A good article about our team and coach.

[TheRev]

Re Toby. I actually think he does bend the line with his leg speed and subtle swerve / step and poked his nose through a few times. An offload if he can create one would be gold because we need to start creating 2nd phase on the move and if so we could really carve some teams up but ATM we have nil, maybe instructions..not sure

Agree, I was looking at their size, a couple more kilos and they wont be far off fmolo and sele etc.. but with a whole bunch more upside... they will never be the 110-120kg big boys.. thats what flanno is trying to recruit.. but in the modern game they might be the perfect size tbh.. and like you say they love an offload if we want to go down that path.

I am curious whether they are wanting to wait till next year to extend or if we will have it wrapped up before November.. maybe they see their value as rising based on first grade games they play this year.

 

[Changa]

Content wise, the article is 'good', but for a journalist, it's terribly written.

Someone should show that bumbling drunk how to use AI and save himself further embarrassment, at least for his written structure. I doubt the robots can do much to save his weekly embarrassments on NRL360.

 

[since77]

Re Toby. I actually think he does bend the line with his leg speed and subtle swerve / step and poked his nose through a few times. An offload if he can create one would be gold because we need to start creating 2nd phase on the move and if so we could really carve some teams up but ATM we have nil, maybe instructions..not sure

Agree I've seen Toby bend the line a few times. Impressive for a young fella. He does actually have an offload in him - I've seen a few from him this season. Needs to pick his times as he gets more experience, one caused an error a few games back.

 

[TheRev]

Agree I've seen Toby bend the line a few times. Impressive for a young fella. He does actually have an offload in him - I've seen a few from him this season. Needs to pick his times as he gets more experience, one caused an error a few games back.

Both couchies can get an arm free like its noones business.. its actually more an issue that the rest of the team arent expecting them.. perhaps we dont have the fitness and speed in our support players to make offloading commonplace.. that said there is an element of risk ofcourse, a bad one can turn a match the same way a good one can.

Its actually why I think having Cook+Liddle fresh could be rly important.. they will always be trailing.

 

[Mojo]

Some interesting statistics and insights in this article. Worth a click:

The Dragons have improved under Flanagan, but there’s still plenty of work to do - The Rugby League Eye Test

Saturday’s 18-16 win was the first time St George Illawarra have won a game in Melbourne this century, and the Dragons now have a win over the top two sides in the competition. That’s something the Roosters haven’t done in five seasons. Friend of the site JonnyForeigner has his usual tremendous...

www.rugbyleagueeyetest.com

Thanks. They are some really interesting stats. My take aways are: 1. our defence is the key variable to whether we win or lose. We have to grind out our wins - because we don't have the strike weapons in attack; 2. we don't manage field position well - because our kick and kick-chase is lacking; 3. it's obvious that our defence structures have changed; we were entirely up and in over the past few years, with zero cover defence, so our opponents constantly just got outside us and scored, with back line movements that started from a long way out from our line (I felt sorry for Feagai and Rav being constantly held solely responsible for this shite) 4. Our forwards struggle to bend the line with the result that the attacking weapons that we do have (ie; basically only Sloan) isn't presented with many real opportunities. Occasionally we can go over the top thanks to Lomax's aerial skills.

These factors were highlighted in our win against the Storm. When our forwards play with real energy and our middle defence is solid we can beat the best in a hard, tight contest.

PS: it's a team sport. Flanno's getting this team to believe in itself. Star players are great to have, but they're even better as part of a great team. We're building. Personally, I'm so appreciative of what he's achieved to-date.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Another good article about Flanno.

‘Game didn’t want him’: How Shane Flanagan rose again and ‘chip on the shoulder’ driving him

‘Game didn’t want him’: How exiled Flanno rose again and ‘chip on the shoulder’ driving him

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[TheRev]

nice seeing some positive press.. all it took was beating the ladder leaders @ home to break a 25yr hoodoo.

just rly hoping this good year will help him sell his vision and get a coupla bigger recruits to buy in.. have to admit I didnt know Holmes was from Townsville.. I thought he was a sharkies jr.. i.e. he would be mad keen to get back to the shire area with his family.. but it might be the opposite... but surely he must be pretty seriously entertaining it to have asked for a release and be in discussions...

 

[Mojo]

nice seeing some positive press.. all it took was beating the ladder leaders @ home to break a 25yr hoodoo.

just rly hoping this good year will help him sell his vision and get a coupla bigger recruits to buy in.. have to admit I didnt know Holmes was from Townsville.. I thought he was a sharkies jr.. i.e. he would be mad keen to get back to the shire area with his family.. but it might be the opposite... but surely he must be pretty seriously entertaining it to have asked for a release and be in discussions...

I think he's proving himself. Good on him! No doubt it's been as tough a challenge as anyone could have had. Whether anybody thinks he's good, bad or indifferent, any fair minded person will have to acknowledge his strength of character. I think this bodes well for the team and the club because I believe it's human nature for any organisation (such as footy team) to slowly but surely take on the personality of the person at the top.