Round 1 v Cowboys

[rednwhites]

I know both teams had to deal with it but I don't think you can underestimate the affect the rain had on us the other night. I think it started bucketing down when the Cowboys began to surge and it basically didn't stop after that. Killed us dead in our tracks and although we made a surge of our own after halftime we weren't able to play wet weather footy.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

I know both teams had to deal with it but I don't think you can underestimate the affect the rain had on us the other night. I think it started bucketing down when the Cowboys began to surge and it basically didn't stop after that. Killed us dead in our tracks and although we made a surge of our own after halftime we weren't able to play wet weather footy.

Dragons problems plain to see- evident in past years and in the loss to Souths in the Charity Shield as well.

1. No 1 problem with a bullet- it will never change- MARY CANT COACH
2. Aitken scores one of his bullocking tries early which will of course guarantee his selection for the rest of the season as right centre. The rest of the game he went missing. HIs appalling reads and rush ups in defence, one of which was clinically exploited by Morgan for a try, will be again overlooked. Teams like Melbourne and clever coaches like Bellamy will have their attacks blitzing his side of the field. Prepare for cricket scores like last year.
3. Two rep half backs faced off in Townsville but only one showed he was a dominant, genuine $1M dollar half back- and it wasn't Ben Hunt. Hunt wasn't bad- but that's the point- he's mediocre - particularly his kicking game. Corey Norman struggled to get into the game and his kicking game was poor as well. On a wet night when keeping it along the ground was the obvious play, he was guilty of last tackle kicks that he placed on the chest of Kahu.
4. The lack of depth in the Dragons back row is now a huge problem. Korbyn Sims may be able to fill the Frizzell hole when he returns from suspension but Host and Luc were again well short of starting quality. There is a distinct lack of Impact off the bench. Kerr, Blacker and co may have to be fast tracked.
5. I'm sure Mary would like Dufty's speed and elusiveness at full back but he is terrified at his lack of size, his defensive frailty and uncertainty under the high ball. Widdop gets the No 1 job by default over Norman as he has the bigger body which is now seen as important in running the ball back. Maybe Hayne was the answer after all.
6 When Dufty came on, too late as usual courtesy of Mary's innate lack of timing, he immediately went into headless chook mode running from side to side. On a wet surface this was easily contained. Did no one in what could be loosely called the Dragons ""brains trust", note what Morgan had done and what Souths had done on Friday night and that is use the grubber close to the line with a charging, speedy offence beating to the ball the retreating defence that cannot easily turn on a greasy surface??

 

[Old Timer]

I have just had a look at the game again to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
My take aways are as follows

1. We looked much more like the 2016 and 2017 teams and nothing like the 2018 team.
2. Lacklustre attack especially close to the opposition line and coach doesn't know how to capitalise on field position or when to inject the "impact player off the bench".
3. If we are completely honest our 1st try was opportunistic and the last try was not only a true consolation but somewhat lucky because Nene was being an air head and was distracted and the ref somewhat got in the road.
4. Hunt is questionable as he has too many games where he is a rabbit in the headlights (maybe due to lack of direction from coach). He needs to much better than he is.
5. Ou forward pack is good but not the dominant force that some think we are especially against the good sides.
6. Our defence at times is abysmal. We know the issues about Aitken's side (he still runs in which is amazing) but the middle at times is very flimsy and if the opposition break is not made in the initial surge it is shortly after it.
7. A complete lack of interchange passing by pour forwards. Head down bum up stuff which is just so easily accounted for.
8. If Leilua is not game fit and coach thinks he can bring him on to our advantage when the opposition is tired, he is badly mistaken because our team is also tired so no real benefit achieved. Whilst we have the current situation confronting our forwards I would start Leilua and play him until fatigue sets in and then sub him out. If coach is insistent he start form the bench then he should be the 1st interchange and not Latimore. We were going very well early on and just maybe if Leilua had come on instead of Latimore something might have given our way.
9. Aitken did well for a goodly period but brought it all undone with a couple of very expensive defensive lapses.
10. If we don't get this right very quickly it will be a horror start to the year.

 

[Dragon for life]

Dragons problems plain to see- evident in past years and in the loss to Souths in the Charity Shield as well.

1. No 1 problem with a bullet- it will never change- MARY CANT COACH
2. Aitken scores one of his bullocking tries early which will of course guarantee his selection for the rest of the season as right centre. The rest of the game he went missing. HIs appalling reads and rush ups in defence, one of which was clinically exploited by Morgan for a try, will be again overlooked. Teams like Melbourne and clever coaches like Bellamy will have their attacks blitzing his side of the field. Prepare for cricket scores like last year.
3. Two rep half backs faced off in Townsville but only one showed he was a dominant, genuine $1M dollar half back- and it wasn't Ben Hunt. Hunt wasn't bad- but that's the point- he's mediocre - particularly his kicking game. Corey Norman struggled to get into the game and his kicking game was poor as well. On a wet night when keeping it along the ground was the obvious play, he was guilty of last tackle kicks that he placed on the chest of Kahu.
4. The lack of depth in the Dragons back row is now a huge problem. Korbyn Sims may be able to fill the Frizzell hole when he returns from suspension but Host and Luc were again well short of starting quality. There is a distinct lack of Impact off the bench. Kerr, Blacker and co may have to be fast tracked.
5. I'm sure Mary would like Dufty's speed and elusiveness at full back but he is terrified at his lack of size, his defensive frailty and uncertainty under the high ball. Widdop gets the No 1 job by default over Norman as he has the bigger body which is now seen as important in running the ball back. Maybe Hayne was the answer after all.
6 When Dufty came on, too late as usual courtesy of Mary's innate lack of timing, he immediately went into headless chook mode running from side to side. On a wet surface this was easily contained. Did no one in what could be loosely called the Dragons ""brains trust", note what Morgan had done and what Souths had done on Friday night and that is use the grubber close to the line with a charging, speedy offence beating to the ball the retreating defence that cannot easily turn on a greasy surface??

I thought our long kicking game was pretty good, we found the turf a lot of time unlike the usual high bomb which the opposition catch and make 20 metres immediately. Our short kicking was atrocious.
Frizell is wasted just smashing it up the middle, with his speed he needs to be on one egde with sims on the other and the halves using them when they an opportunity .... and that’s the problem they don’t read the play! If we make a half break and have the opposition on the back foot, as a half I would be calling it and using Friz or Sims but no we waste another 2 tackles rucking it up to get to our usual 4th tackle backline move.
Thurston and Morgan were good at seeing these opportunities when playing together. I guess most good halves should play this way because that’s what their being paid for. Not Hunt he doesn’t contol a game. He will/should become the highest paid hooker in the game. Waste of money!!!

 

[Old Timer]

I thought our long kicking game was pretty good, we found the turf a lot of time unlike the usual high bomb which the opposition catch and make 20 metres immediately. Our short kicking was atrocious.
Frizell is wasted just smashing it up the middle, with his speed he needs to be on one egde with sims on the other and the halves using them when they an opportunity .... and that’s the problem they don’t read the play! If we make a half break and have the opposition on the back foot, as a half I would be calling it and using Friz or Sims but no we waste another 2 tackles rucking it up to get to our usual 4th tackle backline move.
Thurston and Morgan were good at seeing these opportunities when playing together. I guess most good halves should play this way because that’s what their being paid for. Not Hunt he doesn’t contol a game. He will/should become the highest paid hooker in the game. Waste of money!!!

Hunt is an upgrade on our previous halves but that wouldn't have been difficult.
He seems to have a very fragile personality and when a f**k up occurs he goes into his shell or becomes devoid of ideas.
We need an attitude like James Maloney whereby a mistake made can be rectified but you have to take your chances to achieve that.
The noise being made by Norman about us needing to chance our arm a bit more is encouraging but having Hunt as his halves partner actually worries me as maybe Norman is too chancy for his liking.
Norman may in fact be the better option at 7 with Widdop at 6 but I guess we will never know as the likelihood of Hunt getting a SOO gig this year is very limited IMO.

 

[hazzbeen]

Hunt is an upgrade on our previous halves but that wouldn't have been difficult.
He seems to have a very fragile personality and when a f**k up occurs he goes into his shell or becomes devoid of ideas.
We need an attitude like James Maloney whereby a mistake made can be rectified but you have to take your chances to achieve that.
The noise being made by Norman about us needing to chance our arm a bit more is encouraging but having Hunt as his halves partner actually worries me as maybe Norman is too chancy for his liking.
Norman may in fact be the better option at 7 with Widdop at 6 but I guess we will never know as the likelihood of Hunt getting a SOO gig this year is very limited IMO.

Spot on .....

 

[Dragon for life]

Spot on .....

Yeah agree. Most players when a mistake is made try to make up for that mistake. As mentioned ours goes into his shell. I think most of us would prefer mistake after mistake if he is trying different things.

Lol trying to get McGregor to make the suggested changes.

I have to say I didn’t think Widdop looked that good at fullback. I know it’s 1 game but he doesn’t look comfortable under the high ball. I know his defense wasn’t too bad and he did bring Toumalolo down a couple of times after he broke through. May have been different if Dufty was there. Toumalolo would have just tucked the ball under his arm and may have flattened him out.
God we have some headaches.

 

[blacksafake]

I have just had a look at the game again to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
My take aways are as follows

1. We looked much more like the 2016 and 2017 teams and nothing like the 2018 team.
2. Lacklustre attack especially close to the opposition line and coach doesn't know how to capitalise on field position or when to inject the "impact player off the bench".
3. If we are completely honest our 1st try was opportunistic and the last try was not only a true consolation but somewhat lucky because Nene was being an air head and was distracted and the ref somewhat got in the road.
4. Hunt is questionable as he has too many games where he is a rabbit in the headlights (maybe due to lack of direction from coach). He needs to much better than he is.
5. Ou forward pack is good but not the dominant force that some think we are especially against the good sides.
6. Our defence at times is abysmal. We know the issues about Aitken's side (he still runs in which is amazing) but the middle at times is very flimsy and if the opposition break is not made in the initial surge it is shortly after it.
7. A complete lack of interchange passing by pour forwards. Head down bum up stuff which is just so easily accounted for.
8. If Leilua is not game fit and coach thinks he can bring him on to our advantage when the opposition is tired, he is badly mistaken because our team is also tired so no real benefit achieved. Whilst we have the current situation confronting our forwards I would start Leilua and play him until fatigue sets in and then sub him out. If coach is insistent he start form the bench then he should be the 1st interchange and not Latimore. We were going very well early on and just maybe if Leilua had come on instead of Latimore something might have given our way.
9. Aitken did well for a goodly period but brought it all undone with a couple of very expensive defensive lapses.
10. If we don't get this right very quickly it will be a horror start to the year.

Agree OT,
Especially with points 2,5,6,7,8 & 10.
I'm totally gobsmacked at the total lack of skill in the side. The one out running is obviously under coaches instructions because it's been their go to under L plates coaching.They just seem so regimented in getting through their sets to get to tackle four & try something, then if that don't work it's kick on the last.Plenty of times I have seen them get the defence on the backfoot with the opportunity to go to the edges but instead they go into "auto pilot" & take a settler.

 

[hazzbeen]

Agree OT,
Especially with points 2,5,6,7,8 & 10.
I'm totally gobsmacked at the total lack of skill in the side. The one out running is obviously under coaches instructions because it's been their go to under L plates coaching.They just seem so regimented in getting through their sets to get to tackle four & try something, then if that don't work it's kick on the last.Plenty of times I have seen them get the defence on the backfoot with the opportunity to go to the edges but instead they go into "auto pilot" & take a settler.

Their best footy last year was when they had to play catch up

Agree OT,
Especially with points 2,5,6,7,8 & 10.
I'm totally gobsmacked at the total lack of skill in the side. The one out running is obviously under coaches instructions because it's been their go to under L plates coaching.They just seem so regimented in getting through their sets to get to tackle four & try something, then if that don't work it's kick on the last.Plenty of times I have seen them get the defence on the backfoot with the opportunity to go to the edges but instead they go into "auto pilot" & take a settler.

Their best footy last year was when they had to chase points and played what was in front of them . Also not having Dufty playing makes us even more stereo type , any unpredictable play is gone without him . Let's not forget he won us games last year that we would not have won if he wasn't playing .....

 

[Willow]

I'm OK with venting feelings, but I get frustrated when said venting involves labelling other posters. The terms 'apologist' and 'accepting mediocrity' come with negative overtones and are mostly expressed that way in posts.

As I said elsewhere, suggesting that someone 'accepts mediocrity' is, at least to me, somewhat hypocritical. The reality is that if you continue to follow the club and make no real effort to change the situation (other than venting on a forum) you are also accepting mediocrity. As I qualified it in a previous post, it's more like having mediocrity forced upon you rather than willingly accepting it. As you are well aware Willow (based on your past posts), the chances of influencing the club in any way is quite limited.

I can see you have a lot on your plate.

 

[True_Believer]

I can see you have a lot on your plate.

Not sure how you arrive at that position or how relevant it is - but sure.