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Rumoured and Confirmed signings - Part 4

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Fangs

Fangs

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11,450
The Realist said:
I think we are actually fine for props, they just need to be used better. What we truly need is a strike centre.
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At least with the props we don't need to rely on our halves. We've got a good hooker coming to Penrith. Hell any of our hookers could pass them the ball. I want someone who can break up the middle of the park. Our only player capable of that in the forward pack is Kikau. If we don't buy a prop I'd be tempted to shift him.

If we go with a centre then we better hope our halves learn how to pass it out there. Otherwise they'll need to play like Waqa Blake 2018 and go find the ball...every single week.
 
Fangs

Fangs

Coach
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11,450
And another thing, a prop with a PTB faster than a three-toed sloth. God we suck at that and our attack in the 20 suffers as a result. JFH looks like the only guy who has a crack at it.
 
MugaB

MugaB

Coach
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12,138
Fangs said:
And another thing, a prop with a PTB faster than a three-toed sloth. God we suck at that and our attack in the 20 suffers as a result. JFH looks like the only guy who has a crack at it.
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We had frank Winterstien playing the ball averaging 2.97 seconds a game, we won most of the games he played
Noted he is a 2nd rower, but getting that mentality into our fwd pack needs leadership, we kinda dont have that, like other teams have
 
T

The Realist

Juniors
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1,650
Spenser has a QPTB but is a little underused. RCG pre-injury was also good. Now he turns his shoulder before impact so the defence continues the rotation and he gets put on his back. Our forwards in general get put on their backs a lot, we lose the wrestle against the good teams.

Does anyone know who our wrestling/grappling coach is? My masters, master coached Des Haslers Manly team to grapple with and at times beat Melbourne when they were playing each other in finals. I don't think Ivan really understands it or its value, or has the ability to teach it.
 
K

Kilkenny

Coach
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13,262
Forum fans aren’t always the best judges but if you spend a little time on the Dragons forums it may give some insight into what they think of Euan Aitken and it’s not pleasant reading.

Maybe a change of club could be a positive for him and turn his career around but he hasn’t been very good for a while now and I don’t think he’s any better that what we have.

Spend the money elsewhere.
 
mxlegend99

mxlegend99

Referee
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23,049
souf aussie panther said:
If you think Aitken isn't an improvement on Whare or Naden, you should stop watching the game, never post on this forum again, and drink some Drano.
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You might be right about the 2019 version of Whare... our opinions might still be clouded by his form from before injuries. We all seem to agree he sucks. But might still be overrating him a bit.

But as bad as Naden is. He still has twice the strike rate of Aitken for tries scored.

Aitken = 6 tries in 23 games
Naden = 8 tries in 12 games

Aitken looks almost as clueless as Naden at centre to be honest. Only Naden is in his first season as an NRL centre (after being more fullback/winger in lower grades) and Aitken is in his 5th and has always been a centre.

But hey if we sign him maybe Ivan can get more out of him than Mary.
 
C

chrisD

Coach
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13,570
The Realist said:
Spenser has a QPTB but is a little underused. RCG pre-injury was also good. Now he turns his shoulder before impact so the defence continues the rotation and he gets put on his back.
Click to expand...
lol, yeah, RCG getting put on his back is just a new thing.
 
kinghippo

kinghippo

Juniors
Messages
1,601
The biggest battle we face with our players is getting the best out of them.
It really feels like players are continually getting worse the longer they are in our team.
There is something not right at the club.
Apart from to’o I can’t really think of a player that has gotten better this year, so all potential signings are a risk.
Maybe it’s the coach, conditioning, feng shui, whatever it is we need to get more out of our squad.
 
C

Crashtest

Juniors
Messages
1,145
mxlegend99 said:
But as bad as Naden is. He still has twice the strike rate of Aitken for tries scored.

Aitken = 6 tries in 23 games
Naden = 8 tries in 12 games
.
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The trouble is Naden can’t pass the ball in attack, and has major defensive issues he needs to work on playing at centre.

If comparing right centres, Whare has only 1 try from 17 games, averaging 70m & 0.76 tackle breaks a game, and 82% tackle efficiency. Aitken is averaging 121m & 3 tackle breaks a game and 86% tackle efficiency.

I would still prefer we sign Scott, Manu or Ramien. But Ramien has signed with the Sharks, I can’t see Scott leaving the Storm, and Roosters won’t release Manu early.

So I still think Aitken would be a solid low cost signing to add needed depth at centre if we can’t land a bigger signing. But I would even consider Morris for a year if the Sharks need to release him to free up cap space.

Found this highlights video on Aitken. Ok he is not a Mitchell, but still a solid centre option.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/aitken-try-sc2/video/40ffd9cd6ca93a27d22deafbec50c916
 
C

Crashtest

Juniors
Messages
1,145
franklin2323 said:
A few years ago he was close to origin. If Dragons are paying part of the freight then I say go for it. Worse case he plays NSW Cup
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Exactly. Let him battle it out with Naden and Crichton for first grade spots, and then at least we have cover in reserve grade in case of injuries
 
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