Dragons recruit 'The Butcher'

[pinkmoon]

I've watched enough league in my time to know that it takes more than a big frame to make an NRL player. He has been playing in Gundagai for a reason. We might get some reasonable things out of him, but it's a stretch to think he will come along and tear the place up. These big scary monsters can usually cause some damage running into the opposition, but it'll be interesting to see how (a) he reads things in defence, and (b) if he gets lazy...

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Well thats just not true...what other club has given an 18 year old a shot at first grade?

We did with lance Thompson, who was actually 17. Plenty of other examples anyway.

Point is, seeing how woeful Ah Mau and Harrison were last season, it wouldn't have hurt to see how a few young kids like AFB get some game time in the nrl. Surely his defence would not have been as bad as Harrison's and Ah Mau's.

 

[BennyV]

We did with lance Thompson, who was actually 17. Plenty of other examples anyway.

Point is, seeing how woeful Ah Mau and Harrison were last season, it wouldn't have hurt to see how a few young kids like AFB get some game time in the nrl. Surely his defence would not have been as bad as Harrison's and Ah Mau's.

Could also go the complete opposite direction and stuffed him up for good (see Matt Groat). He also plays a different position to Ah Mau and Harrison, who were playing in the back row.

Regardless, to claim that he would have played NRL at another club is madness.

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Could also go the complete opposite direction and stuffed him up for good (see Matt Groat). He also plays a different position to Ah Mau and Harrison, who were playing in the back row.

Regardless, to claim that he would have played NRL at another club is madness.

Our forwards were so poor and clearly out muscled last year. All that we did was move Creagh to prop. Any other club would have given some young kids a go, even at least on the bench, especially after we knew we couldn't make the top 8.

The main point is, we have been poor in bringing on juniors the last few years. Hastings played FG last year for the Roosters after Friend was injured. They have a better roster than ours. Doubt he would have played FG with us last season.

 

[The Nick]

I've watched enough league in my time to know that it takes more than a big frame to make an NRL player. He has been playing in Gundagai for a reason. We might get some reasonable things out of him, but it's a stretch to think he will come along and tear the place up. These big scary monsters can usually cause some damage running into the opposition, but it'll be interesting to see how (a) he reads things in defence, and (b) if he gets lazy...

Brenton Lawrence was playing park football in Canberra before he moved to the QLD and got a start in the QLD Cup - which eventually led to him playing NRL with the Titans and at Manly where he has established himself as a fulltime first grade footballer.

Props are generally slower to mature into fulltime first graders (it's very rare for any of them to go straight from the NYC to NRL) and the abolishment of the open age reserve grade competition means a lot of these guys fall through the cracks before they ever get a genuine shot at NRL football.

 

[Mr Red]

Could also go the complete opposite direction and stuffed him up for good (see Matt Groat). He also plays a different position to Ah Mau and Harrison, who were playing in the back row.

Regardless, to claim that he would have played NRL at another club is madness.

Groat suffered a serious head knock which i think has caused his confidence to be shot rather than anything to do with his age.
he was going really well in first grade at the tigers before the serious concussion ....

 

[giboz71]

It won't be till they get out onto the park that we'll know if any of our forward recruits are any good. Cooper was a nice surprise last year, but our forwards were still hopelessly outmuscled in most games.

There have been a few examples of no name forwards coming good. Lawrence is one, Moa is another. Gavet and Taupau did good things for the tigers as well. We've been poor in this respect for a number of years, no diamonds in the rough to be found, hence I have questioned our ability to identify talent.

Hopefully this changes now Mulholland is on board

 

[BennyV]

Groat suffered a serious head knock which i think has caused his confidence to be shot rather than anything to do with his age.
he was going really well in first grade at the tigers before the serious concussion ....

Disagree about going well in first grade prior to being wiped out by Teo. IMO he was brought in far too early (definitely a trait of Tigpies for the last 10 or so years)

Anywho, I think we would have been solly to bring AFB through last year, and the club did the right thing putting him through Cutters first.

 

[bottle]

We were still hypothetically in the hunt for the 8 up until the last few rounds.

 

[Rob Dragon]

Given the terrible state of the roster inherited by McGregor and Mulholland I think they have done well to realign the squad to cover deficiencies. Clearly the main issue last year was the roll on opposition forward packs got on us. How many times did we see the Bunnies, Roosters, Bulldogs roll 65 metres against us? You just cannot play off the back foot for that long. Something breaks.

We all know that we needed some size in the middle of the park to gain parity. The thing is, we only really need one of these big boppers to stand up and we should be OK.

I think the idea will be to start with either O'Brien or the Butcher and then to have Georgie Boy play 15 minute cameos to ensure we still roll forward.

If I was the sole selector my starting pack would be as follows:

13. Ben Creagh - he is not a prop but he still wacks well in defence and I want him running 2 off the ruck
12. Joel Thompson - think we will really come on this year
11. Jack De Bellin - refer to Ben Creagh above. Hots very hard in defence and we need to hit hard early to set our stall out
10. Trent Merrin - start earning all that money you think you are worth Trent (2 carries out of every set of 6 should do it and that will ensure he is shot duck when he gets to Brisbane next year).
9. Heath Le Strange - I like the idea of a calm older hooker ( and I don't like the idea of Mitch Rein).
8. Rory O'Brien

Bench forwards:

14. Tyson Frizzle (a must but not as defensively sound as the starting 13 or 11)
15. George Rose
16. Mike Cooper
17. Shannon Wakeman ( I think he night surprise)

 

[grouch]

Given the terrible state of the roster inherited by McGregor and Mulholland I think they have done well to realign the squad to cover deficiencies
13. Ben Creagh - he is not a prop but he still wacks well in defence and I want him running 2 off the ruck
12. Joel Thompson - think we will really come on this year
11. Jack De Bellin - refer to Ben Creagh above. Hots very hard in defence and we need to hit hard early to set our stall out
10. Trent Merrin - start earning all that money you think you are worth Trent (2 carries out of every set of 6 should do it and that will ensure he is shot duck when he gets to Brisbane next year).
9. Heath Le Strange - I like the idea of a calm older hooker ( and I don't like the idea of Mitch Rein).
8. Rory O'Brien

Bench forwards:

14. Tyson Frizzle (a must but not as defensively sound as the starting 13 or 11)
15. George Rose
16. Mike Cooper
17. Shannon Wakeman ( I think he night surprise)

Hmmm.
So we've "covered deficiencies" by promoting a prop from our own reserve grade team last year into the starting side, another one from that reserve grade side onto our bench, plus George Rose? Wow.

 

[jenninga]

Given the terrible state of the roster inherited by McGregor and Mulholland I think they have done well to realign the squad to cover deficiencies. Clearly the main issue last year was the roll on opposition forward packs got on us. How many times did we see the Bunnies, Roosters, Bulldogs roll 65 metres against us? You just cannot play off the back foot for that long. Something breaks.

We all know that we needed some size in the middle of the park to gain parity. The thing is, we only really need one of these big boppers to stand up and we should be OK.

I think the idea will be to start with either O'Brien or the Butcher and then to have Georgie Boy play 15 minute cameos to ensure we still roll forward.

If I was the sole selector my starting pack would be as follows:

13. Ben Creagh - he is not a prop but he still wacks well in defence and I want him running 2 off the ruck
12. Joel Thompson - think we will really come on this year
11. Jack De Bellin - refer to Ben Creagh above. Hots very hard in defence and we need to hit hard early to set our stall out
10. Trent Merrin - start earning all that money you think you are worth Trent (2 carries out of every set of 6 should do it and that will ensure he is shot duck when he gets to Brisbane next year).
9. Heath Le Strange - I like the idea of a calm older hooker ( and I don't like the idea of Mitch Rein).
8. Rory O'Brien

Bench forwards:

14. Tyson Frizzle (a must but not as defensively sound as the starting 13 or 11)
15. George Rose
16. Mike Cooper
17. Shannon Wakeman ( I think he night surprise)

Thankfully you're not sole selector.
LeStrange is woefull,O'Brien and Wakeman are drifters and the rest apart from Rose are the same pack torn apart as you say last season.
Rose coming off the bench will at least give us a chuckle in what may be a miserable year.

 

[Twenty10]

I think the pack can be significantly better than last year of Mary picks new blokes. I would love to see O'Brien, Wakerman and butcher get a shot. We have to select at least 1 of them.

Creagh
Rein
O'Brien / Butcher
Thompson
Frizzel
Merrin

Plenty of Bench options: De belin, Cooper, O'Brien/butcher, Wakerman, Ah Mau, Rose, Matthews

More competition this year and Id be happier with this. Out goes Hunt, Harrison, Stanley