Round 10 versus the Titans

[baggygreen man]

he tries his guts out for them but he just can't seem to be able to come up with the match winning plays or direction when needed most.

Agree. Hunt was money wasted when we signed him and still is. Guts and passion without ability does not win games of footy.

 

[baggygreen man]

Finally Griffin saw sense and moved Bird from a playmaking role but only to replace him with a kid just finding his way in the game and clearly not a natural organiser.

 

[mickeylane]

I don’t understand how people can say the coaches aren’t at fault, it’s the players fault.
The team looks like nobody knows their role in attack, all just trying to do it themselves.
They aren’t being taught properly, there is no tactical attack.
They are missing 50 plus tackles a week every week, they aren’t being motivated properly, they aren’t concentrating.
Biggest problem is discipline, they give away penalties at crucial times and they lay in the play the ball way too long, they deserve all the six agains, it’s not refs being biased or unfair.
If that isn’t the coaches fault I don’t know what is. He has had a season and a half to fix this issue, we’ve been the worst offenders since the rule came in. Teach them exactly how long they are able to hold the play the ball player down before they need to get off him!

If this was European football Hook would be sacked today Flanagan appointed given an 18mnths contract w a mandate to make the 8 this year and next then a contract upgrade at the end of 2023. If Hook was sacked today the players would get the message. I think Flanno could do a job short term

 

[baggygreen man]

Dropping them wont help their development

Yes but for gawd sake pick them in positions best suited to their respective skills. Junior is not a natural playmaker.. he is an improvisor with good footwork and pace. Not convinced fullback is Sloan's best position not when you have his kind of vision with ball in hand. Prefer he was 5/8. Everyone here says Sullo is a natural half.. nippy with some ball skills but he aint playing there anytime soon as our dumb coach is not moving the skipper to hooker. Mbye is our only true utility IMO.. so play him at 14 to cover all bases.

 

[Draginzaaar]

I agree with everything you've written here except lumping Sullivan into the "patchy" category.

The moment he came on we started looking like an actual NRL team, he completely changed our game.

The only thing you can criticise him for is being run over the top of by Wallace ... But if you are going to criticise an 80kg 20yo rookie for getting steamrolled by a 115kg seasoned prop, then you are looking to blame the wrong thing. The try came as a result of Lomax missing a conversion from 5m to the left of the posts, followed up by Sloane trying a Hollywood pass on halfway which turned possession over for the try scored off the very next set.

Sullivan needs to be starting half next week. Amone on bench as utility. If McCullough is back he plays hooker for 55 minutes and then Amone comes on.

Where were the forwards at the ruck when Wallace scored? Why didn't anyone dive on the ball when they scored their 1st try? There were 3 players there and only one dived for it....the Titans player.

 

[Dragon David]

My Dad used to say not worth a crumpet
Great quote.
It made me smile and laugh when I read it.
Well done Dragon David.

Good on your dad Jeff he is worth much more than a crumpet, hehe! But, yeah, our club just going through the same dull, unexciting routines because we buy the rejects and fall outs and journeymen who don't really give a toss about our long heritage. Success is not a word used by our officials and that is why we haven't had any for such a loooooooong time.

I don't know where we will be heading now. That loss last night against the Titans will have long lasting negative effects on several of the players especially the young ones.

We need a sports psychologist to speak to our guys. Hook and Co are useless and certainly are not man managers. They lack intensity and drive and initiative.

Unfortunately, my statements are an ongoing reel of spin on the same negative things about our club, the Mighty Dragons, not so much mighty now and won't be for some years I'm sorry to say.

But have a couple of crumpets this morning Jeff with some honey or vegemite to ease the pain.

Good onya mate!

 

[Draginzaaar]

Disciplined and dumb at the same time.

Unf**knblvabl...

Don't get me started on Lawrie. Gives away at least 2 penalties a game and a couple of 6 agains. The bloke is dumb.

 

[Draginzaaar]

Sign andrew John’s to work on the attack

Doesn't work for Newcastle. Didn't work for the Roosters when he was there or Parramatta when he was there.

 

[I'm Hornby]

Too much one out running. No decoy runners. Generally no one backing up.

In fairness I believe we had decoy runners for the three tries scored and at least one of the disallowed ones where Bird thought it was a good idea to run straight at the Titans defender and knock him to the ground when we had an overlap out to the left hand side.

I wonder if that stupid moment and he not being able to tackle Jayden Campbell on the kick return that lead to nearly a length of a field try is on the coaches as well?

Because players like Bird who have played origin and played the sport their whole lives still need coaches reminding them of the basic skills and rules of the game each week, maybe it's an IQ thing then.

 

[jeffdragon]

Good on your dad Jeff he is worth much more than a crumpet, hehe! But, yeah, our club just going through the same dull, unexciting routines because we buy the rejects and fall outs and journeymen who don't really give a toss about our long heritage. Success is not a word used by our officials and that is why we haven't had any for such a loooooooong time.

I don't know where we will be heading now. That loss last night against the Titans will have long lasting negative effects on several of the players especially the young ones.

We need a sports psychologist to speak to our guys. Hook and Co are useless and certainly are not man managers. They lack intensity and drive and initiative.

Unfortunately, my statements are an ongoing reel of spin on the same negative things about our club, the Mighty Dragons, not so much mighty now and won't be for some years I'm sorry to say.

But have a couple of crumpets this morning Jeff with some honey or vegemite to ease the pain.

Good onya mate!

Dad passed away many years ago.
I still keep thinking about yesterday's game..probably overthinking it.
But can't help it.

 

[Dragon David]

Sorry Coffs but I'm sick of reading 'attack coach this', 'defence coach that'..

It's as if we forget the 17 blokes on the field have been playing this sport since they were knee high to grass hoppers.

Basic skills of the game should be instinctive to these blokes, they're all supposedly good enough and lucky enough to be playing the game at the highest level.

It's not as if our coaches are running drills and these blokes are learning new skills they've never come across before, this is first grade not under 8s.

So less about what and what not the coaches should be doing/saying and more about what the players AREN'T doing because for all we know the coaches tell them and they don't act.

To me Hornby, yes the players are told what to do by the coaches, however, is what being told good stuff and are the players good enough to do what they are told to do? I put to you that whilst these guys have played league for umpteen years or more, their football level might not even be improved by a high profile coach like Cleary or Bellamy - to me, they are just not good enough end of story as far as I am concerned - just not good enough.

 

[Crush]

In fairness I believe we had decoy runners for the three tries scored and at least one of the disallowed ones where Bird thought it was a good idea to run straight at the Titans defender and knock him to the ground when we had an overlap out to the left hand side.

I wonder if that stupid moment and he not being able to tackle Jayden Campbell on the kick return that lead to nearly a length of a field try is on the coaches as well?

Because players like Bird who have played origin and played the sport their whole lives still need coaches reminding them of the basic skills and rules of the game each week, maybe it's an IQ thing then.

Do you watch other teams play?
When we get the ball in good field position and run one out rubbish with no shape and no plan other than to complete the set, do you not think there is a problem with strategy?
Do you blame the players for running one out? Are they ignoring the coaches?
Watch a few other games today, we’d be the worst in the NRL for shape and strategy.
We don’t look like scoring, and this is just our attack, defence and discipline is another story. And yes, I blame the coach for our discipline and defence as well.

 

[Walpole]

Bloody hell, there's some drivel being written in here. We lost against a team who we're about on the same level as. Stick with the kids, find a coach with a 21st century approach to things, Penrith are going to win the comp anyway. I think that'll do me for a while.

 

[baggygreen man]

We need someone who can manage our forwards and direct them around the park.

What we have needed from our expensive skipper all these years. Agree Sullo looks to have vision so does Tyrell for mine plus he has a good passing game. This duo may be rookies and still developing but they know each other's game so dont mind betting that by pairing them in the halves we will see results.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

After feeling disappointed, angry and disillusioned after another loss to a shit team where we basically shat the bed…after a few drinks and a good sleep….I’ve had time to reflect and now I feel disappointed, angry and disillusioned after another loss to a shit team where we basically shat the bed. We are a rabble. I don’t need any more disappointment in my life

 

[justadragon]

people we are at a very import fork with our season, we are now left with many decisions to make regards juniors , player positions, coaching you name it we still are nowhere and have a very long way to go.. look at the team performance, discipline, attitude can anyone tell me what direction the team is heading in, we are left with a situation that if we punt our juniors that may shatter them, if they remain in the side and we continue to have losses like yesterday that may damage them just as much. this was always the risk in bringing in juniors in prominent positions into a team that has always been hanging on by a thread in both attack and defence, put those guys into a team like penrith or the storm and see how they go, the style of coach also has a lot to do with it. either we rebuild with these guys as an integral part of the team, or we get rid of them and try a buy a premiership which i seriously doubt that would ever happen at the dragons.

 

[Inisai Toga]

In fairness I believe we had decoy runners for the three tries scored and at least one of the disallowed ones where Bird thought it was a good idea to run straight at the Titans defender and knock him to the ground when we had an overlap out to the left hand side.

I wonder if that stupid moment and he not being able to tackle Jayden Campbell on the kick return that lead to nearly a length of a field try is on the coaches as well?

Because players like Bird who have played origin and played the sport their whole lives still need coaches reminding them of the basic skills and rules of the game each week, maybe it's an IQ thing then.

Maybe in certain positions it is! Not so much general intelligence but ‘situation’ intelligence. All the greats sum up situations quickly, effortlessly and effectively. Beetson, Langlands, Lewis, etc.. it’s almost they calculate and process and deliver unconsciously more effectively than others.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

Useless Lomax misses easy conversion after Suli scores. Lomax does nothing in attack and nothing in goal kicking. We had it won.

If Lomax is the chosen one, imagine how really shit everyone else is?

 

[Crush]

people we are at a very import fork with our season, we are now left with many decisions to make regards juniors , player positions, coaching you name it we still are nowhere and have a very long way to go.. look at the team performance, discipline, attitude can anyone tell me what direction the team is heading in, we are left with a situation that if we punt our juniors that may shatter them, if they remain in the side and we continue to have losses like yesterday that may damage them just as much. this was always the risk in bringing in juniors in prominent positions into a team that has always been hanging on by a thread in both attack and defence, put those guys into a team like penrith or the storm and see how they go, the style of coach also has a lot to do with it. either we rebuild with these guys as an integral part of the team, or we get rid of them and try a buy a premiership which i seriously doubt that would ever happen at the dragons.

Mate nothing will change, Hook was pretty happy with yesterday, proud of their effort blah blah. They’ll cough and splutter along, beat the warriors next week, lose to the dogs the following week, lose to cowboys, beat the raiders etc etc and on and on. Finish 10th, maybe, fans will say we are looking better next year, next year mate! And on and on…..

 

[justadragon]

Mate nothing will change, Hook was pretty happy with yesterday, proud of their effort blah blah. They’ll cough and splutter along, beat the warriors next week, lose to the dogs the following week, lose to cowboys, beat the raiders etc etc and on and on. Finish 10th, maybe, fans will say we are looking better next year, next year mate! And on and on…..

yep you're right we are victims of our own desire to see this club great again and will clutch at any thread of hope.