2021 - Squad, Signings, Re-signings

[St Tangles]

He's a better fullback than Dufty IMO. At least he isnt afraid of the high ball or to put his body on the line and he has done a job for Manly every time Tommy Turbo gets his annual injury.

I read Bevan French wants to come back to Oz after 3 seasons at Wigan, I wouldn't mind seeing us have a go at him if it means getting rid of Dufty.

Bevan French is ordinary and so is Elliot

I'd rather our young blokes get too grade experience

 

[I'm Hornby]

Bevan French is ordinary and so is Elliot

I'd rather our young blokes get too grade experience

Ordinary? French has scored 36 tries in 47 NRL games and 14 tries in 18 games for Wigan. He had six clubs (including us) trying to recruit him to their NYC teams back in 2013, I don't know how that's ordinary in any sense of the word.

As for Elliot, I don't really care for him but there's certainly a lot of worse players out there and we could do a lot worse than him as our fullback.

 

[SnowDragon]

What’s with the Dufty hate?
I understand some of the deficiencies, but he had a great year. I’m not just indicating wrt attack, but he has garnered more steel in his defence over time, and we rely on his creativity. We should be putting our coin into the youth, and a few solid forwards.

 

[dragon thomo]

I do not wantt Elliot at the Dragons. If he p,ays first grade we havent improved. Our ju iors should be a lot better.

 

[muzby]

I do not wantt Elliot at the Dragons. If he p,ays first grade we havent improved. Our ju iors should be a lot better.

Wot?

 

[BLM01]

Ordinary? French has scored 36 tries in 47 NRL games and 14 tries in 18 games for Wigan. He had six clubs (including us) trying to recruit him to their NYC teams back in 2013, I don't know how that's ordinary in any sense of the word.

As for Elliot, I don't really care for him but there's certainly a lot of worse players out there and we could do a lot worse than him as our fullback.

Dufty os a superior attacking weapon and that makes him more valuable than Elliott.
Dont want Elliott...but French with his speed on the wing....worth pondering

 

[I'm Hornby]

What’s with the Dusty hate?
I understand some of the deficiencies, but he had a great year. I’m not just indicating wrt attack, but he has garnered more steel in his defence over time, and we rely on his creativity. We should be putting our coin into the youth, and a few solid forwards.

I disagree, his defence has always been a weak point and he has never improved it.

He lets bombs bounce almost every time there is a decent kick chase and whenever the opposition make a line break he will run in the other direction as if he fell for the dummy pass instead of trying to make a tackle.

Id prefer a fullback like Dylan Edwards at Penrith who is solid defensively and can catch the footy.

 

[getsmarty]

Anthony Griffin: We’d certainly look at Jack
7 hours ago 3:22 pm / 05:21
Continuous Call Team
NRLrugby league featured
Anthony “Hook” Griffin is the incoming St George Illawarra Dragons coach and has his eyes set on Brisbane Broncos centre Jack Bird.

The Wollongong local would be a great addition to the Red V after a season filled with drama on and off the field.

Hook says he’s eager to start with the Dragons saying they are a “really well” put together organisation.

“(I’m) Looking forward to getting down to Wollongong,” says Griffin.

Speaking on aspirations to bring Bird to the Dragons, Griffin says he’s done all he can and it’s up to the Broncos now.

“The ball is fairly and squarely in the Broncos court,

“If it fits into our salary cap we’d certainly look at Jack… The dark art of roster management is underway.”

https://www.4bc.com.au/podcast/anthony-griffin-wed-certainly-look-at-jack/

 

[St Tangles]

Ordinary? French has scored 36 tries in 47 NRL games and 14 tries in 18 games for Wigan. He had six clubs (including us) trying to recruit him to their NYC teams back in 2013, I don't know how that's ordinary in any sense of the word.

As for Elliot, I don't really care for him but there's certainly a lot of worse players out there and we could do a lot worse than him as our fullback.

You think Dufty is ordinary in defence wait until you see French try and tackle someone.

Elliot and French are not what we need to improve our team.

 

[dragon thomo]

Oh the Old Spinster wants to have a go at me now. The heat with other forum members has got to her.

 

[blacksafake]

Anthony Griffin: We’d certainly look at Jack
7 hours ago 3:22 pm / 05:21
Continuous Call Team
NRLrugby league featured
Anthony “Hook” Griffin is the incoming St George Illawarra Dragons coach and has his eyes set on Brisbane Broncos centre Jack Bird.

The Wollongong local would be a great addition to the Red V after a season filled with drama on and off the field.

Hook says he’s eager to start with the Dragons saying they are a “really well” put together organisation.

“(I’m) Looking forward to getting down to Wollongong,” says Griffin.

Speaking on aspirations to bring Bird to the Dragons, Griffin says he’s done all he can and it’s up to the Broncos now.

“The ball is fairly and squarely in the Broncos court,

“If it fits into our salary cap we’d certainly look at Jack… The dark art of roster management is underway.”

https://www.4bc.com.au/podcast/anthony-griffin-wed-certainly-look-at-jack/

Sounds like Hook is playing hardball but putting the onus onto the broncos.
About time someone at the club did.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

If he’s going cheap I’d entertain James Roberts. But he would know that he has to earn his spot in CC and probably give his injuries a bit of rehab plus put in a good off season.

 

[possm]

I trust Griffin's judgement for now. I just wish we were working on 2-3 props and an edge forward right now. Then we can consider Bird fi there is sufficient funds left over.

 

[Dragon David]

I trust Griffin's judgement for now. I just wish we were working on 2-3 props and an edge forward right now. Then we can consider Bird fi there is sufficient funds left over.

I agree possm. We need to sign a couple of tough forwards before money is spent on anybody else.

 

[getsmarty]

 

[kit66]

He's a better fullback than Dufty IMO. At least he isnt afraid of the high ball or to put his body on the line and he has done a job for Manly every time Tommy Turbo gets his annual injury.

I read Bevan French wants to come back to Oz after 3 seasons at Wigan, I wouldn't mind seeing us have a go at him if it means getting rid of Dufty.

Why would you get rid of Dufty ,our best , most dangerous player ? In what way is Elliot better than Dufty I'd love to hear it ? Dufty's stats are right up there with Papenhuyzen, Trys, try assists, kick return metres, tackle beaks, line breaks, in fact if he played fb for Storm he'd be as good as Pap if not better behind that pack and with a great coach and the goat. Elliot is absolute sh*t in comparison.
I'd be basing the whole team composition in 2021 around Dufty and Zac ( provided Zac can get the errors out of his game ). Start with those two and build from there. Add Vaughan, McInnes, Lawrie, T.Sims, Ford and the rest of the spots are up for grabs. The very last thing I'd be doing is wasting Fullback dollars when we need 2 x top shelf props, another good 2nd rower and maybe an established centre in case the young guys coming through need more time. I'm not impressed with any of our halves for next year either but again we need the money for other things and hopefully Hook can get Hunt & co firing.

 

[62baby]

I live in hope of a 76 to 77 turnaround. What was added to the squad? Graham Quinn, a rookie Craig Young, a rookie Rod McGregor, &&& a new coaching philosophy.

 

[I'm Hornby]

Why would you get rid of Dufty ,our best , most dangerous player ? In what way is Elliot better than Dufty I'd love to hear it ? Dufty's stats are right up there with Papenhuyzen, Trys, try assists, kick return metres, tackle beaks, line breaks, in fact if he played fb for Storm he'd be as good as Pap if not better behind that pack and with a great coach and the goat. Elliot is absolute sh*t in comparison.
I'd be basing the whole team composition in 2021 around Dufty and Zac ( provided Zac can get the errors out of his game ). Start with those two and build from there. Add Vaughan, Lawrie, T.Sims, Ford and the rest of the spots are up for grabs. The very last thing I'd be doing is wasting Fullback dollars when we need 2 x top shelf props, another good 2nd rower and maybe an established centre in case the young guys coming through need more time. I'm not impressed with any of our halves for next year either but again we need the money for other things and hopefully Hook can get Hunt & co firing.

Dufty earned his stripes playing touch footy and it shows given that he couldn't tackle a steak sandwich. Granted he is great in broken play but his deficiencies defensively mean there is no benefit in having him in the team.

The comparison with Papnhuyzen is ridiculous. Papnhuyzen would play better in his sleep than Dufty at fullback. You're right same size, same type of player except one puts his body on the line in defence and the other is a complete bludger in defence.

My original point stands that we need a fullback who can defend as opposed to one who can attack under the right circumstances.

 

[possm]

Why would you get rid of Dufty ,our best , most dangerous player ? In what way is Elliot better than Dufty I'd love to hear it ? Dufty's stats are right up there with Papenhuyzen, Trys, try assists, kick return metres, tackle beaks, line breaks, in fact if he played fb for Storm he'd be as good as Pap if not better behind that pack and with a great coach and the goat. Elliot is absolute sh*t in comparison.
I'd be basing the whole team composition in 2021 around Dufty and Zac ( provided Zac can get the errors out of his game ). Start with those two and build from there. Add Vaughan, Lawrie, T.Sims, Ford and the rest of the spots are up for grabs. The very last thing I'd be doing is wasting Fullback dollars when we need 2 x top shelf props, another good 2nd rower and maybe an established centre in case the young guys coming through need more time. I'm not impressed with any of our halves for next year either but again we need the money for other things and hopefully Hook can get Hunt & co firing.

I have not read any negatives regarding Dufty's attacking skills however, this is only one side of the story. I've said it many times before that in my opinion Dufty better suits the five-eighth position manly because I believe:

• The more oftenDufty gets to touch the ball in attack, the better the chance he will deliver a good result.
• The pairing of Dufty and Sullivan in the halves could be a very dynamic halves combination, especially in attack.
• With the help of Soward, I believe our halves kicking game will improve out of sight.
• By moving Dufty to five-eighth, there will be a much improved opportunity to support him in defence and the less requirement for him to take the high ball; two of his weaknesses that cause us to bleed points.

 

[kit66]

Dufty earned his stripes playing touch footy and it shows given that he couldn't tackle a steak sandwich. Granted he is great in broken play but his deficiencies defensively mean there is no benefit in having him in the team.

The comparison with Papnhuyzen is ridiculous. Papnhuyzen would play better in his sleep than Dufty at fullback. You're right same size, same type of player except one puts his body on the line in defence and the other is a complete bludger in defence.

My original point stands that we need a fullback who can defend as opposed to one who can attack under the right circumstances.

Considering his size Dufty does fine in defence. You look at NRL.stats he doesn't even make the top 50 for Missed Tackles whereas players like Hunt, Cherry Evans, Cleary, Reynolds, Pearce, Munster, Ponga etc do. Even if his defence was a little suspect his attack more than makes up for it being responsible for about half our tries this year, that's huge.

His stats make the Papenhuyzen comparison for me, they're almost the same in the areas I mentioned but Dufty achieved those stats in a perpetually bottom 8 team, behind a very ordinary pack with very ordinary halves and possibly the worst coach in the league while Pap benefited from having the complete opposite, a team that rarely slips below 4th on the ladder and is easily the best coached and well drilled team in the league. Dufty not only deserves some credit he should also, like I said, do even better in a stronger team with a real coach at the helm. He'll have the coach next year and hopefully a better team.