Good morning OT.
I think you are spot on when you refer to our low spirits and our desperation. There has already been plenty to further depress us in 2020 - the JDB fiasco to drag on, the speculation over Tyson's future, the injury to Cameron McInnes........... For me even the spirited display of Josh Kerr in the All Stars game makes me very frustrated because of the lack of NRL time he got last year. And now of course he too is injured. Frustrated too reading Hame Sele went well for Souths in their trial. My belief is that in 2018 Mary interrupted Jacob Host's progress by picking Sele in front of him and then just when Sele was starting to have some impact he is shown the door. Similarly I thought Leilua was beginning to show his talent towards the end of 2019 and he too was encouraged to leave.
But where I disagree with you is on jumping on any positive speculation. When Williame was first signed it was immediately described as a poor move largely based on his time in the NRL a few years back. So I think posters pointing to a positive display even against CC opposition is fair enough. Compare him to Maranta who at no stage stood out in a whole season of CC. He always resembled an old player brought back to fill in at the last minute. His selection for two games in the NRL was a disgrace when there was untapped young talent around in the backs.
A positive for me over the past two weekends has been Adam Clune. Last year he was so clearly the pivot and mastermind of the CC team while Nicholls just looked like a fill in. So I am pleased to see him grabbing whatever chance comes his way.
I think we can all be positive too that Zac Lomax is going to play NRL this year. To my mind he slotted in so naturally to the fullback role on Saturday while superstar Latrell was only occasionally sighted in the All Stars match.A really interesting comparison. And as I have said before it is refreshing to see Zac attacking the high ball, in my opinion the first Dragons player to do so since Ben Creagh. A year ago the idiot Head Coach was trialling Zac on the wing in the Charity Shield. So at least with regard to Zac we are ahead of where we were this time last year.
Last season during the miserably cold evening at WIN Stadium when the Dragons did not turn up to play the Raiders I swore I would not pay another cent to watch the Dragons play until the Mary era is over. But I have seen enough encouraging signs already to begin to waver on last year's resolution. Or should I just follow Williame, Clune and others in the CC team?
