Rnd 6 vs Tigers

[Bin Chicken]

As in we are going to recruit someone or as in Corey Allen steps in?

I’m pretty confident we will have a new recruit .

 

[St Tangles]

I’m pretty confident we will have a new recruit .

Not to many fullbacks on the market if any

 

[2010Dragons]

If we don't shut api down next week he will cut us to shreds

Sezer is the player they must mark closely and shutdown his kicks.
Sezer is a left foot kicker. all the balls he kicks to the right side of the field always perfectly finds the mark.
He kicked two forty-twenty to the Right-hand side of the field. Our left side defense will need to aim up very quickly.
Sezer kicks to the left side of the field are better than average and much better than Ben CHunt bog average kicks.

 

[steerlerbab]

This is more or less Hook's team. Apart from 5 guys Flanno, Eisenhuh, Leilua, RFM and Marshke, the rest of the 17 were Hook's team and we all saw where that team ended. So this year if we finish 9th or 10th, it will be a bonus. By 2026, if we recycle another 10 players from Hook's era either by new signing or players stepping up, then we can start expecting better things. From what I have seen, the following need to happen immediately.

1. Lawrie: replace with Sele if he is fit. His minutes and run meters were dismal if you look at stats
2. M Molo: At 27, this year should have been the year that he stepped up, but after 5 rounds, I have seen no signs. Let's give Toby Couchman or Fifita a go.
3. Bird. While all our backs made more than 100m, Bird made 77m. Same with previous games. Bring Tyupulato up. Let's see what he can do,

Finally, Don't drop Sloan. Move him to the wing (and Flanno did it for the second half) where his defensive deficiencies will be less exposed and he can learn the art of tackling. By 2026, if he has not improved his defense, then he can follow Dufty to Super league.

Flanno has said he is going to make tough choices. So looks to me there will be changes next week.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

I’m confident Sloan won’t be fullback next year

Geez man! Did Sloan piss in your front yard as a kid?
Confident he'll fail!
He's bloody awesome and we should be giving him support.
It's been 3 steps forward and 1 step back.
Why death ride the kid?

I'm just as confident he'll be one of the premium fullbacks of the NRL
I just hope it's not for another team.

 

[justadragon]

This is more or less Hook's team. Apart from 5 guys Flanno, Eisenhuh, Leilua, RFM and Marshke, the rest of the 17 were Hook's team and we all saw where that team ended. So this year if we finish 9th or 10th, it will be a bonus. By 2026, if we recycle another 10 players from Hook's era either by new signing or players stepping up, then we can start expecting better things. From what I have seen, the following need to happen immediately.

1. Lawrie: replace with Sele if he is fit. His minutes and run meters were dismal if you look at stats
2. M Molo: At 27, this year should have been the year that he stepped up, but after 5 rounds, I have seen no signs. Let's give Toby Couchman or Fifita a go.
3. Bird. While all our backs made more than 100m, Bird made 77m. Same with previous games. Bring Tyupulato up. Let's see what he can do,

Finally, Don't drop Sloan. Move him to the wing (and Flanno did it for the second half) where his defensive deficiencies will be less exposed and he can learn the art of tackling. By 2026, if he has not improved his defense, then he can follow Dufty to Super league.

Flanno has said he is going to make tough choices. So looks to me there will be changes next week.

We need to persist with Sloan at FB, he looked lost on the wing, Yes I will admit he was poor on the ground ball but its just another lesson everything else he has done this year is an improvement.

 

[justadragon]

The fragility of the current Dragons fan is we always look at what players the other team will be missing to give us a better chance of winning, eg newcastle - Frizzell, Phins - missing 4 players, look at what happened in both those games. We should be wanting to meet every team at their full strength, so the ultimate result is we are even more disappointed in losing because those sides had those players out. This rollercoaster ride that we are on this year so far suggests that we have a very long way to go in everything we do. I said at the beginning that this year would be a year of uncertainty of where we are going as a club. The major thing I'm happy about is that we have seen a massive improvement in our juniors, we just need to definitely develop and manage them, there are some very good kids coming through. Until the majority of the current squad is replaced with Dragons DNA, then we can really be assured of our destiny. If you watch and listen to what Richardson is trying to achieve at the Tigers, its exactly that, its the Penrith model, it works proven fact. He stated he wanted minimum 80 % recruitment done through local juniors. As for this game, what Dragons side are we going to be this week, what excuses are we going to look for, are we dumb or smart, will our kicking game be good or bad ???? I'm going to say purely with heart we have a bounce back, but who knows, we get more than 10 points behind and its game over.

 

[denis preston]

To be 2 from 5 potentially 2 from 6 before we play any of top sides shows me we are not competing for the top 12 let alone top 8 this year.

Team id select for this week with a small view to the future

1 Sloan 2 Tamale 3 Lomax 4 Suli 5 Rava 6 Marschke 7 Hunt 8 F Molo 9 Flanno 10 Tuitavake 11 Su'a 12 Luce 13 JDB
14 Liddel 15 Fifita 16 T Couchman 17 Sele 18 Eisenhuth

At least we could see the logic in this side and support it. Ultimately Lomax to Reggie’s later in season if we at lest avoid the spoon , then Finau to wing Tamale to centre.

 

[Bin Chicken]

Geez man! Did Sloan piss in your front yard as a kid?
Confident he'll fail!
He's bloody awesome and we should be giving him support.
It's been 3 steps forward and 1 step back.
Why death ride the kid?

I'm just as confident he'll be one of the premium fullbacks of the NRL
I just hope it's not for another team.

No it’s got nothing to do with me or my opinion. I’m just saying he won’t be the fullback for us next year .
However , my opinion is totally different to yours . Lovely young man but not a NRL quality footballer.

 

[Bin Chicken]

This is more or less Hook's team. Apart from 5 guys Flanno, Eisenhuh, Leilua, RFM and Marshke, the rest of the 17 were Hook's team and we all saw where that team ended. So this year if we finish 9th or 10th, it will be a bonus. By 2026, if we recycle another 10 players from Hook's era either by new signing or players stepping up, then we can start expecting better things. From what I have seen, the following need to happen immediately.

1. Lawrie: replace with Sele if he is fit. His minutes and run meters were dismal if you look at stats
2. M Molo: At 27, this year should have been the year that he stepped up, but after 5 rounds, I have seen no signs. Let's give Toby Couchman or Fifita a go.
3. Bird. While all our backs made more than 100m, Bird made 77m. Same with previous games. Bring Tyupulato up. Let's see what he can do,

Finally, Don't drop Sloan. Move him to the wing (and Flanno did it for the second half) where his defensive deficiencies will be less exposed and he can learn the art of tackling. By 2026, if he has not improved his defense, then he can follow Dufty to Super league.

Flanno has said he is going to make tough choices. So looks to me there will be changes next week.

Sloan is no winger . He’s a oztag player

 

[Saints supporter]

We need to persist with Sloan at FB, he looked lost on the wing, Yes I will admit he was poor on the ground ball but its just another lesson everything else he has done this year is an improvement.

I don't know which way to go with this one. Sloan is brilliant in attack but it must be deflating to team mates when he continually fails to make the tackles and clean up the loose ball that most top level fullbacks would do, or at least put his body on the line in the attempt.

 

[St Tangles]

At least we could see the logic in this side and support it. Ultimately Lomax to Reggie’s later in season if we at lest avoid the spoon , then Finau to wing Tamale to centre.

Agree.
We need to not worry about quick wins it has got us nowhere for 10 years.
Invest some time in the young players see what they have.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

I don't know which way to go with this one. Sloan is brilliant in attack but it must be deflating to team mates when he continually fails to make the tackles and clean up the loose ball that most top level fullbacks would do, or at least put his body on the line in the attempt.

How depressing it must be for Sloan that, after the entire teams poor defence & equalling poor game plan, that he is continually left to clean up with last ditch try savers. Then cops all the blame.

The problem with many of these posts is the knee jerk "get rid of him'" whether it be Sloan or Coach, but no-one provides a plausible solution.

We have been dealt the cards we have. Recruitment of Marquee players without massive overs, is impossible for a club in our position. But we have promising juniors performing in a comp well below FG level. Like Sloan they will struggle in first grade. They need nurturing with game time without fear of being dumped for any mistake.

2024, with little expectation for finals, is the perfect year to hone Sloan's skills & improve his defence in order to become a premium fullback. It's also an opportunity to blood a few more juniors in preparation for 2025/6.

We all want instant success but it's unrealistic with the cattle we have. I just want to see continual improvement which admittedly hasn't been on display as much as I hoped

 

[steerlerbab]

I don't know which way to go with this one. Sloan is brilliant in attack but it must be deflating to team mates when he continually fails to make the tackles and clean up the loose ball that most top level fullbacks would do, or at least put his body on the line in the attempt.

Persisting with him at fullback will burn him out. Storm will run Asafa at him. Roosters will run JWH at him, Penrith will run Fisher Harris at him. He has improved under high ball but he needs to learn how to tackle players 20,30kg heavier.

 

[Dragon David]

The fragility of the current Dragons fan is we always look at what players the other team will be missing to give us a better chance of winning, eg newcastle - Frizzell, Phins - missing 4 players, look at what happened in both those games. We should be wanting to meet every team at their full strength, so the ultimate result is we are even more disappointed in losing because those sides had those players out. This rollercoaster ride that we are on this year so far suggests that we have a very long way to go in everything we do. I said at the beginning that this year would be a year of uncertainty of where we are going as a club. The major thing I'm happy about is that we have seen a massive improvement in our juniors, we just need to definitely develop and manage them, there are some very good kids coming through. Until the majority of the current squad is replaced with Dragons DNA, then we can really be assured of our destiny. If you watch and listen to what Richardson is trying to achieve at the Tigers, its exactly that, its the Penrith model, it works proven fact. He stated he wanted minimum 80 % recruitment done through local juniors. As for this game, what Dragons side are we going to be this week, what excuses are we going to look for, are we dumb or smart, will our kicking game be good or bad ???? I'm going to say purely with heart we have a bounce back, but who knows, we get more than 10 points behind and its game over.

How depressing it must be for Sloan that, after the entire teams poor defence & equalling poor game plan, that he is continually left to clean up with last ditch try savers. Then cops all the blame.

The problem with many of these posts is the knee jerk "get rid of him'" whether it be Sloan or Coach, but no-one provides a plausible solution.

We have been dealt the cards we have. Recruitment of Marquee players without massive overs, is impossible for a club in our position. But we have promising juniors performing in a comp well below FG level. Like Sloan they will struggle in first grade. They need nurturing with game time without fear of being dumped for any mistake.

2024, with little expectation for finals, is the perfect year to hone Sloan's skills & improve his defence in order to become a premium fullback. It's also an opportunity to blood a few more juniors in preparation for 2025/6.

We all want instant success but it's unrealistic with the cattle we have. I just want to see continual improvement which admittedly hasn't been on display as much as I hoped

Great points and arguments you both have raised Justa and H of D.

It is becoming obvious to me that this year won't be a semi finals year which Flanno said there was a possibility if the players he has under him perform to their best every game.

2024 is a year to analyse the depth and strength and durability and capabilities of each player in our squad plus those players in SG Ball, Flegg and KOE Cup. I would hope that some juniors are given the opportunity to play in first grade and this will give Flanno a chance to see who will be retained and who will be retrenched overall for 2025 and beyond.

With the Centre of Excellence planned to be finished sometime in 2025, the club will be trying very hard to promote the Dragons and if Flanno can actually get a couple of decent players in the spots we need and have the others with Dragons DNA in them from those players retained and with the juniors promoted, we might be semi final bound in 2025 or 2026.

The focus now will be on the Tigers game. Win, lose or draw, it is up to the players to play the best they can irrespective of what the end result will be.

 

[Bin Chicken]

How depressing it must be for Sloan that, after the entire teams poor defence & equalling poor game plan, that he is continually left to clean up with last ditch try savers. Then cops all the blame.

The problem with many of these posts is the knee jerk "get rid of him'" whether it be Sloan or Coach, but no-one provides a plausible solution.

We have been dealt the cards we have. Recruitment of Marquee players without massive overs, is impossible for a club in our position. But we have promising juniors performing in a comp well below FG level. Like Sloan they will struggle in first grade. They need nurturing with game time without fear of being dumped for any mistake.

2024, with little expectation for finals, is the perfect year to hone Sloan's skills & improve his defence in order to become a premium fullback. It's also an opportunity to blood a few more juniors in preparation for 2025/6.

We all want instant success but it's unrealistic with the cattle we have. I just want to see continual improvement which admittedly hasn't been on display as much as I hoped

Mate I was fully behind the “ nurture Sloan” thing but there really is no improvement over 3 years. He is as good as he will be right now. We are not going to improve with him in our 17 at all

 

[Bin Chicken]

Persisting with him at fullback will burn him out. Storm will run Asafa at him. Roosters will run JWH at him, Penrith will run Fisher Harris at him. He has improved under high ball but he needs to learn how to tackle players 20,30kg heavier.

Correct . He is part of the opposition game plan. It’s not that he is scared I actually think he hasn’t the capacity to make those tackles

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Mate I was fully behind the “ nurture Sloan” thing but there really is no improvement over 3 years. He is as good as he will be right now. We are not going to improve with him in our 17 at all

For goodness sake - He's 21

You are obviously a bona fide recogniser of NRL talent.

Rather than throwing mud at Sloan, easy to do behind a Keyboard, tell us your expert plausibly solution, other than a lame ''recruit''

If not Sloan - who?

 

[justadragon]

Persisting with him at fullback will burn him out. Storm will run Asafa at him. Roosters will run JWH at him, Penrith will run Fisher Harris at him. He has improved under high ball but he needs to learn how to tackle players 20,30kg heavier.

I would dare say those guys running at 90% of the FB's would trample all over them, yes thats correct he needs better technique but would we all be happy when he gets knocked out and we can say he put his body on the line, there needs to be a balance.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Interesting debate here about Sloan.

My take is that Sloan will play fullback this year as often as Flanno wants him there. However, if a few of our intended targets play out, he may not play much fullback from '25 onwards.

Sloan di play the majority of his junior years as a winger, not fullback. Treigh Stewart was preferred over him, and at times Feagai filled in there (which he is doing in KOE Cup now).