Manly in the gong.

[St Tangles]

Blaze T made just as many if not more defensive errors then Sloane did on the weekend.

Blaze had a fair debut but he was far from perfect.

We watch and mark our players harder than the opposition.

If Sloane got to debut in a winning team there would be less scrutiny on him.

 

[Parko1310]

Manly are set to bring Tof Sipley onto their bench so they will have another recognised prop. Corey Waddell or Bullemor will reportedly drop out.

 

[TheRev]

I just had a rant about Blaize in the other forum, 19yr old kid who before this year was back in jersey flegg.. so hes only 12mths in front of Rumble and co.. versus Lomax whos 24.5yrs old, 7th first grade season, body hardened, fitness and wrestlie strength unmatched.. hes just about in his prime.

However Blaize could be the longterm 1 or 6 for us... his highlights are impressive and his toughness was on show on the weekend.. I still dont love the idea.. and the price difference between them would be immense.. but I can sort of see it... the only thing is Lomax is a big enough scalp to get us a proper Prop I reckon.. so its a big call.

I just wish some of our babies were good enough to jump 2 grades and smash 1st grade..

 

[Crush]

For me, this is Sloan’s last chance this week.
He needs to be better in defence. Not grounding that ball in goal last week is yet ANOTHER example of how he is not up to first grade. Yep, he’s great in open space, yep he backs up well. But he’s a liability in defence and makes too many stupid decisions and errors.
If he has another game where he single handily costs us tries, I’d be moving Lomax to fullback and dropping Sloan back to reserves for a couple of months.

 

[Spazer]

I thought sloan so far has been our biggest improver. Goal line defence has improved, support is a bit better and he is getting more involved. Could have had another hattrick last week.

But I agree he still has dumb moments that he needs to be better in.

 

[Crush]

I thought sloan so far has been our biggest improver. Goal line defence has improved, support is a bit better and he is getting more involved. Could have had another hattrick last week.

But I agree he still has dumb moments that he needs to be better in.

Last week, second try, cows score under the posts as Tyrell is just walking around out of position. Third try, he fails to ground it, they score under posts. Fourth try, Tyrell gets out jumped, his feet barely leave the ground, they score.
Townsends try, somehow two forwards aren’t able to tackle a halfback but instead of showing desperation and trying to stop Townsend from getting the ball down, he just watches him score.

He may be improving on last year, but he’s still one of the most fragile, if not the most fragile fullback in the comp for errors, missed tackles and brain explosions.

 

[Spazer]

Last week, second try, cows score under the posts as Tyrell is just walking around out of position. Third try, he fails to ground it, they score under posts. Fourth try, Tyrell gets out jumped, his feet barely leave the ground, they score.
Townsends try, somehow two forwards aren’t able to tackle a halfback but instead of showing desperation and trying to stop Townsend from getting the ball down, he just watches him score.

He may be improving on last year, but he’s still one of the most fragile, if not the most fragile fullback in the comp for errors, missed tackles and brain explosions.

Second try he was defending in the line, that's where fullbacks defend in the modern game and you get an extra man, he can't be standing behind the line doing nothing in the dead ball area that early in the set. Fourth try he lost to feldt and nanai in the air? Those two have been doing that successfully for a few years.

The whole team has been bad defensively you can go through our entire side the same way you did with sloan. He certainly has a lot to improve on defensively and I agree with you there, but no way should he be in ressies. Our attack is showing potential with sloans higher involvement, dropping him to ressies is not the move right now.

 

[TheRev]

I am one of Sloan's long-term critics, and I do feel he is one of the only players in the squad that is getting just a little bit better each week.. he's getting less hesitant with his physicality.. and really our only chance to win games is having 'anyone' sort of quick backing up our explosive ball runners.

I still would put Sloan's chance of long-term success at around 30%, I don't think he has the physicality after a few years of development... that I see in numerous other 19yr old kids on Day 1.. but imo you have to acknowledge that there is no-one else in our systems currently who can do better, and we need someone to support our forwards.. and much prefer they can also run fast in doing it so they can go the length.. so I am just praying that I've under-estimated him... and he can keep getting better each week..

If its not Sloan it's probably Matt Feagai.. and he will bring some positive attributes but nowhere near the support game, nor can he turn quickly.. nor has he really trained with 1st grade, so I hate that Flanno has so few choices.. but this is the situation he finds himself.. well we all find ourselves..

 

[This Year?]

Last week, second try, cows score under the posts as Tyrell is just walking around out of position. Third try, he fails to ground it, they score under posts. Fourth try, Tyrell gets out jumped, his feet barely leave the ground, they score.
Townsends try, somehow two forwards aren’t able to tackle a halfback but instead of showing desperation and trying to stop Townsend from getting the ball down, he just watches him score.

He may be improving on last year, but he’s still one of the most fragile, if not the most fragile fullback in the comp for errors, missed tackles and brain explosions.

That one made me fly into a rage that Bellamy would have been proud of. I can't believe he just watched it. Any other fullback would have been trying to wrap the ball up and get between it and the ground.

We have to show more in defence this time. Any small improvement I'd take. We have to find ways to slow the opposition down. If I see Manly go the length in a set from just scoots and/or one outs I will go absolutelty apeshit.

 

[Draginzaaar]

Second try he was defending in the line, that's where fullbacks defend in the modern game and you get an extra man, he can't be standing behind the line doing nothing in the dead ball area that early in the set. Fourth try he lost to feldt and nanai in the air? Those two have been doing that successfully for a few years.

The whole team has been bad defensively you can go through our entire side the same way you did with sloan. He certainly has a lot to improve on defensively and I agree with you there, but no way should he be in ressies. Our attack is showing potential with sloans higher involvement, dropping him to ressies is not the move right now.

Slone is 6'3", he should jumping as high as Ronaldo.

 

[Dragon David]

Slone is 6'3", he should jumping as high as Ronaldo.

The profile of Tyrell Sloan shows that he is just over 6 feet tall (6.07 feet in fact). Ronaldo is 6 feet and 2 inches. Height does not always mean being able to jump higher, but being able to reach higher helps.

Sloan is not a high jumping fullback. The Dragons tend to have Lomax take the high jumps and he is the same height as Ronaldo.

 

[Crush]

The profile of Tyrell Sloan shows that he is just over 6 feet tall (6.07 feet in fact). Ronaldo is 6 feet and 2 inches. Height does not always mean being able to jump higher, but being able to reach higher helps.

Sloan is not a high jumping fullback. The Dragons tend to have Lomax take the high jumps and he is the same height as Ronaldo.

Maybe Lomax should just be the fullback until we go to market for one?
I’d say by round 1 next year we will have a new fullback at dragons. Mind you, we will probably have a very different looking backline although next year.

 

[Dragon the chain]

...
I still would put Sloan's chance of long-term success at around 30%, I don't think he has the physicality after a few years of development..

Sloan's chance of long-term success is an interesting question. I can't put a number to it. But let's say it is a 30% chance that he becomes a reliable all round fullback. If he does manage to, he will be an elite player. Probably SOO and Dally M level. However, if he does not become that reliable player, he will be a liability. So Sloan's either going to be a great player or a poor player. With him there is no in between.

I do think he has improved his physicality the last couple of seasons. I think he just needs to demand more of himself defensively.

...there is no-one else in our systems currently...

I thought they let Treigh Stewart go prematurely. Like Sloan, he was very rocks and diamonds, but he had great potential.

 

[steerlerbab]

I think Sloan should be a winger at the moment. He is electric in attack but not so good in defense. Otherwise, he will end up being Dufty mark 2 and end up in super league. Maybe give Lomax a go at FB unless Flanno has seen something in training and does not want to try. Anyway, next year we should also get Ramsey and Allan back.

The problem with Sloan, is the problem with our pathways and mainly their defense. The last 2 batches have produced Lomax and Sloan only. Let's look at some examples:

- Bud Sullivan: Currently a replacement hooker at tigers - Sezer in front of him and with Luai coming next year he maybe ressies. Why is that? Defense. Blocker Roach called it out.
- Amone: Got deregistered. Defense was also a problem.
- Fegai brothers: Tried at FG. Terrible defense. Some sparkle in attack.
- Dufty: Somewhere in super league. Electric in attack. But defense was an issue.

- Saab and Garrick - Manly identified them early and took them and possibly corrected their shortcomings.

It looks to me our pathways is not teaching correct defensive patterns to youngsters.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

That one made me fly into a rage that Bellamy would have been proud of. I can't believe he just watched it. Any other fullback would have been trying to wrap the ball up and get between it and the ground.

We have to show more in defence this time. Any small improvement I'd take. We have to find ways to slow the opposition down. If I see Manly go the length in a set from just scoots and/or one outs I will go absolutelty apeshit.

Yes unfortunately for Sloan he has a very casual approach to every thing he does (It's evident in his facial expressions and body language) ....he's very young and inexperienced and there's been a marked improvement this year but he needs to show some more urgency on the field....as for our defence well like you don't get me started.....was watching the Panthers last night their defensive efforts show how it should be done...rock solid, hunt in packs and their energy levels are second to none.....unfortunately we are poles apart with our stamina and committment in that area....on a footnote to tomorrow evening I hope we give Garrick a touch up or two (legally of course) that bloke irritates the shit out of me.....and I'll throw DCE in the mix as well

 

[TheRev]

I thought they let Treigh Stewart go prematurely. Like Sloan, he was very rocks and diamonds, but he had great potential.

Stewart was the gun fullback coming through, definitely far more dangerous with ball in hand than Sloan, but very paniccy in defence.. tbh I dont think either kid will make it in the NRL.. I just feel like we can do better.. they seemed to have 2-3 young fullbacks in that storm nsw cup team the other day that would be potential first graders for us... I just think we can do better, but its gonna take time to fix that cup backline... and fix the 1st grade backline also.

Allan was our fullback and wing depth.. his injury really hurts our chances.. if we were to swap Lomax for Blaize maybe we have our fullback.. but we lose our best back.. so what do you do.. not sure if its strengthening us..

The only kid in the system I feel could be the next one up is Benny Rumble, 4 tries and 2 try assists in his first game back after his illness, hes a total gun but hes still young and slight.. im not sure he could be rushed.. like I think hes gonna play NSW Cup at some point this year, maybe even in a few weeks if they promote an SG Ball kid into that JF team... but the risk of having kids in NSW Cup, is they are then expected to be 1st grade cover.. and hes probably nowhere near that level.. not to mention there is no contract etc.

One thing I do think we will need to do soon is have a real think about our young backs and lock some of them down.. we have 'most' of the good forwards sorted.. most.. but the backs feel like its almost been ignored..

The thing is.. the really good ones seem to be pushing first grade by 19yrs old at other clubs, even though they would ideally spend a year in JF and 2yrs in NSW Cup.. and come thru fully prepped.. but its very hard for us to hold on that long... because they kind of need to be in our 30+6 or someone else will pinch them.. but you cant have half your roster in 19yr olds.. they have to be able to play 1st grade in an injury crisis.

 

[Parko1310]

Stewart was the gun fullback coming through, definitely far more dangerous with ball in hand than Sloan, but very paniccy in defence.. tbh I dont think either kid will make it in the NRL.. I just feel like we can do better.. they seemed to have 2-3 young fullbacks in that storm nsw cup team the other day that would be potential first graders for us... I just think we can do better, but its gonna take time to fix that cup backline... and fix the 1st grade backline also.

Allan was our fullback and wing depth.. his injury really hurts our chances.. if we were to swap Lomax for Blaize maybe we have our fullback.. but we lose our best back.. so what do you do.. not sure if its strengthening us..

The only kid in the system I feel could be the next one up is Benny Rumble, 4 tries and 2 try assists in his first game back after his illness, hes a total gun but hes still young and slight.. im not sure he could be rushed.. like I think hes gonna play NSW Cup at some point this year, maybe even in a few weeks if they promote an SG Ball kid into that JF team... but the risk of having kids in NSW Cup, is they are then expected to be 1st grade cover.. and hes probably nowhere near that level.. not to mention there is no contract etc.

One thing I do think we will need to do soon is have a real think about our young backs and lock some of them down.. we have 'most' of the good forwards sorted.. most.. but the backs feel like its almost been ignored..

The thing is.. the really good ones seem to be pushing first grade by 19yrs old at other clubs, even though they would ideally spend a year in JF and 2yrs in NSW Cup.. and come thru fully prepped.. but its very hard for us to hold on that long... because they kind of need to be in our 30+6 or someone else will pinch them.. but you cant have half your roster in 19yr olds.. they have to be able to play 1st grade in an injury crisis.

Hopefully the club don't think our young forwards are sorted. They are certainly extremely talented, but they need to develop them properly. They are no where near the finished product. I.e. in the admittedly limited footage I've seen, Loko doesn't seem to get heavily involved, he likes to sit back and watch and will sometimes seem to wait 2-3 sets before taking a carry. I thought I saw a comment from someone recently that he did this a couple of weeks ago, which if correct means he hasn’t improved much on this observation. He’s damaging when he does run, so he just needs to get more involved. Hopefully it’s not a fear of contact issue. Halangahu looks good, although has a few errors from what I can tell. Still very young though, but these are the things the club needs to get onto now thag they haven’t in the past. They can’t afford to wait until they debut them, it’s too late. Obviously they’ll still have development to do at this time, but the key shortcomings of their game should be well on the way to being sorted out. Finau Latu looks the best to me out of these three so far, great talent

 

[TheRev]

Hopefully the club don't think our young forwards are sorted. They are certainly extremely talented, but they need to develop them properly. They are no where near the finished product. I.e. in the admittedly limited footage I've seen, Loko doesn't seem to get heavily involved, he likes to sit back and watch and will sometimes seem to wait 2-3 sets before taking a carry. I thought I saw a comment from someone recently that he did this a couple of weeks ago, which if correct means he hasn’t improved much on this observation. He’s damaging when he does run, so he just needs to get more involved. Hopefully it’s not a fear of contact issue. Halangahu looks good, although has a few errors from what I can tell. Still very young though, but these are the things the club needs to get onto now thag they haven’t in the past. They can’t afford to wait until they debut them, it’s too late. Obviously they’ll still have development to do at this time, but the key shortcomings of their game should be well on the way to being sorted out. Finau Latu looks the best to me out of these three so far, great talent

Oh yes 100% a long way to go with those kids... I just meant their contracts... most of the forwards are already locked into Top 30 and/or Development Contracts, either this year or next... they need a nice long season now in JF or Cup and get the coaches to work on them.

Every upcoming contract I can see on zero tackle is a Prop/Lock/2nd Rower.. thats what my concern is.. im sure there is work going on behind the scenes, but we dont appear to have any slots allocated for young backline or hookers currently.. we need to fix that up... we cant have too many rookies in our squad.. but there must be atleast a couple they have in mind to lock in.. even if its for 2026..

 

[BLM01]

Maybe Lomax should just be the fullback until we go to market for one?
I’d say by round 1 next year we will have a new fullback at dragons. Mind you, we will probably have a very different looking backline although next year.

I disagree Flanno rates Sloan and will work damn hard on his resilience and defense etc as he is young and he is a keeper for mine. He also needs to work on his contact in attack which is improving. Not all the better fullbacks were huge defensively when young and in early days. Tedesco and Papenhauzen were good examples. They get time to develop and Sloan is in that category. But by next year he will have to be well improved. He is showing signs this year with restricted pre-season

 

[BLM01]

Yes unfortunately for Sloan he has a very casual approach to every thing he does (It's evident in his facial expressions and body language) ....he's very young and inexperienced and there's been a marked improvement this year but he needs to show some more urgency on the field....as for our defence well like you don't get me started.....was watching the Panthers last night their defensive efforts show how it should be done...rock solid, hunt in packs and their energy levels are second to none.....unfortunately we are poles apart with our stamina and committment in that area....on a footnote to tomorrow evening I hope we give Garrick a touch up or two (legally of course) that bloke irritates the shit out of me.....and I'll throw DCE in the mix as well

So do I as I will be in my seat watching and just hoping it is reasonable weather and does not rain tries against