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Corey Norman??

SAP58

SAP58

Juniors
Messages
2,052
possm said:
How many backups for McInnes do we need? Luke and Hunt already available. Surely a centre or two would be more handy.

Allow both Aitken and Lafai to go to ESL in order for SGI to free up some salary cap. Put Ravalawa and Sailor/new recruit in the centres, Lomax at fullback, Saab and Pearson/Pereira on the wings.
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I dont believe Aitken and Lafai will be dropped whilst our current head coach is in that position. One of my biggest concerns for 2020 is he orchestrates the resigning of both players before he is punted. Couldn’t happen ??......well no-one can believe he picks them every week after multiple sub standard performances so I wouldn’t be too confident.
 
Forbes Creek Dragons

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
possm said:
How many backups for McInnes do we need? Luke and Hunt already available. Surely a centre or two would be more handy.

Allow both Aitken and Lafai to go to ESL in order for SGI to free up some salary cap. Put Ravalawa and Sailor/new recruit in the centres, Lomax at fullback, Saab and Pearson/Pereira on the wings.
Click to expand...
Mate that post was months ago. Well before Seggy got busted. But as an avid NRL fan I realised like anyone with half a brain would that we need a backup 9. This is why I thought Luke wasn’t such a bad buy.
 
G

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
34,237
normanc-190321083.jpg


DRAGONS


Norman backs himself to fill Widdop's big boots
Author
Brad Walter NRL.com Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Wed 27 Nov 2019, 06:01 PM
walterbrad-head.png

St George Illawarra have lost a world-class player in Gareth Widdop but Corey Norman is confident he can step up and replace him as the Dragons eye off a rapid return to the finals.

Teams that finish 15th and lose a star like Widdop aren't often expected to surge up the ladder but Norman was bullish about his team's chances of achieving the feat.

When asked who would step up to fill the void left by Widdop’s departure, Norman said: “I back myself for that. Benny Hunt is there as well and he is quality player and Cam McInnes is quality as well so I think it’s the spine’s job to step up," he said.

"All of us need to step up so I am looking forward to that."

And when asked about his personal goal for the 2020 season, the Dragons five-eighth replies without hesitation: “My team getting to the finals for a start."

Norman joined St George Illawarra last January from 2018 wooden-spooners Parramatta and again finished in a team near the bottom of the ladder, with the Dragons only bettering the Gold Coast.



Five key matchups of the Dragons' 2020 draw

Despite being called into the Queensland camp for Origin II in Perth, the 28-year-old is aware the performances of the Eels and Dragons during the past two seasons will eventually have some impact on him unless St George Illawarra have more success in 2020.

"When a team goes well the halves normally get a pat on the back and when a team goes bad you get the bag as well," Norman said.

"It comes with the territory and with two bad seasons some of it has got to come back on me as well.

"I think I definitely need a big one this year.

"For me it is not really an individual thing. I just want to win. The last two years I think I have won 15 games or something like that [14] so I just want my team to go well and win. I just want the club to get back on track."

With Widdop leaving for English club Warrington, Norman knows his position won’t change after he and the former captain spent a decent chunk of last season swapping between the five-eighth and fullback roles.

Norman was initially signed to replace Widdop in 2020 but when the opportunity arose for him to leave Parramatta earlier the Dragons dropped plans to recruit another winger and brought the playmaker to Wollongong last season.

The recent signing of Issac Luke also means Hunt is unlikely to spend any time at dummy half, so Norman won’t need to shift into the halfback role, while Zac Lomax will start the season at fullback.

"There was no confusion so I am not going to make excuses up. We just didn’t perform last year, it is as simple as that. We still had the roster to do a lot better than we did," Norman said.



Luke has 300-game target in mind

However, after arriving shortly before the start of last season, Norman admits he "didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes".

"I think there will be a lot more consistency around our spine this year and being here from day one in the pre-season, it feels a lot better as well," he said. "I came to the team last year in a bit of a weird way."

The Dragons have made eight changes to their coaching and training staff for next season, including the appointment of premiership-winning former Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan as an assistant to Paul McGregor.


https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2019/11/28/norman-backs-himself-to-fill-widdops-big-boots/
 
possm

possm

Coach
Messages
15,937
Forbes Creek Dragons said:
Mate that post was months ago. Well before Seggy got busted. But as an avid NRL fan I realised like anyone with half a brain would that we need a backup 9. This is why I thought Luke wasn’t such a bad buy.
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I was referring to Lovodua. So we have Lovodua, Luke and McInnes for the hooker position, all good depth. Yet we have a week centre pairing, and fullback depth of Lomax, Dufty and Sailor with Lomax being new to the position at first grade level, Dufty who is too small, has failed and been dropped and Sailor new at first grade level and again too small.
 
R

redandwhite4evr

Juniors
Messages
1,929
possm said:
I was referring to Lovodua. So we have Lovodua, Luke and McInnes for the hooker position, all good depth. Yet we have a week centre pairing, and fullback depth of Lomax, Dufty and Sailor with Lomax being new to the position at first grade level, Dufty who is too small, has failed and been dropped and Sailor new at first grade level and again too small.
Click to expand...

Possm, as you've rightly observed many times before, its a mess. IMO, there is no one out there at present on the market who we can bring in with confidence to fill our urgent full back and centre needs. England has been raided for its best players and there's none left. It will all be on a wing and a prayer with the players we've got which incredibly still include Dufty rabbiting on about being full-back again. It's deja vu all over again !! I tend to think that Fittler, Alexander and Johns know something we don't know about Mitchell and his suspect mindset and temperament.and that is keeping him out of Origin- and I hope SGI.

I wanted SGI to go after Watene- Zelezniak last season and then perhaps use Flanagan to lure Jessie Ramien here but those ships have both sailed. We are left to chase discards and CC players now.
 
Forbes Creek Dragons

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
possm said:
I was referring to Lovodua. So we have Lovodua, Luke and McInnes for the hooker position, all good depth. Yet we have a week centre pairing, and fullback depth of Lomax, Dufty and Sailor with Lomax being new to the position at first grade level, Dufty who is too small, has failed and been dropped and Sailor new at first grade level and again too small.
Click to expand...
Well you said Luke not Lovodua...in my original post that we need a backup 9 which I posted months ago, Luke wasn’t yet signed either was Lovodua. Hunt is not a backup 9 he’s just not. Maybe in one game if shit totally hit the fan he could see out the game there but we need him at 7 with no distractions so he can form a combo with Norman. He’s our best 7 McInnes is our best 9 end of story. This leaves two options for a backup. 1. A veteran or 2. An emerging player. McInnes is 25 odd so the emerging player is a waste of time as they won’t play fg for us. Luke was the right option. It gives Hunt clarity that his position is 7 and to concentrate on that.
 
redVinme

redVinme

Bench
Messages
2,796
Forbes Creek Dragons said:
Well you said Luke not Lovodua...in my original post that we need a backup 9 which I posted months ago, Luke wasn’t yet signed either was Lovodua. Hunt is not a backup 9 he’s just not. Maybe in one game if shit totally hit the fan he could see out the game there but we need him at 7 with no distractions so he can form a combo with Norman. He’s our best 7 McInnes is our best 9 end of story. This leaves two options for a backup. 1. A veteran or 2. An emerging player. McInnes is 25 odd so the emerging player is a waste of time as they won’t play fg for us. Luke was the right option. It gives Hunt clarity that his position is 7 and to concentrate on that.
Click to expand...

Agree but Luke won't be a back up.
He will play half a game...
Now if we are looking at emerging players. I'd rather Joe see if he can go for 40 than Luke..
 
possm

possm

Coach
Messages
15,937
redandwhite4evr said:
Possm, as you've rightly observed many times before, its a mess. IMO, there is no one out there at present on the market who we can bring in with confidence to fill our urgent full back and centre needs. England has been raided for its best players and there's none left. It will all be on a wing and a prayer with the players we've got which incredibly still include Dufty rabbiting on about being full-back again. It's deja vu all over again !! I tend to think that Fittler, Alexander and Johns know something we don't know about Mitchell and his suspect mindset and temperament.and that is keeping him out of Origin- and I hope SGI.

I wanted SGI to go after Watene- Zelezniak last season and then perhaps use Flanagan to lure Jessie Ramien here but those ships have both sailed. We are left to chase discards and CC players now.
Click to expand...
For 2020, it could be:
1. Mitchell
3. Lomax
Or visa versa.

Saab and Addo Carr would make a good wing combo.
 
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