Dugan

[Eatons Hill Dragon]

Personally I think the bigger issue is what to do with Nightingale.
Absolutely love this bloke and still have a picture in my office of him screaming when he crossed for his second try in the 2010 Grand Final however I think we now have better in the backline.

If Dufty has a killer of a pre season and ticks all the boxes then play him, the kid has attacking instincts that will help our shitty attack big time.
Go for a couple of big strong tall wingers and that helps with early plays in our own end and nullifies not having the Duges back there.

Two impact forwards on the bench plus one forward who is a steady tackling performer. I also like having a versatile number 17 who can cover any backline position plus hooker if needed.

My R1 team would look like this,
Dufty.
MacDonald.
Dugan.
Aitken.
Milne.
Widdop (c).
Hutchinson.
Frizell.
Thompson (club captain).
Leilua
Vaughan.
McInnes.
Packer.

Masoe (impact)
Sims. (impact)
Host / DeBelin. (solid/ defence/big minutes).
Mann (utility).

Sorry LAM & Nighty.
Feel free to "pick apart".

 

[TomRedVRiver]

Personally I think the bigger issue is what to do with Nightingale.
Absolutely love this bloke and still have a picture in my office of him screaming when he crossed for his second try in the 2010 Grand Final however I think we now have better in the backline.

If Dufty has a killer of a pre season and ticks all the boxes then play him, the kid has attacking instincts that will help our shitty attack big time.
Go for a couple of big strong tall wingers and that helps with early plays in our own end and nullifies not having the Duges back there.

Two impact forwards on the bench plus one forward who is a steady tackling performer. I also like having a versatile number 17 who can cover any backline position plus hooker if needed.

My R1 team would look like this,
Dufty.
MacDonald.
Dugan.
Aitken.
Milne.
Widdop (c).
Hutchinson.
Frizell.
Thompson (club captain).
Leilua
Vaughan.
McInnes.
Packer.

Masoe (impact)
Sims. (impact)
Host / DeBelin. (solid/ defence/big minutes).
Mann (utility).

Sorry LAM & Nighty.
Feel free to "pick apart".

Love the backline, but i'm very confused with your forward pack.
Vaughan and Mcinnes second rowers? Leilua and Frizell up front? Thompson at HOOKER?!
I've agreed with a lot of things you've had to say on this forum Eatons, but that forward pack is a bit all over the place haha.

 

[Eatons Hill Dragon]

Love the backline, but i'm very confused with your forward pack.
Vaughan and Mcinnes second rowers? Leilua and Frizell up front? Thompson at HOOKER?!
I've agreed with a lot of things you've had to say on this forum Eatons, but that forward pack is a bit all over the place haha.

Sorry TRVR, I'm old school and name my forwards 13 through 8.

Actually now that I think of it, McGregor would probably play McInnes in the back row and Thompson at hooker

 

[TomRedVRiver]

Sorry TRVR, I'm old school and name my forwards 13 through 8.

Actually now that I think of it, McGregor would probably play McInnes in the back row and Thompson at hooker

Ohhhhhh!! Hahaha bloody hell I was like what the f**k? Mcinnes in the second row?

I take it back, I actually think that you've got the forward pack spot on. I love that back row, Frizell at lock would be an awesome switch. You're right, Ah Mau has to lift if he wants to retain his spot. So does JDB.
Nightingale has far too many quality wingers breathing down his neck at the club, he'll have to be seriously on fire to fight off Milne, Garrick and Dufty if we choose to keep Dugan at FB.

 

[Crush]

My problem with dugan is he is unavailable so often through either injuries or rep duties. Lets face it, he is super injury prone and every time he touches the footy we all hold our breath to see if he gets up.
When BMoz left dragons I was spewing but in hindsight it was probably for the best, he too is unavailable far too frequently.
Not sure I have the solution with what to do with duges this year but long term we have to be careful. I would hate to lose a young talent like dufty to another club.

 

[BringTheNoise]

Oh come on mate, be realistic. If Hayne and Leilua are firing they are miles ahead of Dugan. They offer so much more impact, speed and skill.

I am being realistic. We're talking about an incumbent Test and NSW player who won NSW player of the series just last year. If he's fit and playing to his standards you can guarantee Daley will find a place for him in his squad.

 

[giboz71]

Dugan is still obviously a quality player. My problem is, we have him here on a max contract and the team is quite clearly crying out for 2-3 quality spine players to turn things around for us. We need cap space to find these sorts of players as no one is coming here for the coach or a chance to win a comp any time soon.

2018 is obviously a priority when the cap increases and a host of quality players are available. If we're fair dinkum, we need a whole new halves combination and a rep quality hooker to have any chance of competing with the good teams. I just hope someone is planning how to put this roster together with the players we already have and the juniors we have in our books.

If we get players the calibre of Hunt, Elgey, Taylor, Bird, Moses and co and still have room to fit Duges in, then happy days.

But I'd rather secure a match winning set of halves and good hooker and take our chances on our young guys like Dufty, Aitken, Herbert, Garrick, Thompson, Milne etc then keep Duges and have to rely on Widdop, Hutch and McCrone.

 

[mickeylane]

Mann shouldn't be talked about as a full-time fullback again. He's a skilful and handy player but I feel like his utility value is priceless and should be playing for the cutters to cover injuries anywhere in the backline.
If Dugan is to make the permanent switch to the centres it should be Dufty who replaces him without a doubt.
Personally i'd have Dufty lining up at fullback in round 1 for a number of reasons.
1. He can pass the ball like a halfback, he has that quick tap on pass in him that we've seen Tedesco pull off so much.
2. He has blistering speed, if he makes a break and there's no fullback at home you can pretty much guarantee he's safe to make it to the try line untouched. We haven't had that in our side for some time.
3. He has incredible vision, if you watch some of his highlights you will see he has an uncanny ability to know when to make the right play (i.e knowing when to hold the ball, not forcing a pass too early, drawing in defenders, dummying etc).
4. He can break tackles well, even though he's a little guy.
5. His support play is some of the best i've seen, he's always backing up every play.

Yes Dugan's kick returns are invaluable. He's a metre eater no doubt, but Dufty is 21 now and he's been talked about for some time. I feel like now is his chance, he's ready.

i agree 100% Dufy to FB round 1 no problem - the kid is a gun and an attacking machine...

 

[blacksafake]

Dufty will get his chance at some point but in the meantime Duges imo is the best fullback at the club & should start there.
Lets see if L plate has/can change his mindset & have a game plan to suit Duges running game. Duges himself said he was under instructions not to pass & Reins recent comments seem to support this.
Time will tell.

 

[Como Connection]

Give Duges the 2017 gig at fullback and blood young Dufty for injury cover, which is probably around 8-10 rounds. Then in 2018 Duges needs to shift full time to centre on less $$ with A TPA to compensate. ALDI would be a perfect fit, short for :- Always Lays Down Injured.

Hey Coffs
The wife and myself staying at Opal Cove tonight and tomorrow night.
CC

 

[Coffs dragon]

Hey Coffs
The wife and myself staying at Opal Cove tonight and tomorrow night.
CC

Enjoy yourselves CC.....have you here for the World Rally like everybody else?

 

[BennyV]

Dugan is still obviously a quality player. My problem is, we have him here on a max contract and the team is quite clearly crying out for 2-3 quality spine players to turn things around for us. We need cap space to find these sorts of players as no one is coming here for the coach or a chance to win a comp any time soon.

2018 is obviously a priority when the cap increases and a host of quality players are available. If we're fair dinkum, we need a whole new halves combination and a rep quality hooker to have any chance of competing with the good teams. I just hope someone is planning how to put this roster together with the players we already have and the juniors we have in our books.

If we get players the calibre of Hunt, Elgey, Taylor, Bird, Moses and co and still have room to fit Duges in, then happy days.

But I'd rather secure a match winning set of halves and good hooker and take our chances on our young guys like Dufty, Aitken, Herbert, Garrick, Thompson, Milne etc then keep Duges and have to rely on Widdop, Hutch and McCrone.

Agree with the above minus looking for a hooker. McInnes is fine for the interim, if he excels then great. Otherwise, Robson will come through in the next few years, all we'd need is a stop-gap.

Number 1 priority should be an organising halfback with a good kicking game and a bit of attacking flair. I genuinely cannot believe we arent breaking the bank for Ben Hunt if he's actually being shopped around, but there's a few other options out there.
Number 2 would be a 5/8 OR fullback. I'd like to think Dufty can fill the fullback spot long term, but we'll see how he transitions. LIkewise, I'd like to believe Mann would be a good attacking 5/8 but I dont think he'll get a chance there unfortunately.

Hooker would come last.

 

[Dragsters]

Hunt or Taylor for halfback for mine.

If Hunt is being shopped for 18 then we would be mad not to.

 

[hazzbeen]

Hunt or Taylor for halfback for mine.

If Hunt is being shopped for 18 then we would be mad not to.

Both good , If I had a choice it would be Taylor ....

 

[giboz71]

Agree with the above minus looking for a hooker. McInnes is fine for the interim, if he excels then great. Otherwise, Robson will come through in the next few years, all we'd need is a stop-gap.

Number 1 priority should be an organising halfback with a good kicking game and a bit of attacking flair. I genuinely cannot believe we arent breaking the bank for Ben Hunt if he's actually being shopped around, but there's a few other options out there.
Number 2 would be a 5/8 OR fullback. I'd like to think Dufty can fill the fullback spot long term, but we'll see how he transitions. LIkewise, I'd like to believe Mann would be a good attacking 5/8 but I dont think he'll get a chance there unfortunately.

Hooker would come last.

Hope you're right about Hooker.

To be honest, haven't seen enough of McInnes to make a valid judgement just yet, but he hardly set the world on fire at Souths. Still an upgrade on Rein though.

If McInnes comes good, at least hooker will be solved for the time being.

 

[Dragsters]

Both good , If I had a choice it would be Taylor ....

Agreed hazz but who knows if he wants to move on or indeed if the Tits will give him up?

I did hear somewhere that they have cap issues though so who knows?

 

[Saints Forever]

Lets give Hutch a go till June/July

If he comes up trumps no need

If he fails to impress, by all means chase a new half

Replacing Hutch for 2018 before 2017 starts is a very poor message for all juniors in the system

So far the kid has excelled as a representative junior and had a very good season in NSW cup

The logical thing to do would be to give him an extended stint in FG before making any decision on recruitment

 

[Dragonslayer]

Lets give Hutch a go till June/July

If he comes up trumps no need

If he fails to impress, by all means chase a new half

Replacing Hutch for 2018 before 2017 starts is a very poor message for all juniors in the system

So far the kid has excelled as a representative junior and had a very good season in NSW cup

The logical thing to do would be to give him an extended stint in FG before making any decision on recruitment

100% correct Saints Forever.
It sends a very poor message not only to our juniors but those waiting in the Dragons system already.
There's all these rumours about Sandow; Hunt and before that Hastings and Foran all of whome have issues.
Hutch has to have at least the first 6 games to prove his position if not then we gave Nona (who JD was quoted as saying was the best 5/8 not playing NRL), MCrone (if really desperate) and even Mann.
However, the most important player we have to ensure sees a pathway is Field.
The Titans gave Elgey and Taylor a go and yeah they made a few mistakes at the beginning but grew with confidence as the season progressed. Same with young Cleary.
We need to show some faith in what we have otherwise we will continually be on the merry-go-round of player in and out and we will lose our promising juniors aka Bird.

 

[BennyV]

Field is a very different style of player to Cleary, Elgey and Taylor. Has a long way to go.

 

[Dragsters]

Lets give Hutch a go till June/July

If he comes up trumps no need

If he fails to impress, by all means chase a new half

Replacing Hutch for 2018 before 2017 starts is a very poor message for all juniors in the system

So far the kid has excelled as a representative junior and had a very good season in NSW cup

The logical thing to do would be to give him an extended stint in FG before making any decision on recruitment

Agreed.

We all know how long negotiations usually take though and I reckon with the cap increase, most of those players off contract for 18 won't be signed until late in the season.

It would be prudent of the club to talk to managers of players of interest just as other clubs would and I reckon they would be.

Anyhow, the club has come out today backing the halves we have for this coming season which is good for their self confidence and now they can get on with their preparations and hopefully the press can back off and let them!