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Andrew Johns take on us.

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
Loved it when asked ( and fed a line to agree ) how great Widdorp's contribution along side other English superstars Morley, Hanley etc Johns said another rung below.Loved it ! I think at least John's says what he thinks and i am warming to him for it.

DP,
I thought Widdop contribution over the time he’s been with us to be very good.

He’s been held back by clueless coach but he has won us many a game.

I think he’s sh!tted all over both Morley and Hanley. They were bit players. Widdop was a leader in setting up tries and kicking goals.

Just my two shillings worth.
 
Messages
2,501
Mary is defying the odds, because in reality there are two types of coaches, those that have been sacked and those waiting to be sacked.

Interesting point of view. I always thought there were three types of coaches, those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who say "what happened?" Mary has unfortunately regressed to the third type.
 
Messages
2,866
Loved it when asked ( and fed a line to agree ) how great Widdorp's contribution along side other English superstars Morley, Hanley etc Johns said another rung below.Loved it ! I think at least John's says what he thinks and i am warming to him for it.
He is one of the few commentators that is objective about Widdop.
Not a captain that will ever lead a side to a premiership.
McGregor didn't help his cause mind you.
 

giboz71

First Grade
Messages
9,657
Wow. I’m gob smacked. I never thought I’d hear a media personnel speak with honesty about the dragons disappointing displays over the last 6 seasons. Unfortunately, I believe the scathing criticisms will gather very little attention or support. His criticisms will fall on deaf ears and won’t be repeated by others for self interest reasons. Even so I’ve gained a lot of respect for Johns for calling a spade a spade, something of a rarity these days.

I know rugby league people can be slow on the uptake sometimes, but any fool can see there is something amiss at the Dragons. Even in the midst of our worst season in history, we still had 5 players selected for Origin, right up there with the most of any team (including the Storm and Roosters).

Surely, anyone with an ounce of intelligence should be asking questions.
 

Overseas dragon

Juniors
Messages
2,275
I know rugby league people can be slow on the uptake sometimes, but any fool can see there is something amiss at the Dragons. Even in the midst of our worst season in history, we still had 5 players selected for Origin, right up there with the most of any team (including the Storm and Roosters).

Surely, anyone with an ounce of intelligence should be asking questions.
OUNCE OF INTELLIGENCE.....?
 

Brutalitops

Juniors
Messages
2,333
Hunt's ideal type of 5/8 was Widdop. They were a cracking combo once they got rolling last year and this year they only got the chance after the year was f**ked and the team split and down.

Here's hoping a smooth off season with no ambiguity regarding the spine sees Hunt and Norman reach that level. The potential is there for Norman but it requires Mary giving these guys some clarity regarding their positions.

Decide our fullback asap and move from there.
 

SaintPeter

Juniors
Messages
318
Great work from Joey to express this, spot on. And I don't think he's a rocket scientist.
Contradicts what the RL genius P Gould and others have said in their "report/s"?
So, it seems as if if the whole rugby league community (except Gould) can see it ! ... the Coach problem.
What is really stopping StGI from acting?
Is it the Board, with little/no money?... to pay him out.
Is it the CEO? ..inexperience? e.g. renewing the contract too early this season, etc etc
Is it the SG v ILL factions? WIN input ?
Other ?? JDB saga.
Surely we all want the one thing, a reasonably competitive team on the park every week.

PS Bumped into Ben Hornby in Qld last week ... really nice bloke.
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,810
My take on this:
St George was once a powerhouse, particularly under the Facer administration. Although Facer was a strict disciplinarian he held player welfare as one of his major attributes. After his death in 1978, the club went into decline and although appearing in a few GF's, it wasn"t until 33 years later we finally landed another premiership. During that time we also formed a JV with the relatively unsuccessful Illawarra club. We have also seen a defined switch in the administration of the club, particularly the perceived (more so a reality) "jobs for the boys" approach to coaching and management roles. This has becomw a major forefront of operation, particularly after 2011.
The decline since 2011 has been so dramatic, the once feared powerhouse called the big red V, has been reduced to the majority of media actualky taking the "feel sorry" path. The hardline criticism that would have been levelled on the club in the halcyon years, is now replaced with almost a "rubbing a puppies belly" style when reporting on our on and off-field performances. Why? Well your guess is as good as mine. Whatever it is its almost laughable that the fans can be accused of being so critical when the team is going through hard times. Unfortunately, what is lost in this "softly softly" view is that its the fans who really vontrolbtgecdestiny of the club. Without memberships and merchandise sales, the club will gave the smell of Newtown about it.
It is fortunate that Andrew Johns has made some attempt at exposing the frailties of our club and the failures of our coach, however, more is needed. Goulds report also highlighted some deficiencies.
Regrettably, the maistream media have chosen the feel sorry point of view, I gather only in rememberance of the powerhouse that was. Of course there is also the angle that they cant believe we have fallen so and are now doomed to being the laughing stock of the league. Writing positive whilst because that will keep the joke rolling.
Either way, we need more expodure to our plight, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
 

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
Yeah I seen that segment it was a fair while ago. This is the reason I reckon we need Shaun Wane, he would be a breath of fresh air. He will have studied the game in Australia and be ready for the challenge. He is not even from Australia let alone Kogarah, so will look at the roster, our juniors and what’s on the market with a completely unbiased view.
 

watatank

Coach
Messages
14,218
Always happy to hear johns talking about the game rather than trying to be funny

Cant argue with any of it. I like how he pretty much criticised everything a coach should be accountable for but when asked about the coach all he could say was that we can't afford to pay him out (allegedly)
 

giboz71

First Grade
Messages
9,657
Always happy to hear johns talking about the game rather than trying to be funny

Cant argue with any of it. I like how he pretty much criticised everything a coach should be accountable for but when asked about the coach all he could say was that we can't afford to pay him out (allegedly)

Pretty obvious there is an unwritten code in rugby league, when it comes to ex players who are now coaches. Not many former players are keen to put the boot in.

Toovey even admitted to not putting his hand up for the Dragons job coz he's mates with Mary.

Blows my mind how many mates this bloke has to the point he's survived to be our longest serving coach.
 

denis preston

First Grade
Messages
8,761
DP,
I thought Widdop contribution over the time he’s been with us to be very good.

He’s been held back by clueless coach but he has won us many a game.

I think he’s sh!tted all over both Morley and Hanley. They were bit players. Widdop was a leader in setting up tries and kicking goals.

Just my two shillings worth.

Shitted over Morley & Hanley ? Really ? At least these two blokes were fundamental in getting their teams to a Grand Final , something that Widdop never looked like doing. Admittedly they had Gould & Ryan as coaches and he had the bald one.
 

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
Shitted over Morley & Hanley ? Really ? At least these two blokes were fundamental in getting their teams to a Grand Final , something that Widdop never looked like doing. Admittedly they had Gould & Ryan as coaches and he had the bald one.

Yes, they were good players but would it be fair to say...... they mostly would not have instigated the team tries?

Morley mostly may have made a break or been a tackling machine and Hanley would of been a try scorer but the point l was making was, Widdop, in his position, would be steering the team around the park and setting up attacks.

Fair comment, would you say?

Also, in relation to the grand finals.......
Nathan Brown proved in 2005 against Tim Sheens....... a team full of stars will always get beaten by a star team ( coach included ).
 
Last edited:

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
DP,
I thought Widdop contribution over the time he’s been with us to be very good.

He’s been held back by clueless coach but he has won us many a game.

I think he’s sh!tted all over both Morley and Hanley. They were bit players. Widdop was a leader in setting up tries and kicking goals.

Just my two shillings worth.
I think Morley and Hanley were both a level above Widdop. I would also add the likes of Schofield, Kevin Ward, Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis were all better than Widdop.

Just remember Widdop had some very ordinary seasons for us. I recall at the start of the season a 2 or 3 years ago and most of us would have been happy for our club to let him go. He looked good when the team is on the front foot, but was good when we were under the pump, he looked very ordinary.
 

qld redvee

Juniors
Messages
1,502
Joey hit the nail on the head maybe hes been reading this forum. So he didnt say sack mary BUT imo implied that a new voice is needed ( could this be flanno ) Mentioned 6 years everything stale gameplan sh#t and do players listen to him . So if gus and his review are similar then surely supercoach just becomes the game day coach so maybe we need 2 assisstants with the view of completely taking over when supercoach finally packs the whiteboard away.
BUT you could also blame our trainers and medical staff ( as others have stated) as supercoach could easily throw them under the bus for the staleness, boring training weights sesssion, being tired and a host of other supercoach excuses - maybe running 100 metre sprints when we know a 98 metre field is okay
 

Belta

Juniors
Messages
1,128
I know rugby league people can be slow on the uptake sometimes, but any fool can see there is something amiss at the Dragons. Even in the midst of our worst season in history, we still had 5 players selected for Origin, right up there with the most of any team (including the Storm and Roosters).

Surely, anyone with an ounce of intelligence should be asking questions.

You do wonder if any questions will be asked or if the questions will extend beyond just the players attitudes and the amount of Origin players we have. I had a funny moment the other week. I found myself trying to defend the dragons. We were away with a group of families, it was a few nights before the grand final. We were sitting around with a few blokes, each with varying degrees of intox. It was a mix - a rooster, a rabbit, a sea eagle, a tiger and a manly supporter, when the usual loud rants about dragons comes up, “chokers, Ben Hunt, JDB, all the Origin players with a lot of jibes and laughter. Ok I thought, all valid points but I couldn’t help but go a little defensive. I didn’t feel much like a argument as I felt it wouldn’t be received but I did raise the screen shots showing the amount of grand final appearances by the storm and roosters compared with that of the AFL and I could see a few of them thinking hmm just maybe there’s an argument to question some of the widespread beliefs, perhaps there’s deeper issues those employed in around the game simply won’t touch, as why would they, a lot are profiting off the game.
 

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