Flanno's New Signings

[KiamaSaint]

No Hope

Maybe we can sign Mitch Rein???

 

[kit66]

Just received a red V update

Flanno considers Dylan Eagan and Hamish Stewart on the cusp of first grade

They're forwards who have just 6 and 8 KOE games respectively, Stewart's all off the bench. Both seem to be keen and capable defenders in the lower grades but 1sts ? They'll need to play every game in reserves for a few months and earn themselves a shot in the top grade. We need to get our 1-5 backline in order before we do anything else.

 

[SBD82]

Maybe we can sign Mitch Rein???

We’d have to pay overs.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Just listened to Flanno & Webby. Everything's going well apparently. No DA yet for the centre of excellence. No training injuries. Young Flanno can kick from the left side of the field which will help Ben out. They're improving the teams fitness. We need to be patient on new recruits. Jamie Soward is very passionate.

I feel strangely un-re-assured.

 

[denis preston]

Dearden was always long odds of leaving the Cowboys, his manager played the game well and got him a better offer at where he truly wanted to be.

AFB is a mercenary and the Sharks offer him big Money and the chance at a premiership. The difference in offers just wasn't big enough to pry him away from the other.

Wellsby was always long odds to leave England at this stage in his career. With James Roby retiring he is likely to get the captaincy as well which, as a St Helens junior, can you hardly blame him for staying.

The only thing that is going to save the Dragons, is the Dragons. Noone is going to want to play for this once great team until they play with an actual identity.

If we are going to improve it will HAVE to be from within.

Fullbacks
Sloan - Could be anything and needs to put his body on the line consistently
Lomax (Centre) - The fittest player in our club, could be a Dylan Edwards clone
Allen - good enough to play for QLD 3 years ago.

Wings
Sione Finau - Quick and Strong, good vision too with his ability to pick an intercept
Ravalawa - Score a bunch of Tries last year in a poor team...
Mat Feagai - Has shown he can do great things.. Needs Coaching

Centres
Suli - Powerful. Needs to work on defence, commitment and setting up his winger
Tamale (wing) - Looks class, not sure about his defense.
Bird (fwd utility) - Was great, see if he can get back to his best after losing weight
Max Feagai (wing) - Hasn't had many opportunities, needs coaching like his brother

5/8
Kyle Flannagan (hooker) - who knows... Might reach the hype he once had playing second fiddle
Paul Turner (Fullback) - So much talent, Cody Walker only debuted at 26... So could still become a weapon

Halfback
Ben Hunt - just hope the game plan isn't 'throw it to Benny and hope' anymore. Let Ben be Ben and run

Hooker
Liddle - Great when not playing 80 minutes.

Lock
JDB (prop) - Defensive leader, hurt people
M. Molo (prop) - needs to play long minutes to get the best of our of him

2nd Row
Jaydn Su'A - Hasn't hit his potential with us, could be the best back rower in the comp.
Ryan Couchman - Been training in the 2nd row
Eisenhuth (Lock) - Veteran and will hopefully help the younger generation transition to full time NRL players

Prop
Blake Lawrie - Forward Leader and needs to keep lifting and building on last year.
Francis Molo - Needs to be a more consistent enforcer
Viliame Fifita - unknown quantity but has the dimensions of a superstar.
Toby Couchman - Workhorse needed in every team
Hame Sele (lock) - Played good with the Rabbitohs by the end of his time there.

Bench/Impact
Alec Tuitavake (Prop) - Fast leg speed and quick play of the ball, Spencer Lenui type.
BMM (prop/2ndRow) - able to prove impact and coverage

Then there are the kids on Development Deals who can play from round 1.

Mulheisen - I can see him starting at hooker to take the brunt of defense.
Egan - absolute mongrel. Just a tearaway who will go 100% all day
Hamish Stewart - Big boy, big expectation
Josh Coric - Needs to show his stuff

That is what we have to work with. Nothing is coming to save us in 24'

Nothing ever was.

Save ourselves, steel ourselves.

You lost me at Feagais.& Mulheisen,

 

[jeffdragon]

Just listened to Flanno & Webby. Everything's going well apparently. No DA yet for the centre of excellence. No training injuries. Young Flanno can kick from the left side of the field which will help Ben out. They're improving the teams fitness. We need to be patient on new recruits. Jamie Soward is very passionate.

I feel strangely un-re-assured.

Strange that it is released on some day as Amone and AFB news came through.

 

[Dragon David]

Flanagan has proven he had zero pulling power. All talk no substance. Why the fu*k did he albut give AFB an ultimatum to answer us before Christmas. Likely spooked him.

We were the first club to make enquiries about getting AFB to our club when there was the rumour that he wanted to come back to Sydney to be with his parents. We identified him as a middle forward we truly needed. We didn't realise that clubs like the Bulldogs, Tigers then much later the Sharks had an interest.

While the Dragons, Bulldogs and Tigers were wining and dining him (well maybe talking to his manager and showing him the respective clubs), he and his manager also had the Sharks pop their heads around the corner and secretly met and offered whatever pleased himearly in November. Not a whisper of any deals being struck was forthcoming. Everything was close to all parties chest. The Sharks offer was the best for AFB and once the contract was signed it was allowed the mandatory 10 days cooling off and as the Warriors agreed, the contract can be registered.

AFB knew what and where he wanted to go once the Sharks came in with their offer and made up his mind ages ago. The Sharks knew where he was going as well so they quickly agreed to allow Tracey to go to get more salary cap space to fit in with AFB's million dollars a year contract.They might need to move a couple more of their players as well. They have managed to get the players like Hynes and Finucaneand with their spine and forwards will be harder to beat going forward.

Poor old Shane Flanagan thinking that as the Tigers and Bulldogs had pulled out and he most probably thought that the Sharks salary cap was too tight, that the Dragons were home and hosed to get the big lug before Christmas. Well he has signed before Christmas but it wasn't with us and now Flanno is a bit red faced and most probably saying it is not the end of the world that we missed getting AFB. We tried our hardest but the Sharks was more attractive than us. What else can he say?

I'd like to say that we just didn't sell ourselves very well even with the amount we offered.

Once our Plan A nosedives, Plan B will be something akin to all of the previous 10 years.

 

[SBD82]

I'd like to say that we just didn't sell ourselves very well even with the amount we offered.

Didn’t sell ourselves well?

Which aspect of our club should we be “selling” to recruitment targets?

 

[Parko1310]

Just received a red V update

Flanno considers Dylan Eagan and Hamish Stewart on the cusp of first grade

A month ago he said it would probably be too early to debut them next year. Sounds to me like he's running out of options

 

[SBD82]

A month ago he said it would probably be too early to debut them next year. Sounds to me like he's running out of options

Let’s build them up like they’re the next immortals. Then chuck them in first grade too early.

Then when they suffer injuries and/or don’t immediately win the comp for us, let’s blame them instead of our overpriced princess captain or our development structures.

Then let’s release them to a club that develops them into first graders properly.

By that time we should have more juniors coming through. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Dragon David]

Didn’t sell ourselves well?

Which aspect of our club should we be “selling” to recruitment targets?

We just didn't win him over with our sales spiel.

 

[Illusion]

Don't worry everyone have heard all this before , Rangi and Noone are stuck at the Airport .......

 

[SBD82]

We just didn't win him over with our sales spiel.

I mean yeah. But what does that sales spiel look like?

“We’re a bunch of good blokes who love a crownie”.

“half a century ago we won a bunch of comps”

I challenge everyone on here to go and chat with young footy fans and players and ask them what they think of the dragons.

 

[TheRev]

Yup the blame is misplaced right now.. I think some fans are still getting their head around how bad the roster is that Flanno has inherited.. and how impossible it is to sell a 'dragons dream' to anyone that has literally any other NRL options (Tracey and AFB the most obvious examples to turn us down at great expense).

AFB falling into our lap would have been a total circuit breaker.. but now we are back to doing it the very hard & lengthy way.

 

[Dragon David]

I mean yeah. But what does that sales spiel look like?

“We’re a bunch of good blokes who love a crownie”.

“half a century ago we won a bunch of comps”

I challenge everyone on here to go and chat with young footy fans and players and ask them what they think of the dragons.

Well if we cannot win these players over to us because of the way that they are currently perceiving us then we have got to do things much differently and I am not anywhere in a position to even try and tell you or anyone else what that is.

If we have difficulty getting players across to us even with the likes of Flanagan as the head coach, should we try for Bennett again or if Shane Richardson's deal with the Tigers is only for 6 months, should we go after him?

Maybe if Flanno gets much better results with the squad he has next year, will that inspire better players to join in 2025 and beyond? I don't know.

Somehow even with us having Bellamy as the coach there would still be players who would hesitate joining us for some reason and it won't always be the money.

 

[Dragons4me]

We were the first club to make enquiries about getting AFB to our club when there was the rumour that he wanted to come back to Sydney to be with his parents. We identified him as a middle forward we truly needed. We didn't realise that clubs like the Bulldogs, Tigers then much later the Sharks had an interest.

While the Dragons, Bulldogs and Tigers were wining and dining him (well maybe talking to his manager and showing him the respective clubs), he and his manager also had the Sharks pop their heads around the corner and secretly met and offered whatever pleased himearly in November. Not a whisper of any deals being struck was forthcoming. Everything was close to all parties chest. The Sharks offer was the best for AFB and once the contract was signed it was allowed the mandatory 10 days cooling off and as the Warriors agreed, the contract can be registered.

AFB knew what and where he wanted to go once the Sharks came in with their offer and made up his mind ages ago. The Sharks knew where he was going as well so they quickly agreed to allow Tracey to go to get more salary cap space to fit in with AFB's million dollars a year contract.They might need to move a couple more of their players as well. They have managed to get the players like Hynes and Finucaneand with their spine and forwards will be harder to beat going forward.

Poor old Shane Flanagan thinking that as the Tigers and Bulldogs had pulled out and he most probably thought that the Sharks salary cap was too tight, that the Dragons were home and hosed to get the big lug before Christmas. Well he has signed before Christmas but it wasn't with us and now Flanno is a bit red faced and most probably saying it is not the end of the world that we missed getting AFB. We tried our hardest but the Sharks was more attractive than us. What else can he say?

I'd like to say that we just didn't sell ourselves very well even with the amount we offered.

Once our Plan A nosedives, Plan B will be something akin to all of the previous 10 years.

Disappointed sure but would be moreso if it had been a big name game-changer. Something we don't and haven't had for a long time.

 

[BIG RIG]

I always had the feeling that Flanno as good as a coach he is would struggle to sign anyone of note

I definitely give Flanno A + in effort both in recruitment and everything else he has done but the moral of the story is no one and I legit mean no one wants to play for the St George Illawarra Dragons it’s as simple as that

The four players he has been able to recruit are ones who pretty much has no other option

Hame Sele - Local Junior returning to his roots
Kyle Flanagan - Coaches son lmao
Tom Eisenhuth - No other options
Corey Allan - No other options

Flanno has been trumped trying to sign the likes of
- Connor Tracey
- Josh Curran
- AFB
- Dearden
- Welsby

All we can hope is that he can land Luki and Finefeuiaki but I won’t hold my breath

I also pray the likes of Villiami Fifita , Savelio Tamale and Alec Tuitavake turn into solid/great first graders cause at this point in time we have to rely on the young guys that we do have

Also with Amone freeing up another 500 000 dollars we are sitting on an absolute ridiculous amount cash for 2024 and 2025 which is highlighted but the insane offers to AFB , Dearden , Manu , Luki etc

I can only pray that some marquee players pop up over the next 12 to 18 months and actually have the balls to come to a struggling club like ours but into the Dragons spirit and actually attempt to help transform the club under Flanno

 

[twinkletoes]

So Flanaghan has been saying Dragons had numerous conversations with AFB management over the past few days....but am I reading correctly that AFB had already signed with Sharks and was just f**king us around...hahahaha..what a bunch of naive idiots if that were the case. Flanghan and Millard are no better than their predecessors

And am I hearing correctly that Tyrell May from Roosters is signing with Bulldogs..oh my god what a basket case we are..put whatever spin you like but it is all catastrophic news for 2024 and 2025. Centre of Excellence no nearer to turning a sod...maybe by 2026 we might get something we can show prospective players, home grounds still split, board still split, players still split...we will be cannonn fodder next season..hohohoho

 

[Dragon David]

Well right now, all I can say is just let it rest. Christmas is only a few days away, then we have the New Year and as it is Shane Flanagan's first go at being head coach for us and not being able to be one for several years, let's give him his due time for most of next year to see how he and his off siders perform as coaches and then we can see what their thinking is, what their plans for 2025 will be, the players we will need etc. If we can avoid the spoon again that will be good.

 

[SBD82]

Well if we cannot win these players over to us because of the way that they are currently perceiving us then we have got to do things much differently and I am not anywhere in a position to even try and tell you or anyone else what that is.

If we have difficulty getting players across to us even with the likes of Flanagan as the head coach, should we try for Bennett again or if Shane Richardson's deal with the Tigers is only for 6 months, should we go after him?

Maybe if Flanno gets much better results with the squad he has next year, will that inspire better players to join in 2025 and beyond? I don't know.

Somehow even with us having Bellamy as the coach there would still be players who would hesitate joining us for some reason and it won't always be the money.

The reason that Bennett or Bellamy would be game changers is because they wouldn’t tolerate the leeches that currently infest our club, and they’d put in place their own systems.

We need a rebuild of the club, not the squad. The only option that I can see is to invest heavily in juniors and pathways, and put in place people with genuine ability, not old boys.

This would mean many lean years, but it’s the only viable long term solution imho. And we’ve currently been terrible for 12 years, with no light at the end of the tunnel. If we keep on the way we are it will just be more of the same.

If a genuine marquee comes up that fits our needs then sure, we can have a crack at signing them. But the Penrith model is the one that we need to follow. We have the junior nursery. What we don’t have is talent in development staff. Junior footy players know it, and steer clear of us. We need to change that perception by making genuine, actual change.



Flanno has made a couple of good changes, but he’s still hamstrung by an organisation with very limited institutional knowledge.