Charity Shield 2018

[Dragon Revival]

Lafai is so slow he can not even score a try even though he had ample opportunities to make them look like minced meat.

 

[Saints Forever]

Agree..although he was beaten badly along with Leilua when they went through the middle to score in the first half. Probably more a case JDB/Graham/Vaughan all taken off at the same time but it was lazy defending.

LAM moved out of the line a fraction early creating the gap. Leilua did not adjust fast enough, hence the break. Its going to take time for the left hand side defence to gel, and move in unison. The guys didn't mark up well, nor did they slide when the wrap around move were employed by Souths.

Leilua has improved his tackling. Its the positional play that needs to improve. Give him 2-3 more weeks and I think he will be ok.

In contrast Aitken is in the right position but makes a terrible read each time.

 

[possm]

LAM moved out of the line a fraction early creating the gap. Leilua did not adjust fast enough, hence the break. Its going to take time for the left hand side defence to gel, and move in unison. The guys didn't mark up well, nor did they slide when the wrap around move were employed by Souths.

Leilua has improved his tackling. Its the positional play that needs to improve. Give him 2-3 more weeks and I think he will be ok.

In contrast Aitken is in the right position but makes a terrible read each time.

Ok, if we can't get rid of Mary, let's start with the defensive coach - Dean Young. Surely, LAM should not be prematurely moving up in the line, Leilua should know to cover the gap and slide when required. And of course Aitken should have learned by now how to defend in the right centre position.

 

[Dragsters]

TBH, it was not of concern to me mainly due to the nature of the game being unlimited interchange and the need to get some minutes into the pigs legs. His general use of interchange last season however, was poor and I ma not expecting any improvement with that.

Yeah I wasn't that concerned with the trial either. I meant moving forward into the season...

 

[Smurf]

Yeah I wasn't that concerned with the trial either. I meant moving forward into the season...

Agree but can someone , anyone explain to me why Kerr didn’t get a run ?

 

[Dragsters]

LAM moved out of the line a fraction early creating the gap. Leilua did not adjust fast enough, hence the break. Its going to take time for the left hand side defence to gel, and move in unison. The guys didn't mark up well, nor did they slide when the wrap around move were employed by Souths.

Leilua has improved his tackling. Its the positional play that needs to improve. Give him 2-3 more weeks and I think he will be ok.

In contrast Aitken is in the right position but makes a terrible read each time.

Agree and Leilua was at marker having made the previous tackle. I'm sure Damian Cook will beat better defenders than Luc for pace out of dummy half this year!

 

[Dragsters]

Agree but can someone , anyone explain to me why Kerr didn’t get a run ?

Mary...

 

[Smurf]

Mary...

So Kerr , one of the smokies in the first trial doesn’t get anytime in the second trial

Mary has no idea how to use a bench

 

[gonz]

Ok, if we can't get rid of Mary, let's start with the defensive coach - Dean Young. Surely, LAM should not be prematurely moving up in the line, Leilua should know to cover the gap and slide when required. And of course Aitken should have learned by now how to defend in the right centre position.

If aitken still has no idea and it appears he never will, whose responsible?

The 2 centres don’t deserve to be there, Luciano should remain in 2nds.

One of the wingers should go to.

Field needs a spot somewhere also

 

[gonz]

So Kerr , one of the smokies in the first trial doesn’t get anytime in the second trial

Mary has no idea how to use a bench

He has no idea about anything he has conned the whole league world for 5 years

 

[Objective View]

So Kerr , one of the smokies in the first trial doesn’t get anytime in the second trial

Mary has no idea how to use a bench

But he's excellent at using 3/4's of the bench.

Straight Shooter

 

[giboz71]

I am not sure, but it may have been a deliberate tactic to have the team pre-fatigued via training workload leading up, to get them ready for season proper. The interchange wasn't run like a normal season game and I think we took it as more of a trial. Let's not fall into the old Souffs trap and consider this our grand final.

One poor flick pass where had his winger kept his width instead of going inside, he goes over unmarked. Admittedly, he may have ended up over the line. From memory he only made one during the night. IMO, this is not something he should be removing from his game, but nurturing, and training to use at appropriate times. I don't have the reference, but I read/seen somewhere that we averaged an extra 10ms a carry off each of his offloads which was second most in the comp from memory. He also had several try assists last year which is more than we have seen from one of our centres since the Cooper/Gasnier days.

I don’t mind having Lafai on the left. But not Luc as well. 2 trick shot ponies on the same side just doesn’t work.

It’s why I loved Thommo out there. He just ran lines and ran and tackled hard. Now he’s gone and suddenly our left side doesn’t seem as dangerous.

It’s why I want Host out there to give us what we lose with Thommo.

 

[Gareth67]

Maybe that’s half the problem.

With Mary, the players are probably too comfortable.

We needed a coach and players to have a ‘must win’ attitude.
For McGregor to say, ‘it’s only a trail’ is bullsh@t.

Mentally and attitude...... that’s what we need changing.

Melbourne would not be happy with the result, neither should we.

That is exactly the problem OKB1 , mentality and attitude. Mary just can not get those 2 qualities into the players , try as he may he will never be able to do it . There are times when I get the impression that they are confused as to what to do next .

And we are not speaking about a kiddies team , but a professional team of 1st graders . That is how Marys coaching has managed to turn them , merely bumbling along from one hiccup to another - hell, it is so infuriating !

 

[True_Believer]

I am not sure, but it may have been a deliberate tactic to have the team pre-fatigued via training workload leading up, to get them ready for season proper. The interchange wasn't run like a normal season game and I think we took it as more of a trial. Let's not fall into the old Souffs trap and consider this our grand final.

This was stated by Gasnier pre-game - that they had been flogged this week (and the week before the Hull game) as a way to prepare them for the season proper. Get them playing under fatigue from the get go to try to get a feel for their stamina during the game and push them to the limit. I suspect that is why we dropped off after 20 and never really recovered. As others have said, we were on top for the first 20 but didn't go on with it. The ruck and line speed seemed to just stop (markers still lying on the ground while they were playing the ball) and our execution looked sloppy.

Apparently though, this is just a lame excuse for the poor performances and preparation in the trials and proves Mary has no idea what is doing. We should have been treating the trials as premiership games.

Would hate to see what the Cowboys supporters were saying after getting flogged by the Tigers last week!!!!

 

[BennyV]

Plenty to take from that game!
- Anyone thinking Leilua should be in the starting line up should hang their heads. Might nab a spot on the bench (depending on the make up on the team) and is worth keeping around but needs a lot of work. Hopefully Host gets an opportunity because he deserves it.
- The right end looked much better in the second half simply by not having Aitken on the field!!! If he starts round 1, we are f**ked!
- Nightingale didn't have a 'poor' game but there's 2-3 try opportunities that would have been scored by a quicker winger.
- Sele will be a beast in time. He's coming along very well. Very, very similar to JDB.
- Graham should be starting from the bench. Ah Mau played very well but can't have Vaughan, Graham and JDB off the field at the same time.
- Still need to rotate McInnes.
- Hunt is worth every cent we paid for him.

 

[BrissyRedV]

I don’t mind having Lafai on the left. But not Luc as well. 2 trick shot ponies on the same side just doesn’t work.

It’s why I loved Thommo out there. He just ran lines and ran and tackled hard. Now he’s gone and suddenly our left side doesn’t seem as dangerous.

It’s why I want Host out there to give us what we lose with Thommo.

Could not agree with you more. Host is the most like Thomo out of all of the options. and Sims although a handy replacement, does not have the same lateral movement and we lose so much not having his impact from the bench.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Agree but can someone , anyone explain to me why Kerr didn’t get a run ?

My guess is that he'll get a full game today in the NSW Cup trial, which is probably more beneficial than a 10 min stint from the bench last night.

 

[possm]

That is exactly the problem OKB1 , mentality and attitude. Mary just can not get those 2 qualities into the players , try as he may he will never be able to do it . There are times when I get the impression that they are confused as to what to do next .

And we are not speaking about a kiddies team , but a professional team of 1st graders . That is how Marys coaching has managed to turn them , merely bumbling along from one hiccup to another - hell, it is so infuriating !

Possibly, Mary thinks the team was OK last year, 'we just need a good halfback and we're in. So why change a thing, we have Hunt now and so we're right to go'.

What now Mary, now the problems are still here?.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Unless of course, we get rid of this hopeless coaching staff. I'd say move on Hasler before Penrith grab him; he is a Panthers junior after all. Doust is on his way, now let's get a professional coaching staff on board and then there will be no excuses.

What club are you talking about, cause we know that's not how the Dragons work.

 

[getsmarty]

Time to raise the physicality: McGregor
Author
Brad Walter Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Sat 24 Feb 2018, 11:30 PM

St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor has demanded his team be more physical in defence when they face Brisbane Broncos in the opening match of the Telstra Premiership at Jubilee Oval on March 8.

The Dragons had their final trial hit-out in the Charity Shield against South Sydney Rabbitohs at Mudgee and after dominating the opening 20 minutes they fell away to lose 22-18.

McGregor said four blown scoring opportunities, including three disallowed tries to winger Jason Nightingale, proved costly but it was the defence he was most concerned about after similar problems in last weekend’s match against Hull FC.

Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook caused headaches for the Dragons around the ruck and had a 50-metre run out of dummy half which led to a try for back-rower Angus Crichton, while five-eighth Cody Walker also made a long-range break.

“The big lesson tonight is they were a little bit more physical than we were and dominated the play-the- ball area a bit quicker than we did, and that is what we have got to work on in the next 10 days,” McGregor said.

Graham rattles Johnston's rib cage

“We have got to be physically more dominant as a side come round one. They got us around that scrum line where they generated a play the ball and took that short side on a few times, and got some metres on us.”

Fullback Matt Dufty was again one of the stars, while Ben Hunt was a run threat on the right side of the Dragons attack in his second match since joining the club.

“Our halves played 80 minutes, which is nice, as did Duft out the back,” McGregor said.

“He certainly causes the opposition some grief with his speed and he is getting a better tactical understanding and that combination with Gareth [Widdop] and Benny will grow over a period of time.

“It is nice to have that extra threat because of his speed and ball-playing ability. At times, we used it a little too much so we have got to get that balance of the power and shift right.

“It is going to take a little bit of time with the combinations with our attack but we created four more opportunities we didn’t score points off.

"We need to score them and execute our finish better.”

McGregor said the visit to Mudgee, where the Dragons will play Canberra on May 20, had been beneficial and his squad will be at full strength for the opening round against the Broncos.

“We have come through unscathed again,” he said. “We have done a lot of community work which is good, we have got around to 16 schools in the last four days and visited some hospitals, and we are going home all healthy.”

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/02/25/time-to-raise-the-physicality-mcgregor/