his other half being KF and a team full of has beens and flops.. He needs to play with a half that can creat something and take the pressure off him and he will do alot better.. If we do a cleanout atko can stay.

 

[since77]

I know a lot of people are down on Atkinson, but i watched him play last year as 5/8 for Cronulla when Hines and Trindall didnt play and he was brilliant. He controlled them all round the park, and played and kicked beautifully so i know he can do it. But its up to the 1/2 to run this and sadly Kyle aint no half. Im really hoping thats Flannos lack of squad change will be his downfall because LPT played well despite Flanno saying we had no better players. And still picking Holmes? You’re kidding

I feel for Atkinson. Give the poor guy a halfback to work with pleeeeeease.
He's had his confidence shattered in the space of 7 games and his natural running strengths have been packed into a "power game" bag by Flanno and buried behind the toilets at WIN stadium.
Every time he actually runs the ball you can see there is potential there. At the moment the poor guy has been given the role of kicking the ball pointlessly on the 6th tackle while no one chases it. If i were him I'd be on the phone to my manager and asking him to get me the hell out of here.

 

[JubileeJeffro]

I feel for Atkinson. Give the poor guy a halfback to work with pleeeeeease.
He's had his confidence shattered in the space of 7 games and his natural running strengths have been packed into a "power game" bag by Flanno and buried behind the toilets at WIN stadium.
Every time he actually runs the ball you can see there is potential there. At the moment the poor guy has been given the role of kicking the ball pointlessly on the 6th tackle while no one chases it. If i were him I'd be on the phone to my manager and asking him to get me the hell out of here.

We have much bigger problems than Atkinson.. most people struggle to contain Latrell 1:1 when is he is on. Thankfully he is rarely on, and he is a grub, like his mate Cody. Two painful characters.

 

[John moz]

Jersey grabbing from V Holmes was embarrassing. Put Holmes at fullback and drop sloan he was out played by dufty last night also.

 

[JubileeJeffro]

I actually thin wing or fullback is best for Holmes also

 

[Happy Old Dragon]

Hey mate, so the 6-man bench, it doesnt actually matter what number is on the jersey... up to 4 of those 6 can take the field... and we still only have 8 interchanges.

Flanno likes to run 3 forwards and the spare hooker as his 4... and if we get any outside back injuries, he might use an outside back instead.. either way its very hard for a halfback in Reed to be one of the 4 players used.... and thats if Flanno wanted to play him.. and he doesnt.. because a 7 from the bench disrupts the spine, and means he has to move or bench his son.. and he feels like Kyle is his best chance of winning a game @7 anyway... and his job is on the line here.

I dunno who the interim coach will be, but the way to get Reed on I have said all year is when we have a hooker injury (aka like we do now), so Cook can be the starting hooker.. Reed comes off the bench after say 30mins and Kyle can drop back into hooker for 10mins.. then see how we go in the 2nd half.. but for me this is the only way to get Reed in and still keep 3 forwards off the bench... ideally want to keep Reed out of the early part of the game, and not make him play long minutes till hes a bit older, harder and fitter, he wont handle 80mins very well.. it will also help if he had a fully fit Dylan Egan or Sua next to him to try and limit the defensive work he does.

Thanks Rev.
I had thought 18 and 19 could only be used "in emergency", such as if one of our players is taken off the field injured, following a tackle (by the other team) that goes on report.

So the bench is actually 6, not 4, with the catch being only 4 of the 6 can be used in any one game.

Your strategy for getting (controlled) game time for Reed seems good.

Our forwards hold their own, but we need a change in that 6 or 7 position.
Kyle may be solid, but he is not creative.
We need to try Reed.

And Holmes should have "rest" as well.
Buchanan? Has defensive weaknesses, but he is learning.

 

[Happy Old Dragon]

It's a 6 man bench now. Anyone from 14 to 19 can be used within the set number of interchanges.

Thanks Dragsters. I get it now.