Round 18 vs Sea Eagles

[Dragons4me]

I'm pretty gutted after last night's effort. I thought we could have had a chance had we been a bit smarter with a better kicking game (even kicking early and playing it in Manly'half.) Trying something different to the typical Dragons bash and barge tactics we're so used to seeing. The general feeling is that Sullivan Amone and Sloan et all are not ready for 1st grade. But we need an injection of the enthusiasm and spark they bring. I'm a bit over the same old same old bash and barge for 5 and kick on the 6th.

 

[BLM01]

You want to kill a play, give it to Norman. You want to score a try, run at Norman. Myself and others were bewildered by Norman's signing by our club, incredulous and asking why did we sign this loser and here he is nearly 3 years later basically sabotaging our team on the field and possibly off it. Makes me wonder how much influence he had on the decision to have a barbie. Missed tackles, not passing out to our left edge once and a kicking game well below what we know he's capable of ( our worst this season ). Our season's gone so it's really time to move Norman on and give someone else a chance. His ineptness last night was bordering on deliberate or if not then he's playing with no effort or desire at all to win even for his team mates sake.

Last night was like men against boys ( also looked very Mary-esque ). The huge Manly forwards rolled us with ease. Another thing myself and others have been very vocal about on here is that we need some big fellas up front, been saying it for years now and we keep signing lightweights and here's the result.

This club just keeps slapping us fans down at every opportunity with issues like those above and sausage-gate I believe we're calling it. It's so depressing to think we could have fielded our best team in months last night with the exclusion of only Rava but instead we had to field a bunch of misfits. Our opportunity to make a great tilt at a finals berth lost and now highly unlikely to happen. So disappointing.

I have to give a wrap to Kerr who played a great game last night. 40 tackles, 100 mtrs, 4 offloads - 2 of which lead to tries. He would have done even better too if Hunt didn't throw him 100 mile an hour bullet passes aimed at his shoulder or head. And Sims did his best but should have been interchanged for a period. In fact the use of the bench was very 2019. I like the look of Sloan, hope he bulks up for next year.

The only disagreements I have with your post are:
1. The club is trying to or have signed some good powerful forwards
2. Kerr..yeh Ok. But if he wants to get anywhere near that next level he has to fix those dumb school boy handling errors and looking what is in front of him instead of catching the ball. They were not all Benny Hunts fault.. And he is suspect to losing the ball in big collisions near the line
His timing of his runs into holes are sometimes a bit out but I can see on the edge that is a work in progress

 

[blacksafake]

Re sign him. One of the best young props going around. Reminded me first time I saw him of a young Albert Young. So why are we lacking good go forward in your opinion? My opinion is lack of quality halves.

Comparing him to Albert who’s been our best prop in the last 40 years is a bit of a stretch.
A couple of big Polynesian props would be ideal Hook is no doubt trying to rectify the situation starting with Molo, hopefully Su’a & Burgess.

 

[Dragon David]

It is obvious that we don't have the cattle to be a top 4 contender. We lack size in the forwards, speed overall and poor execution and many other reasons to be consistently winning games and these have been the case for many years now. There are just no "great" players in our squad.

Our recruitment has been severely hampered by the poor judges we have in our club of the right players at the right price. Our juniors have not been given much opportunity to truly show their abilities because of the pandemic, however, while some do show a lot of ability on the highlight reels these do not represent a true reflection on their capabilities to be first grade players.

Manly looked like being at the bottom of the ladder for this season with the poor start that they had but once Turbo came back from injury they started to climb up the ladder and are continuing to do this. I think during the poor start Manly renewed Hasler's contract because they had confidence with him as the coach. He always had confidence with where the club would be going and he has moulded his team well with big men and speed , a la Saab and Turbo and the evergreen Foran with his years of "Manly" experience. Hasler has won several premierships as a coach and been in many grand finals. He knows what it takes to be up there and the players he has know this.

We can produce quality games but unfortunately they are just not consistent and have not been for many years.

We have got to become better with so many things that it is not funny. I hope that Hook keeps his patience and gets us a squad similar to the top teams, somehow.

 

[Saints Forever]

Sloan is 3-4 years away from PHYSICALLY being a really good first grade fullback - fullbacks need a good bulk physique these days -- the kid is too small (not his fault) and it's going to be a massive liability...ppl just need to expect it.

Like last night when that manly player reached out one handed to score... Sloan looked like a lost uncommitted defensive fullback...no awareness of wrapping up the ball - if you look at the replay he actually pulled back out Lawrie's arm which allows the manly player to stretch out -- that's how unaware he was. It was hard to watch. Like a under 7s player playing in the under 10s.

We're in for a tough next 2 years at least in my opinion

The kid is inexperienced, but if we need a post Mortem on that try, there are at least three first grade players who failed to put the Manly player onto the ground.

 

[Saints Forever]

And even the on-field ref gave it no try.

If it were played at normal speed the “try” isn’t awarded.

 

[BLM01]

It is obvious that we don't have the cattle to be a top 4 contender. We lack size in the forwards, speed overall and poor execution and many other reasons to be consistently winning games and these have been the case for many years now. There are just no "great" players in our squad.

Our recruitment has been severely hampered by the poor judges we have in our club of the right players at the right price. Our juniors have not been given much opportunity to truly show their abilities because of the pandemic, however, while some do show a lot of ability on the highlight reels these do not represent a true reflection on their capabilities to be first grade players.

Manly looked like being at the bottom of the ladder for this season with the poor start that they had but once Turbo came back from injury they started to climb up the ladder and are continuing to do this. I think during the poor start Manly renewed Hasler's contract because they had confidence with him as the coach. He always had confidence with where the club would be going and he has moulded his team well with big men and speed , a la Saab and Turbo and the evergreen Foran with his years of "Manly" experience. Hasler has won several premierships as a coach and been in many grand finals. He knows what it takes to be up there and the players he has know this.

We can produce quality games but unfortunately they are just not consistent and have not been for many years.

We have got to become better with so many things that it is not funny. I hope that Hook keeps his patience and gets us a squad similar to the top teams, somehow.

Its funny. Yes we dont have a Top 4 squad, but few predicted on here and many externally that we had a squad capable of finishing at best 16th

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

The dragons made a lot of errors, but overall I thought they played with a lot of heart.

 

[getsmarty]

NRL 2021: St George Illawarra Dragons, Anthony Griffin on poor defence in loss to Manly Sea Eagles | Dragons

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin says a host of missed tackle buried any chance of a fightback against Manly.

www.dragons.com.au

 

[Slippery Morris]

That second half was atrocious. This was a weakened Manly team so the loss really shows the Saints mentality is becoming similar to Mary's teams. They went in at half time thinking the game was won and came on the 2nd half with a poor attitude. They lose to Dogs, Tigers and Manly. If the 2 Turbo's were there their attitude would have been much better. As soon as I saw the weakened Manly side, I knew a loss was coming similar to the ones against the lower end sides. They are in the position they are due to really poor attitude as this draw and the losses they have had should clearly see them on at least 26 points.

Griffin needs to know plan for the future and bring on the kids asap. Sullivan needs to replace Norman. Sloan should stay at fullback and the Feagai boys should be in the backline ahead of Beale, Williame and Burns. That will be the best way to prepare for next season. This season is a right off. They clearly cannot win this comp as we saw last night. Their defense was so poor close to the line which surprised me as at the start of the season that is where I saw the biggest improvement. If that is a team looking to redeem themselves for their off field performances then they have a really poor way of showing it as the second half was a team that was terrible. A lot of talk and not action unfortunately.

 

[matPORTS]

Overall - we have a lot of work to do across many facets in order to become a genuine finals & premiership contender... roster management going forward, determining who is our best 17 each week, persisting with players in there right positions, discipline, fifth tackle options, overall game plans to suit the 17 who are selected week-to-week, defensive starch (including tackle technique for several players).

We keep talking about needing to bring in at least one each of a class prop, back-rower and possibly an outside back of sorts for 2022 - but until we also get the above sorted it's going to be more of the same story (this will be well and truly over to the coaching staff as I'm sure the supporter group won't be so forgiving come next season).

Last night was an opportunity for us, against a side missing a host of their top line players, to cement a spot inside the top 8 and separate ourselves from a log jam that's been created between positions 7-12 (or thereabouts). It was a very winnable match, but again several of the problems outlined above came to the forefront.

Overall - it's frustrating to watch !

 

[getsmarty]

St George Dragons press conference

Not Found | Fox Sports Videos

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Old Timer]

Tough, yes but imo not even in the same league as Craig Young regarding ball skills. He may develop this but to date haven’t seen evidence of that part of his game to be comparable to Young.

Hit the nail on the head there Inisai

Young Albert had plenty of pace, good vision, a footy brain and a great offload none of which are in Lawrie’s skill base.

Lawrie at best is the 25 minute player who gives the skilful big players a rest just before and after 1/2 time.

Tge reason why that doesn’t happen at present is we don’t have any big skilful players to rest so we have to pretend Lawrie is one of those

 

[ozbuck]

The kid is inexperienced, but if we need a post Mortem on that try, there are at least three first grade players who failed to put the Manly player onto the ground.

Yep they didnt wrap up the ball. The kids job tbh was that: wrap the ball up. He was coming from the try line so that's all he had to do, the others had a hold of him...instead he went to the side and pulled back Blake Lawrie's arm instead which allowed the manly player to reach out.

When I looked at the replay it looked like Sloan was physically so out of place. I'm not having a go a him at all...I'm just stating the facts of where he is at, it's the case for a lot of youngsters coming into first grade.

I remember Hornby when he came into first grade - he was like a ragdoll vs the broncos in WIN stadium one Sunday afternoon. Finally over the years he bulked up and could hold his own pretty well.

Sloan is going to be a ragdoll and a massive defensive liability for at least a couple of years. Same goes Ramsey - both are our go to fullbacks for next year.

If their attack is so next level it can negate that fact e.g. pupenhausen, ponga, etc.

 

[RedVDave]

Cody Ramsey doesn’t bring anything to the team

IMO Blake Lawrie should not be at the club next year he is just not up to the new rules and isn’t your modern forward and is way to I’ll disciplined

Josh Kerr can be damaging at times but has way too many errors in him and again I believe is struggling to suit to the pace of the new game

Did Cody Ramsey even play tonight?
Agreed re

Based off what I have seen this year

Ramsey and Kerr should be in reserve grade in 2022 as depth when needed

Lawrie should be moved on straight away

Sloan be our Number 1

Alvaro, Fa’amusili and Burns again should only be in reserve grade and should only be depth

Agree with all except Lawrie, yes he has flaws but IMO the positives outweigh the negatives.

Sloan was definitely a big highlight, Kerr couldn't catch covid-19 he's hands are dreadful he has some good runs but gee whiz he's bloody frustrating. Ramsey I didn't even sight last night the modern game requires big wingers to give our forwards a rest and make some good yardage. Ramsey is the equivalent of having Dufty on the wing. I'd prefer JP at this point.

Burns another one with hands like feet, at the end of the day we were totally dominated in the forwards we need some big poppers to fix this problem, Vaughan is a big loss but the fool deserved and needed to be sacked so no use crying over spilt milk.

 

[Saints Forever]

In a game where Manly dominated us in the forwards and generally had us attempting to bring the ball back from our 10 metre line, it’s somewhat harsh to judge any of the backs, Ramsey included.

 

[TruSaint]

Yep they didnt wrap up the ball. The kids job tbh was that: wrap the ball up. He was coming from the try line so that's all he had to do, the others had a hold of him...instead he went to the side and pulled back Blake Lawrie's arm instead which allowed the manly player to reach out.

When I looked at the replay it looked like Sloan was physically so out of place. I'm not having a go a him at all...I'm just stating the facts of where he is at, it's the case for a lot of youngsters coming into first grade.

I remember Hornby when he came into first grade - he was like a ragdoll vs the broncos in WIN stadium one Sunday afternoon. Finally over the years he bulked up and could hold his own pretty well.

Sloan is going to be a ragdoll and a massive defensive liability for at least a couple of years. Same goes Ramsey - both are our go to fullbacks for next year.

If their attack is so next level it can negate that fact e.g. pupenhausen, ponga, etc.

I recall thinking the same about that try at the time.

It was a rookie error. Not that's its an excuse but Im convinced Sloane thought there were enough bodies on the Manly player to stop him.

Anyway, he had a decent game, and has time to develop. Im not convinced either way yet. Nice kid, great attitude, but time will tell.

As I posted earlier, I really am concerned about our backline, even allowing for the players missing. Barring Rava, who can take a hit up and eat up metres coming out of our try line ?

Beale cops a fair bit of criticism, but he is solid and is on minimum wage. 200 games experience and has won a title and is a NZ rep player.

 

[KogarahWarrior]

Last night's second half was dreadful. I'm not overly upset at Hunt considering just 2 days prior he played 80 minutes of origin. He looked very fatigued out there. Beale has done well for us, I wouldn't criticise him given that he's doing well for a stop-gap player. Hook needs to forget about Norman's experience and remove him immediately. He is such a massive liability to this team; his kicking game is so off, defensively poor and he can't create anything. Amone is lightyears ahead of him. You can see Norman doesn't really care. The combination of Amone, Sloan and Sullivan is one for years to come if you've seen their junior highlights, and the three of them are really close mates as well. Although I do believe we can make finals this year, we won't get too far with the forward pack we have now. Jackson Ford and Billy Burns aren't first-grade quality at all. Once Burgess and Su'a and hopefully Finucane come along, hopefully, that bolsters our pack by a lot and makes us a MUCH better chance in future.

 

[Dragon David]

Its funny. Yes we dont have a Top 4 squad, but few predicted on here and many externally that we had a squad capable of finishing at best 16th

Maybe it would be a good thing if we did end up 16th (not likely though) because then someone in our Organisation and Sponsors will be demanding massive changes which we need.

 

[Ghostrider22]

Hit the nail on the head there Inisai

Young Albert had plenty of pace, good vision, a footy brain and a great offload none of which are in Lawrie’s skill base.

Lawrie at best is the 25 minute player who gives the skilful big players a rest just before and after 1/2 time.

Tge reason why that doesn’t happen at present is we don’t have any big skilful players to rest so we have to pretend Lawrie is one of those

Don’t forget youngy had Harry Bath to teach him and the forwards all about ball playing and how to dominate on the field, being physical and smart.