Charity Shield 2019

[denis preston]

I agree the CS is all about early club bragging rights but the game itself illustrated a number of flaws which could ultimately produce a long, unhappy season.

The are (in no particular order):

1. the absence of experienced wingers.

2. continuing issues at right centre (Lafai is safe as far as I’m concerned).

3. moving Widdop away from five-eighth is fraught with danger -the only attacking fluency occurred when he teamed up with Hunt.

4. Norman is massively overrated and from what I’ve seen so far, refuses to take the line on (he’s also a poor defender as evidenced by Souths’ first try). Why Millward recruited such an erratic player that Saints DOESN’T need is bewildering.

5.once again, McGregor cannot utilise his bench effectively, and the fact he refused to use some players (Kerr, Timms, Field and Robson) clearly shows that unless injury strikes, his top 17 is already preordained.

Side note: as there’s nothing which can be done from club or playing perspective it’s not really a point, however, JDB’s likely omission for the year is going to be costly. As I’ve mentioned beforehand, Jacob Host was always going to be McGregor’s first choice but he simply lacks any genuine “agro” to make a startling spot his own. Blake Lawrie would be my preferenc but that severely reduces impact from the bench. It would be great to replace that quality with a “like for like” individual but who would that be? Kerr? Timm? Unfortunately, because of the coach, none of us know whether they can take the necessary step up in class during a challenging time.

Do you count Host's game last night ? Obviously not.

 

[Frank Facer]

The side still requires a utility player. How do you feel about Field being on the bench?

I think we are better off going into games with 4 forwards on the bench, that could include Robson. If we were going to carry a utility back on the bench, Field would look the one right now.

 

[Como Connection]

Do you count Host's game last night ? Obviously not.

Big game Host.
A must for the run on team, not a impact player, good hard player.
Give me him in front of Luc any day.
CC

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Do you count Host's game last night ? Obviously not.

Obviously.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Gave me a chuckle and his reaction was WTF happened there.

Putting aside bias, do you feel it was a knock on?

 

[since77]

Big game Host.
A must for the run on team, not a impact player, good hard player.
Give me him in front of Luc any day.
CC

I thought Host went well against the Knights too. Still can’t believe Kerr didn’t get a run last night though.

 

[Warabrook saint]

Warabrook, could you please remove the word, 'real'..... from your sentence.
Many thanks,
OKB

 

[Wittenberg]

Losing JDB after Ah Mau went to NZ has punched a real whole in us. Korbin will give 100% but on balance our middle is considerably weaker. Host played well but he lacks size and physicality.

 

[Wittenberg]

Aitken is a tragedy on legs. He runs with real power but seems lost in defence and has no passing game. Yet when you see him punch the ball up he is impressive. I don't know the solution. I keep on wanting to give him one more chance, Mary does, but he has had plenty of chances to improve his weaknesses and develop as a player. He had so much potential but he has gone backwards rather than forwards.What the hell do we do with him? Too small for forwards and looks too small to survive against today's wingers. Yep a tragedy on legs.

 

[epDragon62]

Wrong.

Of course, you are the self appointed forum expert; I forgot.

 

[BennyV]

Do people still not understand the difference between a middle and edge forward?

Host is an edge.
JDB, Lawrie, Korbin etc are middles.
Friz played middle last night and will likely play there as long as JDB is out. Which is a shame, a little guidance and he could be the best edge in the comp. He doesn’t have the instincts (like Tariq does) but he’s got all the physical attributes and skills to excel there.

However, him moving to the middle gives Host a well deserved shot in his natural position and balances out the team the best way.

 

[TomRedVRiver]

Pearson is doing well in the ISP trial and clearly has the speed we need. If we're going to have Widdop at fullback we need speed on the edges to compensate for that. Pereira is not going to cut it, and we're going to get slaughtered defensively by fast moving backlines like Melbourne and the Roosters.

 

[Alec’s-saints]

Pearson is doing well in the ISP trial and clearly has the speed we need. If we're going to have Widdop at fullback we need speed on the edges to compensate for that. Pereira is not going to cut it, and we're going to get slaughtered defensively by fast moving backlines like Melbourne and the Roosters.[/QUOTE

 

[Alec’s-saints]

Pearson is doing well in the ISP trial and clearly has the speed we need. If we're going to have Widdop at fullback we need speed on the edges to compensate for that. Pereira is not going to cut it, and we're going to get slaughtered defensively by fast moving backlines like Melbourne and the Roosters.

what trial ?

 

[DRAGONHEART4]

Dragons vs Souths at erskineville oval. Jersey Flagg smashed Souths and our untrusted team demolished the bunnies as well. Josh Kerr had an absolute blinder. He definitely scored 5 tries but it was maybe 6. Robson was fantastic from dummy half and his running game was superb. Pearson and Saab on the wings had good games as well. Korbin,timm,and field also played. Our backline looked sharper tha our first grade.

 

[DRAGONHEART4]

Sorry about the autocorrect

 

[BLM01]

Dragons vs Souths at erskineville oval. Jersey Flagg smashed Souths and our untrusted team demolished the bunnies as well. Josh Kerr had an absolute blinder. He definitely scored 5 tries but it was maybe 6. Robson was fantastic from dummy half and his running game was superb. Pearson and Saab on the wings had good games as well. Korbin,timm,and field also played. Our backline looked sharper tha our first grade.

Sshhh..Mat Head may be our next coach if that keeps up!

 

[Warabrook saint]

Sshhh..Mat Head may be our next coach if that keeps up!

He'd have to deal with albert first

 

[The calm one]

Mary is staying here. No coach is coming here

 

[J.moz]

No charity shield win in 6 years under mary .No aggression team couldn't tackle no structure. No ingles no Reynolds for souths . We desperately need a new coach before season starts.