2nd trial vs tigers

[steerlerbab]

Great game. Our team is much improved. Defence was great. First half with our top 13 we will be top 8 contenders. But with reserves being thrown in 2nd half, we were same as tigers. However we still Sele and Leilua to come in. Here are the positives:
1. Sloan (Great improvement - he organises the defensive line better, does not let the ball bounce and improved defensively - but still needs to improve)
2. Bird - It is now clear that his position is centre - Flanno was right
3. Suli - If he keeps it up, he will be in calculations for the State of Origin. Vow
4. Flanno jnr - Was much better than Bud, better organiser - puts that argument to the rest.
5. Hunt - Now he can do his running game and slot in dummy half if needed. The role that he plays for Queensland
6. Sua - Definitely will make it to State of Origin
7. Eisenhuh - Great buy. will be in our top 17. Unfortunately this may push Couchmans to reserve but they will get their chances
8. F Molo - Finally. If he keeps it up, he will be the leader of our forwards. What was he doing the last few years?
9. Lomax - His goal kicking is back and he was great in defense. Still adjusting to wing.
10. Rawa, JDB, Block and Liddle - These guys were great last year and kept it up. Hope Block and Liddle's injuries are minor and they will make it for round one

11. Mariner - Our backrow will be Sua, Eisenhuh, Leilua and Mariner. Couchmans will be get a chance though. I think we will see BMM retiring or moving to super league this year.
12. Fifita - Our frontrow will be F.Molo, Block, Sele and Fifita.
13. M Molo - Went well yesterday. Will be no 18 for most games I think. He is smaller, more mobile type frontrower in my view like Paul Gallen. Flanno was a great fan of Paul Gallen. So, if M. Molo can improve and reach the same heights as Paul Gallen, he will challenge our top.

Negatives:

1. Mulheisen - He needs to improve.
2. Marshke - He needs to improve
3. No 14 - Does not seem we have one at this stage. Let's see if Mulheisen or Marshke improve or Flanno can bring up one of the youngsters

 

[justadragon]

overall a good game to watch and a vast improvement on our structures, I think Flanno has seen enough of the Sloan Bird Lomax experiment to know what he is going to do. Flanno jr surprised me and well done, I thought he was a bit poor against the bunnies but very good yesterday. IMO I think Lomax is wasted on the wing, Bird will get found out against the better sides in the centre, and the jury is still out on Sloan, I hope he makes it but if defense keeps letting him down how long does Flanno persist. Anyway I'm looking forward to Rd1 with way more excitement. If we continue to play that style of footy then we can kiss the spoon goodbye and maybe just maybe a finals spot

 

[56to66]

"What was it, three tries in nine minutes? Such performance hasn't been part of the Dragons' DNA in a long time. It was only against the Tigers, and I feel Benji will struggle as an NRL coach.
However, if you compare Flanno and Hook just by the players they've signed, Flanno is way ahead in that department. Depth will be an issue in the middle; AFB would have been a great fix, but somehow Cronulla found a way to cook the books.
Ben Hunt is a much-needed player. Without him, St George has no hope of making the top 8. A top 9 finish this season will be a great stepping stone for a big 2025/2026."

 

[justadragon]

"What was it, three tries in nine minutes? Such performance hasn't been part of the Dragons' DNA in a long time. It was only against the Tigers, and I feel Benji will struggle as an NRL coach.
However, if you compare Flanno and Hook just by the players they've signed, Flanno is way ahead in that department. Depth will be an issue in the middle; AFB would have been a great fix, but somehow Cronulla found a way to cook the books.
Ben Hunt is a much-needed player. Without him, St George has no hope of making the top 8. A top 9 finish this season will be a great stepping stone for a big 2025/2026."

Benji is under a lot of pressure at the Tigers, way more than Flanno at the Dragons, plus Flanno has the experience to handle it, where Benji might realise that being a great player might not equate to being a great coach.

 

[Gold_Coast Dragon]

Benji is under a lot of pressure at the Tigers, way more than Flanno at the Dragons, plus Flanno has the experience to handle it, where Benji might realise that being a great player might not equate to being a great coach.

I am in the minority but never saw Benji as a great player. He was let go from 4 clubs for a reason.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Loving the evolution of the everything Flano and his recruits are bringing.

Our halves and hooker looked composed and penetrating the first 30mins or so. It was smooth.
Just controlling exactly where they wanted their runners........and how keen are our hitups !!!!

I didnt think the Tiges played well the first half........ but lets be honest we didnt let them in the game first half.

The body language of the lemon eater on the wing Lomax is a bit of a worry..........I mean I get it that he must look at Birdy and think mate i can do so much better than you at right centre. I have two good legs for starters. Lomax also probably isnt particularly excited about catching colds in winter, when playing outside of Birdy. Plus Birdy is absolutely M.A.D......... so putting up with his dribble commentating would be super annoying.

BUT our team is more rounded, the out put is better with the positional changes and we are harder to break down as our weaknesses are less.

We are better for having Lomax on the wing and Rava and Suli on that left to start games is a great one two punch for Kyle to work with and our team to gain great metres.............plus Sua / LUC gets to come in on that 4th hitup with a back pedaling defence and can really take them on looking for support play opportunities back through the middle.

Birdy is still a work in progress (which sounds so weird for such an experienced player) but we can all see the blueprint and the reasons why our starting backline is the way it is. Birdy played better than the week before which was positive also. Im not sold but have contemplated this move of Birdy to right centre a little more.

If Bird is at right centre, will could actually be our no14 if injuries strike in a game?

ie Birdy being in the starting team and having an Eisenhuth or Sua who can both play half a game in the centres if an injury reshuffle was needed MID game.............then gives us a big impact 4 forwards on the bench. Thats serious PUNCH !!!

1. Tyrell Sloan

2. Zac Lomax

3. Moses Suli

4. Jack Bird (Bird starts but is our no14 to cover 3 or 4 positions if injury strikes mid game)

5. Mikaele Ravalawa

6. Kyle Flanagan

7. Ben Hunt (c)

8. Francis Molo

9. Jacob Liddle

10. Blake Lawrie

11. Su'A

12. Luc

13. Jack de Belin

Interchange​

14. Sele

15. Viliami Fifita

16. Eisenhuth

17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner

 

[Nutz]

Well done guys, thanks for ruining my weekend

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Yeah we both have had years of that !!!

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

moved to other thread......my comment

 

[since77]

I think during the 2 trials the team has shown enough to suggest that Flanno was the right man for the job.
Fitter, faster, grittier, more resilient. Last years team concedes at least 3 tries in that first half.
Kyle was great last night - solid and reliable - really liked what I saw.
The forwards overall were really good - Sua a real standout - I really hope we can get him to stay.
Long way to go obviously and I'm not booking finals tickets but I'm really liking what I'm seeing from Shane Flanagan's Dragons. Very positive first signs.

 

[Como Connection]

Great game. Our team is much improved. Defence was great. First half with our top 13 we will be top 8 contenders. But with reserves being thrown in 2nd half, we were same as tigers. However we still Sele and Leilua to come in. Here are the positives:
1. Sloan (Great improvement - he organises the defensive line better, does not let the ball bounce and improved defensively - but still needs to improve)
2. Bird - It is now clear that his position is centre - Flanno was right
3. Suli - If he keeps it up, he will be in calculations for the State of Origin. Vow
4. Flanno jnr - Was much better than Bud, better organiser - puts that argument to the rest.
5. Hunt - Now he can do his running game and slot in dummy half if needed. The role that he plays for Queensland
6. Sua - Definitely will make it to State of Origin
7. Eisenhuh - Great buy. will be in our top 17. Unfortunately this may push Couchmans to reserve but they will get their chances
8. F Molo - Finally. If he keeps it up, he will be the leader of our forwards. What was he doing the last few years?
9. Lomax - His goal kicking is back and he was great in defense. Still adjusting to wing.
10. Rawa, JDB, Block and Liddle - These guys were great last year and kept it up. Hope Block and Liddle's injuries are minor and they will make it for round one

11. Mariner - Our backrow will be Sua, Eisenhuh, Leilua and Mariner. Couchmans will be get a chance though. I think we will see BMM retiring or moving to super league this year.
12. Fifita - Our frontrow will be F.Molo, Block, Sele and Fifita.
13. M Molo - Went well yesterday. Will be no 18 for most games I think. He is smaller, more mobile type frontrower in my view like Paul Gallen. Flanno was a great fan of Paul Gallen. So, if M. Molo can improve and reach the same heights as Paul Gallen, he will challenge our top.

Negatives:

1. Mulheisen - He needs to improve.
2. Marshke - He needs to improve
3. No 14 - Does not seem we have one at this stage. Let's see if Mulheisen or Marshke improve or Flanno can bring up one of the youngsters

You forgot JDB.
CC

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Nice to see some enthusiasm on here re our performance after some very lean years but I'm not getting to carried away atm....we lost against Souths without their stars and last night was against a very ordinary performance by last year's wooden spooners....still as previously stated there are some signs of an improved outfit....let's hope Flanno can at least get our blokes to compete for 80mins against the better sides

 

[Dragsters]

Gosh we really need to re-sign Sua ASAP

This is now our top priority.

Get it done Flano...

 

[Dragsters]

I thought Sloan had a much more mature game than I've seen from him before. Was in good position to clean up some of those kicks in-goal and made the percentage plays to take them dead.

I can forgive him getting stepped while sliding in the first half but that second-half try to this Tigers was pretty weak. Having said that, he looked like he immediately knew he'd made a mistake and was pretty dirty on himself. Not ideal but at this stage under a new coach, I think at least his response is positive.

Couldn't agree more. His improvement is obvious if you are capable of not letting the odd missed tackle cloud your overall judgement of his progression.

Yes his own dissatisfaction with that missed tackle was palpable. He was filthy with himself!

Clearly he cares and is committed to his development and that's good enough for me at this stage...

 

[baggygreen man]

Su’A and the Mariner

Leilua and Suli, the 4 Polynesian power houses.

 

[Overseadragon]

There's a rumour that the BIG RED V are 6.50 to make the 8 I'm having some of that

 

[Dragsters]

Loved the structure and commitment to defence

Loved the look of the forwards

Once we add Sele and Leilua to the 17, we will no longer be easy beats.

The halves, Hunt, Flano and Marschke all showed enterprise and grit.

We played some ad lib footy at one stage which brought a smile to my face.

Starting to see some offloads.

The squad is stronger.

In Flanno we trust.

"There's something about Marschke."
Could be a new sign for the hill perhaps?
I just think from the little I've seen of him he looks sharp, keen and calm and confident at the same time.
As pleased as I was with Kyle's progress and composure in this game, I reckon we could have a pretty decent back up option at 6 if there is an injury to 6,7 or 9...

 

[baggygreen man]

Kyle is getting so much early ball to Suli and Sua at just the right times. They will have huge seasons if that can continue. Hunt still throwing last-second hospital passes.

Precisely as I saw it too. Notice in the second stanza while the Mule was on that he was directing far more play to Hunts side, consequently Flanagan was quieter than his master class in the first. At least that was my take on it.

 

[FlickFlano]

Aunty - one of RFM/Eisenhuth will be 18 .. liddle not an 80 min hooker .. one of matshke/muhl will play .. we need a bloke like Connor Watson

 

[baggygreen man]

15 Fifita, 16.Murdoch-Masila ,17 Faitala-Mariner

First Grade, Second Grade, First Grade.