R3 v Cowboys

[steerlerbab]

This! Too early to be forming a lynch mob. Lower your expectations for 2024. That is the key for fans.

I for one have lowered my expectations for 2024. As I wrote yesterday, this is still Hook's team and that team finished 16th in 2023. So where do we start. I am sure we can find 100 reasons, but here are 3

1. We need to recruit at least 3 leaders. Flanno tried and nobody is coming from NRL. Let's try union or super league or scout lower grades in other teams. It is time to think out of box.

2. Development. Our development has been abysmal. From the last batch only Sloane has made it and from the previous batch only Lomax. The rest dropped out either to super league or released to other teams because they wanted out or could not make for a variety of personal reasons. Let's give Couchman, Tamale, Egan or Finau a go. Let them learn on the job. If we are going to finish bottom 4, we might as well take some positives to next year.

3. Let's stop hiring those at the end of their career. Remember McCullough, Mbye and Burgess, etal. Their knees had given up. They could not even run. I wonder who we will add from our current bunch to the above list.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Tend to agree with you on a lot of this. A lot of huge turnarounds in fortune last night.
The negatives from the game last night obviously are going to get all the attention but I saw a lot of positives.
The people who are whinging today need to be patient. It's going to take a while to turn around the ship an incompetent board along with Price, McGregor & Griffin has left us with.
Personally I'm not agreeing with every decision Flanagan is making as far as team selections but I think as time goes on during the season he'll get the mix right. We'll end the season in much better shape than we started it - I'm confident about that.

You've made some positive observations and in part I agree ......but as far as your statement of us that are whinging need to be patient we have been since 2010......and let me add there will be a lot more whinging untill our blokes that pull on our once famous jersey show a bit more ticker....yes we have had crap past coaches since Bennett no argument here but to turn in performances like the past 2 weeks is absolute garbage, especially after getting pumped yesterday by 42 to 6 after a comfortable lead.........it doesn't matter if it's Flanno or Louie The Fly the only thing that's going to turn this ship around to make us a respectable outfit again is for players to start playing for 80mins no matter who they are ....sorry but.one gets a bit pissed off listening to the same old excuses..it's the board, the players are scared from previous coaches..it's going to take take time.....the teams moral is down because Lomax and Hunt want out blah blah.....yes that's right fellas you will be still queuing at the ATM today no matter what the scoreline....while dickheads like me will be writing this rubbish and thinking what could or should be

 

[Ruby Roundhouse]

my morale is very low

I don't understand how we have so much size, and could not impose ourselves to slow down their attack.

 

[saintmar]

In both the first half and the start of the second half they stopped coming up in defence in a maximum of 10 minutes. Same crap different year.

Nothing will change unless we bite the bullet NOW
Sign Wayne NOW for next year to work with Deano
Wayne will keep who he wants and has the ability to get who we need
Unfortunately it’s only 3 games in but it is clear it won’t work out with the current structure.
Sign Wayne NOW before it’s too late.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Nothing will change unless we bite the bullet NOW
Sign Wayne NOW for next year to work with Deano
Wayne will keep who he wants and has the ability to get who we need
Unfortunately it’s only 3 games in but it is clear it won’t work out with the current structure.
Sign Wayne NOW before it’s too late.

Mate tbh if he goes anywhere Im guessing back to the Burrow

 

[Sage63]

9

my morale is very low

I don't understand how we have so much size, and could not impose ourselves to slow down their attack.

Please excuse my use of the age-old adage....." it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog"!!!!!

 

[justadragon]

This! Too early to be forming a lynch mob. Lower your expectations for 2024. That is the key for fans.

How much lower do you want our expectations to be ?

 

[Sage63]

Nothing will change unless we bite the bullet NOW
Sign Wayne NOW for next year to work with Deano
Wayne will keep who he wants and has the ability to get who we need
Unfortunately it’s only 3 games in but it is clear it won’t work out with the current structure.
Sign Wayne NOW before it’s too late.

Yeah, maybe. Wayne could be the Messiah, but Wayne needs cattle.
Where is the cattle going to come from????

 

[thebigredv]

Yeah, maybe. Wayne could be the Messiah, but Wayne needs cattle.
Where is the cattle going to come from????

Bring Darius out of retirement maybe.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

my morale is very low

I don't understand how we have so much size, and could not impose ourselves to slow down their attack.

It's simple we are lazy in defence......look how easy it was for one of the smallest blokes on the field Townsend to drag 3 of our forwards to the try line...

 

[Gold_Coast Dragon]

How much lower do you want our expectations to be ?

Good question!

I am seeing individual growth, less brain farts, more shape in attack, working hard to slide in defence and better communication between players.

Those are all happening.

Ruck defence and line speed has been poor but will improve. Then results will come.

Lack of depth is obvious and we were missing Sua, Molo, Liddle and Sele. So against the cows expectations for a win were almost zero.

 

[Parko1310]

What I don't understand is how half of our team seem to get to first grade and can't do things that, I'm not even joking, under 6 players can do. How Sloan doesn't ground that ball in the in goal, I mean come on mate, do you want to stay in the NRL? Ravalawa can't pass a ball.. seriously? A lot of players don't have the aptitude to pull off a simple draw and pass is another example. Its truly astonishing

 

[Hound of Dracula]

The life of a Dragon supporter
Round 1 – Euphoria

Round 2 – Counselling

Round 3 – you get the idea

Round 4 Manly - An Easter Saintly Resurrection?

 

[justadragon]

I hope the players heard the Cows supporters giving it to the Dragons fans by singing goodbye to them as they were leaving. Then again would they really care, they will still get paid regardless.

 

[SEAT 1A]

As we move into the last few minutes before the game I'd like to do a community announcement:

Remember this is a season which will be a bit topsy turvy and we just need to grin and bare it (again). Try to enjoy what you can and be grateful for any small wins that might happen. Most of all, don't get too angry when we get beaten severely.

This sums it up.

I thought the Titans were going to be better this year with Des however, looking at where the Titans are, we were able to stop them and should have beaten the Fins. Thanks Wayne.

Yes, we should have beaten the Cows but we feel back into panic mode when games get tight. We can't expect a complete turnaround.

We were without Sua, Molo, Liddle and Sele, Luc was good and BMM played a strong game in the middle. We got on top of the Cows for a half so there are great signs.

Lomax can't stay on the wing and playing his guts out while Sloan and Bird are making mistakes.

 

[since77]

How much lower do you want our expectations to be ?

Depends on what your expectations for 2024 were. If you expected the team to be finals bound in year one under Flanno then you were foolishly optimistic. If you expected the team to make a slow gradual improvement as 2024 progresses then you'll probably find your expectations will be met by the end of the season.
2025 will be the year to start having "optimistic" expectations, even if that is just playing the first week of finals.
Did you honestly think the mess the board, McGregor & Griffin left the club in would be an easy fix?

 

[Gomarchin]

Maybe we aren't as fit as Flanno has led us to believe we are??!

 

[TruSaint]

Depends on what your expectations for 2024 were. If you expected the team to be finals bound in year one under Flanno then you were foolishly optimistic. If you expected the team to make a slow gradual improvement as 2024 progresses then you'll probably find your expectations will be met by the end of the season.
2025 will be the year to start having "optimistic" expectations, even if that is just playing the first week of finals.
Did you honestly think the mess the board, McGregor & Griffin left the club in would be an easy fix?

Harsh but true .

Harsh because I ( and Im sure you and most here ) are fed up with the mediocrity and lack of direction of our team, but true in that Flanno has inherited pretty much the same roster that have avoided the spoon as some prize.

It's a free hit this season for the coach, NOT the players. I would like to see major changes in 25 and beyond, starting with players that want to don the Red V.

Have a feeling now that this will be a rollercoaster of a season.

 

[TheRev]

Depends on what your expectations for 2024 were. If you expected the team to be finals bound in year one under Flanno then you were foolishly optimistic. If you expected the team to make a slow gradual improvement as 2024 progresses then you'll probably find your expectations will be met by the end of the season.
2025 will be the year to start having "optimistic" expectations, even if that is just playing the first week of finals.
Did you honestly think the mess the board, McGregor & Griffin left the club in would be an easy fix?

Yup but its not just the coaches either.. its the consequence of an apathetic board that sat on their hands basically 'hoping' that if they extended struggling coaches.. that 'consistency' would somehow lead to them making great recruitments.. all with woeful recruitment managers too.. it was so lazy.. you cant get away with that in such an elite competition...

There was a time not that long ago where we had 5-6 rep players (Vaughan, Sims, Frizzell etc), but that roster has been left to rot.. if you dont maintain it... its gone.. now we have try to somehow turn it around 1 very small piece at a time.. its going to be so difficult.. maybe even impossible..

And the final part is the juniors which we have really struggled to bring along for as long as I can remember.. I am hoping we have turned the corner here.. I think a lot of those SG signings pre-date Flanno, but this takes time to be of any use to 1st-grade... I am hoping maybe 1 or 2 surprise packets come thru next year.. but we have to get there first.

 

[denis preston]

Liddle, Sua and Frank Molo in for Muhlheissen, Fifita, and BMM.

Probably no more changes. Unless there are injuries or Lomax is at another club.

Yes that was the worst 8 minutes of football ever by Fifita