New recruits for 2023

[Dragonsteve2]

Agree with @Old Timer, we are a better squad overall with Macca and the 'influencers' moving on.
As for Kerr I never heard he was looking to move on or signed elsewhere, so I don't know where that came from.
As for our pack, our previous defensive structure was awful at best. With the addition of Woolf, hopefully some new structures will be in place, as well as a lot more effort.
I think we will surprise a few with agility rather than physicality.

Dragonslayer, Josh is the one guy I feel I know at least on a superficial level, having had several conversations with him. One chat was during the long Covid shutdown in 2020. Then he expressed an interest in returning to Redcliffe if they made into the NRL. But by early 2022 once the Dolphins were up and running Josh made it clear he wanted to stay with the Dragons. He has copped a lot of crap on this Forum especially over his handling. But I agree with you about his agility and believe he has ball skills(one of the few forwards we have who will attempt to catch a bomb). The problem has been not always choosing the right time to offload. But I did see some great offloads from him in NSW Cup. What i liked in the article was his admission of areas where he can improve. He probably senses that entering the last year of his contract he must improve to earn another. When dropped last year he was told he must be fit enough to play longer minutes. That is probably motivating him too.

Like Illusion I have wondered if he lacks the necessary mongrel because he is a genuinely nice guy. But if the Dragons are to have some success in 2023 it's blokes like Josh who must step up.

 

[Illusion]

Dragonslayer, Josh is the one guy I feel I know at least on a superficial level, having had several conversations with him. One chat was during the long Covid shutdown in 2020. Then he expressed an interest in returning to Redcliffe if they made into the NRL. But by early 2022 once the Dolphins were up and running Josh made it clear he wanted to stay with the Dragons. He has copped a lot of crap on this Forum especially over his handling. But I agree with you about his agility and believe he has ball skills(one of the few forwards we have who will attempt to catch a bomb). The problem has been not always choosing the right time to offload. But I did see some great offloads from him in NSW Cup. What i liked in the article was his admission of areas where he can improve. He probably senses that entering the last year of his contract he must improve to earn another. When dropped last year he was told he must be fit enough to play longer minutes. That is probably motivating him too.

Like Illusion I have wondered if he lacks the necessary mongrel because he is a genuinely nice guy. But if the Dragons are to have some success in 2023 it's blokes like Josh who must step up.

Well said Steve .....

 

[Crush]

All the whinging about our forwards compared to last year is fascinating

No Mc Cullough at dummy half is an advantage.

Having 2 serial offenders that were getting penalised, sin binned and sent off leave the club means we have a greater opportunity of keeping 13 on the paddock for 80 minutes is a huge advantage.

We can’t go any worse re go forward so the only way is up and a new dummy half will only but help that.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

Yeah, nah sorry.
These fluff piece articles and off-season amnesia from the fans isn’t going to work for me anymore. I’ve heard this rubbish every preseason for years.
All the hype a month ago was that big forward signings were imminent. Now it’s turned to, let’s just stick with what we have and trust the boys will improve on last year.
I’ve said it before, last year we were bad. Why are we going to be better this year? Woods is still going to suck, Kerr is still going to have hands like feet, Lawrie is still going to be a ruck infringement magnet regardless if McCulloch is there or not.
Not buying it, I’m sticking with a negative, pessimistic, dark outlook thankyou very much.

 

[Gardenia]

Yeah, nah sorry.
These fluff piece articles and off-season amnesia from the fans isn’t going to work for me anymore. I’ve heard this rubbish every preseason for years.
All the hype a month ago was that big forward signings were imminent. Now it’s turned to, let’s just stick with what we have and trust the boys will improve on last year.
I’ve said it before, last year we were bad. Why are we going to be better this year? Woods is still going to suck, Kerr is still going to have hands like feet, Lawrie is still going to be a ruck infringement magnet regardless if McCulloch is there or not.
Not buying it, I’m sticking with a negative, pessimistic, dark outlook thankyou very much.

It's absolutely criminal that we haven't made any good forward signings. All I can see available is Marty Taupau? Or is he signed already to ...... someone else?

 

[Gourley's Socks]

Dragons Sign Second-Rower

The St George Illawarra Dragons today announce the signing of former Sharks second-rower Mark Lee.

Ben Horan, GM of Football said, "Fans have been coming up to me demanding a Mark Lee signing. We want to finish as high as 9th this year so we're listening to the fans and have landed a Mark Lee forward."

Horan added, "Hook [Anthony Griffith] was unsure at first given he's quite a bit younger than our more recent signings but after a bonding session, we are were confident Mark's a good bloke - and that's more important than passing, kicking, running or tackling."

When contacted for comment, Griffith stated "Hrrmph, run, erh, <indiscernible>, f**kn', brggh, armph, tackle."

Lee joins the Dragons on a 4 year contract rumoured to be worth $3.6 million with an additional 3 year player option.

Mark Lee (rugby league) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[KiamaSaint]

I hope they give up on the "Kerr is an edge forward" experiment and start playing him in the middle. He was progressing well until that move.

 

[blacksafake]

I hope they give up on the "Kerr is an edge forward" experiment and start playing him in the middle. He was progressing well until that move.

Agree.
Middle is his go. He has enough pace & size to cause problems & can offload.

 

[True_Believer]

All the whinging about our forwards compared to last year is fascinating

No Mc Cullough at dummy half is an advantage.

Having 2 serial offenders that were getting penalised, sin binned and sent off leave the club means we have a greater opportunity of keeping 13 on the paddock for 80 minutes is a huge advantage.

We can’t go any worse re go forward so the only way is up and a new dummy half will only but help that.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

I tend to agree in part OT. I think we are heading in the right direction. I mean, as you say AM needed to be replaced. We needed some spark from DH that AM just couldn't provide anymore. We've also offloaded some players that ultimately were just taking up space. Although I think we could have retained Moose for another year, it was one of those decisions that probably doesn't have any huge impact either way. Was a big fan of Sims but I think he needed to go as it was a bit hit and miss with him week in week out.

We've retained/recruited a lot of younger players across the board so that bodes well for the future. In addition we've got a good crop of quality experienced players such as Bird, JDB, Hunt, Molo and Mbye. Woods could also be thrown into that pool although more for backup rather than first grade. Also have a great mix of experience and youth in the backs. Actually the backs look pretty good.

As I've said multiple times, I can understand peoples frustration, but I'm seeing positives in the way we are heading both with the team and off the field. I said from the start that 2 years wasn't going to be long enough for any coach to pull us out of the hole that Mary had us in. I still think we probably won't see any real improvement until 24 and 25 tbh. I certainly hope that we've got the assistants and lower grade coaching staff right because otherwise it will continue to be a struggle to be consistently competitive over the coming years.

 

[bathtime]

One of the articles I read about Cody was very disheartening. It suggested he would in all likelihood miss all of 2023 and MIGHT be back for preseason training for 2024. Not a great outlook, but we all hope everything goes Cody's way. Best of luck to you Cody.

Yes bad turn of events for Cody and us as he was our most dangerous back this year. We lose speed and defensive commitment at fullback.

 

[Gareth67]

Yeah, nah sorry.
These fluff piece articles and off-season amnesia from the fans isn’t going to work for me anymore. I’ve heard this rubbish every preseason for years.
All the hype a month ago was that big forward signings were imminent. Now it’s turned to, let’s just stick with what we have and trust the boys will improve on last year.
I’ve said it before, last year we were bad. Why are we going to be better this year? Woods is still going to suck, Kerr is still going to have hands like feet, Lawrie is still going to be a ruck infringement magnet regardless if McCulloch is there or not.
Not buying it, I’m sticking with a negative, pessimistic, dark outlook thankyou very much.

The only hope as far as new faces is concerned , is that Webb has said that they have money available ( as possum has mentioned ) once the actual salary cap for season 2023 is finalised then there COULD be other signings .

There is no doubt that the Dragon pack as is won’t have much fire power in it . So at this point we can only hope that other clubs will need to off load a couple of players that may come our way - hopefully.

As to Kerr I simply cannot see the man suddenly gaining that killer instinct that has been missing since his arrival from the Storm , unfortunately . I like the bloke , but he really must lift his game this year . He reminds me a bit of Paul Osbourne from the eighties , a big chap who just didn’t quite have the mongrel until one match he played a blinder against Canterbury-Bankstown and ripped their pack apart - never looked back from there .

Perhaps Kerr can follow suit and become a more formidable forward , preferably at prop . However he is only one part of a bigger concern and that is for Griffin to find that fine balance between having older and younger players in the team .

 

[possm]

​	Gains​	Losses​	Re-Signed​
1​	Jackson Chereb	Daniel Alvaro	Talatau Amone
2​	Josh Coric	George Burgess	Jack Bird
3​	Jacob Liddle	Poasa Faamausili	Billy Burns
4​	Nick Lui-Toso	Jackson Ford	Mathew Feagai
5​	Connor Muhleisen	Jack Gosiewski	Max Feagai
6​	Zane Musgrove	Andrew McCullough	Ben Hunt
7​		Josh McGuire	Jaiyden Hunt
8​		Tariq Sims
9​		Daniel Alvaro
10​		George Burgess

 

[jak]

The only hope as far as new faces is concerned , is that Webb said that they have money available ( as possum has mentioned ) once the actual salary cap for season 2023 is finalised then there COULD be other signings .

There is no doubt that the Dragon pack as is won’t have much fire power in it . So at this point we can only hope that other clubs will need to off load a couple of players that may come our way - hopefully.

As to Kerr I simply cannot see the man suddenly gaining that killer instinct that has been missing since his arrival from the Storm , unfortunately . I like the bloke , but he really must lift his game this year . He reminds me a bit of Paul Osbourne from the eighties , a big chap who just didn’t quite have the mongrel until one match he played a blinder against Canterbury-Bankstown and ripped their pack apart - never looked back from there .

Perhaps Kerr can follow suit and become a more formidable forward , preferably at prop . However he is only one part of a bigger concern and that is for Griffin to find that fine balance between having older and younger players in the team .

kerr is my pick as the big improver this year, in fact im willing to bet you a new lawn mower when he doe's so.

 

[jak]

​	Gains​	Losses​	Re-Signed​
1​	Jackson Chereb	Daniel Alvaro	Talatau Amone
2​	Josh Coric	George Burgess	Jack Bird
3​	Jacob Liddle	Poasa Faamausili	Billy Burns
4​	Nick Lui-Toso	Jackson Ford	Mathew Feagai
5​	Connor Muhleisen	Jack Gosiewski	Max Feagai
6​	Zane Musgrove	Andrew McCullough	Ben Hunt
7​		Josh McGuire	Jaiyden Hunt
8​		Tariq Sims
9​		Daniel Alvaro
10​		George Burgess

are you saying daniel alvaro was so bad we had to get rid of him twice?

 

[BLM01]

are you saying daniel alvaro was so bad we had to get rid of him twicea

are you saying daniel alvaro was so bad we had to get rid of him twice?

And Burgess !
Maybe he meant his twin

 

[brissiedragon]

kerr is my pick as the big improver this year, in fact im willing to bet you a new lawn mower he doe's so.

No curbing Josh's enthusiasm as new era dawns at Dragons

Josh Kerr has revealed his side is ready to turn around what has mounted to an “embarrassing” few years at the Red V.

www.nrl.com

And I recall the exact same interview with him this time last year and we know how that all turned out.

 

[denis preston]

Best pre season ever.

Interesting comments that sound like it came from the coaching changes.
Skills have gone through the roof
Overhaul of team hierarcly
Dissolving any age disparities.

Also how was Kerr allowed to “ muck up as a man , on & off the field ?
Head & Gentle deserved to go.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

No curbing Josh's enthusiasm as new era dawns at Dragons

Josh Kerr has revealed his side is ready to turn around what has mounted to an “embarrassing” few years at the Red V.

www.nrl.com

And I recall the exact same interview with him this time last year and we know how that all turned out.

I am ever an optimist at this time of year. Let's hope Kerr means it this time!

 

[thebigredv]

Dragons Sign Second-Rower

The St George Illawarra Dragons today announce the signing of former Sharks second-rower Mark Lee.

Ben Horan, GM of Football said, "Fans have been coming up to me demanding a Mark Lee signing. We want to finish as high as 9th this year so we're listening to the fans and have landed a Mark Lee forward."

Horan added, "Hook [Anthony Griffith] was unsure at first given he's quite a bit younger than our more recent signings but after a bonding session, we are were confident Mark's a good bloke - and that's more important than passing, kicking, running or tackling."

When contacted for comment, Griffith stated "Hrrmph, run, erh, <indiscernible>, f**kn', brggh, armph, tackle."

Lee joins the Dragons on a 4 year contract rumoured to be worth $3.6 million with an additional 3 year player option.

Mark Lee (rugby league) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Don't know about you fellas buy I actually rate the signing of Lee. We got him particularly cheap by our standards and we need someone who can mentor the younger blokes like Woods. Liddle, Musgrove, and a forward from the 80s...starting to get pumped for season '23!

 

[Walpole]

are you saying daniel alvaro was so bad we had to get rid of him twice?

Best to be sure.

 

[Dragon David]

Don't know about you fellas buy I actually rate the signing of Lee. We got him particularly cheap by our standards and we need someone who can mentor the younger blokes like Woods. Liddle, Musgrove, and a forward from the 80s...starting to get pumped for season '23!

I thought his name is Mark Kee?