Round 14 - v Tigers

[Saints Forever]

o I thought the bench was a calculated risk against the Penrith.. all or nothing against a mighty forward pack... but rolling the dice again against the Tigers seems rather stubborn.. very similar to madges line-up.

o I will say it might indicate a lack of faith in Marshke/Brown/Conner as utilities.. tbh Brown has been there for the Roosters/Dogs games and it didnt help.. but it does cover Liddle.

o That said they must feel someone like either Couchman can cover the backline.. its the only thing that makes sense to me.. they must have a plan.. I dont however know what the plan is if Liddle gets a HIA which happens every now and then.

The Coachman’s out wide would be more effective than Eisenhuth

Definitely faster

 

[st.phil]

Shame, would have loved to see Finau again and Lomax into the centres. Can see an argument to keep him on the wing tho. I think Su'a would be best suited for centre coverage - he's quicker than Bird.

But Marshke is the perfect 14 for mine, can cover all across the park.

 

[Phantom V]

Im

One problem I have with the revised team is our bench. Flanno has chosen 4 forwards and twice this has worked against us (against Roosters and bulldogs).Switching Eisenhuh to play centre has not worked. If one of our backs gets injured or get knocked out then we are in trouble. I think Marshke should have been our 14.

I’m a fan of Marshke but it looks like a powerful side on paper. We’re going through the middle

 

[Victoire]

No brown no Jesse M
Stupidity to go into this game 2 days after origin in heavy conditions with zero cover for hunt/liddle

Totally agree. Also no cover in the backs, so if we lose one of them (as we have several times this season) it's likely we send Eisenhuth out there again and get hopelessly exposed. I had hoped our coaches would've learnt that lesson by now. Ryan Couchman only played 17 minutes last week so it's not like we're in dire need of a 4 forward bench

I reckon Jesse Marschke looks an ideal utility now on the bench. He's not a small five-eighth by any means, so he's just about big enough to defend in the centres, and he's shown that he's not slow either. He's been a bench hooker before so if he's not needed out wide just use him to rest Liddle.

 

[sammymills]

It’s scheduled to rain tonight so hopefully we can control it like we did last match.

 

[kit66]

o I thought the bench was a calculated risk against the Penrith.. all or nothing against a mighty forward pack... but rolling the dice again against the Tigers seems rather stubborn.. very similar to madges line-up.

o I will say it might indicate a lack of faith in Marshke/Brown/Conner as utilities.. tbh Brown has been there for the Roosters/Dogs games and it didnt help.. but it does cover Liddle.

o That said they must feel someone like either Couchman can cover the backline.. its the only thing that makes sense to me.. they must have a plan.. I dont however know what the plan is if Liddle gets a HIA which happens every now and then.

Having no backs on the Blues bench certainly made a bad situation worse for them.

I'm looking at our named backline and it just doesn't look right. Sorry, but the Feagai's make me nervous, especially Max. Playing Lomax after what must have been a very taxing game in a 12 man side (at Origin level) is a bit risky (and no replacement on the bench). Since we are playing Zac, I would have been more than happy - and excited to see him at centre with the dynamic Finau his wingman, that could have been something special.
Hunt and Su'a will be buoyed by their SOO success and hopefully bring the same attitude tonight.
I would prefer a utility on the bench though, Marschke did enough to earn that spot you'd think.
But, in Flanno we trust.

I predict early points from us and a big win with a healthy crowd cheering us on.

 

[Dribble&Yarn]

there's every chance Finau comes onto the bench (I admit that it's increasingly unlikely)

 

[baggygreen man]

Sione Finau dumped after that game, Flanagan has lost the plot. Finau is younger, fitter, faster and classier than either Feigais??? Can anyone see Matt doing what Sione did start of second half last week. Not in 10 seasons. Dont play favorites coach, pisses off us fans.

 

[Victoire]

there's every chance Finau comes onto the bench (I admit that it's increasingly unlikely)

Nah, Finau either starts for Lomax or misses out.

 

[Parko1310]

Sione Finau dumped after that game, Flanagan has lost the plot. Finau is younger, fitter, faster and classier than either Feigais??? Can anyone see Matt doing what Sione did start of second half last week. Not in 10 seasons. Dont play favorites coach, pisses off us fans.

Yeah, I can actually. In fact I've seen Mat do better with his try against the Broncs a couple years ago. Short memory...

 

[st.phil]

Sione Finau dumped after that game, Flanagan has lost the plot. Finau is younger, fitter, faster and classier than either Feigais??? Can anyone see Matt doing what Sione did start of second half last week. Not in 10 seasons. Dont play favorites coach, pisses off us fans.

think it has more to do w Lomax returning and Mat being given a chance to make left his own but yeh - a shame not to see him cont in 1sts

 

[justadragon]

It's about attitude tonight, mindset is everything especially after beating the Panthers. But I'm sure that Flanno will try and keep them grounded , we may have beat the Panthers but what shape were they in, they also made many mistakes which normally they dont. We need the tiges to struggle in the wet and make the same mistakes. They still have some very clever players that will pull our pants down if we are not careful. I would have my bench structured a bit different but I'm not Flanno. So lets hope they go in with a killer attitude, its very wet at the gong so I dont know about the crowd. Heads screwed on right Dragons and maybe Hunt decides to roll the ball along the ground into the ingoal this time !!! Dragons by 14

 

[st.phil]

anyone see the the "slay the dragon" sign at concord? Flanno will make that known...

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Looks like I'm losing at pool tonight.
Whenever the Dragons are playing Friday night I lose.
If we are getting flogged I get cranky and can't concentrate and when we are winning I get excited and can't concentrate.

Small price to pay for a win

I'd be a shit golfer

 

[justadragon]

Looks like I'm losing at pool tonight.
Whenever the Dragons are playing Friday night I lose.
If we are getting flogged I get cranky and can't concentrate and when we are winning I get excited and can't concentrate.

Small price to pay for a win

I'd be a shit golfer

They are on National TV HOD, that part makes me nervous, we dont have a very pleasant record being on TV.

 

[HenryTatana]

No Klemmer, Bateman and Papali and a wet track means the game will be played up the middle. Only issue we have is the bombing Sloane will cop, and we know how that ends up on a wet track.

Losing this would be an absolute embarassment.

 

[st.phil]

Cliche but it really is on the Dragons - they turn up with intensity and win this game convincingly. If they toss up anything resembling that 1st half vs Penrith well we might get rolled.

 

[Victoire]

anyone see the the "slay the dragon" sign at concord? Flanno will make that known...

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was aware of the sign, but had no plans to scribble down some inspiring words of his own for the players.
“I’ve seen photos, I don’t exactly know how ‘Slay The Dragon’ would motivate me to play,” Flanagan told this masthead.
“But good luck to them. Every game is a challenge. This week will be a challenge. There will be no complacency from our end.
“We’ve got no signs up. We just have to focus on us and what we do well.”

 

[st.phil]

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was aware of the sign, but had no plans to scribble down some inspiring words of his own for the players.
“I’ve seen photos, I don’t exactly know how ‘Slay The Dragon’ would motivate me to play,” Flanagan told this masthead.
“But good luck to them. Every game is a challenge. This week will be a challenge. There will be no complacency from our end.
“We’ve got no signs up. We just have to focus on us and what we do well.”

sweet - thats enough

 

[jeffdragon]

Tigers C9 Won.
Knights C9 lost.
Roosters C9 lost.
Dogs 9 lost.
All on prime time.
Hopefully start our weekend well and do the double on the Tigers.
Nothing else acceptable