I Feel the Need, the Need for Speed

[Rob Dragon]

Lots of chat on this forum about building up the forward pack, adding mongrel etc. In the words of the great Bob Fulton..."you can't coach speed". Our pack is adequate, we need freakish speed. Moltzen has got it, Soward has got it, I understand this kid Evander Cummins has got it as well. Every time Kevin Locke gets the ball for the Warriors he is a worry. So is Sean Johnson. So is Gerrard Beale for the Bronco's. The absolute number ONE PRIORITY is a half back, almost at any cost, and speed. If we do not address this we will killed by the Warriors, Bronco's, Tigers etc. It is pretty obvious if you have been watching the last few months. If you can hold your own in the forwards and then have spped around the ruck, you are in the contest. The old left hand sweep needs to be consigned to the dustbin!

 

[MattYg1]

its funny then that people are calling for Style to be our 7 or 6... has he found his speed yet?

 

[Rob Dragon]

Not sure that Style is blessed with super speed, but he has another quality(s) that sets really good players apart from the mere mortals. He has time and vision. You cannot coach these attributes either. He strikes me a a classic No 6 who can get the ball two off the ruck and set himself to take options. He is a great mover and has a great passing game and he is big enough to go to the line if required. Time and vision!

 

[Bring back choc]

Hornby and soward will be our halves.
We all know that. We won a comp with them and hornby was our best player in the GF.
We had a great chance this year too but we didn't have the forwards aiming up.

Why people are having a crack at our halves is a mystery.

Get the go forward and the halves can deliver.

 

[Breathingfire]

Why people are having a crack at our halves is a mystery.

I think its cause our attack sucked this year. I agree the go forward didn't help but think back to the Melbourne game. We matched them in the forwards and had a ton of ball and scored one try all night off a sweeper. Plenty of sides only score one or two tries against the Storm but the manner in which we went about attacking that night was alarming. We had field position but didn't look like getting over the line. Then when things got desperate we ran sweeper after sweeper after sweeper. Sterlo and Gould have both been very public in their opinion that we have become too predictable and I agree. Unfortunately, Soward and Hornby are not the most creative and dynamic players. Soward is in the side for his kicking game and that went missing a great deal this year. Hornby is there for leadership and to steer the side around. I guess what I am saying is that yes I agree, the go forward must be better, but so too will our halves.

 

[grouch]

I think its cause our attack sucked this year.

Not for the first half of the year. I'd say our attack in that period was the best I'd seen from the Dragons since 1999.

It's a bit unseemly to form such concrete theories on this team without taking a holistic view of the entire season. And it's virtually impossible to avoid seeing the 2011 season in two fragments, i.e. before and after the Origin series.

 

[Mr Red]

speed between the ears is more important for halves then speed running.
that is where we are missing. Hornby not being a natural half is very mechanical and cant think outside the square...

some of the greatest halves havent been that fast...
Lewis, Sterling, Langer ... none of them were quick at all.

 

[SIR LANCELOT]

speed between the ears is more important for halves then speed running.
that is where we are missing. Hornby not being a natural half is very mechanical and cant think outside the square...

some of the greatest halves havent been that fast...
Lewis, Sterling, Langer ... none of them were quick at all.

...............................................................................

Well said. Fair comment lad.It would be great to see a youngun with the above attributes turn up at the Dragons in the not too distant future.Hornby has been successful however we need to go to a higher level re a top class half. Creativity is the word I suggest for a start.

Cheers Lancelot

 

[KiamaSaint]

The other reason why fans have a go at our halves is because you only have to look at the ages of both halves combination of the two grand final teams and it does make you think.

 

[SIR LANCELOT]

The other reason why fans have a go at our halves is because you only have to look at the ages of both halves combination of the two grand final teams and it does make you think.

AGE ????
IRREVALENT!!!!!!

Quality and expierience essential.However I am impressed with the GF halves combinations.

Lancelot

 

[Mr Red]

The other reason why fans have a go at our halves is because you only have to look at the ages of both halves combination of the two grand final teams and it does make you think.

doesnt make me think anything other then if you're good enough you're old enough.

they arent good because they're young...

 

[Dragon girl]

doesnt make me think anything other then if you're good enough you're old enough.

they arent good because they're young...

Exactly, what will the age of the Kangaroo's halves combo be?

 

[Mr Red]

well lockyer is nearly 35
thurston is 28

and if lockyer doesnt play and they bring Cooper cronk in he is 27... and i think still has his best footy in front of him..

 

[Dragon girl]

well lockyer is nearly 35
thurston is 28

and if lockyer doesnt play and they bring Cooper cronk in he is 27... and i think still has his best footy in front of him..

Exactly my point! Like women and wine, footballers too get better with age!

 

[Bring back choc]

We did pretty well with our halves. Couple of games from a GF. I still believe if we had more power in the forwards then our halves have much more attack in them. It's also the gameplan Bennett drilled into them as opposed to our halves lacking any creative ability.

Anyway, time will tell.

 

[MattYg1]

We did pretty well with our halves. Couple of games from a GF. I still believe if we had more power in the forwards then our halves have much more attack in them. It's also the gameplan Bennett drilled into them as opposed to our halves lacking any creative ability.

Anyway, time will tell.

Agreed...

 

[Mr Red]

We did pretty well with our halves. Couple of games from a GF. I still believe if we had more power in the forwards then our halves have much more attack in them. It's also the gameplan Bennett drilled into them as opposed to our halves lacking any creative ability.

Anyway, time will tell.

agree with your point re:needing more grunt in the forwards.
but looking back over the season our attack became very predictable, and in matches where the defensive patterns were up to our usual sweeping left play our halves lacked the creativity to go to a "plan B"..
the game plan only worked last season because we had the forwards to carry it off.. Smith, Saffy, Costigan.
the same game plan this season didnt work without the right troops to carry it out...

 

[grouch]

agree with your point re:needing more grunt in the forwards.
but looking back over the season our attack became very predictable, and in matches where the defensive patterns were up to our usual sweeping left play our halves lacked the creativity to go to a "plan B"..
the game plan only worked last season because we had the forwards to carry it off.. Smith, Saffy, Costigan.
the same game plan this season didnt work without the right troops to carry it out...

Huh? This makes no sense. What do those three players have to do with "lacking the creativity to go to a plan B"? Are you implying that the only reason the Dragons won the premiership in 2010 is because the predictable left side attack was overcome by Smith Saffy and Costigan??? Weird. Never mind that in the big games (prelim final and grand final) the attacking focus shifted (deliberately, mind you - tactics play out over an entire season) to the opposite side. The left side scored zero tries in those games.

As mentioned earlier, this team was perfectly fine until Origin. Arguably superior to the 2010 version throughout the first half of the year. It was a major disruption. Is it a co-incidence that the two grand finalists happen to be two of the teams that were minimally affected by Origin?

 

[cliffordg]

aghh the old smith costigan and saffy pop up again hey.
without them at the start of the season we were playing better footy then last year. we were on fire. and those 3 the last 2 years had a lot of time off with injuries and we stilll won a ton of games without them.

 

[grouch]

aghh the old smith costigan and saffy pop up again hey.

Their legend grows every day. Statues will be commissioned soon