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Dragons v Titans Round 2, 2023

brissiedragon

Juniors
Messages
419
So today’s the day we discover if Griffin has learnt from 2 seasons of woeful team selections and is going to pick a team that backs the youth coming through or if he sticks with the useless plodders he seems to prefer. If I see Mbye in a starting jersey or Bird at 6 I will scream.
Add Woods to that sentiment. If he is anywhere near the 17 then that will do me.
 

jodragon40

Juniors
Messages
425
Id like to add one more element to your 2 OT and thats the most important one its called "HEART".....we havnt had one since 2010.....yes we still name 17 players every week but long gone are the Smiths, Saffys, Youngs, Creaghs,Costigans Coopers, Gasniers Nightingales etc etc....these blokes played with big tickers for 80 mins week in week out....unfortunately today most of our blokes are lucky to be totally committed for 8 mins....sad fact but thats why we are where we are today end of story
As an old 90s coach albeit not NRL level let me add my view for what it's worth. Back in the 90s the club dynamics were different at my level. You had to deal with the club president and then commitee members. You had an assistant coach but he was used more like a gopher. So Griffin is an old school coach. Now being a coach is a very tough gig. In my day no coach had the comfort of having the best 13 players in the comp. So your job was to identify your strengths and weaknesses and somehow mould those players into a team. Nowadays the spine is equivalent to a building's foundation. The stronger that is the better off you are. You always had your standout player, your tough player and your players that would do their best every week. A coach needs to have that ability to bring a group of strangers together and make them at least on the field best mates. If you have that culture, discipline and mateship then you can build on that. You should know when that team or the individuals in that team have put in or thrown in the towel in a game. Individual brilliance will take you places but what you need to instill into your team is that this is a team game not an individual game. That builds character, heart and competiveness and that's all you can ask. We haven't had that type of team at the Dragons in the last 10 yrs and we haven't got that this year. This team is divided and our results on field will indicate if they are playing for each other and the coach.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
9,292
If we can play like we did last August against the Titans, we have a good chance of winning. We had Ramsey though. Molo was sent off in the 63rd minute so we played with 12 men for the last 17 minutes and won. Defence by both sides wasn't much chop though.
I give us a chance, but a slight one and if David Fifita has his way, watch out.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
9,292
As an old 90s coach albeit not NRL level let me add my view for what it's worth. Back in the 90s the club dynamics were different at my level. You had to deal with the club president and then commitee members. You had an assistant coach but he was used more like a gopher. So Griffin is an old school coach. Now being a coach is a very tough gig. In my day no coach had the comfort of having the best 13 players in the comp. So your job was to identify your strengths and weaknesses and somehow mould those players into a team. Nowadays the spine is equivalent to a building's foundation. The stronger that is the better off you are. You always had your standout player, your tough player and your players that would do their best every week. A coach needs to have that ability to bring a group of strangers together and make them at least on the field best mates. If you have that culture, discipline and mateship then you can build on that. You should know when that team or the individuals in that team have put in or thrown in the towel in a game. Individual brilliance will take you places but what you need to instill into your team is that this is a team game not an individual game. That builds character, heart and competiveness and that's all you can ask. We haven't had that type of team at the Dragons in the last 10 yrs and we haven't got that this year. This team is divided and our results on field will indicate if they are playing for each other and the coach.
Nicely put Jo.
 

Adolf_Spritzer

Juniors
Messages
637
If we can play like we did last August against the Titans, we have a good chance of winning. We had Ramsey though. Molo was sent off in the 63rd minute so we played with 12 men for the last 17 minutes and won. Defence by both sides wasn't much chop though.
I give us a chance, but a slight one and if David Fifita has his way, watch out.
We're certainly a team that he'd have a blinder against, but it'll be interesting to see how he plays this week having just re-signed.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
6,323
Yes BSE long gone are the days of props like Billy Wilson playing right wing because he just broke his left arm or blokes like Walsh & Smith having metal plates taken out of their broken arms 2 weeks early to get ready for an important game.

People trying to tell me how “professional” the new breed are have obviously never seen a game from yesteryear when “pride” and “belief” and “loyalty” and “toughness” reined supreme and their skill levels were just as s unbelievable as they are today.

Ken Irvine’s record still stands today for a very good reason and if he had of been allowed to brush the corner post like wingers today who knows how many more he would have scored.
Never truer words spoken mate....and further the only difference in professionalism these days is the amount of money that goes into their bank accounts everyweek.....you mentioned blokes like Bluey Wilson and the like... yes they were bloody tough men...and I will throw in my wifes cousin Terry Randall gave no quarter and asked for none....most blokes busted their butts for 80 mins and got up for work on Monday mornings as garbos, brickies labourers or cellermen....not like some blokes today that think they have put in all week for their clubs and have to have recovery sessions with bubble baths and someone powdering their arses.....sorry see you've got me started now lol
 

jodragon40

Juniors
Messages
425
Never truer words spoken mate....and further the only difference in professionalism these days is the amount of money that goes into their bank accounts everyweek.....you mentioned blokes like Bluey Wilson and the like... yes they were bloody tough men...and I will throw in my wifes cousin Terry Randall gave no quarter and asked for none....most blokes busted their butts for 80 mins and got up for work on Monday mornings as garbos, brickies labourers or cellermen....not like some blokes today that think they have put in all week for their clubs and have to have recovery sessions with bubble baths and someone powdering their arses.....sorry see you've got me started now lol
Ahh the good old days
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
17,911
Never truer words spoken mate....and further the only difference in professionalism these days is the amount of money that goes into their bank accounts everyweek.....you mentioned blokes like Bluey Wilson and the like... yes they were bloody tough men...and I will throw in my wifes cousin Terry Randall gave no quarter and asked for none....most blokes busted their butts for 80 mins and got up for work on Monday mornings as garbos, brickies labourers or cellermen....not like some blokes today that think they have put in all week for their clubs and have to have recovery sessions with bubble baths and someone powdering their arses.....sorry see you've got me started now lol
BSE I always love your passion and understanding of the game and its long and colourful history.

For some reason some posters discard the way of things form our era as if it were some amateurish side show or something.

Yes, they had jobs but that in no way diminished their skills, effort, passion and willingness to run through a brick wall for your coach (often the captain) and your team mates.

Looking at some of the posts about Bennett etc anyone would think things like physical fitness, toughness, tackling, catching, kicking, side stepping, swerving, palming off tacklers, dummy half service, pure speed in your backline, inter personal skills, pathways for juniors and nurturing thereof, playing for your coach and team, manning up in adversity etc etc etc never existed before Bennett, Bellamy, Robbo & Co.

All the guffawing about John's, Burton, Cleary etc with their kicking games as if it is some new phenomena obviously never saw the world's greatest no try, Langlands & Smith at club and international level, Churchill, Simms and how could you deny Bishop Millward Hardisty who were English wizards that dazzled Australia and let's not forget Lewis Jones who kicked a 60m penalty goal and field goal in the mid 60's when he was probably 40 if the truth be known and of course the list goes on.

Coach's today no doubt work hard to appease all the stake holders but have an arm chair ride with all the assistance in all the various areas whereas Sticks & Co got to work with the St John's ambulance man, a massage / rub down man at the leagues club and a little later on a conditioner like Kenny Boothroyd.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
6,323
As an old 90s coach albeit not NRL level let me add my view for what it's worth. Back in the 90s the club dynamics were different at my level. You had to deal with the club president and then commitee members. You had an assistant coach but he was used more like a gopher. So Griffin is an old school coach. Now being a coach is a very tough gig. In my day no coach had the comfort of having the best 13 players in the comp. So your job was to identify your strengths and weaknesses and somehow mould those players into a team. Nowadays the spine is equivalent to a building's foundation. The stronger that is the better off you are. You always had your standout player, your tough player and your players that would do their best every week. A coach needs to have that ability to bring a group of strangers together and make them at least on the field best mates. If you have that culture, discipline and mateship then you can build on that. You should know when that team or the individuals in that team have put in or thrown in the towel in a game. Individual brilliance will take you places but what you need to instill into your team is that this is a team game not an individual game. That builds character, heart and competiveness and that's all you can ask. We haven't had that type of team at the Dragons in the last 10 yrs and we haven't got that this year. This team is divided and our results on field will indicate if they are playing for each other and the coach.
Yes Jo a lot of what you've written holds a lot of substance and I agree ......we can talk re the Board ,the selections, BBQs during Covid , lack of attendants at functions, theirs a mole in the team etc etc...we can blame coaches in the last 10 years Price, McGregor Griffin or whoever (of which Im guilty of admittedly) BUT !!!! When are the players going to take some resonsibilty for their efforts....years ago it didnt matter who the coach was, it may be a Jack Gibson, Harry Bath or Joe Nobody when our blokes pulled on the Red V it meant everything to have the honour and privilege to be part of this once mighty club that everyone wanted to play for.....and yet here we are before a whistle has been blown in 2023 talking about wooden spoons etc... we can get frustated, angry, disappointed and disillusioned as supporters and yes we may not win as many games as we would like but its about time the players started aiming up and putting in and stop blaming everybody and everything.
 

justadragon

Bench
Messages
4,093
Yes BSE long gone are the days of props like Billy Wilson playing right wing because he just broke his left arm or blokes like Walsh & Smith having metal plates taken out of their broken arms 2 weeks early to get ready for an important game.

People trying to tell me how “professional” the new breed are have obviously never seen a game from yesteryear when “pride” and “belief” and “loyalty” and “toughness” reined supreme and their skill levels were just as s unbelievable as they are today.

Ken Irvine’s record still stands today for a very good reason and if he had of been allowed to brush the corner post like wingers today who knows how many more he would have scored.
I assume once again OT you are having a dig at me for saying that the players of today are FULL TIME PROFESSIONALS as compared to yesteryear. I'm also wondering what it would have been like cheering for a spear tackle so that player could be removed from the field possibly with a broken neck, but you would call that inspiration. I'm sure you would remember the name Les Boyd, what a marvelous example of a sportsman that man was, but then again I suppose you have a photo of him in your living room. Why dont you just enjoy the fact you got to see the best (in your eyes) and leave it at that, instead of continually smashing our current players and coaches no matter from any side in the NRL, there is no comparison, there never will be any comparison.
 

jodragon40

Juniors
Messages
425
Yes Jo a lot of what you've written holds a lot of substance and I agree ......we can talk re the Board ,the selections, BBQs during Covid , lack of attendants at functions, theirs a mole in the team etc etc...we can blame coaches in the last 10 years Price, McGregor Griffin or whoever (of which Im guilty of admittedly) BUT !!!! When are the players going to take some resonsibilty for their efforts....years ago it didnt matter who the coach was, it may be a Jack Gibson, Harry Bath or Joe Nobody when our blokes pulled on the Red V it meant everything to have the honour and privilege to be part of this once mighty club that everyone wanted to play for.....and yet here we are before a whistle has been blown in 2023 talking about wooden spoons etc... we can get frustated, angry, disappointed and disillusioned as supporters and yes we may not win as many games as we would like but its about time the players started aiming up and putting in and stop blaming everybody and everything.
Harry Bath, ' the old fox' a true dragons legend sitting on the sideline with his cigarettes. I was there when he coached us to win the 77 GF. Now this is just my view. There hasn't been any group of juniors retained coming through for the last 10 yrs hence there is no real pride or tradition coming through the ranks. Just look at this seasons 28. I count 11 locals the rest are outsiders mainly old journeymen on their last contracts. It's extremely difficult to instill tradition into these types of players. Hence there appears to be a lack of pride in the jersey. How many times in the last 10 yrs have you heard any players talk about the playing for the jersey after a win. Very few I would think or remember
 

jodragon40

Juniors
Messages
425

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