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Euan Aitken

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Agree RR with all of your perceptions

Euan’s not a team player in many respects & reminds me of so many kids in the under 10’s who hog the ball - it always dies with them.

Can we blame Waterboy - who’s been working on ‘simplifying’ Zac’s game too FFS?
I think not, as he’s instructed Matt & Jai to be creative gamebreakers in the semis.

Rare yet commendable moments of risktaking for Waterboy

Euan has no wider vision of the game.

Conversely Lomax is always looking to set someone up -

A complete young footballer with an 85% goalkicking percentage in the NRL

His passing is as silky
as the Gasniers

But conservatism in all its forms protects the known, the ordinary, the safe, the expected & the predictable, against the future

History will not be kind to this hiatus in our backline

I wonder what warterboy will say after Dufty, Mika and Aitken fail against Newcastle. It will be all too late because the Dragons would have lost another game unnecessarily.
 

Dragons 09

Juniors
Messages
1,760
Aitken is playing pretty well IMO.
So is Lafai.
Good to see these guys both have a big game last week, we needed them to lift and they did.

Yep, agreed. Just wish our coaching staff had the necessary credentials to develop them further and skills coach them in order to minimise their obvious deficiencies, they both have the potential if it can only be extracted on a consistent basis.

I really think Norman (given time) is the sort of player who will assist both of these guys to show more of their talent in attack. He is a lot less structured than Widdop and will show up on either side of the field, not scared to throw long cut out passes to give them early ball, will chance his hand with trick shots and generally just provide them with more opportunity.

Aitken's defensive reads are still a major problem, but I just hope that Host gets to play on the right side for a while to come because i think he is having a positive effect on Hunt and Aitken's defensive shape and that can only be a good thing.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,095
Dragons will beat Knights.
And Dufty will star.
Cristal ball told me.

Rock solid as always... :)
For our sake I hope Dufty stars. I still have reservations but lets wish for the best.

Aitken for me is a prime example of when, even after a win, a coach should and can relegate a player. He is a liability.

A couple of good runs, doesnt make up for footy nous.
Not having a go at you mate, as I said Dufty may come good, but Aitken for me has has ample time to prove his worth.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,412
Rock solid as always... :)
For our sake I hope Dufty stars. I still have reservations but lets wish for the best.

Aitken for me is a prime example of when, even after a win, a coach should and can relegate a player. He is a liability.

A couple of good runs, doesnt make up for footy nous.
Not having a go at you mate, as I said Dufty may come good, but Aitken for me has has ample time to prove his worth.
Aitken and Dufty are about to go on a magical run.
I'll be VERY surprised if we aren't 4W 2L after 6 weeks and firmly in the top half of the table.
Dufty loves the weaker teams as they allow him to run.
Knights W
Dogs W
Manly W
Only negative will be Mary gets his extension on Anzac day.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,095
Aitken and Dufty are about to go on a magical run.
I'll be VERY surprised if we aren't 4W 2L after 6 weeks and firmly in the top half of the table.
Dufty loves the weaker teams as they allow him to run.
Knights W
Dogs W
Manly W
Only negative will be Mary gets his extension on Anzac day.

If the last sentence happens, then we can kiss the season bye bye my friend. And the next 2. :)
PS, love your optimism...
All good.
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
8,944
Aitken and Dufty are about to go on a magical run.
I'll be VERY surprised if we aren't 4W 2L after 6 weeks and firmly in the top half of the table.
Dufty loves the weaker teams as they allow him to run.
Knights W
Dogs W
Manly W
Only negative will be Mary gets his extension on Anzac day.
I could just as easily see us losing all 3 of those games. It is not out of reach to do so!. Knights away and hungry for a win.
Dogs..well last year ring a bell
Manly we have the wood on but not while Dessie was coaching em or when he was at the Dogs
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,412
I could just as easily see us losing all 3 of those games. It is not out of reach to do so!. Knights away and hungry for a win.
Dogs..well last year ring a bell
Manly we have the wood on but not while Dessie was coaching em or when he was at the Dogs
OK, so you go with LLL and Ill go with WWW and lets see who was closer in a few weeks.
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
8,944
OK, so you go with LLL and Ill go with WWW and lets see who was closer in a few weeks.
No I wont go LLL..
I said I can see it easily happening versus you confidence of booking in as wins
The Dragons worse case scenario should be 2 wins out of next 3 games (I am doing a Mary talking blocks of games now) cause otherwise we will be in trouble and down near the bottom. Our F & A is already falling way behind where we need to be.
Besides I will be there in the stands at the Manly game in the Gong so I want to see victory.
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
8,944
I wonder what warterboy will say after Dufty, Mika and Aitken fail against Newcastle. It will be all too late because the Dragons would have lost another game unnecessarily.
Hey Possm...Aitken made the team of the week from Round 3 as voted by the fans.
Were you 1 of them?...or was it those token fans who dont know anything about the game.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
5,969
Would be nice if Aitken and Lafai start to become a formidable centre pairing for our club....we have been sadly lacking in tbat dept.....unfortunately Im not convinced thats going to happen.....hope they prove me wrong
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Would be nice if Aitken and Lafai start to become a formidable centre pairing for our club....we have been sadly lacking in tbat dept.....unfortunately Im not convinced thats going to happen.....hope they prove me wrong
I am more hopeful of Lomax and Marsters becoming a formidable centre paring, but they have to get selected there to start with.
 

slippery5

Juniors
Messages
1,661
Not just the passing/defence ..
One of the biggest issues is the way he simply cannot protect his winger in the air ...

When we bomb to wings our players are easily blocked out by opposition centres protecting their wingers .. But Ravalawa has been stranded so often with no cover forcing him into the jumping contest. Aitken is terrible in this aspect of the game and always has been. Same with nightingale and nene in previous years.

Like the week before he had a very good opening 15 minutes then nothing much for the rest of the game ...

Bench utility/lock or elsewhere please.

Some of Aitken's best work can be found in last years Roosters game.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/07/29/match-highlights-roosters-v-dragons---round-20-2018/

Mitchell twice destroys Aitken one on one and the action around 1:50 showing Aitken "blocking" a bomb contest.

Same as last weeks game

Aitken couldnt put Milford on the ground in their last try where Widdop got busted plus a bomb to Rava late in the 1st half was dropped aitken again not assisting with the block putting Rava and Oates into a one on one jump ...
And of course he was smoked on the inside but they dropped the ball.

So many derp moments in Aitkens game which are not improving.
Wasn't it Hunt that was brushed off after racing up & trying to put a hit on Milford?
 

slippery5

Juniors
Messages
1,661
Rock solid as always... :)
For our sake I hope Dufty stars. I still have reservations but lets wish for the best.

Aitken for me is a prime example of when, even after a win, a coach should and can relegate a player. He is a liability.

A couple of good runs, doesnt make up for footy nous.
Not having a go at you mate, as I said Dufty may come good, but Aitken for me has has ample time to prove his worth.
The good car manufacturers will still look to make changes to the cars set up even if they win race 1. unfortunately McNoidea thinks we must be on a winning formula, stick to it.
 

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