RED V DRAGON IN LAS VEGAS 2026

[possm]

Flanno isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The CEO is backing him and so should the fans. To say you don't understand the admiration and pride is taking a pot shot at more then half the fan base.

I want Dean Young to go first. I feel the improvement in defence can be put down to Michael Ennes. Now our attack is looking poor. Get rid of Young and hire a new attacking assistant-coach.

 

[DragonsTop8in26]

I want Dean Young to go first. I feel the improvement in defence can be put down to Michael Ennes. Now our attack is looking poor. Get rid of Young and hire a new attacking assistant-coach.

Ennis has been talked about all offseason as our Attack coach. Defence has definitely improved and like Robbo said our Attack is very much the same. Deano gets a pass mark for sure much improved D

 

[Rob-Dragon]

Flanno isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The CEO is backing him and so should the fans. To say you don't understand the admiration and pride is taking a pot shot at more then half the fan base.

DragonsTop8in26, understand and accept your comments, and clearly would not want to offend the fan base. Perhaps another way to put it is that until and unless we develop a ruthless mindset we're in trouble. We have had such a ghastly 16 years, truly appalling, that I believe (and I could be wrong) that we look for any small positives to hang on to. Any top team, in any sport (think The Storm) are absolutely ruthless in pursuit of winning and they make no excuses. From what you here, the Storm post match reviews, which are player led are brutal. They won't let excuses come into it. The damage to the psyche over the last 16 years have conditioned us for failure. One thing we can all agree on is that we are demanding ruthless accountability. Yesterday, the refereeing was dreadfully one sided, bloody awful, but if we were 20 points clear when the penalty against Ryan Couchman was given it wouldn't have mattered. Perhaps the question then becomes, why weren't we 20 points clear at that stage (I know that's a bit arbitrary)? Mate, I want to win as much as you, and at 62 years of age I'm thinking I might be older then you? Therefore I have less time and less tolerance for us to develop the ruthlessness required.

 

[Hills Dragon]

We still can't close a game.
We had no idea how to setup for a field goal.
Reed should have been there instead of Kyle.
Atkinson's long kicks were pleasing to see, but his running game was non-existent.
Holmes was not fit enough to be selected on that side.
I'd say our forwards more than matched the Dogs' forwards.
Suli just is not a good center anymore.
The refereeing was very poor.

The Bulldogs would no kidding have run through Reed all night.

 

[DragonsTop8in26]

DragonsTop8in26, understand and accept your comments, and clearly would not want to offend the fan base. Perhaps another way to put it is that until and unless we develop a ruthless mindset we're in trouble. We have had such a ghastly 16 years, truly appalling, that I believe (and I could be wrong) that we look for any small positives to hang on to. Any top team, in any sport (think The Storm) are absolutely ruthless in pursuit of winning and they make no excuses. From what you here, the Storm post match reviews, which are player led are brutal. They won't let excuses come into it. The damage to the psyche over the last 16 years have conditioned us for failure. One thing we can all agree on is that we are demanding ruthless accountability. Yesterday, the refereeing was dreadfully one sided, bloody awful, but if we were 20 points clear when the penalty against Ryan Couchman was given it wouldn't have mattered. Perhaps the question then becomes, why weren't we 20 points clear at that stage (I know that's a bit arbitrary)? Mate, I want to win as much as you, and at 62 years of age I'm thinking I might be older then you? Therefore I less time and less tolerance for us to develop the ruthlessness required.

No dramas mate it's a forum afterall, but surely a little bit inside you was proud of the effort? Be honest

 

[Rob-Dragon]

No dramas mate it's a forum afterall, but surely a little bit inside you was proud of the effort? Be honest

OK, you got me mate. They battled away to the end and never gave up. That's a good sign that team spirit is strong.

 

[possm]

The Bulldogs would no kidding have run through Reed all night.

I really don't think so. With Reed at 7 we beat the Knights in our first trial. There was no exciting attacking play from our halves in 2025 or in the game against the Dogs.

 

[Happy Old Dragon]

Danny Weidler’s puff piece on Channel 9 sport tonight - Crichton “showing class on and off the field”. Cut to video of Crichton handing his boots over after the game to a Bullgrubs fan and then him helping Setu stretch his hammy out on the ground. As the great Rabs said more than once “That’ll do me”!!!

Made my blood BOIL too, RedV72.
Class.... what a joke.

And the other segment of that same puff piece, where weidler has a short interview with Luc, who complains about some of the referee decisions.
Was that done to help raise the issue of poor decisions, or was it done to set Luc up for a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

I think the latter - but maybe my blood is still overheated.

This weidler dislikes the dragons and both of the Flanagans.
Every chance he gets, he puts the boot in.

 

[DragonsTop8in26]

I really don't think so. With Reed at 7 we beat the Knights in our first trial. There was no exciting attacking play from our halves in 2025 or in the game against the Dogs.

Reed will be so much better after a full year in reserve grade. He has a mortgage on the 7 jersey from 2027 onwards but I want to see him carve up in ressies and who knows he might get a call up sooner then later..

 

[Rob-Dragon]

Reed will be so much better after a full year in reserve grade. He has a mortgage on the 7 jersey from 2027 onwards but I want to see him carve up in ressies and who knows he might get a call up sooner then later..

Probably right. A lot of us sight Sam Walker as an example of a young half making it in 1st grade, but he came into a super strong program. The risk is having a potential +10 year #7 confronting Kikau, Martin etc running at him every week. I find it much easier promoting a young batsmen to 1st grade in a strong team then visa versa. You can hide the young batsmen down at #6 and not have him coming in at 4/40; but 4/140. Big difference. Just because they can handle 125kms 2nd grade quicks, doesn't mean they can handle 1st grade 135kms quicks who are at them relentlessly. I just sense this kid Reed has something about him though.

 

[rasaint]

I do consider Crichton the premier centre in the game currently.

That acknowledged it is inexcusable that he wasn’t sent off in the game nor charged at a high grading by the review committee For the Tu head high swinging arm. Has the committee given an explanation? Yet Burns is sent off for 10 and rubbed out when effecting wrapping arm tackle on Ponga ( his head was hardly hit if at all). It’s all very irregular I say.

 

[Dragonslayer]

A lot of positives to come out of this game, and a few negatives, but I feel the + outweigh the -.
Of course there's the orchestrated ending, that the Dogs successfully converted, that was always on the cards once Chriten wasn't sin-binned. From that point on, the tide changed dramatically in favour of the Blue and Whites and we almost pulled off an upset.

There were some very tactical maneuvers made by our coaching staff, and i think swapping Val and Suli was definitely one. This was a defensive move aimed at Chriten.

Some positives:
Atkinson: first game as a starting 7 in the NRL. Kicked very well and decision making will improve.
Cook: Best game for us I felt. A tick under 70 tackles is phenomenal for almost 90 mins.
Couchmen: very good both in attack and defence. Will also improve with match fitness as they both missed a large portion of '25.
Overall defense: much sturdier than last year. Seems some good work has gone on there.

Some negs:
Attack was clunky at best (barring Tu's try), some work needed there, but may come as we play different teams
Contesting the high ball: almost non-existent

On another note, it's good to hear what Luch said about the game, seems his attitude is in the right space. Also, Sele completing the game uninjured and did have a good game.

Roll on the Storm.

 

[jeffdragon]

There was an article on fb
Saying the Dragons are the biggest whingers.
They obviously haven't sat eith other fans.

 

[Redvdragons21]

Looking forward to the NRL's reaction to the club's complaints.
We'll problably be told to "eat shit and get over it or you'll get fined" in a polite way of course while the game becomes a "classic match" on Fox which will be a source of porn for Dogs fans and ragebait for us to tide us over until the next time we get f**ked over again.

Maybe I need a break from rugby league for a while.

Dragons are so unlucky have been for a few years now we never win those close games. When will the tide turn seriously

 

[Redvdragons21]

Our defence was 1st class yesterday , I honestly thought that it would break during the golden point segment , however it held with every Dragon making that last ditch effort to keep the hounds at bay .

My mind went back to those years of the Dragons golden run and how the premiership wins were built on the ‘ brick wall defence ‘ , well it was on show once more with every player digging deep to hang on until the final 7 seconds of the match .

I realize by the comments of members that we are proud of our lads and rightly so , but also it is something to build our season upon as they have now set the bar for our future matches this year and the standard is high - once again well done gentlemen !

And have a few beers on me and the rest of the gang !

I will say if we don’t start converting that effort into wins, all that effort will start going down the drain. We need that win on Sunday

 

[thebigredv]

The complete disregard of Crichton's hit on Setu is unreal.
Dog shot that was completely unnecessary and was direct to the head, Setu isn't a gutless prick like half the dogs team who lay down and grab there necks every set.
Maybe he should've milked it but he isnt that cowardly.
NRL talk a big game when it comes to protecting players from head knocks Vlandys is only worried about lining his pockets.
All week it was all about the Bulldogs and all the money they spent on training and earlier travel, more fans then anyone. Absolute joke

A few years ago if you brushed the head with your pinky you got binned and a few weeks to think about it. Star players are a commodity and must be kept on the field according to the NRL and Vlandys. That shot would have been 6 weeks and a send off under the crack down of 2022. No talk of players suing the comp at the moment and so we are back at this point. However if it were Su doing it to Crichton then we know the outcome. It was wreckless and coming from the filthiest player in the comp that the commentators have the nerve to call a 'good sport'.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Folks, I'm not one of those posters who is going to engage in any nastiness if I disagree with another members comments. Differences of opinion is what makes a forum such as this interesting to read. For the life of me I am not sure what our admiration/pride of efforts like yesterday are going to do for us. We as fans, should be demanding RESULTS. Any blind Freddy can see we lack speed and deceptive halves and that means we cannot score as freely and easily as other teams. I am also becoming increasingly concerned that our entire game plan is outdated. Brave hit up by big players, followed by a bomb and a kick chase have become predictable. Imagine having to plan to play us; not hard; not as if we are going to pull any rabbits out of hats. None! I don't think the new CEO is going to stand for this either. If we are anything like 2-7 or 3-6 after 9 rounds, Flannagan will be gone. I like Shane but my faith in him is waning. Let's agree that the team is brave. Let's start demanding we play some up-tempo ad-lib football and see where that g

DragonsTop8in26, understand and accept your comments, and clearly would not want to offend the fan base. Perhaps another way to put it is that until and unless we develop a ruthless mindset we're in trouble. We have had such a ghastly 16 years, truly appalling, that I believe (and I could be wrong) that we look for any small positives to hang on to. Any top team, in any sport (think The Storm) are absolutely ruthless in pursuit of winning and they make no excuses. From what you here, the Storm post match reviews, which are player led are brutal. They won't let excuses come into it. The damage to the psyche over the last 16 years have conditioned us for failure. One thing we can all agree on is that we are demanding ruthless accountability. Yesterday, the refereeing was dreadfully one sided, bloody awful, but if we were 20 points clear when the penalty against Ryan Couchman was given it wouldn't have mattered. Perhaps the question then becomes, why weren't we 20 points clear at that stage (I know that's a bit arbitrary)? Mate, I want to win as much as you, and at 62 years of age I'm thinking I might be older then you? Therefore I have less time and less tolerance for us to develop the ruthlessness required.

Bottom Line: Whilst your tactical concerns about speed and predictability are valid, the board's recent three-year extension for Flanagan and the CEO's public "building year" stance make a mid-season sacking highly unlikely, even if the team starts 3-6.
While the "ruthless" fans want the immediate destination (winning), I prefer to remain the "hopeful" fan focused on the direction.

I do not view this as accepting mediocrity but a realistic outlook

P.S. 1963 - A great year to be born

 

[maestro1]

A lot of positives to come out of this game, and a few negatives, but I feel the + outweigh the -.
Of course there's the orchestrated ending, that the Dogs successfully converted, that was always on the cards once Chriten wasn't sin-binned. From that point on, the tide changed dramatically in favour of the Blue and Whites and we almost pulled off an upset.

There were some very tactical maneuvers made by our coaching staff, and i think swapping Val and Suli was definitely one. This was a defensive move aimed at Chriten.

Some positives:
Atkinson: first game as a starting 7 in the NRL. Kicked very well and decision making will improve.
Cook: Best game for us I felt. A tick under 70 tackles is phenomenal for almost 90 mins.
Couchmen: very good both in attack and defence. Will also improve with match fitness as they both missed a large portion of '25.
Overall defense: much sturdier than last year. Seems some good work has gone on there.

Some negs:
Attack was clunky at best (barring Tu's try), some work needed there, but may come as we play different teams
Contesting the high ball: almost non-existent

On another note, it's good to hear what Luch said about the game, seems his attitude is in the right space. Also, Sele completing the game uninjured and did have a good game.

Roll on the Storm.

Well said...... on the attacking, it is pretty hard to attack when you only have 6 play the balls in the opposition red zone. We spent the whole game coming out of our corners. This is because Atkins kept making sure we had no momentum. Highlighted by the 3 controversial penalties we gave away whilst in possession.

 

[maestro1]

49K views · 1K reactions | “Lucky to get away with it” @williemason10 talks the controversial call, @justinhoro_12 says “every day of the week” was a loose carry 🏉‼️ | Levels Network

“Lucky to get away with it” @williemason10 talks the controversial call, @justinhoro_12 says “every day of the week” was a loose carry 🏉‼️

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[jeffdragon]

Bottom Line: Whilst your tactical concerns about speed and predictability are valid, the board's recent three-year extension for Flanagan and the CEO's public "building year" stance make a mid-season sacking highly unlikely, even if the team starts 3-6.
While the "ruthless" fans want the immediate destination (winning), I prefer to remain the "hopeful" fan focused on the direction.

I do not view this as accepting mediocrity but a realistic outlook

P.S. 1963 - A great year to be born

We been rebuilding for ages.
Under a new coach we are supposed to see inprovemrnt but we are still in the bottom 8.