Round 13 v Dogs

[Michaeldragonslife25]

HAPPY to see korbin at lock and not lucky

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

"A desperate Dragons will back up their entire State of Origin contingent for the Queen's Birthday clash against the Bulldogs, but Paul McGregor will still find a spot in his 17 for livewire utility Jai Field."

Great, so McIdiot goes for the old chestnut of continuing to play Origin players while other clubs, rest there players........yet, he says, we're not panicking, we just need to focus on winning games.

Wow, powerful comments to inspire the players. So, if we play, they will burnout again. History repeats itself.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Mixed feelings about tomorrows game.

Of course I want us to win, however, a win takes the pressure off McGregor, even if its the last placed Dogs, there are people who will call this the season turning around.

A loss, though not in my blood to want this, however, any loss will increase the pressure on McGregor. And maybe start some serious talk outside of the club (press etc).

 

[Crush]

Why play Field off the bench?
Idiot.
Robson a much better option.
Like most I think, whilst I hope the Dragons come back and get their season on track a part of me wants them to get flogged just to see this corrupt board cop a bit of heat.
A 6th loss in a row to the weakest team in the comp would not go unnoticed by the media.

 

[jeffdragon]

Our bench looks very poor don't rate any of them.

 

[KogarahWarrior]

Is McIdiot SERIOUSLY playing Latimore instead of the likes of Timm or Leilua? WTF?? Also, we've already established that there is a wasted bench spot for Field. He'll only be brought on in the last 2-5 minutes.

Another masterstroke from the one and only bald-headed goon we have sitting in the coaches box. Nice.

 

[George Dragon]

Is McIdiot SERIOUSLY playing Latimore instead of the likes of Timm or Leilua? WTF?? Also, we've already established that there is a wasted bench spot for Field. He'll only be brought on in the last 2-5 minutes.

Another masterstroke from the one and only bald-headed goon we have sitting in the coaches box. Nice.

Luch is on the bench too

 

[hewi]

Only one prop on the bench and that’s Latimore , that’s crazy.

 

[Gareth67]

Only one prop on the bench and that’s Latimore , that’s crazy.

Don’t go worrying about that hewi , as old Latts ain’t stupid - he will go at half pace so as to conserve his energy to ensure that he finishes his time on the field

 

[Dragonslayer]

So, trying to make some rhyme and reason to the 4 currently on the bench and the 18th, 19th men.

I'm pretty sure Periera wont play.

Field - disadvantage: can only be used as a back-up for Hunt, if he struggles with fatigue. We probably wont know that until the 60th+ minute or for Norman if he cops a hit on that jaw. Advantage: could be an x-factor late in the game with his speed around tired forwards.
Leilua and Katimore are the bench props. So fair enough.
Host is the bench edge forward and a handy back-up for Friz. Again, fair enough.
Robson, can play hooker and edge forward and has a great running game.

McNugget may be shy now that Lafai got injured and we didn't have reserve back to cover. He also may believe Hunt wont finish the game with fatigue.

The final piece here is that Hunt doesnt play at all (late withdrawl maybe) with Field to half and Robson to the bench.

 

[getsmarty]

NRL 2019: Origin stars back on deck for Dragons

• 
  Mitch Jennings

Dragons Den

DRAGONS coach Paul McGregor will have his full complement of Origin stars at his disposal for Monday's clash with the Bulldogs, with Ben Hunt, Paul Vaughan and Tyson Frizell all set to back up.

The Monday fixture gave the trio a five-day recovery period, though Jai Field will be retained on the bench as cover for Hunt who punched out 80 minutes at hooker in Queensland's Origin I victory.

Sitting 13th on the ladder on the back of five straight losses amid a wider injury toll, McGregor could ill-afford to be without the trio but said the longer turnaround made the call on their availability an easier one.

"They're in really good spirits, all healthy and they'll all play," McGregor said.

"We're fortunate to have a five-day turn post-Origin, we gave them three days off so the first time they've been here is [Sunday] morning.

"This is the longest turn we've got for all the Origins. We'll be missing them for one of the games and we don't get this big a break between games for the remainder of the series.

"This is the perfect situation, if the players pull through OK, for them to play. You go in with a plan and that plan is to play the guys for the minutes we think they can get through, but we'll see the scenario in the game."

Hunt provided an emphatic answer to questions about whether he could play 80 minutes in the middle of the park for the Maroons, going the distance and playing a key role in the 18-14 win.



McGregor expects the performance to reboot his confidence after wearing a heap of flak in the Dragons five-game losing stretch.

"When you get the result [Queensland] got, and Ben being a big part of that in an unfamiliar position has to give him a lot of confidence," McGregor said.

"I thought Benny for the first 15-20 minutes he was really gassing but he pushed through that period and as the game went on he just got stronger and stronger.

"He really went to the game in the second half and was one of the better performed players on the field at nine.

"He was a bit sore two days post-game but today [Sunday] he's feeling really good. We'll carry Jai Field on the bench if Benny starts to fatigue due to the change in position but I can't see that being a problem to be honest."

A confidence boost is much needed in clubland, with the Dragons slumping to 13th on the ladder on the back their fifth consecutive loss to Cronulla a fortnight ago.

They remain just one win outside the eight but a loss to last-placed Canterbury on Monday would make a climb back into finals contention a steep climb.

McGregor said his side is not immune to the pressure but said ladder-gazing won't help them turn their campaign around with still half a season remaining.

"Every team will have it's challenges and be under pressure at different stages and certainly right now, when you lose consecutive games on the bounce, you feel that," he said.

"It's a challenge, we need to stand tall and deliver a result. We've got to remain focused on the process and work really hard towards winning games of footy.

"We've come up with some key areas we need to improve on but it's not panic stations, it's more about making sure we do everything we can to get the result we need."

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6207205/origin-stars-back-on-deck-for-dragons/?cs=3713

 

[Crush]

"Its not panic stations"
It isn't Paul?
It bloody well should be mate, panic stations is exactly what it should be....

 

[Gareth67]

Well despite myself and also those stupid negative thoughts that I have had during our fall from 4th position on the ladder the time has come to stand tall and predict a win for the Big Red V and hope that we do not have any more injuries.

 

[possm]

"A desperate Dragons will back up their entire State of Origin contingent for the Queen's Birthday clash against the Bulldogs, but Paul McGregor will still find a spot in his 17 for livewire utility Jai Field."

Great, so McIdiot goes for the old chestnut of continuing to play Origin players while other clubs, rest there players........yet, he says, we're not panicking, we just need to focus on winning games.

Wow, powerful comments to inspire the players. So, if we play, they will burnout again. History repeats itself.

Combining Aitken and Rava on the right side will end in disaster. Rava will cop all the blame leaving Aitken safe for selection at 3 next game.

Robson did not play in reserve grade this week and is on the end of the selection list. If he is dropped off the list, he won't have a game this week.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

NRL 2019: Origin stars back on deck for Dragons

• 
  Mitch Jennings

Dragons Den

DRAGONS coach Paul McGregor will have his full complement of Origin stars at his disposal for Monday's clash with the Bulldogs, with Ben Hunt, Paul Vaughan and Tyson Frizell all set to back up.

The Monday fixture gave the trio a five-day recovery period, though Jai Field will be retained on the bench as cover for Hunt who punched out 80 minutes at hooker in Queensland's Origin I victory.

Sitting 13th on the ladder on the back of five straight losses amid a wider injury toll, McGregor could ill-afford to be without the trio but said the longer turnaround made the call on their availability an easier one.

"They're in really good spirits, all healthy and they'll all play," McGregor said.

"We're fortunate to have a five-day turn post-Origin, we gave them three days off so the first time they've been here is [Sunday] morning.

"This is the longest turn we've got for all the Origins. We'll be missing them for one of the games and we don't get this big a break between games for the remainder of the series.

"This is the perfect situation, if the players pull through OK, for them to play. You go in with a plan and that plan is to play the guys for the minutes we think they can get through, but we'll see the scenario in the game."

Hunt provided an emphatic answer to questions about whether he could play 80 minutes in the middle of the park for the Maroons, going the distance and playing a key role in the 18-14 win.



McGregor expects the performance to reboot his confidence after wearing a heap of flak in the Dragons five-game losing stretch.

"When you get the result [Queensland] got, and Ben being a big part of that in an unfamiliar position has to give him a lot of confidence," McGregor said.

"I thought Benny for the first 15-20 minutes he was really gassing but he pushed through that period and as the game went on he just got stronger and stronger.

"He really went to the game in the second half and was one of the better performed players on the field at nine.

"He was a bit sore two days post-game but today [Sunday] he's feeling really good. We'll carry Jai Field on the bench if Benny starts to fatigue due to the change in position but I can't see that being a problem to be honest."

A confidence boost is much needed in clubland, with the Dragons slumping to 13th on the ladder on the back their fifth consecutive loss to Cronulla a fortnight ago.

They remain just one win outside the eight but a loss to last-placed Canterbury on Monday would make a climb back into finals contention a steep climb.

McGregor said his side is not immune to the pressure but said ladder-gazing won't help them turn their campaign around with still half a season remaining.

"Every team will have it's challenges and be under pressure at different stages and certainly right now, when you lose consecutive games on the bounce, you feel that," he said.

"It's a challenge, we need to stand tall and deliver a result. We've got to remain focused on the process and work really hard towards winning games of footy.

"We've come up with some key areas we need to improve on but it's not panic stations, it's more about making sure we do everything we can to get the result we need."

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6207205/origin-stars-back-on-deck-for-dragons/?cs=3713

Illawarra Mercury is McGregor's mouth piece.
He's super confident with his full compliment of SOO stars playing today.
Let's see what happens.

 

[possm]

Illawarra Mercury is McGregor's mouth piece.
He's super confident with his full compliment of SOO stars playing today.
Let's see what happens.

Mary never learns from his mistakes, even given that we are near the bottom of the ladder. Resting our SOO players will help to avoid fatigue.

 

[Dragsters]

Mary never learns from his mistakes, even given that we are near the bottom of the ladder. Resting our SOO players will help to avoid fatigue.

We need a win mate.

Must play them all...

 

[possm]

We need a win mate.

Must play them all...

What should it be, rest them for a game or two or lose them for the back end of the season?

 

[getsmarty]

We need a win mate.

Must play them all...

What does that tell you about our depth in terms of shadow players being bought through ..........

The fact that players were not blooded last season and even some this year by our coaching staff leaves us skinny depth wise...........

 

[getsmarty]

What should it be, rest them for a game or two or lose them for the back end of the season?

Probably won't matter possm....we lose today and things get really tough...silver lining is the premature extension of the coach by the Board looks even more silly.