R2 v Dolphins.

[mickeylane]

Dolphins are a very old forward pack - a bunch of nigglers, hard heads .. they’ll need to square up against a fired up pack that features
Sua
Leilua
Mariner
Lawrie
JDB
Molo

will be close for 30 min.. that’s about it.. I expect a hit and run job out of Qld 2/2!

 

[TheRev]

Trust the coach's call on this forwards even if I would do things differently I don't see the whole week at training or even some of the small things that happen on the field. Sele and Fifita will get their turn in good time.

100% I trust that man with my life!! I'll just be curious if the side rolls out 1-17 as it is on paper.. I dont think he plays any games.. as so far in trials etc I think the game day team has been as per program.. but he will have a think during the week im sure.. he has some real options now.

 

[Dragon David]

GetSmarty always used to do it, but he got pissed off by a few members and now I dont think he even posts anymore, shame really. Dragon David now does it, so thanks DD.

Yes that's how I see things with getsmarty which is very unfortunate and I do hope that he reconsiders being that important cog in the Forum machine and comes back. I am helping out as best as I can so if I miss anything, sorry!

 

[rasaint]

I thought the pack held more than their own last week.

We have Blake Lawrie back; dropped Fifita.Not overly happy with that.

 

[BLM01]

Geez thats a fair sized bench.. not sure how we will counter that with our current one.
View attachment 85047

Run em around more

 

[KingFlanno7]

Hopefully sloan has a field day and gets another few tries.. i feel more then confident to put a few bob on 13+

 

[Dragon the chain]

I thought the pack held more than their own last week.

We have Blake Lawrie back; dropped Fifita.Not overly happy with that.

Blake Lawrie is our best middle. I'm very happy that he's back.

 

[Dragon the chain]

Bit of a strange one with JDB back to 13, and only 1 prop on the bench (that prop being MMolo).. not exactly sure what Flanno has in mind with Leilua and RFM... maybe one is being run as a middle, but I dont love it, I dont quite see what the rotation will be... however who knows maybe Sele will come in late yet.. maybe there is still some tweaks to happen.

I think Eisenhuth will start on the edge and move to the middle when Leilua comes on.

 

[Dragon the chain]

I may have missed it, but what has happened to the Couchmans??? there were big wraps on both of them.

They played NSW cup on the weekend. Both played well in a shitty game. Ryan was Dragons' best.

 

[Victoire]

Ray Stone and Lemuelu out for them. If we replicate the effort and defence from last week we should be too good for Phins

 

[st.phil]

I think the forwards will rotate all year - modular roles squad style

 

[TheRev]

I think Eisenhuth will start on the edge and move to the middle when Leilua comes on.

The other thing is do we see Su'a back on the right now? I assume this is the week we make the change.. assumably Eisenhuth is ok to play left side to start the match....

 

[Jeremy Dragon]

They played NSW cup on the weekend. Both played well in a shitty game. Ryan was Dragons' best.

They played ok still too many handling errors Flanno won't pick them until they fix that I thought Alex stood out the only one to break tackles and off load

 

[kit66]

Just watching some highlights from Dolphins wins last year. They're really good at spreading the ball from one side of the park to the other very quickly and capitalizing on broken field play - again spreading wide asap for their speedy backs, lots off off-loads. They tore the Warriors a new one in their last game last year and earlier in their vs Sharks game doing exactly that. Nikorima will burn you if you leave the smallest gap, especially around the markers.
We might beat them in the forwards but Bennett will identify our weaknesses out wide eg big guys turning and chasing - Suli, Rav, Bird - with both Suli and Rav capable of missing tackles or just not getting there.
I think our defensive line/structure is a lot more solid this year, with no players running in a la Feagai/Rav last year and leaving a saloon passage for the opposition out wide.
Kick to the corners and dominate from there. Long drop outs, make their big old guys cover lots of ground. Don't do them any favours with short drop outs.

 

[TheRev]

They have us in the middles, especially if you look at the quality of the bench, and they have a few real speed men, who if they get thru will run the length.. I still have nightmares about Averillo's last game against us...

But.. it is what it is.. all the teams r very good.. Bennett is the scariest part of their team!

 

[Saints Forever]

I am unsure whether the Dolphins can play that bad twice in a row.

so many wrong decisions by their best players.

if we can reduce our own errors and defend the way we did against the Titans, we will be in every game this season.

Worried about Jack Bird being isolated in defence

let’s hope the defensive system masks any individual defensive issues.

expect a close game

Looking forward to another Saints win !!!

 

[justadragon]

We cant expect to have it as easy as the Titans every week, yes I cheer when other teams are missing players but is that really helpful to our cause. We want to be put to the test under all conditions against the best and see how we stack up, I want to see our defence under pressure and then come back with good attack, there is only one way to gain that belief, close tight game but we get the job done, and if we dont, we need to improve until we do.

 

[Dragon David]

They have us in the middles, especially if you look at the quality of the bench, and they have a few real speed men, who if they get thru will run the length.. I still have nightmares about Averillo's last game against us...

But.. it is what it is.. all the teams r very good.. Bennett is the scariest part of their team!

Before reading your post TheRev, I too thought of Averillo and what he did to us the last time he played us. He loves playing against us and I think Bennett knows this.

We cannot rest on a our one game victory laurels, so it is up to Flanno to get our guys more pumped than when we played the Titans.

The worst thing for us is that the Dolphins were thrashed quite convincingly by the Cowboys and they want to put that to bed by winning against us. A tough game is what I am predicting.

 

[Ruby Roundhouse]

Dolphins are a very old forward pack - a bunch of nigglers, hard heads .. they’ll need to square up against a fired up pack that features
Sua
Leilua
Mariner
Lawrie
JDB
Molo

will be close for 30 min.. that’s about it.. I expect a hit and run job out of Qld 2/2!

I really want Mariner to get sufficient game time, he so deserves it

 

[Dragon David]

NRL Round 2 Preview: Dragons look to build on strong opener

The Dragons will meet the Dolphins on Sunday, March 17th at Kayo Stadium, Redcliffe in Round 2 of the 2024 Telstra Premiership.

www.dragons.com.au