CHARITY SHIELD v Souths Sat 14/02/26 @ WIN

[to_ddeath]

Lawrie, Guler, Slown, CT & Suli to some degree are all seperate basket cases for various reasons. Or simply not up to it.

The central problem though always will be current coach & son…ones regular, complete inability to see reality only suggests to me a giant grift is going on and this now has the potential to bring the club a shiny new spoon.

I’d suggest topping up on popcorn if it all didn’t look so ugly from the outside

 

[possm]

Kerr and Guler starting had to be one of the poorest NRL front rows there’s been.

Kerr should be off the bench with Tonga. We still need a really good first-grade prop to partner with T Couchman as run on props.

 

[possm]

Lawrie, Guler, Slown, CT & Suli to some degree are all seperate basket cases for various reasons. Or simply not up to it.

The central problem though always will be current coach & son…ones regular, complete inability to see reality only suggests to me a giant grift is going on and this now has the potential to bring the club a shiny new spoon.

I’d suggest topping up on popcorn if it all didn’t look so ugly from the outside

Kyle's inclusion in the halves is a problem; however, Dean Young's role as defensive coach is a bigger problem. He needs to go now.

 

[redfernrabbitoh]

It’s gonna be a long year

BR give ello a call at souths maybe you can borrow our baby bunnies squad sometimes...

 

[RedVDave]

Can't u read shulman was better than ur dud coach's son...

We can read pity you can't spell though, enjoy the meaningless win from a meaningless game.

 

[redfernrabbitoh]

We can read pity you can't spell though, enjoy the meaningless win from a meaningless game.

Deadvdave uve lost ur sh*t over there I hope u recuperate asap cobber remember it's only a game cobber...

 

[Gareth67]

As most , hugely disappointed with the result , the Dragons should had played much better than they did .

One can raise all sorts of scenarios as to why they did not - Las Vegas trip , avoiding serious injury or just did not want to get their brand , spanking , new jersey dirty - whatever .

The one fact that was clear to most is that the players seem to go into ‘ relax ‘ mode at various stages of their matches , this must stop immediately otherwise the top teams will be running up cricket scores against our boys and as a result the Big Red V’s for and against will be shattered by the half way mark of the season thus ending any possible hope of a semifinal berth in season 2026 .

 

[dragonreddy]

What a complete disappointment , right around , yes I know it was only a trial but you would have thought they would have put enough points on them to win the game against a team that was so under staffed ....... Was I surprised no , not really , Im starting to think Flanno coached team is stuck in the past ....... He just relies on big bulky players that have no speed and can only attack when in oppositions quarter ....... As for new guy Fale is he any better than Feagai , I say no ....... And as for the winger Setu Tu that couldn't crack a first grade spot and is now likely to be one of our wingers , but we had a speedster young player in Sione Finau that scored 2 tries yesterday for the Raiders and they let him go ....... You need speed in a team to be able to turn a game and go 90m ....... Seems to me Coach Flanno just wants big bulky player type , speed doesn't matter to him ....... Anyway yep it's just a trial but for me I hope I'm wrong it's going to be a long season ....... Atkinson as a 7 still not sure Kyle at 6 is becoming a joke ........

Looks like Flanno is mired in 2016 and wearing rose coloured glasses when watching his son, every human has flaws ,these are definitely 2 of Flannos

 

[dragonreddy]

Is it just possible that NO one wanted to play at full pace, so they didn't risk their Vegas ticket???
There was minimal leg speed & some hit ups when the ball was turned inside looked just like a training set.
I think (HOPE) we see a deferent intensity come VEGAS.

Nope , I think this is the same complacency as displayed in a lot of games last year at times .

They came out thinking they were playing a reserve grade side ( cos they were), and got unceremoniously rolled.

 

[since77]

Nope , I think this is the same complacency as displayed in a lot of games last year at times .

They came out thinking they were playing a reserve grade side ( cos they were), and got unceremoniously rolled.

I haven't made any comments on the game yet mostly because I have low expectations this year and also because I just don't care about trial games. We bombed one certain try and gifted them 2 others. Turn just those 3 turning points around and we win even if unimpressively.
However I do agree that this team has a long time cultural problem of not treating sub standard opposition with enough respect. To watch Cook - someone who was brought to the club to "set standards" - smiling after that bombed try was probably the thing that made me angriest during the whole game.

 

[InFlannoWeTrust]

regarding the weekend game, very disappointing. Dominated possession in the first half but didn’t really see any sweeping Plays. It was more down the middle stuff which I thought was a bit strange because preseason said we were going to play more attacking football. I thought the backup place through the middle each time there was an offload or a break was much better.

I honestly think they all wanted to be on the plane for Vegas uninjured. Huge occasion over there and you wouldn’t want to miss it just because an injury in preseason. I do have my concerns this season.

Luch impressive I thought. Was chasing down players from Marker.

I’m not one to bag players though even at 6 I think Kyle did struggle . No kicks, I think only 1,2 runs .

thought lykan brought some energy .

maybe lykan/atkinson 6/7.. Kyle 14..

With reed 18/19th man (spare spots with tge rule change)

 

[Victoire]

Disheartening result but I'm not writing any obituaries yet. A bit of complacency and ring-rust from some key players perhaps - at least we know both of those things shouldn't exist in 2 weeks time. I like to think they'll be suitably chastened on the training paddock in the weeks before round 1, and a win in vegas will make this fiasco a very distant memory.

A win in vegas is still quite plausible to me, because despite having zero luck with the bounce of the ball on saturday, we did get lucky with injuries, thankfully (the Sele HIA notwithstanding).

Having said all that, I'd love to know the rationale behind Moses Suli shifting to the left edge. He's been pretty exclusively a right side player the last few years and, as much as I love his work with the ball, he looked very vulnerable in defence and his positioning was exposed badly in that Penitani try. I'm very scared of Crichton over there. Hopefully Val comes back on that side in round 1

 

[Flinstone]

I haven't made any comments on the game yet mostly because I have low expectations this year and also because I just don't care about trial games. We bombed one certain try and gifted them 2 others. Turn just those 3 turning points around and we win even if unimpressively.
However I do agree that this team has a long time cultural problem of not treating sub standard opposition with enough respect. To watch Cook - someone who was brought to the club to "set standards" - smiling after that bombed try was probably the thing that made me angriest during the whole game.

Maybe they were told just have some fun, offload, second phase play.
It's odd for Cook to do that.
I think any regular game he would be dirty with himself. They knew it doesn't count.

However we do have a habit of not turning up for easier games to get our pants pulled down.

 

[SEAT 1A]

They had both eyes on Vegas, and it was a trial, first 20 minutes was good and was unlucky not to be up and mission accomplished at half time. After that less said the better.

Other than the brain explosion thought Tu booked his seat and hope Sele is OK, really missed him.

 

[Flinstone]

They had both eyes on Vegas, and it was a trial, first 20 minutes was good and was unlucky not to be up and mission accomplished at half time. After that less said the better.

Other than the brain explosion thought Tu booked his seat and hope Sele is OK, really missed him.

Tu will learn from that, bad position to risk an offload, I don't think he offloaded once after that. I'd say he has earned the wing spot over Sloan.

 

[maestro1]

Tu will learn from that, bad position to risk an offload, I don't think he offloaded once after that. I'd say he has earned the wing spot over Sloan.

Tu did it earlier in the game and got away with (only just). Other than that he has been very good. Hope he is a quick learner.

 

[chowiesplatterpoo2]

Obviously... If they beat the Bulldogs in Vegas, that will flip the script in here. That's what they are going to need to do now to get the positivity back. We wait and see...

 

[TheRev]

We will see with Tu.. whether he can adjust.. remember he is 27.

And yes if we can beat either the Dogs or the Storm, the trial will be but a distant memory.. but I feel like our season really begins in Round 3.. but obviously would be stoked to generate an upset in vegas especially.

 

[Slippery Morris]

The weak mentality of the last 10+ years continues. Once again we lose a game we are expected to win.
Very disappointing.

As soon as I saw the Souths line up last week on Tuesday, I knew it would be a struggle a) because of the above which has been a huge issue for years now and b) guys playing not to get hurt to get to Vegas. As soon as Saints are given the favourites tag they never play like favourites.

Saints would have a better chance if they put out the same side that beat Newcastle the week before to win the CS, but unfortunately they can't do that as they need to give the FG boys a run and unfortunately the FG boys let the fans down with their poor performance. From what I saw I would rather Feagai or Buchanan as a starting centre with Val. Tu and CT stay on the wings. We need line breaks no bash and barge and the defence is no different. Buchanan created that last try because of a nice break. We need to give this kid more game time or he will leave like Bostock and light it up for another team.

Lets hope what they do in Vegas is what they did last year and win games they are given no hope of winning.

 

[slippery5]

Disheartening result but I'm not writing any obituaries yet. A bit of complacency and ring-rust from some key players perhaps - at least we know both of those things shouldn't exist in 2 weeks time. I like to think they'll be suitably chastened on the training paddock in the weeks before round 1, and a win in vegas will make this fiasco a very distant memory.

A win in vegas is still quite plausible to me, because despite having zero luck with the bounce of the ball on saturday, we did get lucky with injuries, thankfully (the Sele HIA notwithstanding).

Having said all that, I'd love to know the rationale behind Moses Suli shifting to the left edge. He's been pretty exclusively a right side player the last few years and, as much as I love his work with the ball, he looked very vulnerable in defence and his positioning was exposed badly in that Penitani try. I'm very scared of Crichton over there. Hopefully Val comes back on that side in round 1

The "ONLY" reason Val didn't play was because he would rather sit it out, then risk not playing in Vegas.
His athletic ability & playing in the centres will not be a problem come game 1 in regards to his fittness.