Lachlan Maranta joins the Dragons in 2019

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Garrick didn't put a foot wrong yesterday and his goal kicking was immaculate.

Having said that, I'm still of the view that this was one of the few retention decisions SGI got right. He is safe but lacks impact. For mine, the really good backline work was being done inside of him. I can't think of one St George backline player who can claim to have bettered his Manly opponent.

On the other hand , I'm on the record as labelling Maranta as one of the worst recruits SGI has made. Unwanted by the Broncos, labelled by Greg Martin of the Reds as the worst recruit Queensland Rugby has made in 20 years, what on earth did Millward see in him?

Sure enough yesterday, he was smashed when he ran in attack and was swatted off by Suli when defending. Manly is a big physical team and Pereira should have been given a run in the centres. It's called thinking outside the square Mary.

Watching the Hong Kong street demos, I'm thinking it might take something like that and a ritual burning of memberships to get the Board to sack this imbecile.

I've been poking sticks into my McIdiot voodoo doll and it ain't working.
There's enough sticks in it to sell it off as firewood!

 

[Coffs dragon]

I don't reckon Mary is the most clueless coach in the history of Saints. I have him at 3rd, ahead of Steve Price and Craig Young.

I know that's not saying much.

Johnno with all due respect I believe you are giving Mary too much credit. IMO he gets a 1st as he has far far better team than both Price & Albert. They both inherited poorer rosters, whereas Mary has been given 5-6 years to destroy the team he built with quality rep players.

 

[possm]

Who is responsible for these signing decisions of Maranta, Ravalawa, Pearson etc and letting junior talent like Herbert and Garrick go?
Is it Mary, Millward or both of them.
The club is an absolute rabble at the moment. These decsions have the stench of Mary all over them.
He thinks he's Bellamy and going to find the next best thing but all he comes up with is duds. From the way i see it, it's only Millward who has brought in the decent players.

Don't be fooled by all the ducking and weaving going on at management level; our managers are not the professional people we need to run the club.

Millward was in the limelight in the pre-season announcing the signing of all the players you mentioned. The recruitment responsibility was taken off Mary and as Mary has mentioned a few times since, he is there to coach; recruitment is left to Millward to sort out.

Millward was appointed the 'Director of Pathways/Recruitment and Retention' reporting to the CEO and not to the head coach. This change was lauded by Doust at the time as being a significant change, made to ensure the decisions made in this area were not made in the aim of short term success at the expense of the long term, by the coaching staff. A direct inference to the state of the squad after Bennett had won a competition and then departed to coach at Newcastle.

I am more persuaded by the old boys club factional theory where by Craig Young and Bob Millward came to agreements regarding key appointments to management positions at SGI.

I've been told by a person I trust that all such deals have now been consummated and the only problem SGI faces now is those who want to extend or hold onto such arrangements.

Make no mistake, Ian Millward was appointed to his current position because of interventions and deals argreed between his father Bob and Craig Young, not the result of a competitive recruitment process. Same goes for Mary and Doust at the time. During protracted negotiations between WIN and St George Leagues Club, the main sticking point was the honouring of deals already agreed to by these two factions, the appointment of Gordon as Chairman of the Board, Craig Young as a member of the SGI Baord, Johnstone as CEO of SGI and of course Doust to retain his position as CEO of St George Leagues Club.

This circumstance is what drives me to absolutely desire a clean out of management at SGI and St George Leagues Club.

 

[possm]

Johnno with all due respect I believe you are giving Mary too much credit. IMO he gets a 1st as he has far far better team than both Price & Albert. They both inherited poorer rosters, whereas Mary has been given 5-6 years to destroy the team he built with quality rep players.

Letting go Garrick, Herbert, Macdonald, Ah Mau is not in itself a bad thing. It is who was recruited in their place that is the problem with the exception of K Sims for Ah Mau. The replacement of retired Nightingale with a no name player highlights the point I'm trying to make.

Most on here are able to see that with the loss of backline players Dugan, Nightingale and Macdonald who were replaced by Dufty, Pearson, Ravalawa would have resulted in a substantial net gain salary wise to SGI. The question is where was that money spent and why wasn't a like for like recruitment policy adopted for backline players?

 

[redandwhite4evr]

You cant keep em all Possm...but apart from Bird & Morris (monetary reasons) who have we let go that come back to bite us that we have developed.
Whilst I think some of our fringe / depth signings could be better I think on balance we have let the right players go over the past 3 years.

Admittedly I am going back more than three years, but I would argue that SGI didn't get the best out of Matt Prior and he has played much better football with Cronulla. Also, as discussed at length in an earlier post, around the same time we gave a life sentence to an extremely promising 19 yo kid (Addin Fonua Blake) who made one admittedly bad mistake but was promptly given a second chance by Manly and hasn't looked back. He was a handful for us on Sunday.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Johnno with all due respect I believe you are giving Mary too much credit. IMO he gets a 1st as he has far far better team than both Price & Albert. They both inherited poorer rosters, whereas Mary has been given 5-6 years to destroy the team he built with quality rep players.

I grant you it's difficult to compare coaches and teams from different times. I am just a fan looking in from the outside so there is also a fair bit of conjecture on my part. But my reasoning is as follows.

Albert's sides weren't that bad. He had Brad Mackay, Fullerton Smith, Scott Gourley, Graeme Wynn was still playing from memory in the forwards. Mark Coyne/Brian Johnstone/Ricky Walford/Michael Beattie in the backs. Steve Linnane in the halves. Not a world shattering squad but plenty of rep players in that lot, and I always felt a good coach would have got a lot more out of them. At the time it seemed abundantly clear that the squad was going absolutely nowhere with Albert in charge.

There's no doubt Steve Price inherited a squad on its way down. But then he managed to alienate what good players he had like Soward and Weyman. His reaction to poor team performances was to buy whatever marquis players came onto the market like Benji and Dugan, both of whom he soon had playing as bad as everyone else. To watch him declare at the presser after a loss that he didn't know what went wrong and the team was training well, was absolutely cringeworthy.

In any case Mary remains the only one of that lot that has got the team to the finals. By default he is only third worst.

 

[Coffs dragon]

I grant you it's difficult to compare coaches and teams from different times. I am just a fan looking in from the outside so there is also a fair bit of conjecture on my part. But my reasoning is as follows.

Albert's sides weren't that bad. He had Brad Mackay, Fullerton Smith, Scott Gourley, Graeme Wynn was still playing from memory in the forwards. Mark Coyne/Brian Johnstone/Ricky Walford/Michael Beattie in the backs. Steve Linnane in the halves. Not a world shattering squad but plenty of rep players in that lot, and I always felt a good coach would have got a lot more out of them. At the time it seemed abundantly clear that the squad was going absolutely nowhere with Albert in charge.

There's no doubt Steve Price inherited a squad on its way down. But then he managed to alienate what good players he had like Soward and Weyman. His reaction to poor team performances was to buy whatever marquis players came onto the market like Benji and Dugan, both of whom he soon had playing as bad as everyone else. To watch him declare at the presser after a loss that he didn't know what went wrong and the team was training well, was absolutely cringeworthy.

In any case Mary remains the only one of that lot that has got the team to the finals. By default he is only third worst.

Fair enough Johnno, but I do believe that we had some of the worst signings during the Price era, made by Craig Young as recruitment manager. Bronson Harrison, Josh Miller, Dylan Farrell, Daniel Vidot, Nick Emmett, Denman Kemp, Atela Vea, Bronx Goodwin, Gerard Beale, Josh Drinkwater, Harry Siejka, Matt Groat, Josh Ailaomai
There's some mighty duds in that crop that Pricey was gifted by Albert.
Can you imagine the excuses and whinging that Mary McDeflector would come up with if was given that lot by his mate Basil Millward.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Fair enough Johnno, but I do believe that we had some of the worst signings during the Price era, made by Craig Young as recruitment manager. Bronson Harrison, Josh Miller, Dylan Farrell, Daniel Vidot, Nick Emmett, Denman Kemp, Atela Vea, Bronx Goodwin, Gerard Beale, Josh Drinkwater, Harry Siejka, Matt Groat, Josh Ailaomai
There's some mighty duds in that crop that Pricey was gifted by Albert.
Can you imagine the excuses and whinging that Mary McDeflector would come up with if was given that lot by his mate Basil Millward.

When you put it like that its a wonder Pricey did as well as he did. Quality bunch of signings that. What the hell was Albert thinking?

 

[Coffs dragon]

When you put it like that its a wonder Pricey did as well as he did. Quality bunch of signings that. What the hell was Albert thinking?

Poor Pricey was gifted a huge quantity of shit signings plus had to deal with Mary as his assistant trying to backstab and take his position. Plus have no say in recruitment whilst Albert and Doust ran that.
No wonder the port bugger was never a NRL head coach again and yet he has 2 premiership rings as an assistant (2 more than Mary BTW)
IMO Price was a puppet on a string with idiots controlling the robe. In the end they hung him. Won't happen to Mary as he's well embedded in the inner circle of Nepotism!

 

[possm]

Fair enough Johnno, but I do believe that we had some of the worst signings during the Price era, made by Craig Young as recruitment manager. Bronson Harrison, Josh Miller, Dylan Farrell, Daniel Vidot, Nick Emmett, Denman Kemp, Atela Vea, Bronx Goodwin, Gerard Beale, Josh Drinkwater, Harry Siejka, Matt Groat, Josh Ailaomai
There's some mighty duds in that crop that Pricey was gifted by Albert.
Can you imagine the excuses and whinging that Mary McDeflector would come up with if was given that lot by his mate Basil Millward.

To add to the problem, the recruitment officer at the time was Craig Young who instead of being tossed out, is now a member fo the SGI Board. This says it all; club politics over the best interest of the Club.

 

[Dragon FLY]

To add to the problem, the recruitment officer at the time was Craig Young who instead of being tossed out, is now a member fo the SGI Board. This says it all; club politics over the best interest of the Club.

You know its a matter of time before they loose the major sponsor St George Bank
Then you will see a major shake up.
All the old players turned SGI Board members have no clue about the youth of today.
Just look at the good players let go when they where in the lower grades.

 

[possm]

You know its a matter of time before they loose the major sponsor St George Bank
Then you will see a major shake up.
All the old players turned SGI Board members have no clue about the youth of today.
Just look at the good players let go when they where in the lower grades.

Yes and so all we would need is for some young social media buff to run a campaign asking SGI fans and NRL fans in general to stop watching WIN TV.

Part of the campaign would be to have 'stop watching WIN TV' as the bottom line of posts and tweets.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Poor Pricey was gifted a huge quantity of shit signings plus had to deal with Mary as his assistant trying to backstab and take his position. Plus have no say in recruitment whilst Albert and Doust ran that.
No wonder the port bugger was never a NRL head coach again and yet he has 2 premiership rings as an assistant (2 more than Mary BTW)
IMO Price was a puppet on a string with idiots controlling the robe. In the end they hung him. Won't happen to Mary as he's well embedded in the inner circle of Nepotism!

Mary head and shoulders the worst.
The biggest flaw in this comparison is the period of time that McGregor has been given to get results versus the others.

 

[muzby]

Yes and so all we would need is for some young social media buff to run a campaign asking SGI fans and NRL fans in general to stop watching WIN TV.

Part of the campaign would be to have 'stop watching WIN TV' as the bottom line of posts and tweets.

Agree.. A written protest would be good.


Stop visiting St George Leagues Club.

 

[Old Timer]

Fair enough Johnno, but I do believe that we had some of the worst signings during the Price era, made by Craig Young as recruitment manager. Bronson Harrison, Josh Miller, Dylan Farrell, Daniel Vidot, Nick Emmett, Denman Kemp, Atela Vea, Bronx Goodwin, Gerard Beale, Josh Drinkwater, Harry Siejka, Matt Groat, Josh Ailaomai
There's some mighty duds in that crop that Pricey was gifted by Albert.
Can you imagine the excuses and whinging that Mary McDeflector would come up with if was given that lot by his mate Basil Millward.

Your post caused me untold heartache and pain.
Hard to believe that was ever allowed and no doubt there are some other "big fish' who have slipped through your catching net.

 

[merahputih]

You know its a matter of time before they loose the major sponsor St George Bank
Then you will see a major shake up.
All the old players turned SGI Board members have no clue about the youth of today.
Just look at the good players let go when they where in the lower grades.

You raise a good point there DF. The power of sponsors wanting bang for their buck was illustrated by Telstra pressuring the NRL to introduce the no fault rule in response to adverse reactions from fans over player behavior and a string of scandals. As our brand slides further into mediocrity our major sponsors will be asking hard questions of the board.

 

[Coffs dragon]

You raise a good point there DF. The power of sponsors wanting bang for their buck was illustrated by Telstra pressuring the NRL to introduce the no fault rule in response to adverse reactions from fans over player behavior and a string of scandals. As our brand slides further into mediocrity our major sponsors will be asking hard questions of the board.

If the Dragons were to lose any sponsors they have plenty awaiting in the wings that typifies the management & coaching structure

 

[muzby]

You raise a good point there DF. The power of sponsors wanting bang for their buck was illustrated by Telstra pressuring the NRL to introduce the no fault rule in response to adverse reactions from fans over player behavior and a string of scandals. As our brand slides further into mediocrity our major sponsors will be asking hard questions of the board.

Jeez man, that’s a pretty long bow to draw to say that our performance on the field is anywhere near as significant as stamping out bad behaviour for the whole code..

 

[merahputih]

Jeez man, that’s a pretty long bow to draw to say that our performance on the field is anywhere near as significant as stamping out bad behaviour for the whole code..

I wasn't suggesting a comparison between those two issues, rather I was highlighting the potential power of sponsors to bring pressure on businesses or sporting bodies,using their advertising dollars as leverage if for any reason they are dissatisfied with their actions or, in this case the team performance which directly influences the teams value to their brand.

 

[muzby]

I wasn't suggesting a comparison between those two issues, rather I was highlighting the potential power of sponsors to bring pressure on businesses or sporting bodies,using their advertising dollars as leverage if for any reason they are dissatisfied with their actions or, in this case the team performance which directly influences the teams value to their brand.

So why would Telstra want “bang for their buck” through the no-fault rule?


Regarding sponsors putting pressure on clubs.. Teams perform badly, every week 50% of them lose.