L7 v Bunnies

[Phantom V]

That just proves my point - he can come up with the odd play which makes the highlight reels.
But he is not a consistent half.

That was his moment for this year.
Nothing prior, nothing since.
And I'll wager he won't add anything for the rest of the year either.

I think it’s got more to do with who his halves partner is than his ability. He needs to run the ball and create for his out side backs. If we had a competent half back, it would take the pressure off.

 

[Desperate Dragon]

Su'a 3 match suspension with an early guilty plea.
Guler two grade 1 offences.
Free to play with an early guilty plea for both.

 

[Born BB&W]

I stand corrected.
Sorry, I misread your original post to read that he'd done it on multiple occasions, which was 2024.

I do recall that game.
He was solid, but not outstanding and, as per my original post, all he really did was kick.
He did throw a nice ball out to Ronnie for Ronnie to make a break, before backing up on the inside and scoring.
I'll give him that.
But that's it.

Other than that, he had 10 runs for 59 metres (~20 of this coming unopposed when he scored the try), 9 post-contact, 0 line breaks and 0 tackle breaks.
So he wasn't a running threat.

He kicked 8 times for 217 metres, including 5 bombs and a grubber, with 0 forced drop outs.
Nicho kicked 18 times for 619 metres, including 3 bombs.
So was he just there for bombs, not the main tactical kicking.

Defensively, he made 18 tackles, 4 missed and 2 ineffective at 75%
So he wasn't a defensive monster.

I'm really not sure which of those stats could be termed "brilliant".

Unfortunately you guys are clinging to hope that he'll be your saviour, but I'm here to tell you he won't.

I read the same sort of comments in the Sharks forum after the trials in 2023, when he first arrived.
He'd scored an opportunist try during one of them, involving a chip over the top and a second kick as the ball was bouncing around in traffic.
He got a lucky bounce and picked it up and fell over the line to score.
None of it looked fluent or in control, but he got a try out of it.

All of a sudden he's the messiah.
Never mind the fact the rest of the match he'd done SFA.
Every second Sharks fan was frothing at the mouth about him being the X factor we (still) need.
To me, all he had to offer was that he wasn't Will Kennedy.

Likewise for you lot - he's not Kyle.

I'll preach this till the day I die.
He's got nothing.

As a Sharks fan I agree with all of this. Yes Atko had some flukey moments here and there but he certainly wasn't the player he was pumped up to be in the media when you signed him. Sharks fans were not exactly what you would call disappointed to let him go either. Flanno on the other hand portrayed it with the attitude he got one up on the Sharks who had sacked him because he has a massive chip on his shoulder. As far as I know no other clubs were chasing him and the dollars that he was offered were overs but it gave something for Flanno to gloat about.

 

[Gareth67]

Flanagan combo sucks has destroyed our club .
Sack both now dont deserve to play Anzac Game we need to play with pride not the Flanagans 0.7 embarrassing.

There are times when I get the impression that you have an axe to grind against the Flanagans moz ?

 

[Number of the Beath]

I actually thin wing or fullback is best for Holmes also

Left Right Out is probably best, given his form.

 

[Gareth67]

Atkinson is allright. Its his first full year playing in the starting side as a half with his other half being KF and a team full of has beens and flops.. He needs to play with a half that can creat something and take the pressure off him and he will do alot better.. If we do a cleanout atko can stay.

More so considering that he came from a successful team in the Sharks whom were in numerous semi finals to ?

To ? Well let’s just say a team that appears to have no heart , fire and perhaps above all no desire to compete at a 1st grade level for the entire match .

Oh did I mention no direction , similar to a ship without a rudder which merely spins around and around until it eventually hits a jagged reef and finally sinks into oblivion.

 

[Gippsy]

Atko would be fine if we had an organising halfback.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Atko would be fine if we had an organising halfback.

I’m struggling to see that evidence

he is so stilted and undecided and also struggling to even get his kicks away

a few of of his kicks were crucial to be nailed and the result was not good at all and Souths got back in the game

I am sympathetic that he is a newbie to that pressure and only played limited NRL and equally Tanah Boyd has only shown at same age what he really has in consistency now after double the amount of NRL games to Atko

Tanah is now almost 90 NRL games

 

[hewi]

Hope Guler fights the charge and loses , then hopefully we wouldn’t have him for 2 games

 

[Gippsy]

Your comments are true but indicate to me that he would be fine with an organising half beside him, who runs the show and does the tactical kicking. Atko can concentrate on his running game and help out when a long kick to get out of trouble is needed.

 

[Tomrum2]

Atko would be fine if we had an organising halfback.

I notice that Kyle passes short when there's an overlap and long when there isn't and rarely takes on the line not reading the game or just a bad game plan also missing one on one takles that lead to tries.

 

[I'm Hornby]

I notice that Kyle passes short when there's an overlap and long when there isn't and rarely takes on the line not reading the game or just a bad game plan also missing one on one takes that lead to tries.

I agree and Atkinson tends to play in a very similar fashion, even though he is capable of running the ball, he seems reluctant to run the ball.

People can say he needs a decent halfback to help him, fair enough, do those people remember how Widdop went in the 2017 season as our five eighth with Josh Mccrone playing halfback?

 

[Tomrum2]

I agree and Atkinson tends to play in a very similar fashion, even though he is capable of running the ball, he seems reluctant to run the ball.

People can say he needs a decent halfback to help him, fair enough, do those people remember how Widdop went in the 2017 season as our five eighth with Josh Mccrone playing halfback?

You can't teach players this either they have that vision or don't and ours don't. It's reflected in the scores and boy it would be frustrating for the other backs. We had at least 5 opportunities on Kyles side but never happened. At least Atkinson will back up on his play the other just backs away for the next play.

 

[Dragonsdiehard]

Damn, why couldn't Holmes get injured or get himself suspended with a head-high like Sua. Val was among our worst. Sloan is too gentle; Farley & Tu too slow; for a senior player and 'leader' Luciano way too quiet; Guler and Lawrie and Kerr ineffective and Kyle is no half-back!
PS Sloan ran 93metres

Zero from seven, dumb comments and bad selections: Why Dragons must axe Shane Flanagan

Shane Flanagan is making bad comments and selections, and it's time for he and the club's football department to go.

www.zerotackle.com

 

[since77]

Zero from seven, dumb comments and bad selections: Why Dragons must axe Shane Flanagan

Shane Flanagan is making bad comments and selections, and it's time for he and the club's football department to go.

www.zerotackle.com

Not usually a fan of zero tackle but those first few paragraphs sum up just how inept and completely predictable this team is. I was watching on the iPad in the kitchen while cooking last night and with 2 minutes or so to go before halftime I said to my wife - watch this - they will find a way to make an unforced error and hand the ball back to Souths. Souths will then score right on half time.
I was 100% certain this would happen. If a betting agency ran a bet for the Dragons conceding a try close to halftime I would bet on it every week. And of course, that's exactly what happened.
I said to my wife we need a shaman, a witch doctor and an exorcist to cast out whatever makes a bunch of 13 clowns wearing a red V do dumb shite like this every single week. You can literally set your watch to it. FMD.

 

[John moz]

He still doesn't get it Coach Flanagan has had his son playing and said he is our best half back in the club .
Damage done players aren't listening to son kyle even Atkinson doesn't buy into kyle running the shots no player is listening to kyle.

 

[Mojo]

Not usually a fan of zero tackle but those first few paragraphs sum up just how inept and completely predictable this team is. I was watching on the iPad in the kitchen while cooking last night and with 2 minutes or so to go before halftime I said to my wife - watch this - they will find a way to make an unforced error and hand the ball back to Souths. Souths will then score right on half time.
I was 100% certain this would happen. If a betting agency ran a bet for the Dragons conceding a try close to halftime I would bet on it every week. And of course, that's exactly what happened.
I said to my wife we need a shaman, a witch doctor and an exorcist to cast out whatever makes a bunch of 13 clowns wearing a red V do dumb shite like this every single week. You can literally set your watch to it. FMD.

Sounds like you might actually be the voodoo spirit. Maybe you should have been boiling a bunny. Try stuffing a chook on Anzac Day. Let’s see what happens.

 

[Dragonssupporter]

Zero from seven, dumb comments and bad selections: Why Dragons must axe Shane Flanagan

Shane Flanagan is making bad comments and selections, and it's time for he and the club's football department to go.

www.zerotackle.com

That article sums it up perfectly. Hopefully someone from Dragons hierarchy reads it and takes notice. It seems everyone outside the club can see whats wrong, the spectators and supporters can see it, but somehow the club cant. I wish we could all mail the article to the Board

 

[jeffdragon]

Look at us we get flogged at home and you'd think we'd bounce back in our next gsmes

Ot look at the Eels so many injuries and flog the dogs.
The board players and coach are a bunch of flogs.

 

[Lovemedragons]

Holmes hasnt been good for a while but the South’s game was on another level of inept. Many missed tackles or absences in defence, zero impact in attack. He was so poor you’d hate to think it was a dummy spit done on purpose in response to not being named captain prior to the late injury enforced change.
Why wouldn’t he have been assigned captaincy anyway? surely he was the most senior player playing, an origin player no less.