Round 14 vs Cowboys

[BLM01]

Just some thoughts on your changes
Ramsey FB has taken to the 1 spot really well ..safe n quick
Sloan to wing
Matt Feagai to centre
Suli ..fine
Sullivan is a 7
Hunt is a 9
Amone Bird @ 6
Mbye 14
Molo boys good
Sua JDB back row
Mullhiesen not ready..Verrells or mitch kenny
lomax worth a try at back row
Need more mongrel in the pack..Hetherington and or Lodge (at the right price )
the dead wood must be removed ...sorry... Burgess , Macca , Simms and entire Coaching staff ...
Just hanging on Woods Lawrie
New Coaching Staff ..Clubs need to move with the times and new trends in rugby league
Hook and Co are stuck in the 80s with their Coaching philosophies ...Just doesnt work today
we need Dragons DNA back at the Club....
Dean Young ..Browny ..Barrett ..Soward ...
The above wont happen .It will simply be Cut n Paste Hook style for the rest of his tenure or until someone at the Club has the Balls to turf them out !!!

Hetherington signed by newcastle. Cross him off your list

 

[dungay dragon]

Hetherington signed by newcastle. Cross him off your list

shame.....another one we missed out on

 

[Old Timer]

The tragedy is that our depth signings (Woods, Mybe, Bird, Mc Cullough) have become our regular starting side and other than Ramsay (maybe Feagai) no one has stood up to announce themselves.
On top of that we persist with a half that can't control a game and our established players are on the slide and some that never established themselves like Lawrie still get a jersey every week.
No pace out wide and no real grunt in the middle which will ultimately kill Molo & Sua.
A real clusterf**k of the 1st order.

 

[I'm Hornby]

I think we were all hoping for either a win or a close defeat last night and obviously are all bitterly disappointed.

Clearly we don't have the ability to challenge top 8 sides and based on last night's showing we're not even looking like getting close.

It's a bitter pill to swallow for all of us as supporters.

Now is certainly the time for Hook to wield the axe and drop some of these plodders to send a message. On the chopping block this week should be:

Lomax - Attitude seems to be his problem and he could do with a wake up call running around in KOE cup for a couple of weeks at least.

Lawrie - Soft as butter up the middle and as inconsistent as they come. He needs to learn the best front rowers perform every week. Give Jaiyden Hunt a go, he seems like a good agressive front rower and has more upside than Lawrie.

Bird - Made a big fiasco about his contract and is now showing why no other clubs were that keen on him anyway.

Start with these three to send a message to the rest, they can come back when their attitudes improve which I reckon would take 2-3 weeks. If they don't like it, shop them around to some other clubs.

Time to give Sullivan some more game time and let him play half back even if for one half of the game while Hunt goes to hooker to relieve Mbye or McCullough.

Surely Hook will come to realise that if this playing group don't shape up, he will be shipped out, so time to get serious with these inept performances.

 

[Dragon David]

The tragedy is that our depth signings (Woods, Mybe, Bird, Mc Cullough) have become our regular starting side and other than Ramsay (maybe Feagai) no one has stood up to announce themselves.
On top of that we persist with a half that can't control a game and our established players are on the slide and some that never established themselves like Lawrie still get a jersey every week.
No pace out wide and no real grunt in the middle which will ultimately kill Molo & Sua.
A real clusterf**k of the 1st order.

Agreed OT. I'm getting sick and tired of saying the same things for the past few years and I'm sure most on here are feeling the same. We can at least get a lot of our frustrations out by saying these things even though it is the same stuff basically.

What lies ahead isn't totally unknown (same coach, same poor results). Somethings just have to change to give us hope for the future but we keep on saying this. Go back to 2012 and see how things were then - not much has changed. How bad is that. Poor recruitment of coaches and players are the reasons as simple as that.

 

[thebigredv]

The tragedy is that our depth signings (Woods, Mybe, Bird, Mc Cullough) have become our regular starting side and other than Ramsay (maybe Feagai) no one has stood up to announce themselves.

It was clear to see this happening last year when all the quality was being snaffled by other clubs and we were left with discards. I really can't believe people are even minutely surprised by this. 3 of those players have zero to contribute to a team serious about being top 4. They wouldn't come near the top 17 in any of the top 8 teams.

As far as I was concerned, we had two rational hopes coming into this season for improvement.

1. Suli, Molo and Su'a, actually decent signings. They've helped and along with Ben Hunt are the main reason we aren't closer to the bottom.

2. The big one. The young, talented fleet of foot young guns in Sullivan, Sloan, Amone, Feagais and Ramsay. Not one of them has had a breakout season and helped turn our fortunes and prospects around in the process. Matt F has been solid but he isn't a match winner type. Sullivan has been denied by the coach. Amone, Ramsay and Sloan look set to go the way of Dufty...in and out of the team until they get offloaded years down the track.

THIS CLUB NEVER LEARNS.

 

[Illusion]

The tragedy is that our depth signings (Woods, Mybe, Bird, Mc Cullough) have become our regular starting side and other than Ramsay (maybe Feagai) no one has stood up to announce themselves.
On top of that we persist with a half that can't control a game and our established players are on the slide and some that never established themselves like Lawrie still get a jersey every week.
No pace out wide and no real grunt in the middle which will ultimately kill Molo & Sua.
A real clusterf**k of the 1st order.

Said many a time the game has changed , you need big fast athletic players not aging plodders , and don't get me started on Hunt yea he does give his all but has never been a 7 that can close out a game or get you repeated sets , his last play options are so predictable his bombs have no effect they are normally too long and no pressure put on the catcher ..... Anyway its not getting any better .....

 

[Dragon David]

It was clear to see this happening last year when all the quality was being snaffled by other clubs and we were left with discards. I really can't believe people are even minutely surprised by this. 3 of those players have zero to contribute to a team serious about being top 4. They wouldn't come near the top 17 in any of the top 8 teams.

As far as I was concerned, we had two rational hopes coming into this season for improvement.

1. Suli, Molo and Su'a, actually decent signings. They've helped and along with Ben Hunt are the main reason we aren't closer to the bottom.

2. The big one. The young, talented fleet of foot young guns in Sullivan, Sloan, Amone, Feagais and Ramsay. Not one of them has had a breakout season and helped turn our fortunes and prospects around in the process. Matt F has been solid but he isn't a match winner type. Sullivan has been denied by the coach. Amone, Ramsay and Sloan look set to go the way of Dufty...in and out of the team until they get offloaded years down the track.

THIS CLUB NEVER LEARNS.

Our club is way behind the times. We should have been way on top by this time. Why? Our club has no idea on how to run a successful business. No one of note (coaches and players) wants to come to us. Whether or not they care is something we do not know but to me it would appear that they don't.

The future isn't looking great again. Old players will be getting older, younger players not being coached properly and then leaving and becoming better with a different team and even feeling much happier leaving the Dragons den of unsuccessfulness.

I am showing a lot of negativity I know, but it is becoming too obvious to me that our future will be the same as yesteryears with the club maintaining the same mediocrity in the way in which they operate the football department.

The NRL, Officials, Media to me are mostly anti Dragons.

Rest in peace St George Illawarra Dragons.

 

[Illusion]

How can we go forward when you have Young now head of the board , Doust back on the board , snotty little Gordon and Co there lays the problem .....

 

[Number of the Beath]

The Bunker looks at all tries, then confirms or tells the ref there is a problem.

Yes, I know this. I thank you for pointing out the obvious. What I should have said then was that they didn't see a problem with it. Which suggests to me that if they did look at it, they didn't look very hard.

 

[justadragon]

Just watched the press conference, I thought I was at a funeral and "messy" must be the catch word for the week. I have now heard Hook say we have to be better or get better just about every week, can he please let us know what timeframe he is looking at possibly achieving this task.

 

[TruSaint]

I think we were all hoping for either a win or a close defeat last night and obviously are all bitterly disappointed.

Clearly we don't have the ability to challenge top 8 sides and based on last night's showing we're not even looking like getting close.

It's a bitter pill to swallow for all of us as supporters.

Now is certainly the time for Hook to wield the axe and drop some of these plodders to send a message. On the chopping block this week should be:

Lomax - Attitude seems to be his problem and he could do with a wake up call running around in KOE cup for a couple of weeks at least.

Lawrie - Soft as butter up the middle and as inconsistent as they come. He needs to learn the best front rowers perform every week. Give Jaiyden Hunt a go, he seems like a good agressive front rower and has more upside than Lawrie.

Bird - Made a big fiasco about his contract and is now showing why no other clubs were that keen on him anyway.

Start with these three to send a message to the rest, they can come back when their attitudes improve which I reckon would take 2-3 weeks. If they don't like it, shop them around to some other clubs.

Time to give Sullivan some more game time and let him play half back even if for one half of the game while Hunt goes to hooker to relieve Mbye or McCullough.

Surely Hook will come to realise that if this playing group don't shape up, he will be shipped out, so time to get serious with these inept performances.

Good post.

Was never a fan of Griffin, but will wait to see if he has the balls to drop the names you mentioned.

TBH, Im still waiting for the " special one " to show some consistency. We tore Aitken a new one on this forum, time for Zac to aim up.

Lawrie isn't 1st grade material. His body type is for 70's and 80's.

 

[Illusion]

Good post.

Was never a fan of Griffin, but will wait to see if he has the balls to drop the names you mentioned.

TBH, Im still waiting for the " special one " to show some consistency. We tore Aitken a new one on this forum, time for Zac to aim up.

Lawrie isn't 1st grade material. His body type is for 70's and 80's.

"Lawrie isn't 1st grade material. His body type is for 70's and 80's." this, as are a lot of players ..... Wrong type for the changed game , and throw in a coach that's from that era as well ...... and what do you get ? Failure ......

 

[Dragon David]

"Lawrie isn't 1st grade material. His body type is for 70's and 80's." this, as are a lot of players ..... Wrong type for the changed game , and throw in a coach that's from that era as well ...... and what do you get ? Failure ......

We are all saying the same thing but in different ways.

 

[since77]

Said many a time the game has changed , you need big fast athletic players not aging plodders , and don't get me started on Hunt yea he does give his all but has never been a 7 that can close out a game or get you repeated sets , his last play options are so predictable his bombs have no effect they are normally too long and no pressure put on the catcher ..... Anyway its not getting any better .....

It amazes me that we, the average fan can see these things that seem SO obvious but the coach either can’t see it or is too inept to make changes. The best sides playing over the last few years are all young, fast, instinctive, have football smarts and are aggressive.
The Dragons play a style of football that is slow, robotic, lethargic and dumb with a roster weighted with old and slow players while the players that we DO HAVE with the right attributes for todays modern game are all in reserve grade or being mismanaged.
All the dragons fans I’ve spoken to over the last year or two would rather cop an “unsuccessful” season in which the young crop were allowed to develop than continue to watch the same crap McGregor and now Griffin have coached for the best part of the last decade.

 

[justadragon]

It amazes me that we, the average fan can see these things that seem SO obvious but the coach either can’t see it or is too inept to make changes. The best sides playing over the last few years are all young, fast, instinctive, have football smarts and are aggressive.
The Dragons play a style of football that is slow, robotic, lethargic and dumb with a roster weighted with old and slow players while the players that we DO HAVE with the right attributes for todays modern game are all in reserve grade or being mismanaged.
All the dragons fans I’ve spoken to over the last year or two would rather cop an “unsuccessful” season in which the young crop were allowed to develop than continue to watch the same crap McGregor and now Griffin have coached for the best part of the last decade.

Agree 100%, you also have to put into perspective that the Cows finished below us on the ladder last year and now they are a genuine top 4 side. So are the players the difference or the coach, I would say both and they have injected new blood into the side and have a coach that was not going to stand for another year of poor performances without getting rid of players, this is the harsh reality of a results driven sport, something the dragons organisation have struggled with for so many years that now mediocrity is where the bar is set.

 

[Dragonslayer]

After the dust has settled and stats etc have been updated, there is a very very clear picture emerging, and that is opposition teams have worked out where our defensive deficiencies lie.

In last nights game we missed 42 tackles (yes, Cowboys actually missed 41), however nearly half came from 3 players ie: Bird missed 6, Amone missed 8 and Hunt missed 5. That's 19 from 3 players.

Rd 11 v warriors same 3 missed 13 or 33% of all missed tackles
Rd 10 v titans same 3 missed 15 or 31% of all missed tackles
Rd 9 v storm same 3 missed 22 or 44% of all missed tackles
Rd 8 v tigers bird didn't play but the other 2 missed 14 or 25% of all missed tackles

Need I go on!

Another point is the total missed tackle count in each game is getting beyond ignorance by our coaching staff.
42 v Cowboys
56 v tigers (how did we win that game!)
50 v storm (yes, we got hammered)
49 v titans (and lost in GP)

Whoever is the defensive coach/s are either oblivious or are just seeing things through rose-coloured glasses.

Young Amone I love as a player, but he is being targeted relentlessly both in attack and defense, basically nullifying his game. Bird has re-signed but surely a move onto the bench is a better solution to his defensive woes. And Hunt, although he is probably our 'best' player currently, his defense has always had a question mark over it, yet some want him at our prime defensive position. I think the best solution for Hunt is for him to move into the hooker position on some plays during the game, as yes, attacking wise he would add some variation. we don't see that event happening atm.

If we cannot reduce our total tackle count, at least by 1/3, but realistically by half, we will always be where we are, that is trying hard but giving up so many points, it's almost impossible to come back from.

I will look at the error count in another post, but that too is a bane on our play.

 

[Inisai Toga]

Pl

Agree 100%, you also have to put into perspective that the Cows finished below us on the ladder last year and now they are a genuine top 4 side. So are the players the difference or the coach, I would say both and they have injected new blood into the side and have a coach that was not going to stand for another year of poor performances without getting rid of players, this is the harsh reality of a results driven sport, something the dragons organisation have struggled with for so many years that now mediocrity is where the bar is set.

Yep, and interesting enough plenty wanted Payten’s scalp last year and were criticising Young one week into the job.

 

[Dragon David]

Agree 100%, you also have to put into perspective that the Cows finished below us on the ladder last year and now they are a genuine top 4 side. So are the players the difference or the coach, I would say both and they have injected new blood into the side and have a coach that was not going to stand for another year of poor performances without getting rid of players, this is the harsh reality of a results driven sport, something the dragons organisation have struggled with for so many years that now mediocrity is where the bar is set.

Our level of commitment in all areas of the club (Head office, coaches, players, communications, the lot) has been extremely low and under performing and to me is getting much worse as the years go on. No genuine reasons have been given by anyone as to what they are actually striving for in the future and what plans there are of achieving success. We get virtually nothing that is meaningful and anything to give us hope as a reward of any kind for following this club.

Why join the club? What right have they to suggest this when they don't know how to provide the fans anything of benefit for us to look forward to? We are not stupid.

 

[Dragon David]

After the dust has settled and stats etc have been updated, there is a very very clear picture emerging, and that is opposition teams have worked out where our defensive deficiencies lie.

In last nights game we missed 42 tackles (yes, Cowboys actually missed 41), however nearly half came from 3 players ie: Bird missed 6, Amone missed 8 and Hunt missed 5. That's 19 from 3 players.

Rd 11 v warriors same 3 missed 13 or 33% of all missed tackles
Rd 10 v titans same 3 missed 15 or 31% of all missed tackles
Rd 9 v storm same 3 missed 22 or 44% of all missed tackles
Rd 8 v tigers bird didn't play but the other 2 missed 14 or 25% of all missed tackles

Need I go on!

Another point is the total missed tackle count in each game is getting beyond ignorance by our coaching staff.
42 v Cowboys
56 v tigers (how did we win that game!)
50 v storm (yes, we got hammered)
49 v titans (and lost in GP)

Whoever is the defensive coach/s are either oblivious or are just seeing things through rose-coloured glasses.

Young Amone I love as a player, but he is being targeted relentlessly both in attack and defense, basically nullifying his game. Bird has re-signed but surely a move onto the bench is a better solution to his defensive woes. And Hunt, although he is probably our 'best' player currently, his defense has always had a question mark over it, yet some want him at our prime defensive position. I think the best solution for Hunt is for him to move into the hooker position on some plays during the game, as yes, attacking wise he would add some variation. we don't see that event happening atm.

If we cannot reduce our total tackle count, at least by 1/3, but realistically by half, we will always be where we are, that is trying hard but giving up so many points, it's almost impossible to come back from.

I will look at the error count in another post, but that too is a bane on our play.

Nice work Dragonslayer on these missed tackle stats. Wow - Bird, Hunt and Amone have been the main culprits and other clubs have worked this out.
No wonder Hook doesn't put Hunt in the 9 spot. He knows that Hunt isn't effective defensively as a hooker.

How do we change this Dragonslayer?