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Dragons & tigers Fans treated like fools

denis preston

First Grade
Messages
8,157
Websters article below from todays SMH. He is spot on with some of it but what the f--k can be done when the Boards cant be voted out !!! Dont agree re Simms but the negative nellies on here will relish this and the positive Petes will think "well when you put it like that ! The real damage for me was done decades ago when the Leagues club passed through new charters and whilst the original setup was to be the money spinner for the football club , is now independent and can do what they want but still has a say & control on football matters ! As for WIN , f**k what do you say. We can whinge all we like but how do we change this ??





Is there a greater cop-out in rugby league than a club announcing it will launch an “exhausting review”? It’s the fluffy, corporate gibber-jabber management spits out when it’s run out of answers.
The Wests Tigers are about to conduct a review that will arrive at a result we already know: Michael Maguire ushered out the door and another poor soul given the NRL’s toughest job before he, too, is inevitably thrown on the scrapheap. Next!
The Dragons asked Phil Gould to conduct a review at the end of a miserable 2019, told him coach Paul McGregor couldn’t be sacked, then sacked McGregor after a miserable 2020, then brought in Anthony Griffin, who has presided over a miserable 2021.
It hasn’t just been a special year for the NRL’s joint ventures — it’s been a special decade: the Tigers haven’t played finals football since 2011, the Dragons have reached the playoffs twice.

The comparisons are compelling: two clubs featuring one partner that holds all the money (WIN Corp in the case of the Dragons, Wests Ashfield in the case of the Tigers); two dysfunctional boards with deep distrust between factions that don’t see themselves as a united entity; two rosters loaded with players whose hands should be shaking when collecting their pay packets; two football departments incapable of finding a solution, digging a deeper hole with every move they make.
Let’s start with the Dragons. Nudging back-rower Tariq Sims out the door is yet another baffling decision from a club making it up as it goes.
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe is leading a review into coach Michael Maguire.

Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe is leading a review into coach Michael Maguire.CREDIT:FAIRFAX
Sims has been told he can talk to other clubs. The messaging has been murky: is it because of salary cap problems or because, at 31, he’s too old? He’s been told both.
Griffin played down the significance of the move after the loss to Souths on Saturday night, claiming there had been nothing more than a “conversation”.

The reality is he’s been told he’s not wanted; another local junior treated like garbage by the club where he wants to retire. Sends a great message to the young stars coming through.
The bottom line is Sims wanted two more years on his deal, which expires at the end of next year, for less money than he’s on now.
Sure, he’s been inconsistent at times but name a player in that Dragons’ team who hasn’t. He played the house down for Brad Fittler’s NSW side in this year’s Origin series victory.
He also brings something you won’t find on the stats sheet. Like Sharks-bound former captain Cameron McInnes, Sims is a good player but a better club man. Now he’s been moved along to make room for … whom?
The Roosters are already eyeing him off as a great buy for the remainder of his career. Shouldn’t he be a great buy for the remainder of his career at the Dragons?

The developing Sims situation is another example of a club unsure of what it wants to be and the people it wants playing for them.
From the decision to move on McInnes, to entertaining the signing of Israel Folau, to the shabby treatment of Matt Dufty, to considering Jack de Belin as captain recently ahead of Sims, to carrying perennially suspended players like Josh McGuire on their books, to signing broken down players like George Burgess, to the coach wanting to re-sign Corey Norman before being overruled then belligerently sticking with him until the very last minute of his final match when he dropped the ball, it’s fair to say the Dragons haven’t really kicked on since sacking McGregor.
Tariq Sims was a State of Origin standout and is a great club man - yet the Dragons have pushed him out the door.

Tariq Sims was a State of Origin standout and is a great club man - yet the Dragons have pushed him out the door.CREDIT:GETTY
Doubtless, the Paul Vaughan barbecue will be used as an excuse for a season gone wrong, just as the de Belin situation was for the past three years. Another cop-out.
It’s says something about the strength of the club when 13 players ignored the instructions of the coach and head of football and did it anyway, breaching the law and the NRL’s biosecurity rules.

It says something about the strength of the club that captain Ben Hunt knew about it and said nothing. The argument is he shouldn’t be a snitch. The last time I looked this was a professional football team, not Year 7.
The blame, though, isn’t with Griffin. It’s the people who appointed him: a board divided by the blazer wearers from the St George side of the merger and the miserly appointees from WIN, who have allowed mediocrity to become the standard at a once-proud club.
Meanwhile, over at the Tigers, a searching week-long review is already underway. What will it uncover?! What a pity the Fox Sports cameras can’t be in the rooms for this juicy sequel to Tales From Tiger Town.
The review is being conducted by head of football Adam Hartigan and chief executive Justin Pascoe.
Hartigan came to the Tigers from the Roosters. He’s hardly set the world afire. Maguire has been blamed for the club’s inability to sign big-name players. Any players for that matter.

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At what point does Hartigan wear some blame? Maybe it will come up in the review — that he’s running.
Pascoe has been dodging the blame for the Tigers’ on-field performance for months, which is interesting when he’s been chief executive for six years and was front and centre on game-day in the Fox Sports docu-series.
Maguire barely came out of the doco with his coaching reputation intact. He’s a coach who cares, but how many of them don’t? It was a worrying sign in the first episode when he became emotional in front of his group after a loss … in the second match of the season.
But the coach can’t wear the blame forever at the Tigers.

The line from both the board and management was consistent as the season went down the toilet: we’ve given the football department everything they need, they still haven’t performed, it’s on them, it’s not us, we’re the front office etc.
Now that’s a cop-out because, the last time anyone looked, the buck stops with the person at the top in any organisation.
Perhaps it’s time for the people who run the Tigers and Dragons to review themselves.
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Illusion

Bench
Messages
2,729
Doust and Co didn't give a rats after the 2010 Grand final win ..... All it did was buy them the next 10 years without a plan to keep going into the future ...... Bennett goes leaves the place in shambles , Gone from a winning coach to 2x Rookie coaches , then Doust bails , Win buys in , then you have the Illawarra side running the show for a year then the St George side calling the shots the next year ..... Then after going enter the Doust again back on the board ...... Untill there are no more deals being made by the bigwigs nothing will change unless they buy a winning team .....
 

JohnnoMcJohnno

Juniors
Messages
2,359
You can't just say that the JV structure is the problem. There are plenty of single entity clubs that are a joke as well. Knights won three wooden spoons in a row, Titans and Warriors have never done much good, Parramatta hasn't won a Grand Final since 1986, etc etc. The issue isn't the joint venture, it's a dysfunctional board. Whatever their focus is on, it's not performance on the field.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,375
You can't just say that the JV structure is the problem. There are plenty of single entity clubs that are a joke as well. Knights won three wooden spoons in a row, Titans and Warriors have never done much good, Parramatta hasn't won a Grand Final since 1986, etc etc. The issue isn't the joint venture, it's a dysfunctional board. Whatever their focus is on, it's not performance on the field.
Our board members have been criticised a thousand plus times in this forum as we know that they are the biggest problem because they are the ones making the big decisions which to our mind have been wrong in a lot of respects. Primarily this is where our problems stem from.

When we had Bennett everything seemed like our club was on the up and that possibly for years to come we would have a chance of winning several grand finals but we all know what happened. Poor long term vision and poor decisions have let us down.

The rebuild(s) is/are taking too long and our management, coaches and players need to apply themselves much better to improve the results.

Better recruitment, retention and development of players is essential - there have been too many band aids applied to fix the club's woes.
 

Illusion

Bench
Messages
2,729
You can't just say that the JV structure is the problem. There are plenty of single entity clubs that are a joke as well. Knights won three wooden spoons in a row, Titans and Warriors have never done much good, Parramatta hasn't won a Grand Final since 1986, etc etc. The issue isn't the joint venture, it's a dysfunctional board. Whatever their focus is on, it's not performance on the field.
Mate the board have been the problem for decades ...... Is Webb going to do things right or is it the board telling him what to do ?
 
Messages
281
Our board members have been criticised a thousand plus times in this forum as we know that they are the biggest problem because they are the ones making the big decisions which to our mind have been wrong in a lot of respects. Primarily this is where our problems stem from.

When we had Bennett everything seemed like our club was on the up and that possibly for years to come we would have a chance of winning several grand finals but we all know what happened. Poor long term vision and poor decisions have let us down.

The rebuild(s) is/are taking too long and our management, coaches and players need to apply themselves much better to improve the results.

Better recruitment, retention and development of players is essential - there have been too many band aids applied to fix the club's woes.
When the current roster is looked at some of the forwards just aren't that athletic. In my opinion Blake Lawrie is an example. When other better performing sides step on the field their forwards look powerful and menacing. The same cannot be said for the Dragons outfit. No backline can play well behind forwards that don't perform. By the same token it appears that some of the backs would not perform behind a better forward pack. Sure there is someone like Sloan who is very promising but he has still a long way to go. Too much of the recruitment is of has been or injury prone crocks.
 

merahputih

Juniors
Messages
922
Another point buried in Webster's article also worries me. Yes, "BBQGATE" was hardly the crime of the century in itself, but what concerns me is club captain, Ben Hunt (who didn't attend) was reportedly aware of the planned party and elected to stay quiet about it, even though there were serious implications to do with Covid-19 restrictions and public safety, and Hook and football club management had reportedly vetoed it. At the very least it shows a lack of leadership qualities on his part and a lack of respect for the coach's authority as far as the the playing group as a whole. The old saying: "The standards you turn a blind eye to are the standards you accept" comes to mind. As Webster pointed out this is supposed to be a highly paid, professional sporting team not a bunch of school kids scared of ratting on their mates.
 

blacksafake

First Grade
Messages
8,988
I'm getting pi55ed off with all the Sims is a local boy who wants to or should be extended & finish his career here. He's only been here since 2016 after playing for the cowboys & knights.
If it was people like Nighty, Hornby, Creagh, Coops,Young etc I would understand.
Jesus the press love to bash us.
Imagine if we do happen to snare someone like Kikau to replace him the press would probably say we've paid far too much, he's not worth it blah,blah,blah.
 

St_Bondi

Juniors
Messages
124
I'm getting pi55ed off with all the Sims is a local boy who wants to or should be extended & finish his career here. He's only been here since 2016 after playing for the cowboys & knights.
If it was people like Nighty, Hornby, Creagh, Coops,Young etc I would understand.
Jesus the press love to bash us.
Imagine if we do happen to snare someone like Kikau to replace him the press would probably say we've paid far too much, he's not worth it blah,blah,blah.
100% mate. Just the commentary (Fox) alone this last year when we’re playing has done my head in as has the on field decisions against us. Tariq has been hit and miss most of his career with us but geez it must be difficult being part of the pack he finds himself in. Of course he plays outstanding in Origins because look who he has around him in the forwards as well as the likes of Turbo and Tedesco in the backline. I’ll be disappointed if he goes and have absolutely no faith in Hook‘s ability as coach especially considering he was trying to convince the club to resign Norman.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,375
Interesting perspective from Webster and hard to argue what he has written. If Tariq goes to the dirty chooks he’ll be part of a grand final winning team before he retires, something he was never able or going to achieve at this rabble of a club we all unfortunately support, or at least follow 🙄.
I think Sims would go really well at either the Roosters and the Storm with their systems so in the scheme of things, Sims could do alright for himself.
 

Coffs dragon

Bench
Messages
4,247
I'm getting pi55ed off with all the Sims is a local boy who wants to or should be extended & finish his career here. He's only been here since 2016 after playing for the cowboys & knights.
If it was people like Nighty, Hornby, Creagh, Coops,Young etc I would understand.
Jesus the press love to bash us.
Imagine if we do happen to snare someone like Kikau to replace him the press would probably say we've paid far too much, he's not worth it blah,blah,blah.
I fully agree Blacksafake and I don’t buy this shit from Tariq that I am passionate to the RedV & my whole family love this club.

1. Ashton played for Dragons / Broncos / Cowboys / Warrington / Toronto Wolfpack
2. Korbin played for Knights / Broncos / Dragons / Hull KR
3. Sister Ruan played & captained the Roosters
4. Tariq has played for Broncos / Cowboys / Knights & finally Dragons
Sure they are very talented sporting family & seem wonderful role models…..but I think their loyalties may lie in chasing the professional sporting dollar that is best for them.
As they say Rugby League is a business and I feel the Sims have followed with their heads, not necessarily their hearts.
 

mickeylane

Bench
Messages
4,894
Another point buried in Webster's article also worries me. Yes, "BBQGATE" was hardly the crime of the century in itself, but what concerns me is club captain, Ben Hunt (who didn't attend) was reportedly aware of the planned party and elected to stay quiet about it, even though there were serious implications to do with Covid-19 restrictions and public safety, and Hook and football club management had reportedly vetoed it. At the very least it shows a lack of leadership qualities on his part and a lack of respect for the coach's authority as far as the the playing group as a whole. The old saying: "The standards you turn a blind eye to are the standards you accept" comes to mind. As Webster pointed out this is supposed to be a highly paid, professional sporting team not a bunch of school kids scared of ratting on their mates.
I actually concur w this article...we are f**ked unit but I blame the Gordons 10000% they are cancer to this team/club/joint venture/bastard team or whatever we are ...they have no ambition...its a toy for them to keep local boys happy and employed...
 
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