Positives and Negatives

[Dorsai]

On a positive note, continuing down this track may get McIdiot sacked.
On the negative side, the job will probably go to another useless inexperienced staff member in either young or Hornby.

On a positive note we did see some flashes from Norman and hunt. That is a good sign.
On a negative note, any sparks in the haves will be negated by the poor defence and reads of the centres and wings. Yes Lafai managed to score some consolation points the other week and Pereia got a couple this week but the defence and positional play by Lafai, Aitkin, and particularly Ravalawa is going to kill us all year. Ravalawa in particular has no idea and will be a turnstile as teams wise up to his defensive inabilities.

On a positive note, Sims still has it and can hopefully get the rest of the pack to follow his lead.
On a negative note, the lack of coaching that forward pack has is very evident. The young guys have talent. They have no coach to bring that talent out.

Unless McIdiot is gone by the 7-8 round and a real coach is appointed then we may not be celebrating much this season

 

[hazzbeen]

On a positive note, continuing down this track may get McIdiot sacked.
On the negative side, the job will probably go to another useless inexperienced staff member in either young or Hornby.

On a positive note we did see some flashes from Norman and hunt. That is a good sign.
On a negative note, any sparks in the haves will be negated by the poor defence and reads of the centres and wings. Yes Lafai managed to score some consolation points the other week and Pereia got a couple this week but the defence and positional play by Lafai, Aitkin, and particularly Ravalawa is going to kill us all year. Ravalawa in particular has no idea and will be a turnstile as teams wise up to his defensive inabilities.

On a positive note, Sims still has it and can hopefully get the rest of the pack to follow his lead.
On a negative note, the lack of coaching that forward pack has is very evident. The young guys have talent. They have no coach to bring that talent out.

Unless McIdiot is gone by the 7-8 round and a real coach is appointed then we may not be celebrating much this season

The only chance of Mary getting flicked , is for us to continue to lose . And then they still might not sack him .... If that is what its going to take to get rid of this guy then I'm on board , write this year off for a new coach next year .....

 

[Rob Dragon]

Positives

Host and Lawrie have clearly arrived as first graders.

Pereira has shown he has the power, not the speed to run the ball back from our 20. Great determination. I would move him to right wing and bring in Pearson if Ravalawa is in fact as slow as he appears to be.

Korbin Sims is available for round 3.

I liked what I saw of Kerr. He needs more minutes.

Norman has exceeded my expectations so far. He needs time to gel with his team mates once we actually develop a game plan.

Despite constant criticism of Lafai and Aitken, I feel they have played ok. Lomax is available, one major injury or slipup and he will play centre going forward.

If we continue losing, Mary is toast.

Negatives thus far

We clearly miss JDB’s contribution in defence and attack.

Korbin Sims has been unavailable.

Frizell is injured and won’t play for several weeks.

Ravalawa appears slow. Thinking it may have something to do with the off season training. More importantly, he is slow between the ears.

Leilua’s tackling technique and lateral movement remains poor.

Bench rotation is predetermined, and therefore rotation is always poor.

Bottom line

When our forward pack returns to full strength or near full strength our go forward dominance will return and our halves and centres will improve immeasurably.

The opera is far from over.

Keep the faith, the squad is good enough to overcome inept coaching.

Host and Lawrie clearly arrived as 1st graders? They are part of a pack badly beaten in the 1st 2 rounds. Do they show promise? Sure do. But have they arrived? No.

I subscribe to the old Harry Bath view in that forwards have to play at least 30 games to understand if they have the constitution for the hard grind of 1st grade intensity.

I like the size and mobility of Kerr, but he is a long way off being 1st grade fit and conditioned. Worth persevering with? Yes.

I have said many times that this is the year it falls apart and I won't deviate from that view. This is the year we need to get game time into Lawrie, Host and Kerr so that we can have them at 1st grade standard for 2020 and beyond. In all likelihood we will be 0-4 in a few weeks and the wagon will fall apart. It isn't a happy joint now, wait to the losses mount up.

As an aside my contempt for McGregor grows daily. He is now bringing out the excuses in his press conferences. He will soon turn on the players and then the joint really blows up.

 

[possm]

On a positive note, continuing down this track may get McIdiot sacked.
On the negative side, the job will probably go to another useless inexperienced staff member in either young or Hornby.

On a positive note we did see some flashes from Norman and hunt. That is a good sign.
On a negative note, any sparks in the haves will be negated by the poor defence and reads of the centres and wings. Yes Lafai managed to score some consolation points the other week and Pereia got a couple this week but the defence and positional play by Lafai, Aitkin, and particularly Ravalawa is going to kill us all year. Ravalawa in particular has no idea and will be a turnstile as teams wise up to his defensive inabilities.

On a positive note, Sims still has it and can hopefully get the rest of the pack to follow his lead.
On a negative note, the lack of coaching that forward pack has is very evident. The young guys have talent. They have no coach to bring that talent out.

Unless McIdiot is gone by the 7-8 round and a real coach is appointed then we may not be celebrating much this season

I'd add the positions of fullback and hooker to that list.

Fullback
The experiment of Widdop at fullback has failed and should be terminated. As we do not have a solution to this problem, Dufty to fullback and be tested to see if he has improved his defence and gained confidence under the high ball.

Centres
The current centre pairing is very limiting in their ability to take advantage of a dominant forward pack and halves that are creating space. Aitken needs to be replaced by Lomax and Lafai probably would be the one to give way to Widdop as a measure to see if Widdip can be of more use to the team at centre. In my opinion Widdop should be let go and his salary used to plug some of the obvious holes in our squad.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Not really a positive, but the Bulldogs left side defence is worse than our right side defence. So the Aitken-Ravalawa pairing isn't the worst in the comp.

 

[blacksafake]

Not really a positive, but the Bulldogs left side defence is worse than our right side defence. So the Aitken-Ravalawa pairing isn't the worst in the comp.

Until they play us

 

[Frank Facer]

Hang on a sec, you want to move Widdop from an unaccustomed fullback position to an even less familiar centre’s role?

I think a Lomax/Lafai pairing would be the best option.

What’s with your advocacy toward inexperienced players? I recall your support apropos Ravalawa vividly. Timm hasn’t played anywhere NRL level and to throw to the wolves would be silly beyond a doubt. Once everyone is available for selection, the reserves bench should be: Latimore, Sims, Lawrie and Robson.

It’s that straightforward:

Please note, I still feel JDB is gone for the year. (notwithstanding his entire football career is in doubt).

I think Widdop would make a better centre than Lafai.

 

[Brutalitops]

Widdop to centre is among the most hilariously crazy and misguided things I've ever heard on this forum, second perhaps only to letting Widdop go based on TWO games at fullback where the problem was far more on being down three established forwards than his specific performance.

 

[giboz71]

We're missing JDB more than we realise. His defence through the middle is not there and no one has taken up the slack. If anything, this burns McInnes more so moving him to the middle the last 20 is just plain stupid.

We're missing Leeson too, but we haven't seen Korbin yet so hopefully he can cover that loss.

But our pack missing JDB, Leeson (and Friz for a few weeks) is a shadow of last year's pack. And with a malfunctioning spine, it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[possm]

Not really a positive, but the Bulldogs left side defence is worse than our right side defence. So the Aitken-Ravalawa pairing isn't the worst in the comp.

There is still hope for Ravalawa, he is only new to first grade. However, Aitken is a different matter. Maybe the Dogs would like to have Aitken?

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

There is still hope for Ravalawa, he is only new to first grade. However, Aitken is a different matter. Maybe the Dogs would like to have Aitken?

Yes, unfortunately Aitken seems to be the common denominator. Whoever he is paired with the defence suffers. I can't see the Dogs taking Aitken, and buggering up there right side defence as well.

 

[Forster Dragon]

I tend to agree with a large percentage of this forum that it may take a bad year to get rid of our inept coaching team.
Sad as it sounds I can see our end of season as cellar dwellers,but alas the silver lining maybe McGregor and his team of pretenders get a well deserved leave pass.
One can only live in hope

 

[Saints Forever]

Host and Lawrie clearly arrived as 1st graders? They are part of a pack badly beaten in the 1st 2 rounds. Do they show promise? Sure do. But have they arrived? No.

I subscribe to the old Harry Bath view in that forwards have to play at least 30 games to understand if they have the constitution for the hard grind of 1st grade intensity.

I like the size and mobility of Kerr, but he is a long way off being 1st grade fit and conditioned. Worth persevering with? Yes.

I have said many times that this is the year it falls apart and I won't deviate from that view. This is the year we need to get game time into Lawrie, Host and Kerr so that we can have them at 1st grade standard for 2020 and beyond. In all likelihood we will be 0-4 in a few weeks and the wagon will fall apart. It isn't a happy joint now, wait to the losses mount up.

As an aside my contempt for McGregor grows daily. He is now bringing out the excuses in his press conferences. He will soon turn on the players and then the joint really blows up.

He has already turned on the young forwards by stating their inexperience was to blame for the last loss.

Yet the reality is it was the use of the bench and the makeup of the right side defence that has and continues to cost us.

Host and Lawrie well and truly held their own.

First half performance against Souths clearly showed this.

Luc, Hunt and Aitken were clearly the problem.

Luc and Aitken are left sided players.

Here is an idea, play Lomax and either Host or Korbin Sims on the right side.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Positives

No more 5 day turn-arounds for a while (Round 7 Anzac Day)
It's only round 2
After Knights Game (Round 4) we only have to travel twice for the rest of the regular season (Magic Round and Round 10 at Glen Willow).
We've bucked the trend of start the season fast, limp into the finals
We'll get Korbin Sims and Tyson Frizell back.
Our start to the season gives many here on LU so much material to write about venomously.

Negatives

Travelling 3 times in the first 4 rounds
No De Belin
5 playmakers into 4 places.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

Widdop to centre is among the most hilariously crazy and misguided things I've ever heard on this forum, second perhaps only to letting Widdop go based on TWO games at fullback where the problem was far more on being down three established forwards than his specific performance.

I agree...He should take JDB's role and play lock.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

.

 

[Rob Dragon]

Positives

Host and Lawrie have clearly arrived as first graders.

Pereira has shown he has the power, not the speed to run the ball back from our 20. Great determination. I would move him to right wing and bring in Pearson if Ravalawa is in fact as slow as he appears to be.

Korbin Sims is available for round 3.

I liked what I saw of Kerr. He needs more minutes.

Norman has exceeded my expectations so far. He needs time to gel with his team mates once we actually develop a game plan.

Despite constant criticism of Lafai and Aitken, I feel they have played ok. Lomax is available, one major injury or slipup and he will play centre going forward.

If we continue losing, Mary is toast.

Negatives thus far

We clearly miss JDB’s contribution in defence and attack.

Korbin Sims has been unavailable.

Frizell is injured and won’t play for several weeks.

Ravalawa appears slow. Thinking it may have something to do with the off season training. More importantly, he is slow between the ears.

Leilua’s tackling technique and lateral movement remains poor.

Bench rotation is predetermined, and therefore rotation is always poor.

Bottom line

When our forward pack returns to full strength or near full strength our go forward dominance will return and our halves and centres will improve immeasurably.

The opera is far from over.

Keep the faith, the squad is good enough to overcome inept coaching.

OK Saints Forever, credit where credit is due. Host and Lawrie were terrific tonight!

 

[Crush]

OK Saints Forever, credit where credit is due. Host and Lawrie were terrific tonight!

Rob, mixed emotions on lasts night win?
You did say that you were hoping for a loss didn't you?
I thought they showed a lot of ticker across the park. Stoked they finally won a tight one.

 

[hazzbeen]

Rob, mixed emotions on lasts night win?
You did say that you were hoping for a loss didn't you?
I thought they showed a lot of ticker across the park. Stoked they finally won a tight one.

Crush a win is always great , All credit to the team and coach , hope it continues , but I am never comfortable with our coach , and hope he does takes us all the way , but like I said its one game and its Mary ......

 

[Rob Dragon]

Rob, mixed emotions on lasts night win?
You did say that you were hoping for a loss didn't you?
I thought they showed a lot of ticker across the park. Stoked they finally won a tight one.

Crush, I wanted us crushed. It was a terrific and gutsy win and the soft and unusual nature of 3 of the Bronco's tries masked our dominance. I stick steadfastly too what I have been saying, unless we get a few floggings and really bottom out the BOD won;t move on McGregor. It is always a worry when your coach "appears surprised" when you win. McGregor was surprised last night just the same as the SF last year where he was seen giggling in the coaches box as we piled up points. My issue is that the BOD will look for any remote ray of sunshine to justify extended the contract of McGregor and in the process thereby make him the longest serving Dragons coach in the last 40 years. If that prospect doesn't make you feel sick, then is should.

Finally, just watch Corey Norman shine now that he knows he is at #6 for good.