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Round 13 - v Panthers

justadragon

justadragon

Bench
Messages
4,103
since77 said:
Standing on the hill in the rain at half time I was livid. They were an absolute rabble in the first half. Was scolding myself for bothering to drive an hour and stand in the rain for the crap they dished up.
The one thing I said to my son at half time was that well at least if they come back and win in the second half we'll get to see all the points at this end.
And hey I was right! Great second half by the team. Toby showed why he should have been in the team from the start of the year. Great game by the young fella. Now leave him there Flanno......
RFM was my MOM - some great runs. Like the look of Finau. Great try by Matt F.
Would like to see Marshke retained at least on bench when our "marquee" CHunt returns.
Was SOOOOOOOOO good to watch the smug Panthers fans walking out of the stadium.

And one last thing, Blake Lawrie looks even worse live than he does on TV. Slow, useless, ineffective. Easily dominated, slows down any sniff of momentum. Literally looks like he's doing everything at half speed. No idea how he keeps getting picked in first grade- he's abysmal.
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Did you notice the lights out where you were standing since77, it was hard to tell from where I was, it was closer to the Dragons end in the second half. But anyway I'm with you it was worthwhile getting wet for the end result, and yes I have already agreed with you on Lawrie in previous posts, you could really tell watching him live.
 
baggygreen man

baggygreen man

Bench
Messages
4,420
baggygreen man said:
Sione Finau announced himself with one flash of brilliance at start of second stanza which deserved a try at the end of it, but with the Panthers back pedaling what do our so called play makers do instead of a quick sweep along the back line, they hit one on the chest of Blake Lawrie. That was 'great' vision.
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since77

since77

Juniors
Messages
2,490
justadragon said:
Did you notice the lights out where you were standing since77, it was hard to tell from where I was, it was closer to the Dragons end in the second half. But anyway I'm with you it was worthwhile getting wet for the end result, and yes I have already agreed with you on Lawrie in previous posts, you could really tell watching him live.
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Yeah the middle tower over the grandstand went out. At first I thought they were just dimming the light for half time entertainment....
And yeah geez Lawrie is just such a lame duck. I've got to say I felt a bit guilty watching him warm up on the sideline because after all he's a human being with feelings etc.....but then you watch him get on the field and sorry he's just terrible. Would probably make a useful player in the English SL. But in first grade NRL he literally sticks out like dog's balls.
 
JohnnoMcJohnno

JohnnoMcJohnno

Bench
Messages
2,503
since77 said:
Standing on the hill in the rain at half time I was livid. They were an absolute rabble in the first half. Was scolding myself for bothering to drive an hour and stand in the rain for the crap they dished up.
The one thing I said to my son at half time was that well at least if they come back and win in the second half we'll get to see all the points at this end.
And hey I was right! Great second half by the team. Toby showed why he should have been in the team from the start of the year. Great game by the young fella. Now leave him there Flanno......
RFM was my MOM - some great runs. Like the look of Finau. Great try by Matt F.
Would like to see Marshke retained at least on bench when our "marquee" CHunt returns.
Was SOOOOOOOOO good to watch the smug Panthers fans walking out of the stadium.

And one last thing, Blake Lawrie looks even worse live than he does on TV. Slow, useless, ineffective. Easily dominated, slows down any sniff of momentum. Literally looks like he's doing everything at half speed. No idea how he keeps getting picked in first grade- he's abysmal.
Click to expand...
Lawrie did his bit in defence. 25 tackles, plus he added to Panthers fatigue by virtue of how far they had to run to get around him.

Not at all dynamic in attack unfortunately. He used to charge onto the ball, but now he seems to have lost what little pace he had.
 
Hound of Dracula

Hound of Dracula

Juniors
Messages
853
Woke up this morning and realised

I DIDN'T DREAM IT

I've had much faith in KF and it was great to see him deliver without being under the shadow of Hunt. I knew he could kick goals!

1st half atrocious in attack but defence was impressive and heads didn't go down.

What a second half

The reality is, it was one game against a very depleted quality side.

We need to build on last night's performance

Hope they win again when I watch the replay :)
 
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56to66

56to66

Juniors
Messages
723
Hound of Dracula said:
Woke up this morning and realised

I DIDN'T DREAM IT

I've had much faith in KF and it was great to see him deliver without being under the shadow of Hunt. I knew he could kick goals!

1st half atrocious in attack but defence was impressive and heads didn't go down.

What a second half

The reality is, it was one game against a very depleted quality side.

We need to guild on last night's performance

Hope they win again when I watch the replay :)
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The weekly question will be whether the team will perform like a V8 or a 2 stroke Lawnmower.
 
Slippery Morris

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,895
1st half was terrible but in saying that the defence was pretty good. Panthers had a heap of ball in Saints half and were given 6 agains on tap by the ref and Saints just held on. They were given 6 agains close to the line for off side and some on the 4th tackle. Panthers had to work hard for the 2 tries. Saints did well to be only down 2 tries with the amount of possession Panthers had. But with the ball Saints were putrid as Ennis stated in attack. I have not seen worse. They got tackled on the last close to the line without thinking of a kick. They looked absolutely clueless and lost with clearly no plan on what to do on the last. In attack the worst half of footy I have seen from the Saints in 2024.

Now the 2nd half, wow. It all started with the young Finau and his amazing run from the wing. A run you would never see from Rava. That alone is enough to cement his spot. THis surely lifted the boys. What this young kid did was lift the boys. They finished with a 99.5 meter set. Finau was brilliant and I hope Rava enjoys playing KOE for the rest of the season. Then Toby Couchman scores another youngster and later on Matt Feagai. I may get shot down here but Suli was the worst of the backline. He dropped the ball when Saints had them on the ropes and threw a forward pass when they made a break. Terrible. I can honestly say if Saints had Bird and Rava on instead of Matt Feagai and Finau, Saints lose this game. Next week I would throw in Lomax for Suli and leave the back as is. They deserve another crack especially against the Tigers as I feel with this backline Saints will score more points and be a much bigger threat. Forget the bigger bodies like Bird, Rava and Suli as they may be more useful in defense but in attack a huge stepdown. People need to realise the Feagai's are no longer coachd by Hook and FLanno will get the best of these 2. They were always a talent. Hook simply coached the footy out of Matt and made him look awful. He still provided 2 awesome highlights during that with a try against Broncos and winner against the Chooks.

As for the forwards, Couchmans and BMM should stay. Replace Lawrie with Sua'. Too easy. It should not even be a discussion. They thoroughly deserve their spots. So my changes are Lawrie, Sulli and obviously Marshke even though he had a decent game, Hunt will replace him for the returning Origin boys. It was the best game from RFM by a mile and Luc is slowly starting to get better. He showed some good moments.

Now Saints have been flogged 5 times and mostly in the second half. He would have said things in the sheds to get a reaction in those games and that clearly did not happen till yesterday. And the boys who started that were the young fellas. That alone should guarantee these kids a run as the others have simply failed and not once or twice. Keep the youngsters on as they will only get better. Looks like Flanno has something to work on for sure with what he saw with these youngsters and if he want's to jag a finals spot they would be his best bet. Worst case scenario they will be far better for next season. The Rava's, Lawrie's, Birds, Suli's etc have had too many games to establish a solid NRL career, time to give these kids their chance before they get snapped up.

I also saw the KOE game before and Tamale looked solid and not afraid to put his body on the line at fullback. What the hell are Saints waiting for. He needs to be signed up. Buchanan and Johnson also look great and seem to have a future. I was more impressed with what Saints have in the outside backs looking at both games than before and I feel Flanno may be able to get a very very good backline out of these youngsters in years to come. Chasing an outside back should not really a priority. They desperately do need a gun half, hooker and 2 big forwards. Talagi can cover fullback, half and centre so if they are to go for an outside back he is the one just for his versatility.
 
Gareth67

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,834
Tuddy said:
Great win and shows us, the coach and some of the players that there ARE options.

Like others, I’m not sure if we win that with Hunt in the side. Does he kick that grubber for Sloan? The kicking game improved a lot in the second half once the nerves settled.

Good to see the ref ignore the crowd, they tried to swing a few things the Panthers way.

Luc played well, he really picked things up in the second half.

So impressed with Kyle, we needed him to step up tonight and he delivered. He’s our long term game manager in my opinion. There isn’t anyone else out there that we will be able to get and I believe he’ll get better with our support and a bit more self belief.

There were a lot of good performances tonight which have been well covered by others. It’s nice to have some hope. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.
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It was indeed a performance that gives all Dragon fans hope for the future . As to young Kyle he has always impressed me with his game management skills , he certainly earned his spot at the Sharks and he performances were what caught the eye of the Roosters .

We know the story there he went well until Samuel Walker appeared on the scene and subsequently they told him he was no longer required. That put a huge dent in his confidence and unfortunately things did not improve at the Dogs .

He feels much more comfortable here at the Dragons and
will improve his potential to the team with each game .
 
blacksafake

blacksafake

First Grade
Messages
9,640
What the Couchmans have is a bit of late footwork at the line which gives them the opportunity to put their noses through as well as being able to get a quick play the ball which is what Liddle needs.
Liddle off this with Sloan lurking would be ideal.
 
Hound of Dracula

Hound of Dracula

Juniors
Messages
853
Considering that an extension for Hunt has not been finalised, I reckon that Flanno (coach) could be very clever and legitimately "rest" Hunt after state of origin.
Should we then perform without Hunt, we would be in the box seat.
Either Hunt adjusts his game, accepts a much more realistic $$ contract or pisses off.

Win win win
 
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