Ian Millward

[Saints Forever]

Agree Como...Only dislike is when he publicly states certain things eg " Dugan a Centre "..." We are

waiting to pick up players on the cheap"...Surely it would be wiser to keep this sort of talk in house rather

than putting it out into the public arena ? Otherwise, can't really knock too many of his decisions

including the Dugan situation which in the end Millward was spot on in his evaluation of the player.

Only drawback with Millward openly discussing the clubs recruitment plans is that he is prone to the odd public brain explosion.

Anointing Field for the Full Back role for 2018 and stating Duges is not a Full Back are 2 glaring examples.

He is better off working behind the scene.

Doing a good job retaining our best juniors.

Now we need a Nathan Brown to develop them in to excellent first graders.

Over to you Doust

 

[Old Timer]

1. We have retained some quality juniors.
2. We have retained a slow poke winger IMO on sentimentality grounds.
3. We are moving on some deadwood.
4. We have lost some rep quality experience probably justifiable depending on point 5.
5. We have purchased Hunt.
6. We have some glaring holes in the roster yet to be filled.

Tradesman like performance and only the next few signings will give you a true indication of how well / bad Millward has performed.
I might add that whilst retaining quality juniors is a likely asset and to be applauded, if in fact we don't give them a proper run and transition into 1st grade, then retaining them is actually of little value.
I recognise that is the fault of the coaching staff but in some way the recruitment side has to match the requirements of the coaching side and here I feel there is a great disconnect.

 

[The calm one]

So losing two of our best players is inconsequential?

The Roosters are a far better example of a squad building nicely.

Straight Shooter

If the dragons had the financial pull like the rosters they would build a squad nicely as well. Go figure

 

[Overseas dragon]

So losing two of our best players is inconsequential?

The Roosters are a far better example of a squad building nicely.

Straight Shooter

Millard should be congratulated for sticking to his guns Dugan has been well paid at
The dragons but now want to pay him what he's really worth he walks no loyalty there .he will look good playing for scumulla .packer is a loss but we did not get into a cat fight over his worth .we now see packer playing much worse since he signed with the tigers .I say well done Millward and straight shooter get your sights adjusted your way off.

 

[Objective View]

Millard should be congratulated for sticking to his guns Dugan has been well paid at
The dragons but now want to pay him what he's really worth he walks no loyalty there .he will look good playing for scumulla .packer is a loss but we did not get into a cat fight over his worth .we now see packer playing much worse since he signed with the tigers .I say well done Millward and straight shooter get your sights adjusted your way off.

I merely made the point that we are not a squad 'building nicely', especially compared to the top teams who consistently build much nicer.

Straight Shooter

 

[Life's Good]

With addition of Hunt the squad will be much better. The squad for this year isn't too bad.
I reckon Millward has done well.
The issue, predicatably, lies with the coach and club as a whole is seemingly content that finishing above predictions eg 12-14th. represents a successful season.
It's not a mess, it's a waste.

 

[Slippery Morris]

This new English coach they are bringing in may shake things up in 2018. Not sure why they got him but anyway lets wait and see.

The squad is great, the coaching needs some work but improved on last year that is for sure and did not go backwards like Des's team did (and people were calling for Des)

 

[denis preston]

This new English coach they are bringing in may shake things up in 2018. Not sure why they got him but anyway lets wait and see.

The squad is great, the coaching needs some work but improved on last year that is for sure and did not go backwards like Des's team did (and people were calling for Des)

Is this English coach official ?

 

[Old Timer]

This new English coach they are bringing in may shake things up in 2018. Not sure why they got him but anyway lets wait and see.

The squad is great, the coaching needs some work but improved on last year that is for sure and did not go backwards like Des's team did (and people were calling for Des)

The win sequence early on was an improvement but the loss sequence is as bad if not worse than recent years.
If the loss sequence doesn't improve then in simple terms the team hasn't gone forward.
Yes the style of football at times this year is certainly better and more entertaining but all said and done a win is a win and gets you 2 points. So yes very nice to win and win well but the losses and the style of them are very concerning and signifies no improvement in a key area.

 

[j0nesy]

Agree with OP for the most part. I agree with almost every decision Millward has made. He is working towards a clear strategy in a very disciplined way.

I'll throw something a little controversial out there... The only decision I don't agree with was to retain Widdop on such high pay. I would have kept Dugan, as a centre, without announcing it. I would have let Widdop go ahead of Dugan. In signing Dugan as a centre I guess I would have also been letting Lafai go. JDB or Frizzel would have been my captain this year.

Having said that, I said early on in the season and late last season that I thought we'd only be able to keep Dugan or Widdop and not both. It was a tight call and I can see why they went with Widdop. He certainly plays a lot more games than Dugan, with Origin and injuries considered.

The issues with this club are not with the recruitment manager, who is the only shinning light in management of this club. Our primary issue is with our coach. We made a big mistake letting Jason Demetriou go to the Broncos. He should have been our first grad coach from the start of this season. Which is the boards fault and the CEO should be accountable for it. The core of our issues.

 

[Frank Facer]

Only drawback with Millward openly discussing the clubs recruitment plans is that he is prone to the odd public brain explosion.

Anointing Field for the Full Back role for 2018 and stating Duges is not a Full Back are 2 glaring examples.

He is better off working behind the scene.

Doing a good job retaining our best juniors.

Now we need a Nathan Brown to develop them in to excellent first graders.

Over to you Doust

I agree with every part of your post, besides Millard saying that Dugan was a centre. Millward was correct about that one too. No other clubs wanted to sign Dugan to play centre for them. Dugan was asking for elite fullback money and no other clubs offered him that one either. We offered Dugan elite centre money and I am very happy that he did not take up that offer. Dugan is not even playing fullback for us anymore.

Yes coach Nathan Brown would be a great signing. I was one who always said that we should have brought him back. Now that Newcastle are starting to show their promise, it looks like more people are jumping on the Nathan Brown to coach us bandwagon and so they should

Bellamy is the other option.

 

[Pro Dragons]

It is still not known what the salary cap will be. If teams like the rorters suffer the NRL may bow to their commands allowing a high salary cap. If this happens we have more tough years ahead.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

It is still not known what the salary cap will be. If teams like the rorters suffer the NRL may bow to their commands allowing a high salary cap. If this happens we have more tough years ahead.

Rorters won't suffer. They will just up the third party agreements. Until TPA's are somehow brought under the cap, Brisbane, Melbourne and Rorters are always going to have an unfair advantage.

 

[watatank]

I'll throw something a little controversial out there... The only decision I don't agree with was to retain Widdop on such high pay. I would have kept Dugan, as a centre, without announcing it. I would have let Widdop go ahead of Dugan. In signing Dugan as a centre I guess I would have also been letting Lafai go. JDB or Frizzel would have been my captain this year.

It should be questioned, Widdop has not really played to expectations and would be well paid compared to the second best halves at other clubs. I can see why the club moved to sign him, though. After signing Hunt the club would not have wanted to leave too much uncertainty over the halves especially when we had options at centre. Widdop is still a decent player and he's still captain, he's also goalkicker and unaffected by Origin. What would we have had to pay for someone like Townsend, Roberts or Reynolds to switch club?

 

[watatank]

I agree with much of the OP. I agree with the general direction of where we are at with recruitment and the development of the squad (coaching aside)

One of the things I disagree with is the hype of Jai Field. He had only played a year of U20s . He has talent but he was only hyped up because of all the questions over who was going to play halfback. Don't really care much for the talk of fullback, I think that has been over exaggerated. It's not unreasonable to expect that he might play there but the previous hype has meant that this is all out there more. He always needed time and should have just been allowed to develop quietly, much like say Herbert or Garrick who are the same age and also played a year of U20s. Even Dufty benefited from being a little under the radar before his debut.

 

[getsmarty]

Rorters won't suffer. They will just up the third party agreements. Until TPA's are somehow brought under the cap, Brisbane, Melbourne and Rorters are always going to have an unfair advantage.

100 % Correct.

 

[getsmarty]

It should be questioned, Widdop has not really played to expectations and would be well paid compared to the second best halves at other clubs. I can see why the club moved to sign him, though. After signing Hunt the club would not have wanted to leave too much uncertainty over the halves especially when we had options at centre. Widdop is still a decent player and he's still captain, he's also goalkicker and unaffected by Origin. What would we have had to pay for someone like Townsend, Roberts or Reynolds to switch club?

I think that Widdop would be on similar money to the players mentioned. Most of our tries have been scored on the left edge and teams are now marking up heavily on both Widdop and Lafai. Opposing teams know that our right side isn't as lethal. The other problem is when our forwards get dominated we seem to go back to sideways movement. These are all coaching issues.

I think Widdop will be much better when he has a season under his belt with Hunt. McCrone is a serviceable 1st grade half and offers little in attack. I also think we are 2 big forwards short of a decent pack after losing Packer.

 

[watatank]

I think that Widdop would be on similar money to the players mentioned. Most of our tries have been scored on the left edge and teams are now marking up heavily on both Widdop and Lafai. Opposing teams know that our right side isn't as lethal. The other problem is when our forwards get dominated we seem to go back to sideways movement. These are all coaching issues.

I think Widdop will be much better when he has a season under his belt with Hunt. McCrone is a serviceable 1st grade half and offers little in attack. I also think we are 2 big forwards short of a decent pack after losing Packer.

It's all speculation but he's probably being paid more, when you take all the factors into account. Except for maybe Reynolds who was being chased by a desperate Tigers. Hope the four year length and his family settling ensured some sort of discount.

If Hunt plays to what we expect him to be, then Widdop will be fine.

 

[getsmarty]

It's all speculation but he's probably being paid more, when you take all the factors into account. Except for maybe Reynolds who was being chased by a desperate Tigers. Hope the four year length and his family settling ensured some sort of discount.

If Hunt plays to what we expect him to be, then Widdop will be fine.

Townsend has been asking for around 700K for his next deal. Maloney wants close to 1 Mill...Widdop is on similar money to Townsend according to sources...maybe even slightly less.

 

[Frank Facer]

Townsend has been asking for around 700K for his next deal. Maloney wants close to 1 Mill...Widdop is on similar money to Townsend according to sources...maybe even slightly less.

I would take Widdop over Townsend.