Biggest changes needed in 2022

[Lovemedragons]

Mitch Rein off contract and seemingly playing for his life at the moment. Maybe we should take a look?

Whoops?!

yup, we already chose him for Damien Cook, why not have him back to finish the job.

 

[Belta]

This is getting ridiculous can someone just get on the phone and tell Damien we are sorry and he can come back, and do the same for Adin, Friz, Leilua, Reuben, Patrick, Jason and Drew while you’re at it

 

[Mojo]

Beyond the Dragons the change I'd welcome most is to get rid of the bunker - and no commentary reviews either. I know it's a lost cause and it's been flogged to death but I'm so tired of watching replays in super slow-motion. The game is played in real-time. Let the ref make decisions and get on with it. Half the time the bunker turns a reasonable judgment-call into a controversial one. I don't care if the ref makes a mistake, even if it becomes legendary. It's part of the game. They'll end-up taking DNA evidence before making a decision if they stay on this trajectory.

 

[qld redvee]

We need
1) better defensive and attacking coaches
2) good assisstant coach ( like JD )
3) SMARTER players
4) props with size and "agression"
5 ) lot more wins....

 

[ALSGI]

Some basics:
1. it’s hard to catch a footy with your fingers crossed;
2. it’s hard to be evasive in attack when standing still with eyes closed;
3. Rava: it‘s not necessary to physically attack everything that comes within a ten metre radius - especially if it’s inanimate (eg; a bouncing ball);
4. Corey - never mind, “money can’t buy you love, my friend”
5. BBQ‘s and beers aren’t team building; winning is.
6. Josh - the thing with eyes and ears is called a head. They changed the rules; you’re not allowed to punch it any more - that sport is called boxing;
7. Backlines have more than three players in them so it’s OK to keep passing the ball out;
8. cute kicks to the opposing fullback or wing usually don’t help much;
9. senior players don’t learn how to play from junior players; it’s usually the other way around;
10. colluding to disobey the coach is likely to end badly all-round.

Great post mate!

 

[Mojo]

Great post mate!

Thanks. I had to stop myself at 10.

 

[Trifili13]

I'd like to see the minimum spend on the salary cap removed. I think (correct me if I am wrong) but you have to spend 90 or 95% of your cap. This advantages the top teams as they already get good players for unders while weaker teams have to pay overs. On top of that, the weaker teams have to spend basically the same amount on their significantly inferior roster than the better teams, which then does not leave them cap space to go for a marquee. The cap is approx $9.5m so why should a club have to spend say $8.5m -$9m on their roster if it's really only worth $7m? The NRL is making a team spend in this example over $1m more than the players are worth so they meet the minimum amount.

 

[Lovemedragons]

I posted this earlier in the gameday thread but it probably sits better here for now...

Whist I wasn't expecting miracles, it was a very disappointing season in many respects and coaching was indeed one of them.

Griffin has a full off-season and next season with some new recruits and a bunch of promising youngsters to improve our lot and prove his with worth.

Twelve months on though, I can't help but wonder where would be if we had indeed courted and signed Shaun Wane this time last year?

We will never know the answer but can only hope things improve dramatically under the current coaching regime...

Griffin was the easy option, we have a habit of going for the easy option, we have a habit of losing and a habit of getting worse. The only time we went for the right guy as coach was when we won a premiership. then we let him go.

 

[possm]

Biggest changes needed: attack, defence, attitude Ie; everything.

p I think Griffin picked the wrong guys for assistant coach positions. I am not sure how much time these assistants have left on their contract but I would love to see them replaced. We were weak in defense and attack in 2021 and so, if we want a different result in 2022, we need to replace these two assistants..

 

[possm]

I'd like to see the minimum spend on the salary cap removed. I think (correct me if I am wrong) but you have to spend 90 or 95% of your cap. This advantages the top teams as they already get good players for unders while weaker teams have to pay overs. On top of that, the weaker teams have to spend basically the same amount on their significantly inferior roster than the better teams, which then does not leave them cap space to go for a marquee. The cap is approx $9.5m so why should a club have to spend say $8.5m -$9m on their roster if it's really only worth $7m? The NRL is making a team spend in this example over $1m more than the players are worth so they meet the minimum amount.

The NRL pays for the cap in full so there is no reason to use less cap each year. The problem here is all to do with planning and forward projections. Maybe Millward should throw away the whiteboard and instead learn how to use a spreadsheet.

 

[Trifili13]

I know that the NRL funds the cap. What I was getting at is let's say the Rooster's or Storm are spending their full cap of say $9.5m and the Dragon's let's say have a bit of wiggle room and also factoring in we have spend say 90% of our cap then we are spending about $9m to put our current squad together. Now compare the Rooster's and Storm squads to ours. We are not only forced to pay overs to attract average players, but also have to pay additional so we can reach the minimum spend as mandated by the NRL. Hopefully it makes sense of what I am trying to say.

 

[thebigredv]

There's one thing this club needs before 2022.

An independent review.
A proper one. A panel of external people to come in and formally locate the breakdown that is ultimately resulting in poor rugby league. Hook may not be the answer at coach but I am certain he is not the core issue here.

Until that happens we can only expect years of 'rebuild' and constant cellar dwelling.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Interesting that for a bloke that uses to bag the Dragons at will in recent years, haven’t heard a peep since he came onto the payroll… Wonder if Soward will keep his job?

As for changes…. I know what I’d like - but nothing we’ll get.

1 - True Leaders. Who are they on the current roster. Hunt is a leader by default, and while he played well this year…. Is he a natural leader? De Belin used to be our forward leader but will he be that guy again?

Apart from them - we have none. We have followers, not leaders.

2 - New coaching staff… Getting rid of Griffin for next year mightn’t be ideal financially, and only in the most dire of circumstances should a coach be sacked after 1 season. But he’s lost twice as many games as won this year - that not far off being dire…

You’d only sack him if there was someone outstanding to snare. Well there is one possibility… and one only. And he’s finishing up at the Rabbits…

Wayne Bennett. He mopped up after Griffin at the Broncos and he could do it here too. But I can’t see it happening… as much as I’d like it too.

3 - Some ticker. From all our players. Put pride back into their performances.

4 - Junior Development. Not just talk about it, do it. Griffin hasn’t kept his initial word here.

5 - for all us dragons fans to be smiling again. I want it… will we get it???

 

[Dragonslayer]

Interesting to look at the final ladder:

16th - Bulldogs - coach's first year at the club
15th - Cowboys - coach's first year at the club
14th - Broncos - coach's first year at the club
13th - West Tigers - coach's 3rd year at the club
12th - Warriors - coach's first year at the club
11th - Dragons - coach's first year at the club
10th - Raiders - coach's 7th year at club
9th - Sharks - interim coach

6 of the bottom 8 teams, ours included, has a coach in their first year tender or as interim coach.
All top 8 teams have coach's with long tenures at their clubs, no 1st year coach's at a club.

How will this pan out in '22 with all 6 1st year coach's entering their 2nd year.

 

[Mojo]

I know that the NRL funds the cap. What I was getting at is let's say the Rooster's or Storm are spending their full cap of say $9.5m and the Dragon's let's say have a bit of wiggle room and also factoring in we have spend say 90% of our cap then we are spending about $9m to put our current squad together. Now compare the Rooster's and Storm squads to ours. We are not only forced to pay overs to attract average players, but also have to pay additional so we can reach the minimum spend as mandated by the NRL. Hopefully it makes sense of what I am trying to say.

I don’t know much about the salary cap system as it stands but, whilst I assume there is an intrinsic benefit in clubs cultivating rather than buying players (ie; cap funds saved for buys), I wonder if the cap system could have a bonus system along these lines. If clubs were actually rewarded financially for developing talented young players, giving them extra leverage to buy experienced players and coaching staff, it could possibly become more intrinsically focused on skills development across the sport rather than just financing a player trading market in which wealthier clubs have an advantage.

 

[Coffs dragon]

I feel all we need in 2022 to climb the ladder, is 2 hard arsed front rowers that make meters & a crafty dummy half to give us options.
Once we are on the front foot the rest will follow with some belief & confidence.

 

[Dragon David]

I feel all we need in 2022 to climb the ladder, is 2 hard arsed front rowers that make meters & a crafty dummy half to give us options.
Once we are on the front foot the rest will follow with some belief & confidence.

If we see these things then why don't the coaches? Maybe they do and maybe they will get us these things? Lets hoper so!

 

[Wolfgang90]

I've said it before and I'll say it again but the combination of Griffin/Elliot/Gentle was wrong! They don't work well together. Griffin & Elliot hadn't coached for number of years & Gentle was the defensive of coach of the broncos disastrous team last year.

None of the coaches showed any development or modification in gameplan/style when our defence & attack was exposed. No plan B whatsoever. We need coaches who are part of the NRL coaching system with recent experience & from good systems. These 3 might have worked well individually at other teams but as a combination it was very risky & prone to fail, which occurred.

Unless the coaches have some miraculous improvement in the off-season I can't see much change in results. The most disappointing thing is we didn't adapt or change throughout the season, this is a bad sign for a team that needs to improve & get better. Where is the development from the coaching staff???

Ryan Webb needs to be given support by the other FO team members. He's doing good things and we need to back him in.

 

[Wolfgang90]

I feel all we need in 2022 to climb the ladder, is 2 hard arsed front rowers that make meters & a crafty dummy half to give us options.
Once we are on the front foot the rest will follow with some belief & confidence.

We have a craft dummy half in Sullivan, he was an attacking threat whenever he came on. Another off-season development in the hooking role will do wonders for his footy. McCullough can do the defensive stuff for the first 20mins and then bring on Sullivan to create havoc. Having a threat from dummy half is vital in modern footy as it helps with winning the ruck & creates variations in attack.

 

[denis preston]

It all comes down to the forwards.If they are punching through the lines the attack will take care of itself. defence is an attitude & confidence and if we start well next season the confidence will come ( "they can't break our wall" ). Cant understand two posters in particular continually bagging Hook when it's his first year FFS. Club is in a win-win situation. If he stuffs up next year ( and that will be only based on ladder position ) then we don't have a payout issue to get rid of him.If we succeeds then happy days !