General Discussion Thread

[TheEroticGamer]

he did take us to a few finals for the first time in our history.

Second. 1989-91.

 

[Iamback]

Hook is neither the best or worst coach currently in the NRL - he did take us to a few finals for the first time in our history. The problems at saints are deeper than coaching issues. When experienced players like Hunt are unhappy with the sacking it doesn't bode well for the club. I guess management there prefers the BBQ mentality to the discipline that Hook promotes.

Not just that. Sloan, Sullivan, Lomax all have sooked after being dropped.

Compare that to Sam Walker or even Luai waiting behind Maloney here.

The players are soft too, board gets in the way. Good luck to Ryles at that rabble

 

[Murraymob1]

McGregor has tipped the bucket on the dragons board saying in his time as coach he did have a say in what players stayed or left and near the end did not even get to pick the team that played.So it’s clear the problems are far deeper than any coach can solve

 

[age.s]

I think Hooks teams have performed pretty much as you'd expect them. Not a good coach, but not a disaster one either.

 

[Iamback]

I think Hooks teams have performed pretty much as you'd expect them. Not a good coach, but not a disaster one either.

Well did anyone have this Dragons squad finishing higher than bottom 4?

 

[Iamback]

McGregor has tipped the bucket on the dragons board saying in his time as coach he did have a say in what players stayed or left and near the end did not even get to pick the team that played.So it’s clear the problems are far deeper than any coach can solve

That is the point I was alluding to before. They will sign a yes man as coach. As opposed to Hasler or Flanno who both would demand total control over stuff like that

 

[age.s]

Well did anyone have this Dragons squad finishing higher than bottom 4?

The squad on paper is ok (not bottom 4), but they're a basket case of an organisation. That ramps up the degree of difficulty considerably. In that context bottom 4 isn't surprising.

 

[Black Magik]

Paul Kent charge with alleged domestic assault over the weekend. Players asking why the story isn't being covered by NRL360 in kind to if it was a player...lol

MSN

 

[jane the pain]

Paul Kent charge with alleged domestic assault over the weekend. Players asking why the story isn't being covered by NRL360 in kind to if it was a player...lol

MSN

Oh I agree with Maloney and King, 100%

 

[WestyLife]

That is the point I was alluding to before. They will sign a yes man as coach. As opposed to Hasler or Flanno who both would demand total control over stuff like that

That stuff happened after it was clear he wasn't getting results and was going to be sacked.

 

[martielang]

Hook will always get discredited on here by a few purely because he got rid of a favorite son.

RIP Hook. Put him in the hall of fame beside Sione.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Hook will always get discredited on here by a few purely because he got rid of a favorite son.

RIP Hook. Put him in the hall of fame beside Sione.

His total inability to form a gamplan is why most don't rate him. Remember being down 12/14 points to nil every week before the boys would just throw it around?

He's objectively a very poor coach as shown by his record

 

[Fangs]

The Dragons aren't a big fix to be honest. The squad isn't all that bad and there is plenty of youth in it as well as others coming through.

They have had 5 losses by 6 points or less. All of them decided by goal kicking. They have the worst goal kicking rate in the competition at 62%. Comparatively our club has the best at 87% and its made all the difference in ladder position.

The expectation should be that they are challenging for the 8 again by next year. Provided there isn't some silly fire sale where they sack half their squad and 're-build'. Though it might be out of their control if players like Hunt are fed up with the club.

 

[snickers007]

His total inability to form a gamplan is why most don't rate him. Remember being down 12/14 points to nil every week before the boys would just throw it around?

He's objectively a very poor coach as shown by his record

Some would argue that his gameplan was to have the fittest team in the comp and just wear the opposition down until they broke. (Sounds rather familiar).

But the cattle didn't have the patience or discipline to pull it off.

 

[Fangs]

The squad on paper is ok (not bottom 4), but they're a basket case of an organisation. That ramps up the degree of difficulty considerably. In that context bottom 4 isn't surprising.

Same goes for the Tigers squad. They had the best recruitment of the 2022 off-season and it hasn't changed a whole lot yet.

Unlike the Dragons they are a long-term fix and they are waiting for under-performing players to move on like Brooks. Though he has been kicking some very pretty 40/20s recently, I smell an extension.

 

[Kilkenny]

Hook will always get discredited on here by a few purely because he got rid of a favorite son.

RIP Hook. Put him in the hall of fame beside Sione.

I thought he got us to three consecutive finals appearances which wasn’t to bad. He was not perfect but we had three decent seasons before he fell out with Gus. We had some good wins, some great wins, under his reign just a combination of factors why he wasn’t able to take us further.

 

[martielang]

His total inability to form a gamplan is why most don't rate him. Remember being down 12/14 points to nil every week before the boys would just throw it around?

He's objectively a very poor coach as shown by his record

Re; Game plan - I've said this before but it's not too dissimilar to how we're playing now, the players have just improved with age and experience and we added a bit of quality. The man was before his time.

He's one of the most successful coaches in our club's history % wise. The year before he came we missed the 8, the year after he left we missed the 8. So the whole argument 'look at cattle he had' is null and void.

In saying that, would we have had the same success if we kept him? Probably not. Cleary has galvanized the playing roster and has been huge in transforming the culture of the club, but without Hooks intervention, I don't think he'd be near as successful in his second stint either. Hook brought through the players needed and improved others - Cleary, Kiks, RCG, Blake etc - and got us fitter than we'd ever been which allowed us to run teams down. He mightn't have been everyone's cup of tea nor a master tactician but he got control back of the playing group that was running the place when he came in.

 

[Kilkenny]

Re; Game plan - I've said this before but it's not too dissimilar to how we're playing now, the players have just improved with age and experience and we added a bit of quality. The man was before his time.

He's one of the most successful coaches in our club's history % wise. The year before he came we missed the 8, the year after he left we missed the 8. So the whole argument 'look at cattle he had' is null and void.

In saying that, would we have had the same success if we kept him? Probably not. Cleary has galvanized the playing roster and has been huge in transforming the culture of the club, but without Hooks intervention, I don't think he'd be near as successful in his second sting either. He brought through the players needed and got us fitter than we'd ever been which allowed us to run teams down. He mightn't have been everyone's cup of tea or a master tactician but he got control back of the playing group that was running the place when he came in.

I agree 100%. I think his 2 3/4 seasons with us can be considered a success even if it ended badly.

 

[Alintheeast]

Hook’s record of 42w&30loses for a 58.3% behind Cleary 60.7 and our greatest coach R. Wiley 66%.

 

[Kilkenny]

Hook’s record of 42w&30loses for a 58.3% behind Cleary 60.7 and our greatest coach R. Wiley 66%.

Ron Willey coached in the era of the five team semi final series. 1988-1989 two really successful seasons just couldn’t get the job done at the business end. In 1989 we lost both our Semi Finals against the Tigers and Raiders who played in GF which some still believe was best GF ever, not that I remember any of it.