R5 eels

[LINESPEED]

Pereira is a good steady player but there is no way I would put him ahead of Ramsey
Ramsey has the speed we have been looking for a long time.
He will be a future star for us.

Agree
I just can’t see JP as anything but a Mary-era scrubber who makes a lot of his metres bouncing sideways (well learned from Turnstile) & is slowish, timid & high-ball suspect IMHO.
Looks like I was wrong about Rav, but I do like wingers with a step & rapid acceleration

 

[Dion]

I said earlier in this thread that I didn't think we could match it with Parra but having just watched yesterday's Parra vs Wests game and having a look back at the stats and team lists from our last meeting with Parra ( we won 14 - 12 in round 14 , 2020 ) I'm thinking we're in with a chance here. While Parra will have the same starting pack and spine that we overcame last year and only their 2 centres and bench different form that game we will have 9 different players including some decent upgrades. We were missing Sims and Vaughan and will have Bird, McCullough, Ramsey and our new bench all raring to go after a brutal and dominant performance against Newcastle. Our completions were fairly high and missed tackles very low so we'll have to do that again to be a chance.
The Tigers had no line speed for a good part of yesterdays game and RCG, Paulo, Brown and Papali'i made big metres and gave their halves all the time in the world but when the Tiges got some quick play the balls and a few off loads happening they really troubled Parra. Douhei's big bombs really troubled Parra's back 3 as well.
If I could have a quick chat with Hook I'd be whispering Ramsey out Periera in but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

I'll say it'll be very close but Saints by 4.

Parramatta win games on the back of their forward pack.
All we have to do is match their forwards (easier said than done) and Mitchell is suspect under intense pressure.
Our line speed against Newcastle was impressive and that will be the secret sauce that puts us in a position to win against a very good Eels outfit.
I think our centre pairing has a distinct advantage over Nikuora and Opacec,
Look for Lomax marking those cross field bombs close to the line.
Ferguson is rocks and diamonds. Good for a few mistakes per game.
Finally Norman had one of his best games for us against Newcastle.
Against his old club he has a lot of incentive to play a blinder.
Let's hope he does.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Agree
I just can’t see JP as anything but a Mary-era scrubber who makes a lot of his metres bouncing sideways (well learned from Turnstile) & is slowish, timid & high-ball suspect IMHO.
Looks like I was wrong about Rav, but I do like wingers with a step & rapid acceleration

Basically they're both the same type of player except one is about 30% better at this stage.

 

[Dragsters]

Eels strength lies in the middles. RCG, Paulo and Brown with their hooker playing off the back of them.

We need to hold strong early in the game and stop their go forward with line speed and stopping the offloads. Kicking early to turn them around is an option to somewhat nullify that with a good kick-chase.

All of the things we have excelled at this season...

 

[Dragsters]

I think we have their forwards measure but we don't have them in the backs where i believe their advantage lies over us...Gutherson is really the difference here, I think Sivo and Rava will cancel out...but their halves along w Reed Mahoney from dummy half are very dangerous...will be close

Bird to make amends for missing last weeks game could prove the difference...

 

[Kiwi Dragon supporter]

I prefer Ramsay over JP, but JP had to play outside Aitken. He rarely received a decent pass from Aitken but always received a pass jammed against the touch line. He had no option but to crab infield because the defense always had time to cover because of Aitken's terrible passing. JP is not as slow as you make
out because he never had the chance to beat his opposite in the outside. Being an ex sprinter I can tell by running style if someone has speed and JP has enough of it. I think your criticism of JP is misplaced.

 

[kit66]

Agree
I just can’t see JP as anything but a Mary-era scrubber who makes a lot of his metres bouncing sideways (well learned from Turnstile) & is slowish, timid & high-ball suspect IMHO.
Looks like I was wrong about Rav, but I do like wingers with a step & rapid acceleration

Slowish and timid ? Periera has topped the metres ( 188 and 199 ) and tackle breaks in NSW cup both games he's played this year and has a hat trick and 3 line breaks to his name as well. His stats against Parra last year were far from timid - 22 runs for 264 mtrs ( 85 PCM's ), 12 tackle breaks ( double anyone else on the field ) and no missed tackles. His opposites were Fergo and Waqa Blake. I get that you prefer Cody ( so do I long term ) but Periera deserves some credit and a bit of respect and would be handy next Sunday.
I know Cody needs time but we also need to win games. He's yet to crack 100 mtrs and makes a lot of errors, 3 last week. Last week he made 9 runs for 46 mtrs, that's timid - getting involved about once every 10 minutes. I'm prepared to give him plenty of time but I'd be wanting a better effort and more results very soon - it's not 7's. Hopefully he and Bird get some early ball this week and wipe the smile off Fergo's dial.

 

[Gareth67]

There are at least 2 things in our favor -

1 - Parramatta are flying high with their 4 wins so they may very well take the Dragons for granted expecting an easy game .

2 - The Big Red V beat them on their home ground the last occasion they met , with Ravawala trampling all over their big Fijian winger .

Plus the boys are now an entirely different outfit to the one last season , they now have belief in themselves and also their teammates so this will be a very hard fought game .

If our forwards can continue their steady progress and up their defense a notch further then I believe that we can grab the 2 competition points right from under their noses .

Dragons by 2

 

[TruSaint]

There are at least 2 things in our favor -

1 - Parramatta are flying high with their 4 wins so they may very well take the Dragons for granted expecting an easy game .

2 - The Big Red V beat them on their home ground the last occasion they met , with Ravawala trampling all over their big Fijian winger .

Still the boys are an entirely different outfit to the one last season , they now have belief in themselves and also their teammates so this will be a very hard fought game .

If our forwards can continue their steady progress and up their defense a notch further then I believe that we can grab the 2 competition points right from under their noses .

Dragons by 2

Their fairytale run ends Sunday.

Saints x 1.

 

[possm]

Agree
I just can’t see JP as anything but a Mary-era scrubber who makes a lot of his metres bouncing sideways (well learned from Turnstile) & is slowish, timid & high-ball suspect IMHO.
Looks like I was wrong about Rav, but I do like wingers with a step & rapid acceleration

Season 2021 began as a year of change making ready for a tilt at the title in 2022. Yes we are going well but let's not lose sight of the fact that we have young outside backs who need to grow and gain as much first grade experience as they can.

Griffin and his staff will have a lot of work putting together the best forward pack they can. Notice no backs recruited since the end of the pre-season but 4 forwards, 3 of which will participate in the 2021 season. Clearly except fot halfback, Griffin believes that in the backline, he has the best possible side he can field right now.

Of course Griffin has said that nobody is safe, especially if they continue to make the same mistakes each game. Sooner or later that player will be HOOKED.

 

[Gareth67]

And if I was Griffin I would be having our man Simms homing in on Mitchell Moses in the same manner that he done to the ex-Rorter Cooper Cronk a number of years back .

Nothing malicious mind you , just some good old fashioned ball and all tackling , similar to Brian ‘ Poppa ‘ Clay’s style - one hit and their down for the count !

 

[Maddragon99]

And if I was Griffin I would be having our man Simms homing in on Mitchell Moses in the same manner that he done to the ex-Rorter Cooper Cronk a number of years back .

Nothing malicious mind you , just some good old fashioned ball and all tackling , similar to Brian ‘ Poppa ‘ Clay’s style - one hit and their down for the count !

It’s going to be another bash fest lucky for us we’ve had a full 7 days recovery.

 

[blacksafake]

Gee, so glad that never happens at Jubilee , Saints fans are just that, Saints

They boo every pass the opposition throw & when in possession every tackle for anything from offside to high. All fans( except us dragons lol ) do it but not from start to finish.

 

[SBD82]

And if I was Griffin I would be having our man Simms homing in on Mitchell Moses in the same manner that he done to the ex-Rorter Cooper Cronk a number of years back .

Nothing malicious mind you , just some good old fashioned ball and all tackling , similar to Brian ‘ Poppa ‘ Clay’s style - one hit and their down for the count !

I’d like to see Sims give Moses the treatment too. But I unfortunately they won’t be playing on the same side of the field.

 

[Inisai Toga]

I’d like to see Sims give Moses the treatment too. But I unfortunately they won’t be playing on the same side of the field.

Yeh, i want someone to pepper Moses, but i’d leave Tariq out of it; he often mistimes it and the last thing we need is him on the sidelines. Maybe Rava, ala Cherry- Evans 2 weeks ago...?

 

[SBD82]

Yeh, i want someone to pepper Moses, but i’d leave Tariq out of it; he often mistimes it and the last thing we need is him on the sidelines. Maybe Rava ala Chery Evans 2 weeks ago...

Maaaaaate.

There was movement.

 

[jeffdragon]

They boo every pass the opposition throw & when in possession every tackle for anything from offside to high. All fans( except us dragons lol ) do it but not from start to finish.

I've been to many dragons eels games at bankwest and the old parra stadium

Its the same everything.
Its like they don't actually watch the game all they see is the eels being hard.
done by.
Even when they clearly do something wrong .they stiil can't see it.

Just look at gutho and Moses actions in so many games.

 

[True_Believer]

Slowish and timid ? Periera has topped the metres ( 188 and 199 ) and tackle breaks in NSW cup both games he's played this year and has a hat trick and 3 line breaks to his name as well. His stats against Parra last year were far from timid - 22 runs for 264 mtrs ( 85 PCM's ), 12 tackle breaks ( double anyone else on the field ) and no missed tackles. His opposites were Fergo and Waqa Blake. I get that you prefer Cody ( so do I long term ) but Periera deserves some credit and a bit of respect and would be handy next Sunday.
I know Cody needs time but we also need to win games. He's yet to crack 100 mtrs and makes a lot of errors, 3 last week. Last week he made 9 runs for 46 mtrs, that's timid - getting involved about once every 10 minutes. I'm prepared to give him plenty of time but I'd be wanting a better effort and more results very soon - it's not 7's. Hopefully he and Bird get some early ball this week and wipe the smile off Fergo's dial.

Totally agree. Calling him a scrubber shows a lack of respect and an element of ignorance.

He's a very strong returner of the ball and easily breaks tackles. As has already been pointed out, he's been outside Aitken for much of his time at the Saints and hasn't really had much of an opportunity to show his capability. All you have to do is look at the opposite side of the field to see how much of a difference a good centre/wing combination can make. Put JP outside Bird and I think you'd see a much better performance from him.

Having said that, happy to let Ramsay continue on the wing, but it's going to take a while for him to be of any real consequence coming out of our end unless he gets open space to work with. I wouldn't be considering him for fullback at the moment either - I think he needs to bulk up a bit before he'll excel in any one position.

 

[Gareth67]

Yeh, i want someone to pepper Moses, but i’d leave Tariq out of it; he often mistimes it and the last thing we need is him on the sidelines. Maybe Rava, ala Cherry- Evans 2 weeks ago...?

A far better idea Inisai !

 

[Gareth67]

I've been to many dragons eels games at bankwest and the old parra stadium

Its the same everything.
Its like they don't actually watch the game all they see is the eels being hard.
done by.
Even when they clearly do something wrong .they stiil can't see it.

Just look at gutho and Moses actions in so many games.

Yikes ! They were doing it back in the days of Cumberland Oval , I distinctly recall the mongrels giving it to our winger Stan Gorton who was positioned an arms length from the heathens who constantly heckled the poor man .

The poor bloke had some ‘orrible things said to him - “ Where’s your bottle of BrylCream Stanley ? “ the doity sods !