Dragons re-sign Mikaele Ravalawa

[dragon thomo]

Cant believe we just signed this bloke for 3 years. Could not catch a cold. Again shows what a mess we are in.
Josh Kerr needs to be signed and then start looking for a back rower, front rower x2 and a top left centre.
Most of alll a new COACH

 

[SAP58]

I am not that upset by the signing provided the cost is not over the top, what does my head in is the coach using him in first grade to learn & get experience like positioning in defence & catching the ball. That should be done in CC or the like. He runs hard & has some ticker so at minimal cost is worth a go but perhaps a two year deal would have been more appropriate.

 

[Coffs dragon]

All jokes aside, good on the young bloke for securing a 3 year contract and a pay rise. He’s obviously worked hard and has desire to be a Dragon.
Sure he has been absolutely burdened with a useless shit coach, but he has that raw potential & power. I’m sure under a coach like Bellamy, Robinson, Hasler or Bennett he would be a far far better player & threat.
Hopefully that type of coaching comes next!

 

[Dragonsamy]

Interesting re-signing and can understand the rational around it.
From the video it appears Rava and Saab will be our wingers moving forward.

From the info I can gather on our 'stocks' for the back 5 are:

Fullbacks -
Dufty : 24 yrs old
Ramsey : 20 years old
Lomax : 20 nearly 21 years old
Schiller : 19?
I think theres another - Sloane but not sure:

Right Wing -
Ravalawa : 22
Saab : 19 > 20
Sailor : 22
Feagai (×2) : 19

Left Wing -
Periera : 27 > 28
Saab or Ravalawa ????

Right Centre -
Aitken : 25
Lafai : 29
Lomax : 20 > 21
Feagai (x2)

Left Centre -
Williame : 27 > 28
Sauni-Essau : 21
Aitken and Lafai

Mmm didnt realise Lomax was younger than Sailor.
The big question is where do play Ramsey? Considering also he's an unknown at first grade level.

Now im not inferring that Rava or Saab are walk up starters, but it sure sounded like it. Add to this is that Dufty is contracted to end 2021. I have a feeling Dufty will see out his contract (form permitting).

The way i see it, our back 5 for 2021, first grade, will look something like:
1. Dufty
2. Rava or Saab
3. Williame
4. Lomax
5. Saab or Rava

Canterbury Cup
1. Ramsey
2. Periera
3. SSE
4. Feagai
5. Feagai

I like what you have come up with.
Imo due to Ramsey being out for most of this season and the need to get him into the team sometime next year .
He may start on the wing where his great pace and leaping ability can be used.

 

[Dragonsamy]

I am not that upset by the signing provided the cost is not over the top, what does my head in is the coach using him in first grade to learn & get experience like positioning in defence & catching the ball. That should be done in CC or the like. He runs hard & has some ticker so at minimal cost is worth a go but perhaps a two year deal would have been more appropriate.

Report at 150k a year so seems good value to me

 

[BLM01]

Report at 150k a year so seems good value to me

Yeh but not the highest item on the agenda for our club
The Dragons just seem to do everything backwards
How about hosing out the flames firstly before trying to rebuild

 

[BLM01]

All jokes aside, good on the young bloke for securing a 3 year contract and a pay rise. He’s obviously worked hard and has desire to be a Dragon.
Sure he has been absolutely burdened with a useless shit coach, but he has that raw potential & power. I’m sure under a coach like Bellamy, Robinson, Hasler or Bennett he would be a far far better player & threat.
Hopefully that type of coaching comes next!

Yes it is called player basic skills training and practise..something in the past 5-6 years we dont do

 

[possm]

I’m thinking they are just shoring up their backup wingers to make some big name plays. I actually would rather use what we have in say 1.Dufty 2.Ramsey. 3Wiliame.4.Lomax 5.Saab and spend the money saved on the Fox to get a new coach.

The money / salary cap saved on players can't be used to get a good coach. I'm of the opinion that the Dragons already have an agreement with a new head coach and are just now sorting out the finer details e.g. decisions on his coaching staff and structure of the football department.

 

[possm]

I am not that upset by the signing provided the cost is not over the top, what does my head in is the coach using him in first grade to learn & get experience like positioning in defence & catching the ball. That should be done in CC or the like. He runs hard & has some ticker so at minimal cost is worth a go but perhaps a two year deal would have been more appropriate.

I wouldn't have minded if we signed a top grade winger for a year or two but this signing makes no sense. We have an untried Saab waiting for his stint in first grade and a turnstile Aitken on his way out. Maybe the lever thing to do is to select Ravalawa at 4 and bring Saab in at 5. We still have some budding young outside backs such as Ransey, Saab, the Feagai brothers and Shiller. Ravalawa will represent a block to these aspiring players over the next 3 years.

Don't tell me it was Mary, an out-gooing coach, who insisted on this extension. Surely this was another Millward decision.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

The money / salary cap saved on players can't be used to get a good coach. I'm of the opinion that the Dragons already have an agreement with a new head coach and are just now sorting out the finer details e.g. decisions on his coaching staff and structure of the football department.

Go in under the cap to payout Mary

 

[Gareth67]

I wouldn't have minded if we signed a top grade winger for a year or two but this signing makes no sense. We have an untried Saab waiting for his stint in first grade and a turnstile Aitken on his way out. Maybe the lever thing to do is to select Ravalawa at 4 and bring Saab in at 5. We still have some budding young outside backs such as Ransey, Saab, the Feagai brothers and Shiller. Ravalawa will represent a block to these aspiring players over the next 3 years.

Don't tell me it was Mary, an out-gooing coach, who insisted on this extension. Surely this was another Millward decision.

Definitely yet another Millward decision possum - it’s got his fingerprints all over it - the contract that is .

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

All jokes aside, good on the young bloke for securing a 3 year contract and a pay rise. He’s obviously worked hard and has desire to be a Dragon.
Sure he has been absolutely burdened with a useless shit coach, but he has that raw potential & power. I’m sure under a coach like Bellamy, Robinson, Hasler or Bennett he would be a far far better player & threat.
Hopefully that type of coaching comes next!

Yeah I agree, he seems a good dude and who knows if he fixes up his high ball errors could be quite lethal. At the very least he’s an excellent backup. Still disappointing Saab hasn’t had a run. They bring different strengths and weaknesses but Saab has more upside.

 

[Dragonsamy]

Yeh but not the highest item on the agenda for our club
The Dragons just seem to do everything backwards
How about hosing out the flames firstly before trying to rebuild

I'm not sure weather this is correct but I was told that Rav signed the beginning of last week not this week everything was going on and they kept the announcement back. You could be right they may be doing these little announcement to divert attention away from the real problems

 

[Dragonsamy]

Definitely yet another Millward decision possum - it’s got his fingerprints all over it - the contract that is .

Gareth are you joining the conspiracy theories as well are you lol

 

[possm]

Go in under the cap to payout Mary

I believe there is a cap for players which at the moment is fully paid for by the NRL. Extra payments for players come from TPA and participation in the NRL marketing campaigns which the top players from leading clubs seem to have exclusive participation. Long service payment is also paid by the NRL but managed by clubs.

There is a separate cap for coaching staff which is wholly paid for by the Club. The club also pays for training facilities, trips away and other expenditure approved by the NRL.

 

[Gareth67]

Gareth are you joining the conspiracy theories as well are you lol

I keep an open mind Sammy , I prefer to let the dust settle before I look at the lay of the land.

 

[possm]

Gareth are you joining the conspiracy theories as well are you lol

Dragonsammy, I am surprised that you, being so close to the action, are not more aware of what is really going on. Forget about blind loyalty and look more towards what is in SGI's best interest. I have no agenda however, I will continue to point out instances that display the bad decisions made by those in their job at the Club, who are in their position purely through plain nepotism. Doust formed the old boys club to sure up a management support base while he was under pressure. He dragged out a deal with WIN Corp / Gordons that protected the interests of his old boy supports. these men would be unlikely to gaint a similar position at any other NRL club.

 

[Dragonsamy]

lol

 

[thebigredv]

Can't agree this is a good signing. We don't need depth signings. Ravalawa has some wonderful attributes but as displayed again on the weekend he is a huge liability and it's unlikely he will ever get over his dropsies. Put simply, you wouldn't pick him in a finals match because he won't cope.

It looks like we are going to lose Kerr who will explode under a great coach.

Unfortunately we can't attract or retain winner type players and the board and recruitment are fully responsible for this ongoing nightmare.

 

[possm]

Can't agree this is a good signing. We don't need depth signings. Ravalawa has some wonderful attributes but as displayed again on the weekend he is a huge liability and it's unlikely he will ever get over his dropsies. Put simply, you wouldn't pick him in a finals match because he won't cope.

It looks like we are going to lose Kerr who will explode under a great coach.

Unfortunately we can't attract or retain winner type players and the board and recruitment are fully responsible for this ongoing nightmare.

You're right! As a rule our depth signings should generally come from our pathways program and Millward should firstly be filling positions in our top 17 either by retention or recruitment.

A Saab contract upgrade should have been a higher priority than a Ravalawa signing. The wing positions are great when introducing young outside backs to first grade. So I say, Saab and Ramsey should be our wingers now and if Ramsey plays well there, he should gain consideration for a stint at fullback in time. In addition to Saab and Ramsey, we also have the Feagai brothers and young Shiller coming through. So why block up the right wing for 3 years with an unreliable player?