How to Fix Dragons

[1st & 10]

Sign Nick Saban as coach ?

 

[j0nesy]

If you were Head Coach how would you fix our current predicament and pull us out of this downhill slide for the rest of the year? We have Canberra away then Manly at home before Knights away in the next 3 games.

Me;

I'd stick with Mann at 7 with instructions to both him and McInnes to get involved with ball and boot.

I'd drop MacDonald to reserves and switch Nighty to the right side with Aitken. Dufty into wing on the left side with Lafai.

I'd also stick with Lawrie, Host, Sele and depending on availability of Vaughan or need to rest him, Friz or JDB, include Kerr in addition.

If Duges is out chuck in another junior on the Wing and run Dufty at FB.

I would NOT keep doing the same shit hoping for a different result, ie hope MacDonald plays well, play Nighty at FB, McCrone at half or further develop Milne for the Tigers.

I know, desperate right?

I'd rather lose trying something different, giving juniors a go and send regulars a message than keep doing the same shit.

With our current squad and our current plan A we will struggle to beat the Knights away next time, let alone Bulldogs and Titans and we can forget beating Canberra, Manly and Broncos.

Your master coaching ideas please.

Play it more through forwards, with support players. Even when attacking the opposition line. As others have said, minimise the 2nd man plays.

Have to make room for a young back, suggest Dufty at fullback on current form. Straight swap if Duges is injured. If not I'd shift Aitken to bench and Duges to right centre. I'd probably lead Mann in the halves for a few games with mccrone to cutters.

More repeat sets with the final kick, not so many cross field chips. Or at least turn the opposition around and make them work it out from their own end.

Stop using second man plays and start passing the ball straight along the line like we were doing in the first 7 games and for some reason suddenly stopped.

Exactly, why have we started doing this? Habit from last season.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Play it more through forwards, with support players. Even when attacking the opposition line. As others have said, minimise the 2nd man plays.

Have to make room for a young back, suggest Dufty at fullback on current form. Straight swap if Duges is injured. If not I'd shift Aitken to bench and Duges to right centre. I'd probably lead Mann in the halves for a few games with mccrone to cutters.

More repeat sets with the final kick, not so many cross field chips. Or at least turn the opposition around and make them work it out from their own end.



Exactly, why have we started doing this? Habit from last season.

The 3 D's
Disappointment
Disillusionment
Despair...

 

[Dragonsteve2]

Thank you, OT. I didn't realise that Wikipedia would provide such a detailed record of a person who I thought would be a relatively minor Rugby League personality.

What his biography reveals is success initially at Leigh, considerable success at St Helens though not without some contentious issues and then a string of abject failures as a coach. I now have a much clearer understanding of why there is considerable angst amongst Forum contributors over his appointment to his current position and his work within that position. Clearly the Dugan fiasco also revealed some sort of power play with Mary and Millward pulling in opposite directions and Duges trying to take advantage, to the club's ultimate detriment.

Now, being better informed, and with only 2 half seasons of joy from 6 seasons and Mary's reappointment as coach for another 2, I am coming closer to accepting Possm's judgement of a "mess".

 

[Gippsy]

Just read about what the Walker brothers said to Ben Hunt when he went back to play for them. Something like: just play schoolboy footy, have fun, and he went out and had a blinder.

Maybe these guys are the coaches we need. Probably won't win the comp but would be good fun watching them play.

https://m.nrl.com/walkers-advice-pays-off-for-hunt/tabid/10874/newsid/109638/default.aspx

 

[ALSGI]

Congratulations to Nighty on his extension, our little club legend. One of my favourite Dragons ever.

Nighty said;
“I feel very honoured to be able to continue my journey with the Dragons and to have the opportunity to help nurture the future Dragons as we have some great talent coming through the pathways at our Club.
Millward said;
"With a lot of younger guys coming into our squad next year, we couldn't afford to lose Jason's experience as a senior leader – in the next 12 months he'll play a crucial part in their development and nurturing," Millward said.

Me; I'm a little confused.

With our team currently boasting himself and Aitken as our only two juniors in our FG backline (which is the slowest in the NRL imo) how does this help develop and nurture our juniors coming through the f**king pathways?

And to further nurture and develop our juniors we've signed Jordan Pereira, a 24yo from the Qld cup to start immediately on an 18month contract.

FMD.

Not sure about the rest of our juniors but Dufty's contract ends 2018 and he'll be looking for another contract from the end of this season I'm guessing.

No wonder Bird left, and there'll be a mass exodus from our junior backs I'm tipping but at least we got Nighty, MacDonald and Pereira.

Sorry can't be happy about our two signings today.

 

[saintm]

Congratulations to Nighty on his extension, our little club legend. One of my favourite Dragons ever.

Nighty said;
“I feel very honoured to be able to continue my journey with the Dragons and to have the opportunity to help nurture the future Dragons as we have some great talent coming through the pathways at our Club.
Millward said;
"With a lot of younger guys coming into our squad next year, we couldn't afford to lose Jason's experience as a senior leader – in the next 12 months he'll play a crucial part in their development and nurturing," Millward said.

Me; I'm a little confused.

With our team currently boasting himself and Aitken as our only two juniors in our FG backline (which is the slowest in the NRL imo) how does this help develop and nurture our juniors coming through the f**king pathways?

And to further nurture and develop our juniors we've signed Jordan Pereira, a 24yo from the Qld cup to start immediately on an 18month contract.

FMD.

Not sure about the rest of our juniors but Dufty's contract ends 2018 and he'll be looking for another contract from the end of this season I'm guessing.

No wonder Bird left, and there'll be a mass exodus from our junior backs I'm tipping but at least we got Nighty, MacDonald and Pereira.

Sorry can't be happy about our two signings today.

Don't forget the other centre that couldn't catch a cold

 

[Old Timer]

Thank you, OT. I didn't realise that Wikipedia would provide such a detailed record of a person who I thought would be a relatively minor Rugby League personality.

What his biography reveals is success initially at Leigh, considerable success at St Helens though not without some contentious issues and then a string of abject failures as a coach. I now have a much clearer understanding of why there is considerable angst amongst Forum contributors over his appointment to his current position and his work within that position. Clearly the Dugan fiasco also revealed some sort of power play with Mary and Millward pulling in opposite directions and Duges trying to take advantage, to the club's ultimate detriment.

Now, being better informed, and with only 2 half seasons of joy from 6 seasons and Mary's reappointment as coach for another 2, I am coming closer to accepting Possm's judgement of a "mess".

Some of the stuff written about him makes me wonder how he ever got a start with us as he has some baggage and personal issues by the look of it.
Now some will say the "old boy's club" but surely that can't possibly have any merit in it?
Interesting how it depicts him as the "assistant 1st grade coach".

 

[Dragonsteve2]

Some of the stuff written about him makes me wonder how he ever got a start with us as he has some baggage and personal issues by the look of it.
Now some will say the "old boy's club" but surely that can't possibly have any merit in it?
Interesting how it depicts him as the "assistant 1st grade coach"

Yes, OT, you are right about the "baggage". When I read the detail of Millward's off-field issues I immediately thought of the Dugan fiasco. How much was Millward's personality an issue? Not to imply that Duges would have been blameless. Some of these footy players would be hard to work with given an excess of ego.

The "assistant 1st grade coach" reference would relate to his position in 2015 when I guess the wikipedia article was last updated.

The "old boy's club"? I am in two minds about this. It is very natural for a long standing player to be given a role at the club for which he is suited eg. ambassador Shaun Timmins, NSW Cup assistant Luke Bailey. Wendell appeared to do a great job in his role. We can only speculate about the impact of Ben Hornby and Dean Young. Has their input made for a better NRL side? Would Mary on his own be a worse coach. Or does he largely ignore them? At least they did serve apprenticeships of sorts. Passion for the club should be a plus. But if positions are found for the sole purpose of giving an individual with connections to the club employment for which he may not be suited then that is indeed a sad state of affairs. Clearly Mary was out of his depth last year so there was merit in splitting the coach and recruitment roles. But this could only work if cooperation between the 2 individuals was very close. The Dugan saga seemed to indicate 2 different agendas or even a power struggle between the two rather than a close working relationship.

It all adds to a perception of a lack of professionalism on the part of the club which has serious implications for on-field results. I just hope I live long enough to see the end of the Doust era and greater accountability throughout the club.

 

[possm]

Just read about what the Walker brothers said to Ben Hunt when he went back to play for them. Something like: just play schoolboy footy, have fun, and he went out and had a blinder.

Maybe these guys are the coaches we need. Probably won't win the comp but would be good fun watching them play.

https://m.nrl.com/walkers-advice-pays-off-for-hunt/tabid/10874/newsid/109638/default.aspx

With our first grade squad and with so many juniors to bring through, maybe the Walker brothers are exactly what we need right now. I am absolutely sure they would do a better job than Mary and his coaching staff.

 

[blacksafake]

With our first grade squad and with so many juniors to bring through, maybe the Walker brothers are exactly what we need right now. I am absolutely sure they would do a better job than Mary and his coaching staff.

They probably would do a better job but their style would not be suited to NRL imo.

 

[possm]

They probably would do a better job but their style would not be suited to NRL imo.

So maybe they can be a little more conservative and the team play a little more of what's in front of them.