Round 17 vs Melbourne

[ChargingPatJarvis]

I’m looking forward to the next time we play them. It will be a different team.
It was an entertaining game.
Our missed tackles made them look good and that was the difference between the two

 

[nontime111]

I like Luc I think theres a lot to like about him, hes not perfect but Id hate to see him go he has amazing hands and vision in attack, a few tweaks in defence and hell come good

 

[BennyV]

I thought this thread was about the fact that we scored 2 tries when they lost the ball immediately following a try...

Scoreline flattered us dude.

 

[ouryears]

By the way, Souths are leading the comp.
Say it slowly.
Try not to choke on it
#marycantcoach

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Someone didn't watch his tackle on Thompson

Someone hasn't noticed Dufty's numerous missed one-on-one tackles this season.

One good defensive effort doesn't maketh a reliable first grade standard fullback.

 

[BennyV]

I haven't seen anything of Host so far in any game to rate him above anyone.
Apart from BennyV constantly assuring us all that he is a gun.

That guy knows his stuff though!

 

[Frank Facer]

Before the game, I was concerned about us going in with both Nightingale and Robson on the bench. I thought we should have gone in with an extra prop or backrower, I suggested Ford. I really think that neither of Nightingale or Robson should have been on our bench tonight. We should have gone in with 4 reserve forwards as that was our weakness, even before Host got injured. I really think that Nightingale offers little off the bench. He isn't a prop, he isn't a backrower or a hooker. He isn't a winger anymore or any other position in the backline. I think it is time for Mary to drop Nightingale altogether. I don't think Robson should be picked on the bench either. It is a shame about Host getting injured as I would have definitely have had him on the bench for the rest of the season.

We really need to sign another good prop or 2 before next season starts.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

I like Luc I think theres a lot to like about him, hes not perfect but Id hate to see him go he has amazing hands and vision in attack, a few tweaks in defence and hell come good

Those "tweaks" in defence come down to one thing.

Attitude.

I'm unsure whether Leilua possesses it.

 

[Old Timer]

I doubt that's the way Luc is trained as none of the regulars are like that. I'd say that is why they aren't bringing him through at the moment. Obviously needs work or at least an attitude adjustment in defense.

He keeps getting 1st grade time (and talked up in here) so I can't see that he is not being brought through and at the moment in fact you would have to say he is very much in their plans.
He has always been an arm grabber (not so bad when jerseys were loose and had sleeves) and it has never been coached out of him so obviously they think he will conquer 1st grade with blistering attack as he did U/20's which is ludicrous.
I said some time ago he will go down as another Bryce Cartwright as his ball playing ability will be nullified and no team needs a 2nd 5/8 that is lazy and can't tackle.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Whoaa whoa whoa. You just made up that story.... No one knows if Bellamy saw it, unless you have a direct line into his walky talky.

Maybe Smith just saw that side of the field tiring. But when you make up a story about Bellamy seeing it and Mary not, I've got to ask you: do you see you just made that story up or didn't you see it?

Its just an assumption that allows this Bellamy Vs Mary crap. When our teams were full strength at kogarah this year we won... Tonight's game felt like trial. That scoreline won't be seen if we play in the finals.

Tbh, it looked like we had more energy when we were 2 in front...but they got offloads off (not nightingale from memory) and they burned us. Once they got ahead again we dropped our bundle.

But this game was make believe. Fairy dust.

It was reported on Fox straight from Bellemys half time talk, if they made it up that’s on them, I didn’t.

 

[True_Believer]

Before the game, I was concerned about us going in with both Nightingale and Robson on the bench. I thought we should have gone in with an extra prop or backrower, I suggested Ford. I really think that neither of Nightingale or Robson should have been on our bench tonight. We should have gone in with 4 reserve forwards as that was our weakness, even before Host got injured. I really think that Nightingale offers little off the bench. He isn't a prop, he isn't a backrower or a hooker. He isn't a winger anymore or any other position in the backline. I think it is time for Mary to drop Nightingale altogether. I don't think Robson should be picked on the bench either. It is a shame about Host getting injured as I would have definitely have had him on the bench for the rest of the season.

We really need to sign another good prop or 2 before next season starts.

I don't think Ford can get picked. He's not included in our 30 or in the development players based on what is on the site. Allgood and Kerr were our only 2 options. Allgood I think is still injured or just back from injury and I am assuming Kerr hasn't been playing well enough. We don't have good enough forward depth. I don't think we had any other choice than to include Nighty in the team tonight - either on the wing or on the bench. Whether Nighty or Mann ended up playing in the middle, both would have been absolutely spent by the end of it.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Probably the stat that no team has ever conceded 50 in a season and won the prem that year.

Pretty dumb stat, somehow there's a difference between 49 and 50

Are you really that naive to ignore the history of a "dumb stat" which goes back to 1908?

 

[True_Believer]

He keeps getting 1st grade time (and talked up in here) so I can't see that he is not being brought through and at the moment in fact you would have to say he is very much in their plans.
He has always been an arm grabber (not so bad when jerseys were loose and had sleeves) and it has never been coached out of him so obviously they think he will conquer 1st grade with blistering attack as he did U/20's which is ludicrous.
I said some time ago he will go down as another Bryce Cartwright as his ball playing ability will be nullified and no team needs a 2nd 5/8 that is lazy and can't tackle.

So in reality, only Host looks ready. The others still need a lot of work. The step up between ISP and NRL is huge so giving these guys this much game time might make them realise they need to put in more to be considered for a bench spot.

 

[BennyV]

Some solid straw-clutching going on here!

There were a few good things to come from the game. Mann showed proper ticker, Dufty continues to impress in attack (although defensively was very poor tonight), and Widdop really took the leader role for most of the game.

But really, we were basically perfect for 65 minutes with Storm consistently inviting us into the game with error after error, and not only could we not close it out, but we completely capitulated. The bench selection and rotation proved to be a joke, our tactics for bringing youth through to first grade proved to be a joke, and most of all, f**k Melbourne.

Leilua is NOT a long minute player, he is impact only.
Nightingale, bless him, is NOT a utility or interchange player.
Robson is NOT a running forward only.
Sitting on the bench for 75 minutes is NOT giving youngsters exposure to first grade.

McGregor's man management comes to the test - he's got a lot of bruised egos and dropped confidence that he'll need to rebuild.

On a completely unrelated topic, I mentioned in another thread how Cowboys have gone to extreme (and detrimental) lengths to keep the players and playing style that was so successful in 2015. Crazy to think they could be going into 2019 and beyond with a spine of Kalyn Ponga, Jahrome Hughes, Michael Morgan and Brandon Smith had they made better retention decisions. Ponga was a monstrous f**k up, Hughes and Smith werent far behind. Storm have brilliant forward planning.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Firstly, I'm not going to bag any player, I think they all played to their limits. There were zero passengers.

Take-aways are:
1. Game was always going to be difficult to win when we lost Host after 5 mins and I really think Graham was concussed for most of the game.
2. Storm attack centred through where Host would have been defending.
3. Great character to stay in the game for basically 70 mins
4. Nighty made 40 tackles, he'd be lucky to make 40 for a season on the wing. Huge effort, but sometimes effort doesn't equal requirement.
5. LAM will be a huge loss for us next year. Best Dragon out there. 27 tackles 0 missed and 141m ran.
6. Our much talked about plan for back-up, misfired. You simply can't expect player with 5 min from the bench to make the required leap. They tried and credit to them for that, but in reality they were let down. Compare to Bellamy and the Storm .
7. Cameron Smith, as much as a *^%$ he is, he really knows how to control a game.
8. Missed tackled were the most I've seen from the Dragons for a long time (45)
9. Luciano needs a lot more fitness, but I thought his game improved after he scored his maiden try.
10. Widdop's a great goal kicker when on-song
11. I think we now know why Sele is unsigned for next year (atm).

As I said no complaints to our players. Nothing more they could have done under the circumstances. It would have been interesting to see the score line if Host hadn't got injured.
Let's all swallow the bitter pill, and move on to the next round when we should be at full strength again, hopefully!

 

[True_Believer]

Are you really that naive to ignore the history of a "dumb stat" which goes back to 1908?

How many of those teams were leading the comp after 16 rounds? The stat by itself means nothing - you need context around it.

 

[Frank Facer]

I don't think Ford can get picked. He's not included in our 30 or in the development players based on what is on the site. Allgood and Kerr were our only 2 options. Allgood I think is still injured or just back from injury and I am assuming Kerr hasn't been playing well enough. We don't have good enough forward depth. I don't think we had any other choice than to include Nighty in the team tonight - either on the wing or on the bench. Whether Nighty or Mann ended up playing in the middle, both would have been absolutely spent by the end of it.

I think Dragon Sammy said that Ford was promoted to our top 30 squad and took the last place available, before the June 30 deadline.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

It was broken then too... not sure if you watched us struggle against the wooden spooners

Realistically, Saints have been struggling since late May.

 

[True_Believer]

Some solid straw-clutching going on here!

There were a few good things to come from the game. Mann showed proper ticker, Dufty continues to impress in attack (although defensively was very poor tonight), and Widdop really took the leader role for most of the game.

But really, we were basically perfect for 65 minutes with Storm consistently inviting us into the game with error after error, and not only could we not close it out, but we completely capitulated. The bench selection and rotation proved to be a joke, our tactics for bringing youth through to first grade proved to be a joke, and most of all, f**k Melbourne.

Leilua is NOT a long minute player, he is impact only.
Nightingale, bless him, is NOT a utility or interchange player.
Robson is NOT a running forward only.
Sitting on the bench for 75 minutes is NOT giving youngsters exposure to first grade.

McGregor's man management comes to the test - he's got a lot of bruised egos and dropped confidence that he'll need to rebuild.

On a completely unrelated topic, I mentioned in another thread how Cowboys have gone to extreme (and detrimental) lengths to keep the players and playing style that was so successful in 2015. Crazy to think they could be going into 2019 and beyond with a spine of Kalyn Ponga, Jahrome Hughes, Michael Morgan and Brandon Smith had they made better retention decisions. Ponga was a monstrous f**k up, Hughes and Smith werent far behind. Storm have brilliant forward planning.

Could it be that the coaching staff recognise that the young players aren't ready to bring through? That they are taking longer to come up to speed than anticipated? We talk about bringing the young players through but there's no suggestions on how to do it. How should it have been done?

 

[True_Believer]

I think Dragon Sammy said that Ford was promoted to our top 30 squad and took the last place available, before the June 30 deadline.

Well maybe he definitely wasn't ready given the late promotion. I'm guessing he hasn't been training much with the first grade.