Talk of Host going to Souths.
Ford is a keeper, at his best he’ll run all day but you can’t expect kids like this to lead the way in the middle after 10 or 12 games. That’s all kinds of wrong.
Lawrie must get fitter and sharper but he is tough and I expect Griffin is bound to like him.
Vaughan and Sims must start to justify their salaries and I’m certain Griffin will not tolerate the insipid campaigns they’ve had in recent seasons. It’ll be perform or piss off, these guys are key forwards.
Kerr just needs to be told, hold the ball, run hard. He could be a tearaway in the right hands but he also must improve defensively.
There is no doubt we are short a couple of experienced middle forwards and an attacking back tower.
Angus Crichton would be an upgrade on Frizell as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think the Chooks would stand in his way. Garner is another.
Props, I’d be happy with either of the Saifiti brothers, Eisenhuth from the Tigers, Addin Fonua Blake although he’s possibly too much of a madman, and Josh McGuire might be a good fit after all.
I don’t like Joe O as much. Ive seen him let in as many soft tries as any of our forwards this year.
Tom Flegler will be a champion forward IMO but I doubt the Broncos would be dumb enough to let him go.
I wrote this article today it will be published in the press on Monday;
I thought the game against Canberra last week was hard to watch but this weeks game against Newcastle was one of the worst performances in the Joint Venture era. Newcastle have their own deficiencies which is why they didn’t put on 50+ points. The Dragons have never lost the McKinnon cup before. A very telling statistic.
A few things became obvious to me on Sunday;
- When the rumour broke last week of the Dragons interest in Josh McGuire there were some in the Dragon faithful who said no! He’s a grub! But the Dragons desperately need some mongrel up the middle. Teams know the Dragons are soft so they keep charging up the middle and they keep scoring try’s. Our pack doesn’t have a leader. Paul Vaughan has disengaged at a time when we really need him the most. I’m genuinely concerned about Blake Lawrie and Jackson Ford maybe they are just not up to it? Perhaps we’ve over hyped them? Anthony Griffin needs to recruit at least 2 or 3 new hard nut forwards to toughen us up. The current pack is a joke. Perhaps we will get Jack de Belin back which would be awesome but otherwise Griffin needs to recruit forwards number one priority.
- Kalyn Ponga will not have a long career in the NRL he’s going to get bashed out of the game by continued concussions. He’s brave and takes on the line but he’s targeted. Over time it’ll catch up with him. Newcastle’s Premiership window is smaller than what people think.
- All the hype around the Dragons youth coming through is real. All faith has to be placed in Griffin to develop them in 2021.Ramsey is an obvious fire cracker. Max Feagai looked right at home in first grade. Hopefully Max gets a longer run next week against Melbourne.
- Brayden Williame & Tyrell Fuimaono are jokes, total duds. This is what happens when Ian Millward is left unsupervised with money to spend. Hopefully Griffen will stop these antics. Thankfully both are out of contract next year so all parties can move on.
- Ben Hunt had an opportunity to make a statement at 7 but he failed. I only remember him taking on the line once in the first half otherwise he was only catching and passing. Even under Griffin surely Adam Clune deserves to be the starting 7? We need a bigger body at 13 so that puts McInnes to 9 and Hunt at 14 or out the team. Just because Hunt is on so much money that shouldn’t guarantee him a starting spot in the side regardless of form.
- Norman looked better against Newcastle his passing and running game was an improvement. Perhaps Griffin can get something out of him next year. With Ben Hunt being such a bust it’d be great to get more production out of Norman in 2021 while Jayden Sullivan spends time developing in Canterbury Cup.
- Lomax is absolute class, our best players in 2020 & one of the better players in the NRL. Still so young with his best years ahead of him. Future Origin rep without doubt. If Lomax misses out on Origin this year I hope he at least gets brought in to the extended squad for experience.
- Matt Dufty feeling some pressure from Cody Ramsey which is causing him to lift his game. Ramsey I think is quicker and more rounded than Dufty it’ll be fun watching those two fight it out next year.
-Any lingering doubts fans might have had about Dean Young missing out on the top job to Anthony Griffin should now be put to rest. The Dragons were a rabble against the Raiders and worse against the Knights and other than changes necessitated by injury the team selections were uninspired. Blood the Youth Dean, leave a coaching legacy behind you. We all know the Dragons are going to get smashed next week against Melbourne so at least take some positives from it and blood more youth. If Williame and Fuimaono are picked again to I’ll refuse to watch the game.
In Hook we trust. 
