Complaint To The Media - The Onus Is On You

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Like many Dragons life long supporters, this season we've experienced more of the same when it comes to McGregor receiving protection from the media.

Why isn't the coach, who is in his fifth year with the Dragons, getting the scrutiny for his continued under-achieving results?

Why do the media continue to turn a blind eye to his weekly team selections where decent juniors are being overlooked for non performing average plodders?

Why does the coach trots out the same old excuses ( JDB etc ) yet, every other team has the same problems and can lift when required.

Why is it good enough to just, make the finals?
St George Illawarra are suppose to be a merged club, where two great clubs have joined to become a super club / power.

Why is it good enough for the board to accept having a 'caretaker' coach ............ for five years and extend it a further two?
Why is the board accepting mediocre sub par performance from the coach and team, yet we have 5 State of Origin players?

Why aren't the media onto this?

Media, it is NOT just a few disgruntled fans, it is by far the majority.
Why don't you print that?

Are you too friendly with the coach?
Are you not prepared to do your job as your readers would expect?

Why do you scrutinised some coaches, yet fail to acknowledge long term poor coaching by others?

It over to you, media.

 

[hazzbeen]

I have the Solution ....... Just sack the pretender of a coach .......Sack McGregor ...,...

 

[Bigdogsbedtime]

I think the heat is picking up. Some people write negative stuff which is a start. Its still crazy that we have such a good side on paper and we suck so bad. Its crazy no one in the media was worried till after origin. I wasnt super mad about it because I think Sports journos are just shit in general and I dont ever have a good take on anything

 

[Qapm]

I'll say this for the rest of 2019 and onwards until someone finally intervenes in this tragedy but the current situation with the Dragons is THE litmus test of integrity in sports media.

 

[Dragon Revival]

To be realistic we have a Trojan forward pack that looks worn out with reasonable halves and the worst backline in the Club's history. Ourcoach is hopeless and accepts pro play from the players. Apart from Saab and Widdop
we have no speed. Why do Graham and McInnes have to do so much tackling and
why do we pick Latimore, Kafusi and Allgood who should all be put out to pasture? Aitken is too small and Lafai runs around in circles.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Like many Dragons life long supporters, this season we've experienced more of the same when it comes to McGregor receiving protection from the media.

Why isn't the coach, who is in his fifth year with the Dragons, getting the scrutiny for his continued under-achieving results?

Why do the media continue to turn a blind eye to his weekly team selections where decent juniors are being overlooked for non performing average plodders?

Why does the coach trots out the same old excuses ( JDB etc ) yet, every other team has the same problems and can lift when required.

Why is it good enough to just, make the finals?
St George Illawarra are suppose to be a merged club, where two great clubs have joined to become a super club / power.

Why is it good enough for the board to accept having a 'caretaker' coach ............ for five years and extend it a further two?
Why is the board accepting mediocre sub par performance from the coach and team, yet we have 5 State of Origin players?

Why aren't the media onto this?

Media, it is NOT just a few disgruntled fans, it is by far the majority.
Why don't you print that?

Are you too friendly with the coach?
Are you not prepared to do your job as your readers would expect?

Why do you scrutinised some coaches, yet fail to acknowledge long term poor coaching by others?

It over to you, media.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...vDjAhXMeisKHc6jAhIQMwhfKAowCg&iact=mrc&uact=8

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

 

[denis preston]

To be realistic we have a Trojan forward pack that looks worn out with reasonable halves and the worst backline in the Club's history. Ourcoach is hopeless and accepts pro play from the players. Apart from Saab and Widdop
we have no speed. Why do Graham and McInnes have to do so much tackling and
why do we pick Latimore, Kafusi and Allgood who should all be put out to pasture? Aitken is too small and Lafai runs around in circles.

Because of Coach weakness no 270 : He won't drop non performing rep players. Apart from those two , Host also was doing his fare share of tackling but he has stagnated this year under the coaching setup. Do you know he can actually run lines and offload ( like lawrie ) but with the 4 hit ups , one spread wide & kick policy there is no room for these "fancy " things in the 3 stooges workbook.

 

[Gareth67]

Yes absolutely agree OKB1 , there seems to be a ‘ closed ‘ hunting season on the maestro , none of the media have anything negative to say about his lack of coaching ability.

This brings me to the question - does B.Gordon and WIN have any influence whatsoever with the media , have they been told to lay off Mary ? I realize that this would be near impossible , as all journalists have principals and are bound by by their code of conduct to speak the truth and only the truth .

The only light at the end of the tunnel at present is there is beginning to be the odd comment made now about the lack of achievement by the Dragons - at least its a start.
Big things grow from small things . . .

 

[possm]

I'll say this for the rest of 2019 and onwards until someone finally intervenes in this tragedy but the current situation with the Dragons is THE litmus test of integrity in sports media.

The right move would be to sack Mary and Millward now and hire either Toovey or Griffin or both asap. That will give them the necessary time to sort out their staff and their roster for 2020.

 

[muzby]

To those who extended Mary - the anus is on you.

 

[BLM01]

The right move would be to sack Mary and Millward now and hire either Toovey or Griffin or both asap. That will give them the necessary time to sort out their staff and their roster for 2020.

 

[Dea]

I’ve got the team I want - McGregor

Your team, your coaching, your responsibility.

Media must be under instructions to not be highlighting the deficiencies in team tactics, poor usage of interchange, player management.

 

[denis preston]

The real answer we need and the Crux of all our woes is "why did the Board rush to resign him so early in the season when nobody else ( in their right mind ! ) ever had him in their thoughts ? At best it was a very bad decision by the Board.At worst there is something sinister about how the unsuccessful coach's resigning suited the boards agenda ?

 

[possm]

The real answer we need and the Crux of all our woes is "why did the Board rush to resign him so early in the season when nobody else ( in their right mind ! ) ever had him in their thoughts ? At best it was a very bad decision by the Board.At worst there is something sinister about how the unsuccessful coach's resigning suited the boards agenda ?

There could be no other answer than this:
Deals were done and promises made when allowing WIN to buy out Illawarra's shares. St George and the NRL have a veto with regards to share ownership and of course, Illawarra has a natural right to sell their shares to their preferred buyer providing the decision meets both St George and NRL approval.

Remember there was a more lucrative deal on the table from another bidder who was involved in sports promotions - I believe. I'm sure that entity would only be interested in employing the best management team available; which of course would not be the one put forward by the old boys. Bacroom deals were likely not made public or made known to the NRL except for the move of Johnston to CEO and Gordon to Chairman of the Board and possibly Doust to CEO of St George Leagues Club.

 

[Carlton]

There could be no other answer than this:
Deals were done and promises made when allowing WIN to buy out Illawarra's shares. St George and the NRL have a veto with regards to share ownership and of course, Illawarra has a natural right to sell their shares to their preferred buyer providing the decision meets both St George and NRL approval.

Remember there was a more lucrative deal on the table from another bidder who was involved in sports promotions - I believe. I'm sure that entity would only be interested in employing the best management team available; which of course would not be the one put forward by the old boys. Bacroom deals were likely not made public or made known to the NRL except for the move of Johnston to CEO and Gordon to Chairman of the Board and possibly Doust to CEO of St George Leagues Club.

One piece to this puzzle you haven't really explored is the rumour St George wanted to buyout the Illawarra shares but the NRL said no. Does this mean there are St George directors not happy with the JV? Does it mean WIN/Gordon have more say than what would be expected? Does it mean the NRL are running a long term agenda?

I dont disagree with your thoughts on deals done but I suspect what you are talking about is the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Warabrook saint]

One piece to this puzzle you haven't really explored is the rumour St George wanted to buyout the Illawarra shares but the NRL said no. Does this mean there are St George directors not happy with the JV? Does it mean WIN/Gordon have more say than what would be expected? Does it mean the NRL are running a long term agenda?

I dont disagree with your thoughts on deals done but I suspect what you are talking about is the tip of the iceberg.

Very true

 

[merahputih]

There could be no other answer than this:
Deals were done and promises made when allowing WIN to buy out Illawarra's shares. St George and the NRL have a veto with regards to share ownership and of course, Illawarra has a natural right to sell their shares to their preferred buyer providing the decision meets both St George and NRL approval.

Remember there was a more lucrative deal on the table from another bidder who was involved in sports promotions - I believe. I'm sure that entity would only be interested in employing the best management team available; which of course would not be the one put forward by the old boys. Bacroom deals were likely not made public or made known to the NRL except for the move of Johnston to CEO and Gordon to Chairman of the Board and possibly Doust to CEO of St George Leagues Club.

The other bidder you are referring to was Total Sport & Entertainment (TSE), run by Paul Smith, an Illawarra based sports management executive with a fairly impressive CV. His former company-Repucom included among its clients the NFL, NBA, FIFA, and the EPL. Smith also had a share of the Sydney Kings franchise and is a lifelong Dragons supporter. At the time of his bid WIN had pulled out of negotiations and Smith was led to believe that he had the inside running for the deal. However, after some robust discussions between the Kogarah and Illawarra camps the Gordon family was persuaded to come back to the table. At the time the Gordon's bid was rumored to be less than TSE's. And, of course Brian Johnstone was parachuted into the CEO's chair, much to the surprise apparently, of Paul Smith.
All ancient history I know but it goes some way towards understanding the mindset behind decisions made by this management, including the early extension of McGregor's contract with no obvious performance criteria applied to his period as coach. Nepotism and complacency trumps professionalism and ambition.

 

[BennyV]

I can’t speak for other sports in this country, but ‘journalism’ when it comes to NRL is a f**king joke! I don’t know if it’s because everyone is mates with everyone and no one wants to offend. Maybe they don’t want to lose potential scoops or exclusives! Or maybe it’s just that the average punters want to read crap. But it’s embarrassing. Full of condescension, cliche and vagueness. No calling out of bullshit or deep diving into issues. Some of the minor outlets have some balls, but for the most part the mainstream goes out of their way to sprout vague bullshit and not rock the boat.

That, and the old boys union that goes to the very top of the game and media, is one of the huge reasons that NRL is so limited when it should (based on its product) be amongst the pinnacle sporting organisations in the world.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

The other bidder you are referring to was Total Sport & Entertainment (TSE), run by Paul Smith, an Illawarra based sports management executive with a fairly impressive CV. His former company-Repucom included among its clients the NFL, NBA, FIFA, and the EPL. Smith also had a share of the Sydney Kings franchise and is a lifelong Dragons supporter. At the time of his bid WIN had pulled out of negotiations and Smith was led to believe that he had the inside running for the deal. However, after some robust discussions between the Kogarah and Illawarra camps the Gordon family was persuaded to come back to the table. At the time the Gordon's bid was rumored to be less than TSE's. And, of course Brian Johnstone was parachuted into the CEO's chair, much to the surprise apparently, of Paul Smith.
All ancient history I know but it goes some way towards understanding the mindset behind decisions made by this management, including the early extension of McGregor's contract with no obvious performance criteria applied to his period as coach. Nepotism and complacency trumps professionalism and ambition.

Very well said, Merahutih.

The board it would seem, are lacking transparency and business-like professionalism with many
of its decisions and appointments. With the team diving to new depths and the coach lacking any form of skill required to arrest our freefall, there is a certain smell emitting from the boardroom, and it can't be healthy.

We can only hope the media can bring it out in the open and force the clubs' hand.