A call out to Nightingale

[snogard6]

We need to make some changes and i think Nightingale is the man for the job. As good a player Boyd is hes just not adding much in attack, his support play hasnt been that good and thats were Nightingale can improve us, he can also bust plenty of tackles and then come up with some brilliant offloads which i dont think Boyd has offered us, he is very safe under the high ball and a good solid defender ala Boyd.
IMO Nightingale is a must.....

 

[muzby]

it's only fitting that florence comes to save us..

 

[watatank]

I would seriously consider Nightingale to fullback and Boyd to centre but it's not going to happen.

 

[dragonfire]

If there was to be a shuffle it would be Morris to fullback and Boyd to the wing. Bennett has already tried Nightingale at fullback and midway through the game he pushed Morris back there. I wouldnt change positions however i would tell Morris to start playing through the middle as he seems to have the concept of backing up the forwards down pat unlike Boyd

 

[TheRev]

Forwards:
The problems with the Dragons right now is much bigger than swapping out a fullback, its the entire team, but more importantly the forwards... they are generally the ones not making metres, missing tackles & coughing up the ball. Weyman and Creagh are making metres, the others I dont see often, though Young is doing a lot of defense.

Backline:
And im not convinced making changes is even going to help, maybe fiddle with the bench, but I wouldnt touch the backline, Boyd is pretty solid at the back, I'm disappointed with his attack, but he isn't a player id be dropping. Sailor would be the only one id consider changing in our back 7, but come finals, maybe he should be there.

Its just not a good time for teaching players a lesson by dropping them, its too late for that, all we can do, is try to encourage them to get their heads in the right place.

 

[snogard6]

Forwards:
The problems with the Dragons right now is much bigger than swapping out a fullback, its the entire team, but more importantly the forwards... they are generally the ones not making metres, missing tackles & coughing up the ball. Weyman and Creagh are making metres, the others I dont see often, though Young is doing a lot of defense.

Backline:
And im not convinced making changes is even going to help, maybe fiddle with the bench, but I wouldnt touch the backline, Boyd is pretty solid at the back, I'm disappointed with his attack, but he isn't a player id be dropping. Sailor would be the only one id consider changing in our back 7, but come finals, maybe he should be there.

Its just not a good time for teaching players a lesson by dropping them, its too late for that, all we can do, is try to encourage them to get their heads in the right place.

Its not about teaching anybody a lesson its about picking the best possible team, and imo Nightingale fits the bill..

 

[Doug2234]

Forwards:
The problems with the Dragons right now is much bigger than swapping out a fullback, its the entire team, but more importantly the forwards... they are generally the ones not making metres, missing tackles & coughing up the ball. Weyman and Creagh are making metres, the others I dont see often, though Young is doing a lot of defense.

Hit the nail on the head Rev... What is Nightingale going to do.. Play PROP!!

The problem is up front. We are being out muscled.. FULL STOP.

The backline cant get metres if the middle of the field is going backwards..

 

[j0nesy]

I agree the forwards are getting knocked over regularly. Hate to single one out but Jermey Smith is unfit and playing some silly football since his return. I think he'll start to come good this week against Parra, at least I hope so. Personally I think if we are going to be a threat in the finals we need out key forwards to step up. IMO that is Creagh, Smith, Poore and Weymann.

 

[SilentAssassin]

I agree the forwards are getting knocked over regularly. Hate to single one out but Jermey Smith is unfit and playing some silly football since his return. I think he'll start to come good this week against Parra, at least I hope so. Personally I think if we are going to be a threat in the finals we need out key forwards to step up. IMO that is Creagh, Smith, Poore and Weymann.

Shame Smith got injured. He was playing awesome footy.

Ever since hes come back hes been very average.

 

[watatank]

It's an interesting situation with Nightingale...he'd be a great addition to the team; he's an immensely talented footballer definitely in the best seventeen players in the squad.

The problem is from a practical point of view it's not ideal to put him in the team at this stage. There's no reason to make personnel changes (except for maybe Sailor, but we need him) or positional changes at this stage of the season and the only way he'd be useful from the bench is if he comes on and plays fullback moving Boyd to the centres and Scott to the pack but we will lose continuity as a result. We're far better off going with Chase Stanley for a player who can play as a forward and fill in the backline if needed and we're more likely to get more out of a forward than Nightingale in terms of workload and output.

 

[Mr Red]

if nightingale was to come into the team i would replace sailor - the last 4 weeks he has been very average, running sideways like a crab and generally being soft in defense making some bad decisions...

 

[Slippery Morris]

The only change I would make for Nightingale is dropping Sailor. Sailor is great for the club but for a big man he runs sideways alot instead of straight and hard using his big frame. Nighty runs straight and hard.

In saying that I would not drop Sailor cause his experience in the big games will be crucial come finals.

 

[Boyd_with_Enthusiasm]

I would drop Sailor for Nighty. Soward has just about got enough confidence from Wendell as he is going to get. Its up to him now. The dell can talk him up as much as he wants on his footy shows.

Nightingale brings what the Dell does and more. The Dell does all the big hit ups... well Nighty played Prop. We are forgetting that this kid was leading try scorer for much of his time when we had no other serious options for wingers. Now we have the opportunity to have not one, but TWO leading try scorers running the line.

 

[TheRev]

I kind of agree with you, though I dont put much importance on top try-scorer, unless that person is also creating tries, cause imo our top 2 scorers were Morris & Sailor, and most of the time they are just falling onto passes, so their try scoring is really just a product of our team kicking butt.

Im more interested in players that can break the line and accelerate away given space, and Morris/Nightingale would be a pretty good combo.

Im gonna sit on the fence and let Bennett decide regarding Sailor, id like to replace him with Nightingale, but I really want our senior players to keep the boys focussed in big games, and hopefully lead by example.. though its not gonna do jack unless we turn around the way we are playing.

 

[muzby]

our top 2 scorers were Morris & Sailor, and most of the time they are just falling onto passes

unfortunately the rest of the time morris is dropping simple balls

 

[Ray Parlour]

I wouldn't mind seeing Nighty in the team but who do you drop?

Only player who warrants to be dropped is Saffy imo.

And you can't bring in Nighty for a prop, unless of course you want to see Jeremy Smith play more in the front row.

I would bring in Paea or Green for Saffy, and switch costigan with Smith on the bench.

 

[watatank]

Nightingale is a better player than Dell but we need Dell is a winner and we need winners in the team. I wouldn't mind so much if he came in to replace Saffy so much, though but it'd depend on whether we will continue to go with four forwards off the bench or whether we choose to have a back on the bench.