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Round 18 vs Raiders

Dorsai

Juniors
Messages
257
As much as Frizell has been a great player, and will probably under a new coach bite us for another 12 months, I agree his best is behind him. I do not disagree with letting him go. The sad thing was they got that half right but bought squat.

Another dismal performance from a side that went on leave a few weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how much clout Griffin has been given as to how many get the boot. Just a shame he cant boot young with the others. There are quite a few that need to be moved on for sure. But knowing the season was gone a few weeks ago, I cannot understand the reasoning behind continuing with players who will not be with us next year.

Time to blood the juniors. Give them a running start for next year. Surely if we are going to rely on these guys in the coming years we need to give them a go. Or is young just a copy of McIdiot. Dumb question sorry.

He is along the same lines in the belief that doing the same thing week in week out will provide a different result. Um, no it will not.The stupid are doomed to repeat themselves.

Give the youngsters a go. At least let them see what first grade is like.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
5,969
Keep your powder dry fellas.....nothing's going to happen untill Griffin has his Hooks well and truly into our team,the recruitment process, the selections, the discipline and game management.....its going to take a while but it will happen....in the meantime he needs to piss Young off and any lingering hangers on from the McGregor years
 
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Inisai Toga

Juniors
Messages
1,427
.....so that’s what a top 4 side looks like? Oh, thats right, they aren’t even in the top 4.

Let’s put Fritzell up front for the remaining games; he’s badly out of form in both attack and defence, but still holds more punch than our current props. Let Ford and Host ( if fit) soak up as much 1st grade as they can. There’s effort there but they need to get the weekly grind of first grade into them.

When Simms come back, I’d pull McInnes out of the lock and back to hooker and Hunt back to half at least till end of year. Were getting badly outmuscled in the fowards.

Lawrie thoroughly deserves a bench spot but Kerr and Ellis don’t excite much. Maybe an offseason might help but not seeing much evidence of any much needed ‘mongrel’ in their game. Can’t see any logic whatever in picking Aitken for the remaining games!
 
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Mjab

Juniors
Messages
967
.....so that’s what a top 4 side looks like? Oh, that right they aren’t in the top 4.

Let’s put Fritzell up front for the remaining games; he’s badly out of form in both attack and defence, but still holds more punch than our current props. Let Ford and Host ( if fit) soak up as much 1st grade as they can. There’s effort there but they need to get the weekly grind of first grade into them.

When Simms come back, I’d pull McInnes out of the lock and back to hooker and Hunt back to half at least till end of year. Were getting badly outmuscled in the fowards.

Lawrie thoroughly deserves a bench spot but Kerr and Ellis don’t excite much. Maybe an offseason might help but not seeing much evidence of any much needed ‘mongrel’ in their game. Can’t see any logic whatever in picking Aitken for the remaining games!
You forgot about Norman?
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,379
Except for a few of our players, Craig Bellamy would have Buckleys getting us to the finals with this squad. Absolute rubbish and the players would not be in demand by any other club I reckon. They lack so much and just have no heart.

Their confidence drops whenever they feel the pressure.

Both our attacking and defensive skills are poor.

Can anyone honestly say that even with Griffin as coach we will be competitive enough to win more games than we lose?
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Who are the two?!
You're being generous. Apart from Cam I can't think of anyone who played in the forwards today that I would pick for Arncliffe Scots B-Grade.
Right now I believe Vaughan and T Sims will go well under Griffin. If McInnes buys into changes, he will also go well at hooker.

As with Lafai and Aitken, Millward signed Hunt and Norman for too longer term. This will be Griffins major nightmare. The question will be, can he turn these two around or does he need to boot one or both of them?

Fullback
If the rumours are correct about a swap - Saab or Garrick, then maybe Garrick initially goes to fullback while Ramsey and Schiller find their feet in first grade.

Wingers
Even though they are both young and inexperienced, I would run with Schiller and Ramsey as our wingers.

Centres
I'd go for Norman, Ravalawa, Williame or Pereira to play at left centre. Lomax will hold the right centre position.

Halves
There have been romors about a swap between Norman and Maloney and if that happened than Maloney at 7 and Hunt at 6 to begin the 2021 season.

Lock
If De Belin is cleared then I expect he will return to the lock position however, if we can pick up a good lock, then De Belin could move into the prop rotation.

Edge Forwards
With Frizell on his way to the Knights, we will definitely need to recruit a marquee edge forward. We have solid backup edge forwards in Ford, Host, Tyrell and maybe Merrin if we can't off-load him.

Props
Apart from Vaughan and even he has not been playing his best football, we have a bunch of young props with potential - Kerr, Ellis and Blacker. We desperately need to recruit two top grade, hard nosed NRL props.

Hooker
It looks most likely that McInnes will be our hooker for 2021, although he will need to do a lot of work on his dummy half skills. Brittain is proving to be a little light for the backup job so maybe we need to let him go and find another backup.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Except for a few of our players, Craig Bellamy would have Buckleys getting us to the finals with this squad. Absolute rubbish and the players would not be in demand by any other club I reckon. They lack so much and just have no heart.

Their confidence drops whenever they feel the pressure.

Both our attacking and defensive skills are poor.

Can anyone honestly say that even with Griffin as coach we will be competitive enough to win more games than we lose?
I hope it has hit home at Board level, this is the end result of what happens when you appoint old boys who aren't qualified to such important positions at the club such as recruitment/retention/pathways and the coaching staff.

Reviews should be honest and independent. My advice to the Board is not to listen to the garbage Doust and Craig Young spin your way. The fans are sick and tired of the dodgy way reviews are past reviews have been conducted.

Make it a clean start with Griffin and try to manage the Club in a fair and professional way. All decisions should only be in the best interests of the Club.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,379
Meninga has given us an F as his assessment of our dismal effort today.

We played a team that made the grand final last year and they will be up there this year as well because of their good recruitment and retention system.

If you don't have the good players your team is useless even if you might have a good coach.

It is therefore vital that our squad becomes a good one in the next couple of years. If we end up at the same position on the ladder next year, then recruitment will remain difficult so we have to improve to make us attractive to join.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485

MATCH REPORT

Updated
Ramsey shines on debut as Dragons fall to Raiders
Author
Brad Walter NRL.com Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Sat 12 Sep 2020, 07:31 PM
walterbrad-head.png

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Canberra forward Hudson Young admitted the NRL's 10-week shutdown due to COVID-19 may have been a blessing for him after turning in a career-best performance to help the Raiders power to a 37-8 defeat of St George Illawarra on Saturday at WIN Stadium.

After missing last year’s grand final due to an eight-match suspension for eye-gouging suspension that sidelined him until June, Young suffered a knee injury in a pre-season training mishap that would have sidelined him for another 14 weeks.

Instead, Young was able to return in Canberra's round six match against Manly on June 21 and has established himself as a valuable member of the Raiders by playing on the left edge as well as the middle.

"COVID actually turned out to be a good thing for me," Young said.

“Before our first trial I tripped over Whitey [assistant coach Brett White] at training and did a bit of cartilage damage. That led to bone bruising so I think it was about 14 weeks I was in rehab."

Young scored a try and laid on another for English star John Bateman as he carried the ball for 196 metres from 22 runs in a 61-minute performance that enabled Raiders coach Ricky Stuart to leave prop Josh Papalii on the sideline for the entire second half.


Match: Dragons v Raiders

Round 18 - Saturday 12th September

Full Time

Home Team

Dragons

Scored 8 points

Away Team

Raiders

Scored 37 points

Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong

“I just had to push through that fatigue barrier there for a bit, but it was probably my best game," Young said.

“Doing an extra pre-season than every one else made me a bit fitter and a bit stronger and I just had to change my mindset.

"Obviously missing [the grand final] last year is always going to eat at me until we win one here at the Raiders.

"Last year was a bit of a write-off and I am just trying to put that behind me and move forward now. I know that is not a part of me or what is in my game so I don’t think about it any more."

While Young was arguably the best forward on the field, Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton was the best back as the Raiders ensured they remained in contention for a top four spot with the six tries to two win.

Wighton finished the match with two tries and a game-high seven tackle breaks to increase his lead as the top try-scoring playmaker in the NRL with 10 tries, as the Raiders took control in the second half.

The only bright spot for the Dragons was the performance of rookie winger Cody Ramsey, who scored on his first touch of the ball in the NRL, crossed for a second try and had a third disallowed before half-time.


It took 17 minutes before the ball found its way to Ramsey and he made the most of the opportunity by beating Raiders opposite Semi Valemai to score on his first touch in the NRL after receiving a long cut-out pass.

Before Ramsey’s debut try, the Raiders had appeared to be on top after withstanding early pressure from the Dragons, who had looked set to score in the opening minute after five-eighth Corey Norman burst into the clear only to be tackled short by Valemai.

The Canberra winger almost had the first try of the game in the 13th minute but he was unable to hold the final pass from second-rower Elliot Whitehead with the line wide open.

After putting the home side ahead 4-0, Ramsey made a try-saving tackle on Valemai after the Raiders rookie picked up a loose ball from St George Illawarra centre Zac Lomax.

However, Canberra scored just two tackles later after when Hudson Young crashed over under the posts off a reverse pass from halfback George Williams.


Wighton then finished a spectacular try after a kick by Williams bounced awkwardly for Dragons winger Jordan Pereira and into the hands of Canberra centre Jordan Rapana, who combined with Tom Starling and Joe Tapine to put the NSW star over in the 26th minute.

When Norman kicked out on the full from the re-start and captain Cameron McInnes lost the ball near his own line after a bone-rattling tackle by Papalii, St George Illawarra fans were fearing the worst.

Yet the Dragons could have been leading at half-time after Ramsey scored his second try from another long Dufty pass in the 36th minute and sprinted 78 metres after snatching the ball from Valemai, only to be called back after referee Adam Gee ruled Lomax was off-side.

Canberra captain Jarrod Croker kicked a penalty goal to give the visitors a 14-8 lead at half-time and there was more drama during the break when Gee succumbed to a calf injury and had to be replaced by stand-by referee Matt Cecchin for the remaining 40 minutes.

The Dragons' only genuine second-half scoring opportunity came in the 43rd minute when interchange prop Josh Kerr was held up by John Bateman and Dunamis Lui.


The rest of the half was one-way traffic, with Croker scoring in the 45th minute from a perfectly weighted grubber by Elliott Whitehead, fellow English second-rower Bateman crossing 10 minutes later and Wighton getting his second try in the 61st minute.

In between, the Dragons suffered a double-blow when Kerr and interchange hooker Billy Brittain clashed heads attempting to tackle Young from opposite sides and were both forced from the field for HIAs.

Valemai scored in the the 70th minute and Williams completed the scoring with his first NRL field goal two minutes before full-time.


https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2020/09/12/ramsey-shines-on-debut-as-dragons-fall-to-raiders/
 

Inisai Toga

Juniors
Messages
1,427
Some of Saints executions are terrible and costs them dearly. They should have lead the Cows by 20 at half time last week but bombed so many scoring chances. This week they were having a dig in the first half but again:
...Clune throws an intercept possible try on
...Clune ankle tap possible try
...Dufty throws an intercept try on
...Lomax 5 drop balls
....Norman breaks through no support try on .....
...Aitken drops it cold..
Instead of scoring we end up defending (badly). I for one hope we never put a bomb up again for the rest of the year. No one ever chases (despite some good kicks) and compete in the air, so why bother, might as well just run it and get some practice.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
Meninga just graded Dragons an ‘F’. This is what Anthony Griffin is walking into
Dragons
simon_brunsdon.jpg

7f0f615cecf0dc463926c38ea139f88c

Corey Norman and Cody Ramsey of the Dragons.Source: Getty Images
Anthony Griffin has his work cut out if he plans on turning St George Illawarra into an NRL premiership force again.

The man known as ‘Hook’ was this week announced as the new Dragons coach, taking over from sacked Paul McGregor as the club desperately tries to recover from a string of underwhelming seasons.

And in the team’s first performance since Griffin’s appointment they put in a dismal effort to be thrashed 37-8 by Canberra in Wollongong.

Round 18
A two-try debut to young winger Cody Ramsey was ruined by an overall bad performance and some of the Red V defence was slammed by Fox League commentators during and after the game.

“It was pretty ordinary through the middle at times,” Michael Ennis said.


The Dragons missed 31 tackles to Canberra’s 17, had 11 errors and only 47 per cent possession.

They’ve won six games this year but it’s been a rather lean run of finals since Wayne Bennett coached the club to the 2010 premiership.

Raiders legend Mal Meninga was asked what he would grade Saturday’s performance from the Red V.

“Not a very high one, probably an F for fail,” Meninga said.

“They were pretty poor through the middle, particularly in that second half. Even in the first half Hudson Young scored a pretty simple try.

“Their right edge defence once again let them down.”

St George Illawarra next takes on Newcastle next week.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...8/news-story/ef71bc0c045ff7b03b4edc1ff385c504
 

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