Round 1 v Cowboys

[ALSGI]

Cowboys in Townsville.

Lived up there for 3yrs and I really know the crowd will be a huge factor, especially after the recent floods and community spirit. Their local media will be in a frenzy already.

Huge pressure on the Cowboys to win. They’ll throw absolutely everything at us for this one.

We’re f**kced!

My prediction - Dragons win by 20 despite the f**kcen Ref’s and crowd.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Cowboys in Townsville.

Lived up there for 3yrs and I really know the crowd will be a huge factor, especially after the recent floods and community spirit. Their local media will be in a frenzy already.

Huge pressure on the Cowboys to win. They’ll throw absolutely everything at us for this one.

We’re f**kced!

My prediction - Dragons win by 20 despite the f**kcen Ref’s and crowd.

Depend ole mate,
Depends on whether Mcidiot is going to stuff with the spine again or ............ put the semi final winning backline in place and add Norman to the centre.

It really is that easy.

 

[jak]

Depend ole mate,
Depends on whether Mcidiot is going to stuff with the spine again or ............ put the semi final winning backline in place and add Norman to the centre.

It really is that easy.

the first one.

 

[muzby]

I’m looking forward to see how Nightingale deals with Thurston’s cross field kicks

 

[nontime111]

as long as Mcfroghead smells the wind and heeds natural law and bes a good frog by picking Lomax over Aitken in the centres and lets him sneak up on first grade ( wont take him long hes a future star) all will be dandy, of course we need 2 fast wingers also in Pearson and Ravalawa, watch em click but he MUST take the risk!

 

[Overseas dragon]

1 dufty 2 ravalawa 3 lomax 4 lafai 5 periera 6 widdop 7 hunt 8 vaughan 9 mcinnes 10 graham 11 sims 12 host 13 frizell 14 norman 15 lawrie 16 timm 17 luiluiwi 18 robson 19 latimore 20 timm YES I KNOW IM DREAMING ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Dragonslayer]

McGregor will not stray away from "his" team. Simply because it is "his" team,
I expect from him, come the first team list Tuesday will be:

1. Widdop
2. Lomax
3. Aitken
4. Lafai
5. Periera
6. Norman
7. Hunt
8. Graham
9. McInnes
10. Vaughan
11. Host
12. T. SIms
13. Frizell
14. Lawrie
15. Latimore
16. Leilua
17. Dufty
18. Robson
19. Ravalawa
20. Kerr
21. Field

The only exception would be Leilua to start and Host on the bench, but that's about it. Anyone expecting anything else is, well, dreaming. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but expecting the worse is better than disappointment.

 

[Crush]

McGregor will not stray away from "his" team. Simply because it is "his" team,
I expect from him, come the first team list Tuesday will be:

1. Widdop
2. Lomax
3. Aitken
4. Lafai
5. Periera
6. Norman
7. Hunt
8. Graham
9. McInnes
10. Vaughan
11. Host
12. T. SIms
13. Frizell
14. Lawrie
15. Latimore
16. Leilua
17. Dufty
18. Robson
19. Ravalawa
20. Kerr
21. Field

The only exception would be Leilua to start and Host on the bench, but that's about it. Anyone expecting anything else is, well, dreaming. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but expecting the worse is better than disappointment.

Yep, that'll be the lineup no doubt.
And Dufty to come on with 9 mins to play before fulltime.

 

[muzby]

Yep, that'll be the lineup no doubt.
And Dufty to come on with 9 mins to play before fulltime.

9 mins?

Who gets injured, or is it a HIA?

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

McGregor will not stray away from "his" team. Simply because it is "his" team,
I expect from him, come the first team list Tuesday will be:

1. Widdop
2. Lomax
3. Aitken
4. Lafai
5. Periera
6. Norman
7. Hunt
8. Graham
9. McInnes
10. Vaughan
11. Host
12. T. SIms
13. Frizell
14. Lawrie
15. Latimore
16. Leilua
17. Dufty
18. Robson
19. Ravalawa
20. Kerr
21. Field

The only exception would be Leilua to start and Host on the bench, but that's about it. Anyone expecting anything else is, well, dreaming. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but expecting the worse is better than disappointment.

I think you have got the 21 man squad spot on, this season isn't about us winning the GF, its about Mary getting the 3 year extension THATS HE'S FOCUS...

 

[ouryears]

Cowboys in Townsville.

Lived up there for 3yrs and I really know the crowd will be a huge factor, especially after the recent floods and community spirit. Their local media will be in a frenzy already.

Huge pressure on the Cowboys to win. They’ll throw absolutely everything at us for this one.

We’re f**kced!

My prediction - Dragons win by 20 despite the f**kcen Ref’s and crowd.

Lets hope we can man up like we did vs broncos in semi final last year
Otherwise we won’t get close
It will be about attitude
If we turn up with the right attitude and steely focus, we will win
If we are a bit off.....they will get us

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Yep, that'll be the lineup no doubt.
And Dufty to come on with 9 mins to play before fulltime.

A lot can be done in 9 minutes.

You can half clean a car.
You can half cut the front grass.
You can half go to the toilet & shower.
You can half go to the bottle shop & back.

You can allow Duffy half a chance to touch the ball before he's back on the bench again, waiting for next weeks 9 minutes.

Yep, full proper coaching by a halfwit!

 

[Brutalitops]

I want Mary sacked like the rest of you, but Jesus can we actually discuss the match. I know expectations of poor coaching is technically part of the match but it would be much more interesting to discuss potential combinations and match ups we are excited to see rather than rehashing the same exact content in another thread.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing if Nene's deficiencies are targeted, as we are all well aware of those defensive lapses he's capable of.

I'm also looking forward to the forward battle. Even without JDB we have an exciting forward pack, and Cowboys are up the top as well, so seeing that match up will be exciting.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

9 mins?

Who gets injured, or is it a HIA?

Yes, it's Heineken in Australia

 

[muzby]

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing if Nene's deficiencies are targeted, as we are all well aware of those defensive lapses he's capable of.

Nene may be a nono for round 1.

Facing disciplinary action for being late for (or missing?) training..

 

[Crush]

I want Mary sacked like the rest of you, but Jesus can we actually discuss the match. I know expectations of poor coaching is technically part of the match but it would be much more interesting to discuss potential combinations and match ups we are excited to see rather than rehashing the same exact content in another thread.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing if Nene's deficiencies are targeted, as we are all well aware of those defensive lapses he's capable of.

I'm also looking forward to the forward battle. Even without JDB we have an exciting forward pack, and Cowboys are up the top as well, so seeing that match up will be exciting.

I think we will smack the Cowboys.
We always start well and this year will be no different. That team that played the charity shield was fatigued hence all the errors in defense.
Watch our forwards belt theirs.
Dragons by 20.

 

[Morotti]

I feel like we really don't have to squeeze Corey Norman into the team if it is not suitable. Maybe he has to wait a year to get 5/8 spot.

I thought Dufty was getting better last year in his first full year. So pushing him back to the bench doesn't help us at all. When he has come on we have looked lost as the set up changes so much.

Very interested to see how we open up the season. Trial form is very hard to gauge.

 

[possm]

Cowboys in Townsville.

Lived up there for 3yrs and I really know the crowd will be a huge factor, especially after the recent floods and community spirit. Their local media will be in a frenzy already.

Huge pressure on the Cowboys to win. They’ll throw absolutely everything at us for this one.

We’re f**kced!

My prediction - Dragons win by 20 despite the f**kcen Ref’s and crowd.

One of my daughters live up at Ingham. The season before last she bought tickets for thee whole family to watch Dragons v Cowboys. Cowboys put the cleaners through us that game; probably the worst game I have seen the Dragons play.

We have a different squad for this game however, I am not so sure it is a better squad. I only hope that work will be done on defensive patterns, ball skills and player combinations in the time before this game.

It is hard for me to understand why the above training cannot be done side by side with the pre-season fitness training. It is clear that other Clubs do this and given the big changes made to our proposed run on team, we surely need the time and experience to hone in on these other essential aspects.

For me it seems clear that Widdop is not fully recovered from his injured should and lacks confidence in his shoulder's durability. It also is not clear if Dufty has overcome his problems in defence or gained confidence under the high ball.

I am most concerned with the form and skills of our wingers and centres. Lomax looked out of sorts in the Charity Shield trial, Aitken looked hopeless as usual and Lafai was average. It is clear to me that any winger standing outside Aitken will look bad mainly because of his inability to read defence and position himself to work in combination with team mates. I understand Mary's obvious love for young Aitken but surely he has seen enough to understand he is not a first grade centre.

The halves combination is a work in progress however, I would have liked to see a significant amount of work done on this during the off-season. I do not know what Mary's instructions are but it seems to me that Norman is not to assume the play maker role.

The loss of K Sims (suspension) and De Belin will be sorely missed. I am sure Mary will turn to a prop rotation of Vaughan, Graham, Latimore and Lawrie and a backrow rotation of T Sims, Host and possibly Robson with Dufty coming of the bench in the 14 jumper.

I would have preferred to leave Widdop out of the side until his shoulder is fully recovered with a line-up as follows:
1. Dufty - at least we will see where he is at right now.
2. Pereira - we still need to see Pearson in action. Maybe Mary has an opinion already.
3. Lomax
4. Lafai
5. Ravalawa
6. Norman
7. Hunt
8. Vaughan
9. McInnes
10. Graham
11. T Sims
12. Host
13. Frizell

14. Robson
15. Lawrie
16. Timm / Kerr
17. Leilua

Mary has publicly said that he wants to carry back on the bench and if this is the case I'd say Field to 17.

 

[LINESPEED]

One of my daughters live up at Ingham. The season before last she bought tickets for thee whole family to watch Dragons v Cowboys. Cowboys put the cleaners through us that game; probably the worst game I have seen the Dragons play.

We have a different squad for this game however, I am not so sure it is a better squad. I only hope that work will be done on defensive patterns, ball skills and player combinations in the time before this game.

It is hard for me to understand why the above training cannot be done side by side with the pre-season fitness training. It is clear that other Clubs do this and given the big changes made to our proposed run on team, we surely need the time and experience to hone in on these other essential aspects.

For me it seems clear that Widdop is not fully recovered from his injured should and lacks confidence in his shoulder's durability. It also is not clear if Dufty has overcome his problems in defence or gained confidence under the high ball.

I am most concerned with the form and skills of our wingers and centres. Lomax looked out of sorts in the Charity Shield trial, Aitken looked hopeless as usual and Lafai was average. It is clear to me that any winger standing outside Aitken will look bad mainly because of his inability to read defence and position himself to work in combination with team mates. I understand Mary's obvious love for young Aitken but surely he has seen enough to understand he is not a first grade centre.

The halves combination is a work in progress however, I would have liked to see a significant amount of work done on this during the off-season. I do not know what Mary's instructions are but it seems to me that Norman is not to assume the play maker role.

The loss of K Sims (suspension) and De Belin will be sorely missed. I am sure Mary will turn to a prop rotation of Vaughan, Graham, Latimore and Lawrie and a backrow rotation of T Sims, Host and possibly Robson with Dufty coming of the bench in the 14 jumper.

I would have preferred to leave Widdop out of the side until his shoulder is fully recovered with a line-up as follows:
1. Dufty - at least we will see where he is at right now.
2. Pereira - we still need to see Pearson in action. Maybe Mary has an opinion already.
3. Lomax
4. Lafai
5. Ravalawa
6. Norman
7. Hunt
8. Vaughan
9. McInnes
10. Graham
11. T Sims
12. Host
13. Frizell

14. Robson
15. Lawrie
16. Timm / Kerr
17. Leilua

Mary has publicly said that he wants to carry back on the bench and if this is the case I'd say Field to 17.

Possm I still think it a travesty if Lomax & Dufty don’t automatically resume the positions they had in the 2 high pressure semifinals where they performed at the highest level.

We were clearly good enough to make the 3rd weekend even without Widdop, Vaughn & Sims - and with a coach sitting nonplussed in the box after the PLAYERS took it upon themselves to loosen the shackles & play way outside the Waterboy’s square.


They’ll be shackled with his tedium yet again Rd1 - with a benched Dufty, absent Field & the lunacy of a rotating bench.

 

[possm]

Possm I still think it a travesty if Lomax & Dufty don’t automatically resume the positions they had in the 2 high pressure semifinals where they performed at the highest level.

We were clearly good enough to make the 3rd weekend even without Widdop, Vaughn & Sims - and with a coach sitting nonplussed in the box after the PLAYERS took it upon themselves to loosen the shackles & play way outside the Waterboy’s square.


They’ll be shackled with his tedium yet again Rd1 - with a benched Dufty, absent Field & the lunacy of a rotating bench.

All credit to the Dragons who played some of the best football of the season against Brisbane however, one should be reminded that the Broncos were in chaos mainly due to the rift between Bennett and the Board. This did have a negative effect on the Broncos playing squad.