Manly in the gong.

[SGMax]

My take on the game....
* Team is much stronger with JDB coming off the bench...at least till we get another good prop.

* Whatever Lawrie did in the off season to change his body shape he has undone. He looks too heavy and cumbersome...a plodder.
We still need him but he should be bench prop at best once the re-build is done.

* We defended well but stopped moving up.
We won't be able to compete with the better teams or any inform team until we restrict their metres and their attacking 5th tackle plays.

* Was I the only person to query Manly's1st try? Tom had tacklers all over him and his arm touched the ground as he passed...tackle complete.

* Good game by Bird but his lack of pace cost us at least one line break / try. I sense Lomax will start to get frustrated with his service.

* Of the 6 obvious forward passes I saw from Manly, only one was pulled up while the biggest one was missed. I didn't see any from Saints...is it my bias?? I normally pick them up too.

* Luciano is playing well but is not far off getting pinged for playing the ball not facing straight.

* Kyle is so much better for the team structure than Amone who played more like a centre than a 5/8th.

 

[baggygreen man]

Frank used to be able to charge hard into the opposition and be able to off load for second phase play. He hasn't off loaded much recently.

Worth keeping back them Not now as he lacks the heart needed to wear the RedV. Identical to Kerr. Send him back to Qld.

 

[kit66]

It was a fantastic defensive effort, no doubt, but we really don’t need to make it that difficult for ourselves. Our general kicking has to be the worst in the comp, we really need Flanagan to take more kicking responsibility, we should be aiming to kick long and low into the corners when kicking from our half. Hunts midfield bombs should be banned, we are handing the ball over near halfway.
When close to the opposition line, we need a result from our kick; a try or a repeat set. I’d like to see the stats, we would have to be the worst team at forcing repeat sets of six from the opposition.
Our very poor kicking game is giving the opposition too much ball in our own half. It really needs to be fixed.

Hunt is a great kicker except when he's under pressure to get it away quick before he gets smashed - that's on our forwards for not taking charge on the 4th and 5th to get a quick play the ball to give Hunt or Kyle some room and time to put in a decent kick. We get dominated on the 5th tackle which gives the opposition time to get back the 10 and launch at us with great line speed to worry Hunt.
As for getting repeat sets, aint gonna happen when you're kicking from halfway after another poor set from our ineffective props. You need to be down on their 30 at least, to make it a competition for the ball near or over their line because no-one in our team bar Sloan will get anywhere near it chasing a kick from halfway.

Also, wouldn't hurt Liddle to kick from dummy half occasionally to take pressure off Hunt, he never kicks, it used to be a Hookers' job to help out often with kicks. Dying art.

 

[baggygreen man]

He hasn’t let the team down

I am waiting for a repeat of that master class Flanno gave us in the last trial game when his quick distribution sent our left edge on a rampage. Yes the opposition was the wooden spooners, but reckon even a top tier side could not have stopped us that day.

 

[Illusion]

Gutsy win yesterday despite the dropsies.....we still need to improve our dummy half darts and supporting the ball carrier....I guess there's a lot to fix in attack atm for Flanno as he's primarily a defensive type of coach ......but it's an area that needs addressing sooner rather than later if we're to advance further with our skill set

You know old mate I think this whole thing , lapses in games one week they play ok then the next a shocker for me it's all a mental thing ......... The players have been scared playing Dragons Footy ......... Flanno has to slowly get into their head's which is happening at a slow rate , that toughness to hold on if things don't go their way and be there with a chance when things turn .............

 

[baggygreen man]

need to improve our dummy half darts and supporting the ball carrier

The Liddle and Sloan show. Wanna see far more of this!

 

[justadragon]

Gutsy win yesterday despite the dropsies.....we still need to improve our dummy half darts and supporting the ball carrier....I guess there's a lot to fix in attack atm for Flanno as he's primarily a defensive type of coach ......but it's an area that needs addressing sooner rather than later if we're to advance further with our skill set

Marshke will have to learn to do that, it goes a bit quiet on that front when he is on. Give him a bit of time, the rest of his game was pretty good, mind you he is really a 6.

 

[Rocket Rod]

He loves giving away a 6 again too.

That’s because he’s so cumbersome

 

[SEAT 1A]

We went from conceding 80 points to 12, unluckily with Rav and Suli's tries.

I'll take two from four and sitting in the middle of the pack.

 

[justadragon]

Just listening to the Parra Tigers game, Tigers wont be a pushover this year.

 

[2010Dragons]

Just listening to the Parra Tigers game, Tigers wont be a pushover this year.

Tigers won't be but the titans will be wooden spooner.

 

[RedVee]

Just listening to the Parra Tigers game, Tigers wont be a pushover this year.

Certainly improved

 

[Dragon David]

Just listening to the Parra Tigers game, Tigers wont be a pushover this year.

You are right there justa.

They definitely won't be wooden spooners this year and likely to be in the top 8 which would give Benji some recognition as a worthwhile head coach. Still early days, but I can see them being a tough team to beat by all other clubs this year.

 

[Victoire]

Great resilience in defence, that was the most pleasing thing to me. Resisting those multiple repeat sets on our line was brilliant. Manly have some really potent weapons in their backline, Turbo obviously at the top of that list but they have speed across the park - Koula is lightning, Garrick fast, even Brooks & DCE are probably the quickest halves combo in the comp. The team really worked hard on them and shut them down consistently. Big props to Jack Bird for his work on Koula, and one of the best tackles of the game imo was Blake Lawrie's effort dragging Turbo down from an inside ball midway through that second half with the game still kinda in the balance. De Belin was superb coming off the bench, Hunt had a blinder as did Su'a.

I think the team is in an early phase of it's development. They earnt some confidence and belief in those Feb-March wins, but forgot or drifted away from where that belief came from. At times this happened on saturday too - where they thought they were a million bucks again and became a free-wheeling loose gunslinger, when some boring graft and set completions were required. However, as I said, early days. They have time to find that balance and build into the season, and put 80 minutes together. Thankfully they banked the deserved 2 points because we were the better side, something which didn't happen a lot last year.

 

[Draginzaaar]

Hunt is a great kicker except when he's under pressure to get it away quick before he gets smashed - that's on our forwards for not taking charge on the 4th and 5th to get a quick play the ball to give Hunt or Kyle some room and time to put in a decent kick. We get dominated on the 5th tackle which gives the opposition time to get back the 10 and launch at us with great line speed to worry Hunt.
As for getting repeat sets, aint gonna happen when you're kicking from halfway after another poor set from our ineffective props. You need to be down on their 30 at least, to make it a competition for the ball near or over their line because no-one in our team bar Sloan will get anywhere near it chasing a kick from halfway.

Also, wouldn't hurt Liddle to kick from dummy half occasionally to take pressure off Hunt, he never kicks, it used to be a Hookers' job to help out often with kicks. Dying art.

A few hookers kick from dummy half. Cheese, Mahoney, Grant to name a few.

 

[baggygreen man]

BG

REVHEARTBEAT please dennis preston. Cant get anyone to change my username. We shall have to agree to disagree re Lawrie

 

[baggygreen man]

one of the best tackles of the game imo was Blake Lawrie's effort dragging Turbo down from an inside ball midway through that second half with the game still kinda in the balance.

Sure was. Was below his best but still can pull off a vital play like that. An example of the HEART THIS GUY PLAYS WITH.
Hunt had a blinder? You blind? with respect. Flanno better imho.

 

[baggygreen man]

I know K flanno isn't a flashy player, but him holding up the ball for Sloan showed some good game awareness as a half - he's not a dud, that's for sure and he's definitely shown he can play eyes up footy.

Something Hunt the sook has never had. Why the eff did we ever buy him.

 

[baggygreen man]

At times this happened on saturday too - where they thought they were a million bucks again and became a free-wheeling loose gunslinger, when some boring graft and set completions were required.

 

[baggygreen man]

Tigers wont be a pushover this year.

Big wraps on the kid they picked in the halves, Galvin. Played for Aussie Schoolboys with our three big dudes, from memory. Other teams take a gamble on their juniors, why not us.