Round 14 V Dogs

[Lovemedragons]

That’s the problem with the rule.
It’s now an interpretation, did he do it on purpose?
If he had done a “no look pass” and it hit him, is it a penalty to us?
The Ref is now required to read players minds.

and the refs already struggle to read the game, what hope with them now reading players minds! Just another stupid, ill thought through 'change on the run' by the NRL....fools.

 

[Lovemedragons]

No need for panic stations yet and lets see where the team in travelling after SOO.

We were eight wins, three losses and a bye last year and sitting 5th last year.

With two more wins, you can't say the team has gone backwards with a heavy SOO representation, I'll take that.

Dogs were gifted a try by a mistake by Nene. Ben Hunt is playing with one leg and Graham was a beast, the hit on Klemmer lifted the team to go on with the win and he tackled his arse off.

Mary made a change with Nighty, which most were asking for and it fixed a weakness in the team. The team has won three games that lost last year, MEL, Easts and the Dogs.

i think the jury is still out on whether that change actually fixed any perceived weaknesses, having a winger on the bench is a real weakness. Mann is a bit faster maybe but he is legless when the ball is kicked to him, proved that when he was tried at fullback a couple of years back, Lomax, when fit, is a much better option if indeed Nightingale has to go, frankly I would shed Nene before Nighty,

 

[giboz71]

Dudes, we were rubbish. A lucky two point win on the back of a couple of penalties against one of the worst three teams in the comp without two of their three best players. Last four games have been a massive reversion to the mean. We are still two first grade standard forwards short in our rotation and our threequarters are still basically ISP level. We've done massively well to over achieve even to this point. Wonderful accomplishment. But we won't win a comp in the next three years unless we acknowledge our weaknesses and go out in the market to address with them with an additional $350K minimum in TPA payments.

Put being first in perspective: We are last in TPAs, meaning we are competing with the lowest paid squad in the comp. Over $750K less in payments to players than Melbourne. Half the comp has one additional first grade standard player that we couldn't afford and have to cover with a reserve grader. We will lose Ah Mau and replace him with a reserve grader.

And despite this we are still first. As you say, it’s a pretty fair effort given it’s not really a level playing field.

I agree if we’re playing like this in the semis, we’ll be out in straight sets if we make it at all.

But there’s plenty of time left with many twists and turns to come. Said it elsewhere, no point peaking now, it will be too hard to maintain come September.

We had our good run at the beginning of the year and now we’re having our down period which we all knew would come eventually. At least we’re still banking wins.

And perhaps the use of 15-16 players now is to put miles in their legs for the big games to come? It’s pretty handy having your key forwards used to playing big minutes come the semis is it not?

 

[SEAT 1A]

i think the jury is still out on whether that change actually fixed any perceived weaknesses, having a winger on the bench is a real weakness

True, not much traffic was sent Mann's way. To early too see if the change stopped the Dogs targeting that wing or they couldn't get to that position in the first place.

Agree with having a winger on the bench isn't the best option however, Nighty is either starts or comes off the bench.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

i think the jury is still out on whether that change actually fixed any perceived weaknesses, having a winger on the bench is a real weakness. Mann is a bit faster maybe but he is legless when the ball is kicked to him, proved that when he was tried at fullback a couple of years back, Lomax, when fit, is a much better option if indeed Nightingale has to go, frankly I would shed Nene before Nighty,

Nene drives me insane, always out of position.
Nighty cops a lot for not being able to score long range tries, but when has Nene been in the correct position to catch a pass and streak away downfield, sure he can produce the freak put down, but he lets the side down by never being there to receive a normal pass.

Let’s not forget the Bulldogs scored down his edge when was caught in midfield and not on his wing where he should have been,

 

[st penguin]

I think the writing is already on the wall with Foxtel, they will be a streaming company within two years.
They have no interest in subscribers, they haven’t for a while, a simple phone call to thier tech support tells you that. I’ve been trying to get a new box off them for 3 weeks, have to wait for the “new box people” to be in our area, which are different from thier “tech people” who will come and fix your issue in “one to two weeks”
They are useless.
Let alone thier attitude to movies, which now I have to “rent” off them despite the fact I already pay them over $100 dollars a month to see thier content.
When compared to the $10 a month for Netflix or Amazon it’s just a rip off.

I’ve got Foxtel streaming now - much better value.

 

[Drag Queen]

I’ve got Foxtel streaming now - much better value.

I stream all the NRL through the Telstra App. Doesn't cost me anything and have had zero problems with it so far.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Canterbury were repeatedly lying in the ruck and getting away with it. Obstructing the dummy half is also against the rules, the penalty could have gone either way.

McInnes was penalised but he did make his point, Canterbury didn't get in the way again.

Coulda, shoulda, didn't.

Considering the publicity surrounding the topic, it was a pretty dumb move, fraught with danger.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

I actually think he’s a center

He left the Storm because he isn't a centre.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

And you are a Nightingale Lover. lol

You make that sound exceptionally raunchy.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

What, so now a player can stand it between the dummy half and the halfback on the last tackle and the dummy half is supposed to pass the ball to another player? Oh yeah, you aren't a McInnes fan. lol

I could only read up to "what" in your riposte before losing interest.

Apologies.

 

[West coast dragon]

He left the Storm because he isn't a centre.

He left the storm because we gave him more money

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

He left the storm because we gave him more money

Allegedly.

Mann still isn't a winger.

In fact if my memory serves me correctly, Bellamy was once quoted in saying that if Melbourne hadn't been so well off in the halves, Mann wouldn't have been in the centres while at his previous club.

 

[West coast dragon]

Allegedly.

Mann still isn't a winger.

In fact if my memory serves me correctly, Bellamy was once quoted in saying that if Melbourne hadn't been so well off in the halves, Mann wouldn't have been in the centres while at his previous club.

That may be the case it’s just my opinion he’d be better suited to Center in our side!

 

[Drag Queen]

You make that sound exceptionally raunchy.

Meh, I've been accused of the same thing. Nighty has never been known for his speed. He's uncoordinated but effective with his skills. F**k em.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Meh, I've been accused of the same thing. Nighty has never been known for his speed. He's uncoordinated but effective with his skills. F**k em.

Exceptional or raunchy?

 

[Drag Queen]

Exceptional or raunchy?

I'm a diehard fan so I'll say exceptional. I wouldn't mind the raunchy though

 

[rednwhites]

It's felt like just about every single game this year has been a pivotal game and a litmus test of our prospects - the Dogs game was no different. Looking back, we waited for what felt like a month to make up for the Panthers drubbing and what we got dished up, with a full strength team against a weakened Dogs, was patchy at best and altogether underwhelming. A penalty got us over the line and the 2 comp points, which is a thin line between being yet again hopeful with a cloud of uncertainty and downright panic stations. What it means to me is that we haven't really learnt from years gone by and we haven't become the dominant and professional team that we caught a phantasm of at the start of the year. We are not ramming home an advantage that we have worked so hard for.

The good news is that year after year there are surprises. There is such a thing as peaking too early, there are always twists and turns, bad and good fortune, there is always the unexpected. I tend to agree there are teams that will have our measure at finals time. I was hoping we could really turn it on against a weak but plucky Bulldogs and instead got another McGregor special.

 

[Crush]

It's felt like just about every single game this year has been a pivotal game and a litmus test of our prospects - the Dogs game was no different. Looking back, we waited for what felt like a month to make up for the Panthers drubbing and what we got dished up, with a full strength team against a weakened Dogs, was patchy at best and altogether underwhelming. A penalty got us over the line and the 2 comp points, which is a thin line between being yet again hopeful with a cloud of uncertainty and downright panic stations. What it means to me is that we haven't really learnt from years gone by and we haven't become the dominant and professional team that we caught a phantasm of at the start of the year. We are not ramming home an advantage that we have worked so hard for.

The good news is that year after year there are surprises. There is such a thing as peaking too early, there are always twists and turns, bad and good fortune, there is always the unexpected. I tend to agree there are teams that will have our measure at finals time. I was hoping we could really turn it on against a weak but plucky Bulldogs and instead got another McGregor special.

Tend to agree with a lot of this.
I think we may get a boost with a solid win against Manly. We need to put on a display just to get confidence back up again. Way too many drop balls at the moment.

 

[Objective View]

Tend to agree with a lot of this.
I think we may get a boost with a solid win against Manly. We need to put on a display just to get confidence back up again. Way too many drop balls at the moment.

Not that Mary has any.

Straight Shooter