Dragons Coach 2021 and Beyond

[be55]

Was bored this evening and was thinking about who will be our new coach for 2021 and beyond.For what it is worth all the talk of Griffin in the news today is fine by me but what i was thinking about is the the style of football we are playing now and the type of game plan a new coach might try to implement going into next year.One thing i believe in is the statistics don't lie.Like clues at a crime scene they paint the true picture of what is going on.I went to the fox sports statistics page and thought i would share some of the interesting stats of our dragons team.
Some of the stats for the dragons in comparison to where we sit on the table and compared to other teams were as follows;

Run Meters
Dragons 22632.
Leaders Eels 25317
Worst Titans 19042

This was interesting to me as i always thought we would be closer to the bottom of this table than the top but we sit in 5th position overall ahead of teams like the storm ,albeit marginally, and also ahead of the likes of the rabbitohs and the raiders.This suggests to me that we either play a style that gets us over the advantage line or our forwards are doing this better than i actually thought they were,but i suppose run meters is only relative to the ground you concede.

Run Meters Conceded
Dragons 23569
Leaders Dogs 24372
Least Panthers 19247

Here is where statistics paint the true picture.You would expect this to pretty much follow your teams position on the ladder and it mostly does with the teams conceding the least amount of meters to be at the top of the points table and vice versa but here we sit 3rd last on the table with only the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles conceding more ground.Considering we have conceded over 4 km more than the league leaders the Panthers and teams like the Titans and Warriors concede less ground than we do you would think that an incoming coach would look at this and drastically try to improve this aspect of our game.

Line Breaks
Dragons 54
Leaders Panthers 92
Least Warriors 44

Another area where you'd think it would follow the position of the team on the ladder and it pretty much does but we find ourselves 4th last with line breaks with only a handful more than the Warriors,Bulldogs and Broncos and well off the pace of the top three unsurprisingly being The Panthers,Roosters and Storm.In my opinion we need to look at our attacking structure, a more expansive game plan and even adding players to our team who are more capable of breaking the line with speed footwork and size.

Line Breaks Conceded
Dragons 58
Most Sharks 95
Least Panthers 44

We punch above our weight here sitting in 5th position for least line breaks.This really does confirm to me what i have thought all along...that are actual defence is not the problem...the problem is our line speed.We concede too much yardage because of the defensive pattern to sit back ,maintain a straight defensive line, and not worry about line speed

Offloads
Dragons 114
Leaders Eels 208
Least Rabbitohs 106

Interesting here with the eels 50 more offloads than the second placed team in the storm.We sit 2nd last on this table and i am sure that that is no surprise to anyone on this forum.Something else that is no surprise is that a Bennett coached team sits last on the table for offloads but what was surprising was the Panthers sit 3rd last with 119.I suppose this just illustrates the type of game plan you are trying to implement with the Panthers obviously able to roll over the advantage line with big fast forwards and quick play the balls

Tackled In the opposition 20
Dragons 375
Leaders Panthers 562
Least Broncos 347

This is such a telling statistic for mine.It generally dictates the outcomes of games.If you knock on the door for long enough you'll eventually get inside.It's a credit to the Roosters attacking ability that they can sit worse than midfield on this table in 10th position and lead the points for table ( unbelievable).
We sit 2nd last with this statistic with only the Broncos worse and even the Titans ahead of us.I believe the fact we concede so much ground is key to this because if your constantly bringing the ball of your own try line it is hard to get into the oppositions 20 when teams are going set for set.

Errors
Dragons 145
Least Panthers 132
Most Titans 193

Probably really shows what type of structure you play with and can be misleading as the teams that made the 2nd and 3rd most errors are the Eels and the Storm.We sit 2nd with only the Panthers making less errors than us.When you look at this statistic other than the Panthers it reads like an upside down table with the teams at the bottom of the table making less errors and the teams at the top making more.I think this is easy to explain as the teams that are constantly having to bring the ball out of trouble tucking it under their arm and trying just to complete sets and the teams getting into attacking position willing to throw it around more to try and score points.We sit 2nd on the table for least errors but this really just shows we are not getting into position to attack enough probably due to the fact that we concede so much ground and are constantly bringing the ball off our own line and not getting into position to play more adventurously.Sitting at the top of the table and with the least amount of errors as the Panthers do really does showcase their dominance.

Missed Tackles
Dragons 311
Least Dragons 311
Most Sharks 473

Well if it continues this way at the end of the seasons we will at least be able to say we won something.Again this demonstrates that our actual defence is good we have missed less tackles than the Roosters and Panthers but the key is improving line speed while maintaining tackle effectiveness.This i am sure will be a top priority for our new coach whoever that may be.

Obviously i believe that our new coach will look at these statistics when considering what areas of our play needs tweaking and improving.I think we need a coach who can implement a more attacking mindset with the ball ,empowering the team to play with more confidence and a mindset of looking to promote the ball more than what we currently do.We need a coach that will work on our line speed in defence,to change our defensive structure from being one that sits back and waits for the opposition to come too them to being one that looks to create pressure on opposing teams with line speed and aggression.I heard on 100% footy last night that the club are looking for a disciplinarian who will instil a defensive mindset and i hope that the club is directly talking about our line speed because i think that is a key area for us to improve.

Having a read of those statistics in full it really does ram home to me how well the Panthers are going but still when you hear people talk about who will win the comp they want to talk about the Roosters and the Storm which is fair enough considering their record and of course either of these teams could win the comp but for me at the moment the panthers,even though they sit atop the ladder,are not getting the recognition from the fans that they deserve,they really are flying. One thing i have learnt in life is follow the money and the bookies have the Panthers as favourites for a reason,the statistics suggest that they are well ahead of everyone else.

Anyway i am looking forward to the club announcing our new coach soon and one thing i can say with some certainty is that whoever it will be, it will be massive improvement on what we have had to put up with the last seven years.

For what it's worth, Griffin for mine...Young or Head assistant, take ya pick....but i still have an open mind...

THE ONLY WAY IS UP....

 

[thebigredv]

I don't know how I feel about Griffin... could work well...certainly wouldn't be a step down from the last two coaches and no Dragons affiliation works for me. Will he be able to lure quality players? Norman's endorsement works against him as a player who has shown poor commitment.

I guess, if there is one thing I have learned, our opinion as fans doesn't count for much, but if he jumps on board I'll get behind him 100%.

 

[thebigredv]

double post

 

[ChocOConnor]

If I had the option of George Kastanza and Mcmoron I’d have taken Kastanza. So if it is Griffen I’d take him

 

[getsmarty]

Corey Norman backs Anthony Griffin for St George Illawarra coaching job

• 
  Cameron Mee

Dragons Den

Experienced: Anthony Griffin. Picture: NRL Imagery.

St George Illawarra five-eighth Corey Norman has backed former mentor Anthony Griffin to successfully lead the Dragons if he lands the top job.

Reports emerged Tuesday morning that the former Broncos and Panthers coach is the leading candidate for the vacant head coaching role.

Griffin is one of a number of contenders on a fairly long list that includes current interim Dean Young, Roosters assistant Craig Fitzgibbon and David Furner.

Read more: Finals appearance is Aitken's main focus before club departure

The latest suggestion is that St George Illawarra will retain Young as an assistant to work under Griffin.

The club is chasing a disciplined, defensive minded coach that has had success at the top level.

Griffin fits that mould and is widely credited for laying the foundation for the Panthers charge towards this year's premiership.

Norman and hooker Ben Hunt were coached by the 53-year-old during their time in Brisbane, with the coach grooming Norman from a freakish under 20s talent into a first grade player who debuted at just 19 years of age.

Their relationship souredtowards the end of the five-eighth's run at the Broncos, with Norman dropped due to poor form in late 2013, his final season with the club.

Despite this, Norman said he would be happy to work with his old mentor if he was signed to lead the Dragons next season.

"I had Hook (Griffin) though the 20s and into first grade at Brisbane," Norman said. "I know what he's like and what type of bloke he is.

"I haven't had him as coach for a while, but I got along with him well. He's a good bloke and a good coach.

"It's out of my hands, I've got to worry about myself and play good footy these last five weeks. I'll leave it up to the people up top to worry about that."

The St George Illawarra five-eighth was peppered with questions by reporters about Griffin and the vacant head coaching position on Tuesday.

So intense has been the focus on the Dragons search for Paul McGregor's replacement, it threatens to take away from the fact the team is in a desperate fight for a top eight place.

Such a finish is unlikely, with the side currently 10th on the ladder and probably needing to win at least four of their last five games to make the finals.

Norman, however, said the rumours surrounding the next head coach have not distracted the players from their primary goal, to win footy games.

"No, it's not a distraction. We're worried about what we're doing here and keeping this winning streak going.

"At the end of the day, that's all we can control, our performance out on the field. All that other stuff, it's got nothing to do with us. We'll worry about the Titans this week."

Young named an unchanged starting lineup for Friday's clash with the Gold Coast, however he did make two forced changes to the bench.

Paul Vaughan is suspended, while Korbin Sims injured his calf late in last week's win over Brisbane.

The Dragons welcome Jackson Ford back from suspension, with Billy Brittain coming into the side in jumper no. 17.

Eddie Blacker, Jayden Sullivan and Max Feagai have been named in the 21, with all three players in line for an NRL debut if they are to force their way into the final side.

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au...griffin-for-st-george-illawarra-coaching-job/

 

[getsmarty]

Griffin link to Dragons appeals to Norman

• 
  
  Corey Norman would be happy if Anthony Griffin got the gig as the new St George Illawarra coach.
  Corey Norman believes his former Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin would be a good fit at St George Illawarra for next year as Paul McGregor's replacement.
  
  Griffin is considered one of the front runners for the Dragons' job, as one of the few proven coaches available on the market for 2021.
  
  He took the Broncos to the finals in three of his four seasons there, as well as in his two full seasons at Penrith before being punted while sitting fifth on the ladder in 2018.
  
  He also has links to two of the Dragons' most important players, with both Norman and Bunt Hunt coming through the Broncos system under him.
  
  When asked on Tuesday if he thought Griffin would be a good fit for the Dragons, Norman responded "I think so.
  
  "It's out of my hands though, I'll leave it for up the top to worry about.
  
  "I had Hook through under-20s and at Brisbane (in first grade). I know what he's like and what type of coach he is.
  
  "He's a good coach. I haven't had him for a while but I got along with him well. He's a good bloke and a good coach."
  
  Craig Fitzgibbon and Jason Ryles would be other likely options, but are likely unavailable.
  
  Fitzgibbon is loath to walk out on the Sydney Roosters assistant job mid-deal, while Ryles is locked into becoming Eddie Jones right-hand man in English rugby.
  
  Current Dragons assistant Shane Flanagan is also banned from taking a top job until 2022, while Wayne Bennett is signed with South Sydney until the end of 2021.
  
  McGregor and players have been clear that they believe interim coach Dean Young can be the man to take the side forward.
  
  The team also aren't writing off finals football under him this year.
  
  The Dragons are now the highest they have been on the ladder all season in 10th, but would still likely need to win at least four of their last five to have any chance.
  
  The Red V have the struggling Gold Coast and North Queensland in the next fortnight before facing Canberra, Newcastle and Melbourne on the run home.
  
  "We're worried about what we're doing here and keeping this winning streak going," Norman said.
  
  "We've got to play like we are going to be there.
  
  "We want to finish strong, so most definitely (we're thinking about finals)."
  
  Australian Associated Press
  
  https://www.theleader.com.au/story/6895091/griffin-link-to-dragons-appeals-to-norman/?cs=13068

 

[getsmarty]

NRL 2020: Corey Norman believes former Brisbane mentor Anthony Griffin could excel at St George Illawarra
Could Anthony Griffin become St George Illawarra’s next coach ? His former Brisbane charge Corey Norman certainly thinks so.

Matt Logue
NCA NewsWire
August 25, 20206:30pm

St George Illawarra five-eighth Corey Norman wants to play under his former Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin at the Dragons.

Griffin is reportedly the favourite to take over at the Dragons in 2o21 following Paul McGregor‘s departure.

That’s music to the ears of Norman, who built a strong rapport with Griffin during his tenure at Brisbane in the under 20s and NRL ranks.

“I know what he is like and what sort of bloke he is,” said Norman, who played 62 NRL games for the Broncos between 2010 and 2013, with Griffin his coach for three seasons from 2011.

“I think that is up to the board and whoever to decide on that job, so we’ll just worry about ourselves down here.

“But he (Griffin) is a good coach. I haven’t had him for a while, but I got along with him well.”

Norman is focused on using the final five weeks of the season to impress the new coach and help St George Illawarra qualify for the finals.

The Dragons are four points outside the top eight with five rounds remaining, but have winnable games against the Gold Coast, North Queensland, Canberra, and Newcastle.

Norman is confident that his Red V can defy the odds and sneak into the finals.

“We have to play like we are going to be there, and we want to finish strong,” he said.

“We’ve put two really good games together and come away with wins.

“When you win it is always better at training, but we’ve got another game against the Titans this weekend and hopefully we can get the job done.”

Euan Aitken is determined to finish his time at St George Illawarra on a high before joining the New Zealand Warriors from next season. Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.Source:Getty Images

Dragons centre Euan Aitken is also determined to make the finals before departing the club at season’s end for the New Zealand Warriors on a three-year deal.

Aitken revealed that the Dragons didn’t even present him with an offer to stay, but he isn’t bitter as he aims to finish his time at the Red V on a high.

“I thought I was playing good enough footy to deserve a new contract or an offer, even if it wasn’t the best offer,” Aitken said.

“But it is what it is, and I’ve had a lot of good experiences here and sometimes good things have to come to an end.

“I’m really excited to head over there to Auckland. It is a new chapter in my life with my partner and I’m looking forward to big things.

“I’ve had a lot of contact with Nathan Brown and he is a smart footy brain and he is hopefully going to improve my game.

“But I’d love to finish my time here at the club with a finals berth.

“I think Tyson Frizell would be the same, so we are doing everything possible to win our games.”


https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/d...a/news-story/43d63c536bd95540175a7fa9251b59a2

 

[Gareth67]

I feel for Seibold , he should had remained at the wabbits and continued with what was a promising coaching career. However the Broncs made the man a big money offer and were attempting to rid themselves of the mercurial Wayne Bennett .

His mistake, imo was to accept their offer in what was a relatively short time as a first grade NRL coach . That and the fact that Brisbane demand immediate success ( as all clubs do , well most ) , placed enormous pressure upon Seilbold to get the results on the board .

However he made the decision and unfortunately it never worked out the way that he had expected . I do wish him the best for the future.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

I feel for Seibold , he should had remained at the wabbits and continued with what was a promising coaching career. However the Broncs made the man a big money offer and were attempting to rid themselves of the mercurial Wayne Bennett .

His mistake, imo was to accept their offer in what was a relatively short time as a first grade NRL coach . That and the fact that Brisbane demand immediate success from him , placed enormous pressure upon Seilbold to get the results on the board .

However he made the decision and unfortunately it never worked out the way that he had expected . I wish him the best for the future.

This is true but when the dust settles he will walk away from both clubs with more money than most will make in a lifetime and I reckon once he spills the beans he will probably get at least an SL job anyway.

 

[possm]

Was bored this evening and was thinking about who will be our new coach for 2021 and beyond.For what it is worth all the talk of Griffin in the news today is fine by me but what i was thinking about is the the style of football we are playing now and the type of game plan a new coach might try to implement going into next year.One thing i believe in is the statistics don't lie.Like clues at a crime scene they paint the true picture of what is going on.I went to the fox sports statistics page and thought i would share some of the interesting stats of our dragons team.
Some of the stats for the dragons in comparison to where we sit on the table and compared to other teams were as follows;

Run Meters
Dragons 22632.
Leaders Eels 25317
Worst Titans 19042

This was interesting to me as i always thought we would be closer to the bottom of this table than the top but we sit in 5th position overall ahead of teams like the storm ,albeit marginally, and also ahead of the likes of the rabbitohs and the raiders.This suggests to me that we either play a style that gets us over the advantage line or our forwards are doing this better than i actually thought they were,but i suppose run meters is only relative to the ground you concede.

Run Meters Conceded
Dragons 23569
Leaders Dogs 24372
Least Panthers 19247

Here is where statistics paint the true picture.You would expect this to pretty much follow your teams position on the ladder and it mostly does with the teams conceding the least amount of meters to be at the top of the points table and vice versa but here we sit 3rd last on the table with only the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles conceding more ground.Considering we have conceded over 4 km more than the league leaders the Panthers and teams like the Titans and Warriors concede less ground than we do you would think that an incoming coach would look at this and drastically try to improve this aspect of our game.

Line Breaks
Dragons 54
Leaders Panthers 92
Least Warriors 44

Another area where you'd think it would follow the position of the team on the ladder and it pretty much does but we find ourselves 4th last with line breaks with only a handful more than the Warriors,Bulldogs and Broncos and well off the pace of the top three unsurprisingly being The Panthers,Roosters and Storm.In my opinion we need to look at our attacking structure, a more expansive game plan and even adding players to our team who are more capable of breaking the line with speed footwork and size.

Line Breaks Conceded
Dragons 58
Most Sharks 95
Least Panthers 44

We punch above our weight here sitting in 5th position for least line breaks.This really does confirm to me what i have thought all along...that are actual defence is not the problem...the problem is our line speed.We concede too much yardage because of the defensive pattern to sit back ,maintain a straight defensive line, and not worry about line speed

Offloads
Dragons 114
Leaders Eels 208
Least Rabbitohs 106

Interesting here with the eels 50 more offloads than the second placed team in the storm.We sit 2nd last on this table and i am sure that that is no surprise to anyone on this forum.Something else that is no surprise is that a Bennett coached team sits last on the table for offloads but what was surprising was the Panthers sit 3rd last with 119.I suppose this just illustrates the type of game plan you are trying to implement with the Panthers obviously able to roll over the advantage line with big fast forwards and quick play the balls

Tackled In the opposition 20
Dragons 375
Leaders Panthers 562
Least Broncos 347

This is such a telling statistic for mine.It generally dictates the outcomes of games.If you knock on the door for long enough you'll eventually get inside.It's a credit to the Roosters attacking ability that they can sit worse than midfield on this table in 10th position and lead the points for table ( unbelievable).
We sit 2nd last with this statistic with only the Broncos worse and even the Titans ahead of us.I believe the fact we concede so much ground is key to this because if your constantly bringing the ball of your own try line it is hard to get into the oppositions 20 when teams are going set for set.

Errors
Dragons 145
Least Panthers 132
Most Titans 193

Probably really shows what type of structure you play with and can be misleading as the teams that made the 2nd and 3rd most errors are the Eels and the Storm.We sit 2nd with only the Panthers making less errors than us.When you look at this statistic other than the Panthers it reads like an upside down table with the teams at the bottom of the table making less errors and the teams at the top making more.I think this is easy to explain as the teams that are constantly having to bring the ball out of trouble tucking it under their arm and trying just to complete sets and the teams getting into attacking position willing to throw it around more to try and score points.We sit 2nd on the table for least errors but this really just shows we are not getting into position to attack enough probably due to the fact that we concede so much ground and are constantly bringing the ball off our own line and not getting into position to play more adventurously.Sitting at the top of the table and with the least amount of errors as the Panthers do really does showcase their dominance.

Missed Tackles
Dragons 311
Least Dragons 311
Most Sharks 473

Well if it continues this way at the end of the seasons we will at least be able to say we won something.Again this demonstrates that our actual defence is good we have missed less tackles than the Roosters and Panthers but the key is improving line speed while maintaining tackle effectiveness.This i am sure will be a top priority for our new coach whoever that may be.

Obviously i believe that our new coach will look at these statistics when considering what areas of our play needs tweaking and improving.I think we need a coach who can implement a more attacking mindset with the ball ,empowering the team to play with more confidence and a mindset of looking to promote the ball more than what we currently do.We need a coach that will work on our line speed in defence,to change our defensive structure from being one that sits back and waits for the opposition to come too them to being one that looks to create pressure on opposing teams with line speed and aggression.I heard on 100% footy last night that the club are looking for a disciplinarian who will instil a defensive mindset and i hope that the club is directly talking about our line speed because i think that is a key area for us to improve.

Having a read of those statistics in full it really does ram home to me how well the Panthers are going but still when you hear people talk about who will win the comp they want to talk about the Roosters and the Storm which is fair enough considering their record and of course either of these teams could win the comp but for me at the moment the panthers,even though they sit atop the ladder,are not getting the recognition from the fans that they deserve,they really are flying. One thing i have learnt in life is follow the money and the bookies have the Panthers as favourites for a reason,the statistics suggest that they are well ahead of everyone else.

Anyway i am looking forward to the club announcing our new coach soon and one thing i can say with some certainty is that whoever it will be, it will be massive improvement on what we have had to put up with the last seven years.

For what it's worth, Griffin for mine...Young or Head assistant, take ya pick....but i still have an open mind...

THE ONLY WAY IS UP....

What a great post, I'd say for me the best post this season. I wonder if Mary or even Dean Young would have looked at these figures.

Maybe you could do the fans, the Club and the interim coach a good service by emailing the contents of this post to Dean Young.

 

[denis preston]

i agree, and hornby assisting aswell , but what about flanno, he stays, or finds another gig

Hornby, why , why , why ? Boys club needs old members to resign up? .We need outside influences not previous cast offs.

 

[denis preston]

Good appointment Griffin and dean young was always going to be the assistant.. I’m happy w this when it gets announced ..

May also clip wings of backroom boys in the coaching setup, Haran ?

 

[Dragon David]

I feel for Seibold , he should had remained at the wabbits and continued with what was a promising coaching career. However the Broncs made the man a big money offer and were attempting to rid themselves of the mercurial Wayne Bennett .

His mistake, imo was to accept their offer in what was a relatively short time as a first grade NRL coach . That and the fact that Brisbane demand immediate success from him , placed enormous pressure upon Seilbold to get the results on the board .

However he made the decision and unfortunately it never worked out the way that he had expected . I wish him the best for the future.

Seibold does come across as a person who knows his business on rugby league. The Broncos are a hard bunch much different to our club. They demand success and when the results are not there, time to move on. Seibold had the Broncs playing semi final football last year in his first year as head coach of the Broncos and they started well this year but crashed after lockdown and new rules. So it only takes virtually 12 weeks of bad results and wham you are out as far as the Broncos are concerned. We on the other hand, well....we all know the story.

 

[jeffdragon]

Who we want and get might be two different coaches.
If Griffin is coach.
Then so be it.

 

[Mjab]

Was bored this evening and was thinking about who will be our new coach for 2021 and beyond.For what it is worth all the talk of Griffin in the news today is fine by me but what i was thinking about is the the style of football we are playing now and the type of game plan a new coach might try to implement going into next year.One thing i believe in is the statistics don't lie.Like clues at a crime scene they paint the true picture of what is going on.I went to the fox sports statistics page and thought i would share some of the interesting stats of our dragons team.
Some of the stats for the dragons in comparison to where we sit on the table and compared to other teams were as follows;

Run Meters
Dragons 22632.
Leaders Eels 25317
Worst Titans 19042

This was interesting to me as i always thought we would be closer to the bottom of this table than the top but we sit in 5th position overall ahead of teams like the storm ,albeit marginally, and also ahead of the likes of the rabbitohs and the raiders.This suggests to me that we either play a style that gets us over the advantage line or our forwards are doing this better than i actually thought they were,but i suppose run meters is only relative to the ground you concede.

Run Meters Conceded
Dragons 23569
Leaders Dogs 24372
Least Panthers 19247

Here is where statistics paint the true picture.You would expect this to pretty much follow your teams position on the ladder and it mostly does with the teams conceding the least amount of meters to be at the top of the points table and vice versa but here we sit 3rd last on the table with only the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles conceding more ground.Considering we have conceded over 4 km more than the league leaders the Panthers and teams like the Titans and Warriors concede less ground than we do you would think that an incoming coach would look at this and drastically try to improve this aspect of our game.

Line Breaks
Dragons 54
Leaders Panthers 92
Least Warriors 44

Another area where you'd think it would follow the position of the team on the ladder and it pretty much does but we find ourselves 4th last with line breaks with only a handful more than the Warriors,Bulldogs and Broncos and well off the pace of the top three unsurprisingly being The Panthers,Roosters and Storm.In my opinion we need to look at our attacking structure, a more expansive game plan and even adding players to our team who are more capable of breaking the line with speed footwork and size.

Line Breaks Conceded
Dragons 58
Most Sharks 95
Least Panthers 44

We punch above our weight here sitting in 5th position for least line breaks.This really does confirm to me what i have thought all along...that are actual defence is not the problem...the problem is our line speed.We concede too much yardage because of the defensive pattern to sit back ,maintain a straight defensive line, and not worry about line speed

Offloads
Dragons 114
Leaders Eels 208
Least Rabbitohs 106

Interesting here with the eels 50 more offloads than the second placed team in the storm.We sit 2nd last on this table and i am sure that that is no surprise to anyone on this forum.Something else that is no surprise is that a Bennett coached team sits last on the table for offloads but what was surprising was the Panthers sit 3rd last with 119.I suppose this just illustrates the type of game plan you are trying to implement with the Panthers obviously able to roll over the advantage line with big fast forwards and quick play the balls

Tackled In the opposition 20
Dragons 375
Leaders Panthers 562
Least Broncos 347

This is such a telling statistic for mine.It generally dictates the outcomes of games.If you knock on the door for long enough you'll eventually get inside.It's a credit to the Roosters attacking ability that they can sit worse than midfield on this table in 10th position and lead the points for table ( unbelievable).
We sit 2nd last with this statistic with only the Broncos worse and even the Titans ahead of us.I believe the fact we concede so much ground is key to this because if your constantly bringing the ball of your own try line it is hard to get into the oppositions 20 when teams are going set for set.

Errors
Dragons 145
Least Panthers 132
Most Titans 193

Probably really shows what type of structure you play with and can be misleading as the teams that made the 2nd and 3rd most errors are the Eels and the Storm.We sit 2nd with only the Panthers making less errors than us.When you look at this statistic other than the Panthers it reads like an upside down table with the teams at the bottom of the table making less errors and the teams at the top making more.I think this is easy to explain as the teams that are constantly having to bring the ball out of trouble tucking it under their arm and trying just to complete sets and the teams getting into attacking position willing to throw it around more to try and score points.We sit 2nd on the table for least errors but this really just shows we are not getting into position to attack enough probably due to the fact that we concede so much ground and are constantly bringing the ball off our own line and not getting into position to play more adventurously.Sitting at the top of the table and with the least amount of errors as the Panthers do really does showcase their dominance.

Missed Tackles
Dragons 311
Least Dragons 311
Most Sharks 473

Well if it continues this way at the end of the seasons we will at least be able to say we won something.Again this demonstrates that our actual defence is good we have missed less tackles than the Roosters and Panthers but the key is improving line speed while maintaining tackle effectiveness.This i am sure will be a top priority for our new coach whoever that may be.

Obviously i believe that our new coach will look at these statistics when considering what areas of our play needs tweaking and improving.I think we need a coach who can implement a more attacking mindset with the ball ,empowering the team to play with more confidence and a mindset of looking to promote the ball more than what we currently do.We need a coach that will work on our line speed in defence,to change our defensive structure from being one that sits back and waits for the opposition to come too them to being one that looks to create pressure on opposing teams with line speed and aggression.I heard on 100% footy last night that the club are looking for a disciplinarian who will instil a defensive mindset and i hope that the club is directly talking about our line speed because i think that is a key area for us to improve.

Having a read of those statistics in full it really does ram home to me how well the Panthers are going but still when you hear people talk about who will win the comp they want to talk about the Roosters and the Storm which is fair enough considering their record and of course either of these teams could win the comp but for me at the moment the panthers,even though they sit atop the ladder,are not getting the recognition from the fans that they deserve,they really are flying. One thing i have learnt in life is follow the money and the bookies have the Panthers as favourites for a reason,the statistics suggest that they are well ahead of everyone else.

Anyway i am looking forward to the club announcing our new coach soon and one thing i can say with some certainty is that whoever it will be, it will be massive improvement on what we have had to put up with the last seven years.

For what it's worth, Griffin for mine...Young or Head assistant, take ya pick....but i still have an open mind...

THE ONLY WAY IS UP....

Great effort , thanks for the stats and summary, very interesting reading

can you forward on to the coaching staff!!

 

[hazzbeen]

Who we want and get might be two different coaches.
If Griffin is coach.
Then so be it.

Has to be better than what we had ......

 

[hazzbeen]

I feel for Seibold , he should had remained at the wabbits and continued with what was a promising coaching career. However the Broncs made the man a big money offer and were attempting to rid themselves of the mercurial Wayne Bennett .

His mistake, imo was to accept their offer in what was a relatively short time as a first grade NRL coach . That and the fact that Brisbane demand immediate success from him , placed enormous pressure upon Seilbold to get the results on the board .

However he made the decision and unfortunately it never worked out the way that he had expected . I wish him the best for the future.

I think he did ok in the end , didnt he walk out with close to a Mill , if he did up the Bronx and good luck to him ..... Id be happy if it was me ....

 

[Gareth67]

I think he did ok in the end , didnt he walk out with close to a Mill , if he did up the Bronx and good luck to him ..... Id be happy if it was me ....

Well yes and no Hazz , financially he has received a big pay day - in fact in this time of the covid-19 era , a huge payday . But he appears to be a shattered man , as they say , your health is far more important than your bank account .

 

[Dragsters]

To steady the ship and bring some disciple in, he's ok by me mate.

While not my first choice, I can see merit in a Griffin/Young ticket, as I could a Bennett/Young ticket.

Griffin does tick the discipline and blooding juniors boxes and with young there to appease the youngsters and learn this could work...

 

[matPORTS]

Craig Young currently on a leave of absence from BOD duties due to Dean sitting in the interim head coaches role (I assume that Craig will ultimately have no say/vote in terms of the current process to assign a head coach for 2021?)

Dean Young (and certain higher profile players in the team) are currently endorsing Anthony Griffin.

In the event that Anthony Griffin gets the job (and I would say the thermostat is pretty warm on this at the moment)... that almost certainly means that Dean Young moves back into an assistant coach role & Shane Flanagan + James Shepherd will move on from their roles on staff.

Craig Young returns to BOD duties.

---

We could do much worse (and have done so previously) than appointing Hook as our head coach for 2021 and beyond. But part of me still believes the better long term play is on Flanagan & Shepherd.

Is this whole scenario a nepotist move?

Does Craig want to vacate his board position until the end of 2021?

Are Flanagan and Shepherd too much of a threat to the 'old boys regime'? Hook coming in still gives Dean a longer term play at the head coaches role, whereas if he stays interim for 2021 (where he'll be under massive pressure to get the results - and is more likely to fail through inexperience), then he is unlikely to be retained on staff for 2022 and beyond (and Dad won't be able to save him at board level).