Your entitled to your opinion...So let me ask you a Question...
You say you were livid when you witnessed the 38 - 0 loss to the dogs....Did this not show all of us that the current coach cannot change his game tactics mid-game ?
It's convenient to put it all on the players, and yes I acknowledge that they have a role to play but ultimately the buck stops with the coach..and may I say a coach who has stated he has the roster he wants for the last 3 seasons....
regarding 2016...if Manly wins their final game they make the Semis and we don't...it came out during the betting saga that a number of their players bet on this game against their own team..so nothing contentious here.
How long do you want to give Paul McGregor..? This season will be his 6th....surely that is long enough to know that the experiment is not working...
In Regards to other coaches, we are the Dragons...We were once a proud club who as an organization were run successfully...we are a shell of our former selves because of the club continually bringing in "Former Players " with little outside experience ...."Rookie coaches "
If one was to bring in a Rookie at least pick someone who has done their apprenticeship under a Bennett or a Bellamy....McGregor had No 1st grade coaching experience and it shows...
Be happy for Paul to prove me wrong , but i just cannot see us winning a title with him at the helm...
It looks like he is about to be extended , so he could well be at the helm for 8 - 9 years...to me that is extraordinary based on the fact that all he is achieved is 1 win in a finals game..out of 3...( Yes the 2 losses were close , but the fact remains we lost both times )
Anyway, my reply wasn't meant to create an argument with you...have a good day and go the Mighty Red V.
All good mate!
I'll reply to your last passage first - and I'll finish off the same here in this post.
I'm not about creating arguments either - I like to put my views across and hear those of others. In the end I know that all Dragons fans here want pretty much the same thing..
To be proud of our mighty club. For all our club to have the effort, attitude, and ability to give us successes into the future. I'd love another competition - I've only seen us win one - when I honestly thought i'd never have that opportunity in my lifetime.
I'm sure also that all of us on these forums are as passionate as either other. I'm an absolute dragons tragic. I can tell you the last 3 times i've cried.
1 - 6 months ago when my pet turtle died. might sound ridiculous but I loved that little bugger. Best pet ever.
2 - October 3rd 2010 approx 7.30pm, Seat 13, Row 30, Aisle 610 at ANZ Stadium. With 20 minutes to go, a wave came over me and the thousands of dragons fans around me in the stands - we could win this. With ten minutes to go - we WILL WIN THIS! I saw an outpouring of emotion of all kinds from people around me. They were shouting, shaking, hugging, crying, some in sheer disbelief sat their stunned. I was jumping around a lot and yelling my head off. I was then embracing people all around me.. And I remember an old guy - I turned around and there was this old guy in his dragons kit - with big glazed red eyes and tears dripping down his cheeks. Standing there so proud. He gave me a smile, looking a tad embarrassed from his tears. We didnt say anything but high fived and embraced each other. That kind of tough man strong hug you have with your dad.. That's when I burst out in tears of joy. There was still 5 minutes to go in the game!
That win meant so much to so many and even as I type this I'm getting goosebumps. What a day..
3 - When we lost in the 99GF. Misty-eyed more than crying. The less said about that the better.
Oh - and I'm not counting the times i've bashed my toe on the coffee table or kicked my shins on a tow-bar.
Ok - enough of me reminsicing...
Re the Dogs game - Our team were completely shot at half time. Only someone with the powers to Raise the Dead could have turned it around in my view. I have no idea why or what caused it, but the effort and attitude of all bar 2 players was completely void. Myself - I used to be an angry fan a lot when we lost in my younger days. After 2010 I committed to myself that now we've won a comp I though I'd never see, I'll change my angry ways at my team win lose or draw - as long as the effort and attitude is there. That day - I turned back to the dark side again.. leaving with ten to go. But I found ways not to let it overwhelm me. Anger like that is no good for me or anyone. But at the time the coach was far from the target of my anger - it was everyone in the Red V bar Tyson and James. They showed heart, effort and attitude when all around them were crumbling. That's what I focused on and it helped turn my mood around.
I agree the buck stops with the coach. And he was indeed at the helm for that game. He was also at the helm when we beat Melbourne as the same ground earlier in the year, and when we beat Brisbane in Brisbane in the Semi, and when we just got pipped against Souths a week later without Widdop and Vaughan. He's at the helm for all of our wins and losses.
Re comments around us being a former club once run successfully etc - yeah I agree for the most part with this view. We've historically hired from within in the last 20-30 years. One major exception was Wayne Bennett and look what happened. Yes we've brought in rookies the likes of Nathan Brown, Steve Price, Craig Young. At times we've gone outside with the likes of Bennett and David Waite - who was coach of our 1996 side when we were in turmoil - and for me personally - watching our 1996 team make the GF was my proudest experience as a Dragons fan - and we lost the GF!
Indeed we were a big force in the past, going back to the 1979 comp win and before. I never saw those "glory days" but some here obviously have. I can only read about it. So the emotion others feel when they've seen the Dragons in recent times struggle on and off the field, go into a JV to survive, lost countless GF's before we won one.. I appreciate these fans will see things in a different way to me. This time last year I - like many - thought finally we are going places again. And we did for a time. But as frustrated as I was at times in the back half of the year - I was once again proud of how we finished off in the semis - passion, effort, attitude was at it's best in the circumstances we faced. The whole team and Paul McGregor at the helm were part of that finish.
I agree that it's a positive thing to bring on a coach from outside the club, with great experience and successes who can bring different things to the table for the Dragons. But aside from Bennett (who's in his 70's now) and Bellamy - I can't see anyone who I'd want to chase that can bring this. Possibly Trent Robinson would be the only one. Thus - I wouldnt replace McGregor at this stage. Our club is in the strongest competitive position it has been since Bennett left in 2011. And particularly the last two seasons when McGregor has got "his team". Lets see what happens this year. Replacing him with anyone else out there would right now would be a big step backwards in my view.
How long to I want to give him?
I'f I'm Brian Johnson I'd sign him at least for 2020. And now. I've written before that I think a person will perform better in their job with the support of their managers and with security. Not ultimatums and the sword of damocles hanging over their heads if their team loses. Of course if someone is completely underperforming it's a different story. But there's no coaches I know in the league of Bellamy Bennett etc who are coming off contract at the end of this year. Unless we want to enter the Coaching Musical Chairs event, paying other clubs after nicking them like Penrith (paying 3 coaches at present). That to me does not make business sense. Might go against my original post on Gould (hey - this is a Phil Gould thread isnt it!). But again - who would we take? I'd only take Bellamy or Bennett again at this point and they have already been approached and declined. And Politis has Robinson under lock and key..
Anyway - I do like these forums and debating the issues of the Dragons etc. And while my views will be different than others, and many others here as it seems, where we debate them with respect I have absolutely no concerns whatsoever.
I'm certain if me, you, Warrabrook, Old Timer,41 years, and the dozens of others here shared a beer with us one day to talk these things over it would be a very entertaining afternoon. And we'd get on. We all want the same thing and follow the same mighty club that makes us proud at times, cranky at times, disillusioned, bewildered at times.. But they are our team. And like a pet dog that for no reason bites through your hose, sh1ts in your shoes, rips your washing off the line and basically drives you nuts at times - you still love the bugger.
Maybe one day in the future we might have that opportunity for a beer. I'd honestly look forward to it.
Have a great day all!
