Negative ONLY thread

[Bring back John Fifita]

Mary would be quietly chuckling to himself with Hooks new record.

Was just about to post that…

8 losses in a row… nothing like that ever happened on Mary’s watch - approx 7 seasons.

Hook smashes it in his first season. SuperCoach…

 

[Dragon David]

Was just about to post that…

8 losses in a row… nothing like that ever happened on Mary’s watch - approx 7 seasons.

Hook smashes it in his first season. SuperCoach…

I honestly think that we would have done a lot better this year with Mary being our coach with Shane Flanagan as his assistant. Nothing could have been done about McInnes doing his ACL but under Mary, it might not have happened. All this in hindsight of course and whether or not he would have used the three young amigos at all is another thing.

Our playing squad would have been so much different to what it is now and players like Dufty and Vaughan (but not Norman) might be still with the club. For next year we could have had Shane Flanagan as the coach, but coming back to reality, we have Hook and his two amigos and some new players who just might be our answer to finishing with more wins.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

One of my biggest disappointments with this year was that our playing method barely changed from previous years. Under pressure it was still "Dragons Footy" - one pass from the ruck to a barging forward, repeat endlessly. I had hoped for a substantial change in our attack. I am not sure if it was a lack of fitness or a lack of commitment, but our defence just lacked any resilience or desire to cover their teammate’s errors. I watched our forwards last night slowly meandering back onside after an opposition kick downhill, taking 3 or 4 tackles before they could participate in the play. Doing the bare minimum they had to. I know I am depressed, but just the enthusiasm of the young players to be involved needs to rub off on the older journeymen that we have. Bring on a new year, new players, a new playing style and a new attitude (and maybe some public speaking courses for Hook- if I hear another "ummmm" or "you know" I will throw something at the TV)

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

I honestly think that we would have done a lot better this year with Mary being our coach with Shane Flanagan as his assistant. Nothing could have been done about McInnes doing his ACL but under Mary, it might not have happened. All this in hindsight of course and whether or not he would have used the three young amigos at all is another thing.

Our playing squad would have been so much different to what it is now and players like Dufty and Vaughan (but not Norman) might be still with the club. For next year we could have had Shane Flanagan as the coach, but coming back to reality, we have Hook and his two amigos and some new players who just might be our answer to finishing with more wins.

Im with you.

Effectively the club paid significant money out ($1m or close??) to get the result we have this season.

Mary may not have been the long term solution but I personally didn’t see anyone screaming out as a “must signing” to coach. If you’re gonna pay someone out, surely it’s gotta be for a huge step up… Griffin wasnt/isn’t that…

As for next season … I’ve got hope. But not confidence. Some good signings in molo n sua amongst some bog ordinary ones. And showing Sims the door (wtf)..

Will see.

But for mine we are in no way better right now than we were under Paul McGregor.

 

[denis preston]

There's some on here really giving it to Hook after one season ?? Although Webby was wise to get his 3rd year in our favour on his contract but let's support him ( strage selections but great signings ) and if we are travelling the same with no improvement after say 18 rounds next season , then I'm getting my pitchfork & burning stick with the rest of you !

 

[St Hope]

More disappointing than another Mary season not because of where we finished but the manner in which we did it.
A tepid pre-season followed by the illusion of a good start 4 from 6 with wins against the out of form Cows & Sea eagles
the Ponga less Knights who lost Pearce to a pec injury while the contest was still in the offing and a creditable 2 points against the Eels. Move forward to the BBQ that was the point supposedly the Titanic hit the iceberg but somewere before this we were flogged by the Tigers & Dogs and after which to use the cricket vernacular we never troubled the scorers.
I like most was happy to see Griffin appointed , a great winning percentage , hard taskmaster and a disciplinarian non of these seems to have happened yet. Our style of play doesn't appear to have changed, we've recruited so far bargains rather than potential and played players who's form is poor.
I think Griffin deserves next season to and hopefully the Nov player deadline will shed some light on the club's recruitment but if we are putting our money into an edge forward as quoted in the press our inability to make ground in rucks will still remain.
Please all tell me my pessimism is ill founded and 2022 is the season we've all been waiting for.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

OK, Your pessimism is ill founded and 2022 is the season we've all been waiting for. (Fingers crossed)

Oops wrong thread for this sort of comment. Sorry.

 

[Dragon David]

2022. Will this be a year that all things for the Dragons turn out nice and rosy for a change or will it turn out ugly and weedy?

When you look over the teams and who they have already signed/retained and if they will improve or deteriorate, my assessment would be as follows:-
Storm - Will again be in the top 4
Panthers - Will again be in the top 4
Bunnies - Will be in the top 4-8
Sea Eagles - Will be in the top 4-8
Roosters - Will be in the top 4-8
Eels - Possibly top 8
Knights - Just out of top 8
Titans - Maybe top 8
Sharks - Maybe top 8
Raiders - Just out of top 8
Dragons - Out of top 8
Warriors - Out of top 8
Tigers - Out of top 8
Broncos - Just out of top 8
Cowboys - Out of top 8
Bulldogs - Possibly top 8

So my prediction will be that either the Dragons, Warriors, Tigers and Cowboys will be destined to be wooden spooners in 2022.

 

[Belta]

2022. Will this be a year that all things for the Dragons turn out nice and rosy for a change or will it turn out ugly and weedy?

When you look over the teams and who they have already signed/retained and if they will improve or deteriorate, my assessment would be as follows:-
Storm - Will again be in the top 4
Panthers - Will again be in the top 4
Bunnies - Will be in the top 4-8
Sea Eagles - Will be in the top 4-8
Roosters - Will be in the top 4-8
Eels - Possibly top 8
Knights - Just out of top 8
Titans - Maybe top 8
Sharks - Maybe top 8
Raiders - Just out of top 8
Dragons - Out of top 8
Warriors - Out of top 8
Tigers - Out of top 8
Broncos - Just out of top 8
Cowboys - Out of top 8
Bulldogs - Possibly top 8

So my prediction will be that either the Dragons, Warriors, Tigers and Cowboys will be destined to be wooden spooners in 2022.

I’m not sure how to respond to a negative only thread, because if I disagree am I in the wrong place? Anyways, I’ll do it anyway,

firstly I’ll will say Ive personally been very average ( I’m sure I’m not alone) in predicting the middle and bottom placings this far out but I feel somewhat confident that we won’t get the spoon and somewhat hopeful that we will actually improve on this year. I say this because despite all the dramas we were only two wins from the 8. I say this believing we will get one or two more quality signings (namely in the forwards) and I say this feeling we have some good prospects that will improve our side and therefore our table position.

I can see it could be really tight but am hopeful the Knights, Raiders, Sharks and Titans don’t improve and there’s usually one higher up that falters, perhaps Manly or Parra.

Okay I’m now waiting to be hammered for posting a positive in the wrong thread.

 

[Dragon David]

I’m not sure how to respond to a negative only thread, because if I disagree am I in the wrong place? Anyways, I’ll do it anyway,

firstly I’ll will say Ive personally been very average ( I’m sure I’m not alone) in predicting the middle and bottom placings this far out but I feel somewhat confident that we won’t get the spoon and somewhat hopeful that we will actually improve on this year. I say this because despite all the dramas we were only two wins from the 8. I say this believing we will get one or two more quality signings (namely in the forwards) and I say this feeling we have some good prospects that will improve our side and therefore our table position.

I can see it could be really tight but am hopeful the Knights, Raiders, Sharks and Titans don’t improve and there’s usually one higher up that falters, perhaps Manly or Parra.

Okay I’m now waiting to be hammered for posting a positive in the wrong thread.

There is negativity in your post Belta if you are a Knights, Raiders, Sharks, Titans and maybe Manly and Parra supporter so, yes I think that you have been negative enough, with some positives for us.

The negative thing for me is seeing the Storm, Panthers, Bunnies and Roosters up there again.

I am of course hoping that we will improve significantly and just sneak into the top 8 provided none of our players suffer long term injuries, there are no secret bbq's if there are lockdowns and we have minimal suspensions after Maguire serves his at the start of the year.

 

[Belta]

There is negativity in your post Belta if you are a Knights, Raiders, Sharks, Titans and maybe Manly and Parra supporter so, yes I think that you have been negative enough, with some positives for us.

The negative thing for me is seeing the Storm, Panthers, Bunnies and Roosters up there again.

I am of course hoping that we will improve significantly and just sneak into the top 8 provided none of our players suffer long term injuries, there are no secret bbq's if there are lockdowns and we have minimal suspensions after Maguire serves his at the start of the year.

When u put it that way it does sound pretty negative. For me to say the best we can hope for is to scrape into the 8 (and that’s only if alot of if,s fall our way)

Unfortunately as the saying goes ‘it is what it is’

 

[Dragon David]

When u put it that way it does sound pretty negative. For me to say the best we can hope for is to scrape into the 8 (and that’s only if alot of if,s fall our way)

Unfortunately as the saying goes ‘it is what it is"

That's it!

 

[Wolfgang90]

Our coaches need a review. Hook hasn't coached for a number of years until this year, his assistant coaches are Elliot (attacks coach) who hasn't coached for number of years & Gentle (broncos defensive coach 2020) who oversaw the disastrous broncos team.

It was stupid to have those two coaches as Hooks assistants. We needed assistant coaches from successful system, not an out of date coach & one from a very poor system. Our defence didn't evolve all season, teams exposed us after the first month or so, they saw that all we did was play a compact defensive line & exposed it by shifting the ball wide. On our defensive 20, we either kept sliding or going backwards, this is a system issue which falls squarely on the defensive coaches.

Our attack was pedestrian at best, we had no variations in lines being run by our edge forwards & the ball would shift from one side of the field to another without making any decent go forward. We would pass way behind the advantage line rather than playing at the line, this meant it was easy for opposition teams to defend as it was predictable footy. We also had no attack from dummy half until Sullivan started playing hooker in the last few weeks, this meant we hardly targeted opposition rucks which lead to random useless props hit ups or shifting the ball wide without any go forward.

All of these things come from coaches as they implement the game plan & systems. Sure our players could've made more effective tackles but we are kidding ourselves if we think there will be any improvement next year if we continue with the same system/gameplan.

Most disappointing thing is we never developed or modified our gameplan/gamestyle to address these issues. It was the same thing over & over again until the young players actually got some game time during the last few weeks of the season.

It was like the bad old days of Mary coaching us, same thing over & over again while expecting a different result. This is what happens when you employ coaches that come from a poor system or haven't been coaching in the NRL for numerous years. I like Hook as a coach but his assistants appointments were wrong.

I hope Ryan Webb/Dragons administration have a review into the coaching & also the coaching appointment process. I think it's inexcusable selecting those 3 coaches as a coaching combination.

 

[Dragon David]

Our coaches need a review. Hook hasn't coached for a number of years until this year, his assistant coaches are Elliot (attacks coach) who hasn't coached for number of years & Gentle (broncos defensive coach 2020) who oversaw the disastrous broncos team.

It was stupid to have those two coaches as Hooks assistants. We needed assistant coaches from successful system, not an out of date coach & one from a very poor system. Our defence didn't evolve all season, teams exposed us after the first month or so, they saw that all we did was play a compact defensive line & exposed it by shifting the ball wide. On our defensive 20, we either kept sliding or going backwards, this is a system issue which falls squarely on the defensive coaches.

Our attack was pedestrian at best, we had no variations in lines being run by our edge forwards & the ball would shift from one side of the field to another without making any decent go forward. We would pass way behind the advantage line rather than playing at the line, this meant it was easy for opposition teams to defend as it was predictable footy. We also had no attack from dummy half until Sullivan started playing hooker in the last few weeks, this meant we hardly targeted opposition rucks which lead to random useless props hit ups or shifting the ball wide without any go forward.

All of these things come from coaches as they implement the game plan & systems. Sure our players could've made more effective tackles but we are kidding ourselves if we think there will be any improvement next year if we continue with the same system/gameplan.

Most disappointing thing is we never developed or modified our gameplan/gamestyle to address these issues. It was the same thing over & over again until the young players actually got some game time during the last few weeks of the season.

It was like the bad old days of Mary coaching us, same thing over & over again while expecting a different result. This is what happens when you employ coaches that come from a poor system or haven't been coaching in the NRL for numerous years. I like Hook as a coach but his assistants appointments were wrong.

I hope Ryan Webb/Dragons administration have a review into the coaching & also the coaching appointment process. I think it's inexcusable selecting those 3 coaches as a coaching combination.

I fully endorse what you have said Wolfgang90. Defence and attack was abysmal this year and this rests with Gentle and Elliott who I believe did not even go to Queensland. Even David Furner would have been better as an assistant and keeping Shane Flanagan as well.

I cannot see much improvement in our defence and attack next year if Gentle and Elliott are the assistants.