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2021 - The Dragons Again

thebigredv

First Grade
Messages
5,389
I need to focus on something positive, hence this thread. The board are to answer for allowing Mary another year to screw us over. They are nearly at a place where there is nowhere to hide, and I can't see that they can justify the coach's tenure for much longer. Hopefully we can get the rot out of the way to start the year with some back to back floggings, as much as it hurts to say, and he can pack his bags. Enter interim coach with obviously Flanagan still not available.

Time has taught Dragons fans that it is all about the coach. Nathan Brown had a brilliant team at his disposal, as did Waite and Farrar and the hapless Smith. Nothing. Price and McGregor have changed the face of our club and the nature of what it is to be a Dragons fan. Less said about them, the better.

McGregor will be gone so who do we turn to? That really is the big one. Who will be available at the end of this season?

I can't see Frizell sticking around based on his comments and some by the coach. I agree Fifita would be a great replacement but he will sort himself out a gig before we get the chance. That said I do believe fitting players will become available, and we need to have the right coach in place when they do. If we keep Frizell for a fair price than that's a bonus.

Player-wise we need to cut some dead wood.

Gone...

Norman
DeBelin
Lafai
Aitken
Graham (will be passed it by then)

Lomax and Rawalava need breakout seasons or they can join the list.
Dufty will need to do a 180 with some of his deficiencies or he will be better off at another club. Too many chance for some of these blokes.

On the up and up...

Will be hoping Williame, Fuimaono, Lawrie, Sailor, Saab, Kerr and Ford continue to impress and stamp their place in the competition. They look like some of our most-likely at this early stage though that can be a day-to-day prospect.

Of course much is dependent on the coach in charge so roster is somewhat irrelevant but a nice big clean out of culture and some players who are just cruising along is a great place to start.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,260
David Waite should be out of that list mate.

He got us to a GF, after the "smell of Newtown mess", players boycotting ( Tallis ), against the odds.
No-one expected us to meet a red hot Manly in the GF that year.

Got us to another GF in 99, only to miss out on the bell.
Should never have been sacked.
 

thebigredv

First Grade
Messages
5,389
David Waite should be out of that list mate.

He got us to a GF, after the "smell of Newtown mess", players boycotting ( Tallis ), against the odds.
No-one expected us to meet a red hot Manly in the GF that year.

Got us to another GF in 99, only to miss out on the bell.
Should never have been sacked.

Good point. Not much substance in my thread really but I am just trying to look forward before it gets any more depressing. As far as coaches go we do have to look back. Bennett is the stand out, I'm sure you will agree. It is no coincidence.

Point taken though on Waite. Maybe he's available next year hehe!
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,260
Good point. Not much substance in my thread really but I am just trying to look forward before it gets any more depressing. As far as coaches go we do have to look back. Bennett is the stand out, I'm sure you will agree. It is no coincidence.

Point taken though on Waite. Maybe he's available next year hehe!

All good mate.

I sense and share your frustration. I defended Waite because I think he was hard done by. Cheers.
 

2010

Bench
Messages
3,490
The club needs to take some drastic changes next season, firstly get rid of the coach and secondly get rid of players like Lafaii and Aitken, I would like the club to let Hunt test the market. Him and Norman are not the halves to take us into the finals.
We have a decent pack, not worldbeaters but there are players coming through the system.
As to Graham, hasn’t been sighted yet, we can’t carry him anymore.
If we don’t make changes now we will be the joke of the NRL for some years to come.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,514
I need to focus on something positive, hence this thread. The board are to answer for allowing Mary another year to screw us over. They are nearly at a place where there is nowhere to hide, and I can't see that they can justify the coach's tenure for much longer. Hopefully we can get the rot out of the way to start the year with some back to back floggings, as much as it hurts to say, and he can pack his bags. Enter interim coach with obviously Flanagan still not available.

Time has taught Dragons fans that it is all about the coach. Nathan Brown had a brilliant team at his disposal, as did Waite and Farrar and the hapless Smith. Nothing. Price and McGregor have changed the face of our club and the nature of what it is to be a Dragons fan. Less said about them, the better.

McGregor will be gone so who do we turn to? That really is the big one. Who will be available at the end of this season?

I can't see Frizell sticking around based on his comments and some by the coach. I agree Fifita would be a great replacement but he will sort himself out a gig before we get the chance. That said I do believe fitting players will become available, and we need to have the right coach in place when they do. If we keep Frizell for a fair price than that's a bonus.

Player-wise we need to cut some dead wood.

Gone...

Norman
DeBelin
Lafai
Aitken
Graham (will be passed it by then)

Lomax and Rawalava need breakout seasons or they can join the list.
Dufty will need to do a 180 with some of his deficiencies or he will be better off at another club. Too many chance for some of these blokes.

On the up and up...

Will be hoping Williame, Fuimaono, Lawrie, Sailor, Saab, Kerr and Ford continue to impress and stamp their place in the competition. They look like some of our most-likely at this early stage though that can be a day-to-day prospect.

Of course much is dependent on the coach in charge so roster is somewhat irrelevant but a nice big clean out of culture and some players who are just cruising along is a great place to start.
Lomax has just signed a 6 year deal hasn't he? He won't be going anywhere soon.....
 

Shaun_Timmins

Juniors
Messages
160
David Waite should be out of that list mate.

He got us to a GF, after the "smell of Newtown mess", players boycotting ( Tallis ), against the odds.
No-one expected us to meet a red hot Manly in the GF that year.

Got us to another GF in 99, only to miss out on the bell.
Should never have been sacked.
Thank you for saying this. Waite is a forgotten son of coaching. He did great in 96, we were Smokey’s at best in that season which was over saturated and plagued by politics.
1999 will always be a difficult year to look back on. One game derailed an amazing achievement.
 

Shaun_Timmins

Juniors
Messages
160
And on that, history has shown that when we’ve had a good coach, our halves have carved. We had Ben Hornby as our halfback. He was not ever a halfback.
Dumping on our halves is a waste of time, yes, they are overpaid and are not performing to the Murdoch rags expectations, but if they aren’t given opportunities and coached in an askew way they won’t give us the chocolates. I’ve mentioned this before, if origin selectors see something in our halves and choose them to represent (qld I know), there must be something there
 
Last edited:

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
The club needs to take some drastic changes next season, firstly get rid of the coach and secondly get rid of players like Lafaii and Aitken, I would like the club to let Hunt test the market. Him and Norman are not the halves to take us into the finals.
We have a decent pack, not worldbeaters but there are players coming through the system.
As to Graham, hasn’t been sighted yet, we can’t carry him anymore.
If we don’t make changes now we will be the joke of the NRL for some years to come.

Were you so critical against Hunt in the first six weeks of 2018 when he had Widdop next to him?

I would wager no.

It’s the same issue which beset Gareth W. until Ben H. arrived, only in reverse.

Norman is the problem.
 

blue bags

First Grade
Messages
7,951
And on that, history has shown that when we’ve had a good coach, our halves have carved. We had Ben Hornby as our halfback. He was not ever a halfback.
Dumping on our halves is a waste of time, yes, they are overpaid and are not performing to the Murdoch rags expectations, but if they aren’t given opportunities and coached in an askew way they won’t give us the chocolates. I’ve mentioned this before, if origin selectors see something in our halves and choose them to represent (qld I know), there must be something there
like supersowie , hornby NSW
 

Dragon Revival

Juniors
Messages
1,603
Poor coaching
Brittle defence
Non-existent attack
Overworked forwards
Bargain basement, slow, talentless and slow and butter fingered backs
No development of promising players
Pathetic excuses for bad performances
No overall Key Performance Indicators such as 60% winning ratio as opposed to current 48%
Talentless and visionless Joint Venture Board
Sponsors who do not demand value for money
 

jak

Bench
Messages
3,067
Poor coaching
Brittle defence
Non-existent attack
Overworked forwards
Bargain basement, slow, talentless and slow and butter fingered backs
No development of promising players
Pathetic excuses for bad performances
No overall Key Performance Indicators such as 60% winning ratio as opposed to current 48%
Talentless and visionless Joint Venture Board
Sponsors who do not demand value for money
nice pro list you have put together there mate, cant wait to see your negative list.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,591
I need to focus on something positive, hence this thread. The board are to answer for allowing Mary another year to screw us over. They are nearly at a place where there is nowhere to hide, and I can't see that they can justify the coach's tenure for much longer. Hopefully we can get the rot out of the way to start the year with some back to back floggings, as much as it hurts to say, and he can pack his bags. Enter interim coach with obviously Flanagan still not available.

Time has taught Dragons fans that it is all about the coach. Nathan Brown had a brilliant team at his disposal, as did Waite and Farrar and the hapless Smith. Nothing. Price and McGregor have changed the face of our club and the nature of what it is to be a Dragons fan. Less said about them, the better.

McGregor will be gone so who do we turn to? That really is the big one. Who will be available at the end of this season?

I can't see Frizell sticking around based on his comments and some by the coach. I agree Fifita would be a great replacement but he will sort himself out a gig before we get the chance. That said I do believe fitting players will become available, and we need to have the right coach in place when they do. If we keep Frizell for a fair price than that's a bonus.

Player-wise we need to cut some dead wood.

Gone...

Norman
DeBelin
Lafai
Aitken
Graham (will be passed it by then)

Lomax and Rawalava need breakout seasons or they can join the list.
Dufty will need to do a 180 with some of his deficiencies or he will be better off at another club. Too many chance for some of these blokes.

On the up and up...

Will be hoping Williame, Fuimaono, Lawrie, Sailor, Saab, Kerr and Ford continue to impress and stamp their place in the competition. They look like some of our most-likely at this early stage though that can be a day-to-day prospect.

Of course much is dependent on the coach in charge so roster is somewhat irrelevant but a nice big clean out of culture and some players who are just cruising along is a great place to start.
It is probable that Graham, Aitken's and Lafai's contracts are on the cutting board floor. If De Belin does not win his legal battle then he is another players out the door.

If SGI wants to keep Frizell, then they will but it will take salary cap of Graham and Host to keep him.

De Belin's logical replacement would be Fifita. The salary cap of De Belin and Lafai should cover his recruitment.

With Aitken's salary cap plus one of our outside backs will go towards signing a first grade quality right centre.

In my opinion that will be the end of the purge. Our young guns will have to earn their place from reserve grade performances.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,407
I need to focus on something positive, hence this thread. The board are to answer for allowing Mary another year to screw us over. They are nearly at a place where there is nowhere to hide, and I can't see that they can justify the coach's tenure for much longer. Hopefully we can get the rot out of the way to start the year with some back to back floggings, as much as it hurts to say, and he can pack his bags. Enter interim coach with obviously Flanagan still not available.

Time has taught Dragons fans that it is all about the coach. Nathan Brown had a brilliant team at his disposal, as did Waite and Farrar and the hapless Smith. Nothing. Price and McGregor have changed the face of our club and the nature of what it is to be a Dragons fan. Less said about them, the better.

McGregor will be gone so who do we turn to? That really is the big one. Who will be available at the end of this season?

I can't see Frizell sticking around based on his comments and some by the coach. I agree Fifita would be a great replacement but he will sort himself out a gig before we get the chance. That said I do believe fitting players will become available, and we need to have the right coach in place when they do. If we keep Frizell for a fair price than that's a bonus.

Player-wise we need to cut some dead wood.

Gone...

Norman
DeBelin
Lafai
Aitken
Graham (will be passed it by then)

Lomax and Rawalava need breakout seasons or they can join the list.
Dufty will need to do a 180 with some of his deficiencies or he will be better off at another club. Too many chance for some of these blokes.

On the up and up...

Will be hoping Williame, Fuimaono, Lawrie, Sailor, Saab, Kerr and Ford continue to impress and stamp their place in the competition. They look like some of our most-likely at this early stage though that can be a day-to-day prospect.

Of course much is dependent on the coach in charge so roster is somewhat irrelevant but a nice big clean out of culture and some players who are just cruising along is a great place to start.
I need to focus on something positive, hence this thread. The board are to answer for allowing Mary another year to screw us over. They are nearly at a place where there is nowhere to hide, and I can't see that they can justify the coach's tenure for much longer. Hopefully we can get the rot out of the way to start the year with some back to back floggings, as much as it hurts to say, and he can pack his bags. Enter interim coach with obviously Flanagan still not available.

Time has taught Dragons fans that it is all about the coach. Nathan Brown had a brilliant team at his disposal, as did Waite and Farrar and the hapless Smith. Nothing. Price and McGregor have changed the face of our club and the nature of what it is to be a Dragons fan. Less said about them, the better.

McGregor will be gone so who do we turn to? That really is the big one. Who will be available at the end of this season?

I can't see Frizell sticking around based on his comments and some by the coach. I agree Fifita would be a great replacement but he will sort himself out a gig before we get the chance. That said I do believe fitting players will become available, and we need to have the right coach in place when they do. If we keep Frizell for a fair price than that's a bonus.

Player-wise we need to cut some dead wood.

Gone...

Norman
DeBelin
Lafai
Aitken
Graham (will be passed it by then)

Lomax and Rawalava need breakout seasons or they can join the list.
Dufty will need to do a 180 with some of his deficiencies or he will be better off at another club. Too many chance for some of these blokes.

On the up and up...

Will be hoping Williame, Fuimaono, Lawrie, Sailor, Saab, Kerr and Ford continue to impress and stamp their place in the competition. They look like some of our most-likely at this early stage though that can be a day-to-day prospect.

Of course much is dependent on the coach in charge so roster is somewhat irrelevant but a nice big clean out of culture and some players who are just cruising along is a great place to start.

Yes Big Red V you are 100% correct , nothing will change until our current coach (?) is gone . The only suitable replacement , that has runs on the board is . . . Bennett whom will be free and also apparently will still be available. The problem is if our boardroom of knuckleheads will look that far ahead or will they still have their snouts in the ever dwindling trough ?
 
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