Round 1 v Sharks

[Dragonslayer]

For added interest, the CC game v Jets will play before the main game.

So even more importance is the Team List Tuesday.

https://www.nswrl.com.au/draw/nsw-cup/2021/round-1/dragons-v-jets/

 

[Gareth67]

Cannot afford to have Ravalawa out of the run-on side , the man is just too valuable when finishing off the movements with Lomax that lead to a Dragon try , not to mention his defense .

Also I would like to have Faamausuli in the 13 , he is too big a body to be wasted on the bench and the Dragons badly need size , I would have him in the front row along with Vaughan and have Kerr on the bench to come on at full steam when either one of them requires a break .

Sims and Laurie in the second row with Ford at lock , Alvaro , Fuimaomo on the bench along with Sullivan .

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

Cannot afford to have Ravalawa out of the run-on side , the man is just too valuable when finishing off the movements with Lomax that lead to a Dragon try , not to mention his defense .

Also I would like to have Faamausuli in the 13 , he is just too big a body to be wasted on the bench , I would have him in the front row along with Vaughan and have Kerr on the bench to come on at full steam when either one of them requires a break .

Sims and Laurie in the second row with Ford at lock , Alvaro on the bench along with Sullivan .

Prefer this arrangement. I want the lock to be athletic - Ford fits the bill but Lawrie does not.

 

[goldiesaintz]

Drinking mid week?

No mate, just counting down the time till when the team plays.

 

[Gareth67]

Prefer this arrangement. I want the lock to be athletic - Ford fits the bill but Lawrie does not.

Exactly Johnno , without being critical of the man he does not have the turn of pace that many locks possess , whereas Ford does .

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

For added interest, the CC game v Jets will play before the main game.

So even more importance is the Team List Tuesday.

https://www.nswrl.com.au/draw/nsw-cup/2021/round-1/dragons-v-jets/

CC is now called Knock On Effect NSW Cup, I will just be calling it KOC from now on. I think round one is going to be a massive round of KOC. There are certainly some players of ours that need a bit of KOC.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

Dufty always plays well against the Sharks, I reckon he'll be trying to impress in this game too!

He will be trying to impress every week until he is re-signed I would imagine. He really never not tries hard tbh. There are fair criticisms about his game but lack of effort isn't generally one of them.

 

[Crush]

He will be trying to impress every week until he is re-signed I would imagine. He really never not tries hard tbh. There are fair criticisms about his game but lack of effort isn't generally one of them.

I was thinking more along the lines of he will want Sharks to pick him up to play fullback next year....

 

[muzby]

I still can’t work out the Dufty beef with people.

He put in every week last year post season resumption, and he was literally our best attacking weapon last year.

 

[Inisai Toga]

Exactly Johnno , without being critical of the man he does not have the turn of pace that many locks possess , whereas Ford does .

Also want to see Ford without the structure that second row demands. If he is creative in as attack people are suggesting i agree put him at lock. Lawrie is a bench prop only for me; i’d prefer Merrin as he offers more with the ball.

 

[redv13]

I still can’t work out the Dufty beef with people.

He put in every week last year post season resumption, and he was literally our best attacking weapon last year.

He’s a lazy defender who is usually out of position close to the line compared to other fullbacks and always seems a couple of seconds from where he should be. When we’re on he’s up no doubt but when things are getting too hard he’s one of the first to drop his head which tends to show a shit attitude. Following some forwards up the middle looking for some lazy defenders would help the team too

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

I was thinking more along the lines of he will want Sharks to pick him up to play fullback next year....

Mary wasn’t his biggest fan though was he?

 

[Crush]

I still can’t work out the Dufty beef with people.

He put in every week last year post season resumption, and he was literally our best attacking weapon last year.

Dufty is always going to be polarising.
He is just so extreme.
One minute he is scoring the individual try of the season the next he is getting repeatedly ragdolled back on our goal line.
One minute he is throwing a crisp cutout pass to an unmarked winger the next he is dropping anything that is kicked more than 10 meters in the air.
He’s so good at some aspects and so poor at others.
But the way I see it we are screwed anyway so we may as well persist with him and hope he learns along the way.

 

[BLM01]

CC is now called Knock On Effect NSW Cup, I will just be calling it KOC from now on. I think round one is going to be a massive round of KOC. There are certainly some players of ours that need a bit of KOC.

Ok so 11 teams in the comp. Only 3 dont play finls..WOW

 

[Gareth67]

Also want to see Ford without the structure that second row demands. If he is creative in attack people are suggesting i agree put him at lock.
Lawrie bench prop only for me. I’d prefer Merrin offers more with the ball

I actually forgot about Merrin , however at this point in time it’s not only size that the Dragons pack lacks , but also experience and Merlin certainly fits the bill there , plus he also knows how to step and off-load the ball .

 

[Inisai Toga]

I actually forgot about Merrin , however at this point in time it’s not only size that the Dragons pack lacks , but also experience and Merlin certainly fits the bill there , plus he also knows how to step and off-load the ball .

If only someone would ever follow him e.g Dufty or Sullivan we could develop some second phase play...

 

[dungay dragon]

He’s a lazy defender who is usually out of position close to the line compared to other fullbacks and always seems a couple of seconds from where he should be. When we’re on he’s up no doubt but when things are getting too hard he’s one of the first to drop his head which tends to show a shit attitude. Following some forwards up the middle looking for some lazy defenders would help the team too

i thought it was our over rated and over paid forwards who went missing when things get a bit too tough..
Few of our forwards make a dent in the opposition defence , esp our former Origin reps
Singling out Dufty , who along with McInness , were possibly our best last season , is a bit rich .
Dufty can only attack once the forwards have laid a platform and thats not happening
Yep hes still learning his craft at no 1 and is ocassionally caught out of position
Hes also has the best passing game in our side , and leads in try assists.
Would love to see Hook give him a crack at 6 ..Could be a game changer
The cancer with our team is the drop off in intensity when things dont go our way , and the opposition start getting on top ..
Even against Souths our first 10-15 mins was ok , going set for set , plenty of enthusiasm and effort , even norman and hunt were ok , but once souths scored up went the white flag ...cheap surrender..yet again. Been the same for the past 6-7 seasons
So far it appears nothing has changed

 

[Inisai Toga]

Couldn’t agree more with you comments regarding Saints 7 years of dropping off in intensity. Every club know that if they stay with us theyll get us because we can’t play the long game.
In 1971 Jack Gibson played all 3 grades a film called ‘ The Second Effort’. All 3 teams made the GF that year. 40 years later Wayne Bennett also played it i believe when coaching us. The second effort was part of the DNA of those successful teams. Maybe time to blow the dust of the old film again......because until we get this attitude into the teams mindset i feel it doesn’t really matter who plays where.

 

[bad boy bubby]

The Sharks have some weird hoodoo where they lose round 1 every season. The opposite of the Storm who win every round 1.
SJ out, surely we turn up and compete in this game? Surely!!!

We've actually only won one first round game in the last 11 seasons, and the one we won was the year they'd stood down the coaching staff so the players went out there with heads full of steam.
I am so used to the Sharks losing this game that I honestly expect you guys to win, if you don't, that will mean that you have real issues going on.
And whoever said that Dufty rips us apart, that is correcttomundo. Every single game he plays against us he kills it.
Betting person? Dragons to win, Dufty MOM.

 

[Dragon David]

i thought it was our over rated and over paid forwards who went missing when things get a bit too tough..
Few of our forwards make a dent in the opposition defence , esp our former Origin reps
Singling out Dufty , who along with McInness , were possibly our best last season , is a bit rich .
Dufty can only attack once the forwards have laid a platform and thats not happening
Yep hes still learning his craft at no 1 and is ocassionally caught out of position
Hes also has the best passing game in our side , and leads in try assists.
Would love to see Hook give him a crack at 6 ..Could be a game changer
The cancer with our team is the drop off in intensity when things dont go our way , and the opposition start getting on top ..
Even against Souths our first 10-15 mins was ok , going set for set , plenty of enthusiasm and effort , even norman and hunt were ok , but once souths scored up went the white flag ...cheap surrender..yet again. Been the same for the past 6-7 seasons
So far it appears nothing has changed

It is up to the forwards to step up now. Hook and Co. have to drum it into the older brigade in the team (which consists mostly of those rather than the new blood) and forget the past handful of years under Mary.

They should be completely aware of the new rules and use them as best as they can to their advantage. Possession of the ball and limiting errors will be the key to their overall attack and defence.

It's no use being able to score tries if they cannot defend the points.

Defend, defend, defend is what has got to be drummed into all of the players. We all know that defence is paramount in all team sports and several individual ones.