Round 19 vs Souths

[Dragonsamy]

Observations regarding Souths game:
1. At full strength tonight and still got dominated by a Souths team without Sam and George.
Conceded 4 tries which is our season's average so no improvement in regards to our defence.
2. Compressed defence hasn't worked all year and tonight was no exception conceding 3 tries out wide and a soft try by Walker close to the line.
In fact the score flattered us and we were lucky that Reynolds had an off day with the boot..
3. Lafai is a passenger and Aitkin still can't defend even though he contributed in attacktonight.
4. Saab is significantly better than all our other wing options. Why did we have to wait until tonight to give him a start in FG?
One positive to come out of tonight's game. He will only get better.
5. Hunt is a dud - sorry but the occasional good game just doesn't cut it.
Plays like a tyro for QLD at 9 and then puts in shockers for us.
That goal line drop out was comical and embarrassing.
When you add the week off debacle you have to wonder whether he even wants to be at St. George under McGregor.
6. Game plan - nothing different, just bash and barge for 5 tackles and kick with the occasional block play which the opposition just gobbles up.
Having said that at about the 60th minute mark we threw caution to the wind and started to throw the ball around and off load.
We actually looked much more likely to create scoring opportunities.
That passage of ad lib football deconstructed the game and surprised Souths and nearly gave us an unlikely victory.
Looked like the players threw McGregor's game plane into the bin.
7. Tantalizing - At 16-14 even I thought we couldn't lose the game from there but, incredibly, we found a way to lose....again.
This is a recurring theme - our inability to ice games and execute those clutch plays.
That is not a trait of a title contender.
8. Dufty's 3 minute cameo - the use of the bench has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Why bother?
Kerr had a positive impact on the game when he finally came on.
Graham was shot after 60 minutes and McGregor persevered with him until it was too late.
9. Figures don't lie - *Since McGregor's extension we have lost 10 from 12.
*We have conceded more tries than any other team in the comp and concede an average of just under 24 points a game.
*Its been two weeks and two losses since McGregor stated publicly that we can still win the comp.

Simple question to the Board and Johnston in particular - What will it take to sack McGregor? The wooden spoon?
Finally, a special mention regarding McInnes.
His wholehearted effort and line speed in defence is inspirational.
As the Team tanks and is getting worse, this fellow keeps stepping up and improving.

What we are witnessing is the playing group losing all faith in the coach and his ability to turn things around.
It really doesn't matter that Widdop is back at 6 or Graham is there to inspire and lead.
Eels next week and can be a potent attacking side.
If we are serious about winning this one it has to start with our defence.
Full strength again next week.
No more excuses McGregor.

Dennis.
Absolutely agree with all your points very well put. But Saab has not been able to play u till last week as no one can play NRL until they have turned 18 years of age.

 

[West coast dragon]

All the best WCD with whats going on. I enjoy reading your comments and hopefully many more to come.

Thanks for that mate and I enjoy coming on and chipping in my 2c worth with a great bunch of blokes

 

[Lovemedragons]

Mate, agreed with the majority of your summary (especially Hunt) but as for number 9, Souths get the two points and they will be playing finals footy. Bennett will have them primed and Sam will be playing. They never got out of first gear tonight and didn't even panic when they got behind.

Dragons fans will be watching on enviously.

That's the reality, yet again.

Won't be watching with any interest that's for sure. Old Timers summary is spot on.

 

[Nanadragon]

I don't see much point criticising the players anymore. Over the last 10 weeks the performances have deteriorated at such a level that it's rather clear that the players have simply lost faith in their coach altogether. Judging performances is pointless when they seem as distracted and down on team form as they are.

I don't buy this shit about Hunt suddenly being a dud. I'm getting a pretty big sense that he's unhappy under Mary, noticed his wife on Instagram was hinting at him being unhappy with the "resting" at that point. Would not be shocked if the Frizzel rumours last week were true, he and Hunt (and Lomax) always hang out as a group and they all seem well and truly against the current game plan or unhappy. Wouldn't be surprised to lose all 3 after next year.

JDB needs to be separated from the group also. Knowing there is a divide regarding his presence at training, and then keeping him around, is just about the dumbest thing our club has ever done. How is anyone supposed to perform in an uncomfortable work environment

So so true!

 

[lynx000]

That’s why I’d call seibold see if he’d take Him back

No thanks, but we have a really experienced hooker and a former fullback that you can have, you will almost then have a complete set with Hunt, Norman, Pearson Tariq and Korbin Sims and Maranta.

 

[Dragon for life]

You make some good points but Reynolds a reserve grader?
More like one of the best half backs in the comp but that being said, Hunt is not on $1.2m unless his contract is increasing every year.
The point with Hunt is that he hardly ever wins us games as the dominant play maker.
Compared with most of the names you mention, he just does not influence outcomes the same as they do so naturally he attracts attention from the media.
If you want to talk about media bias then I thought you were going to mention why there is not a lot more blow torch focus on McGregor.
Why does the media tip toe around our coaching issues?
15th on the table and hardly any scrutiny or hard questions being asked.

The reason they don’t say anything about McF**kwit is that they are not Saints supporters. They want him there because they know with someone else we would be a premiership contender. Not going to happen with There something about Mary.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

MATCH REPORT


Brave Dragons lose at the death to Rabbitohs
Author
Brad Walter NRL.com Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Fri 26 Jul 2019, 09:45 PM

South Sydney winger Campbell Graham all but ended St George Illawarra's finals hopes with a try as the full-time siren sounded after Dragons captain Gareth Widdop and hooker Cameron McInnes combined with rookie winger Jason Saab to spark a remarkable second-half comeback.

McInnes charged down an attempted field goal by Rabbitohs halfback Adam Reynolds and outran Cody Walker and Braidon Burns to dive on the loose ball 40 metres from the St George Illawarra tryline in a 74th-minute play that appeared to have saved the Dragons' season.

Saab scored his second try of the night on the following tackle and Widdop levelled the scores at 14-14 with his conversion, before landing a 78th-minute penalty goal from 30 metres out and on the sideline in his first match back from shoulder surgery.

However the Dragons could not hold Souths out and Graham crossed on the final play of the game to snatch a 20-16 win that has left the Red V needing to win all of their remaining six games to have any chance of making the playoffs.

It was a cruel loss for St George Illawarra after a performance which highlighted how much Widdop's 18 week absence had hurt their season and his return coincided with a renewed energy and spirit within the team.

"He got us back in the game with that nice kick behind the line [for Saab to score] and then nailed the conversion, then nailed another one and obviously got that clutch one at the back end of the game," Dragons coach Paul McGregor said.

“He is obviously a class player and the one player we have missed all season so to have him back tonight just goes to show how much he was missed.

McGregor also praised McInnes, who captained the team in Widdop's absence and is likely to take over the role next season after his departure for Warrington in Super League.

McInnes also made 59 tackles, while lock James Graham made 60 and prop Paul Vaughan 50.

“He has done that all year, he hasn’t changed his effort from round one to now," McGregor said of the charge down that almost rescued St George Illawarra's season.

“That just shows his resilience and the type of leader he is going forward for the club."

The Dragons had two other try scoring opportunities but impatience cost then as halfback Ben Hunt was denied due to a double-movement and centre Euan Aitken was cut down just short by Souths fullback Adam Doueihi.

For the Rabbitohs, it was an important win in their quest for a home final as they are guaranteed to remain in outright second place ahead of Sydney Roosters and Canberra - regardless of other results this weekend.

Souths coach Wayne admitted he had been "pessimistic" about his team's chances after Widdop's late penalty goal.

“I had a speech prepared before the try that wasn’t anything like the one I gave after the try was scored," Bennett said.

"I saw in the box Paul McGregor signalling to take the two [points] when they had the kick on the sideline and they would have been elated with that moment, thought it was their game, and your emotions go down and you are thinking about why you lost the game and all the things you should have done that you didn’t do.

"When you get down to that last minute and all of a sudden in the last 10 seconds they score in the corner your whole world is turned upside down again and his world has gone the other way. He would be pleased with their effort but effort is not going to get them where they want to go."


Match: Rabbitohs v Dragons

Round 19 - Friday 26th July

Full Time

Home Team

Rabbitohs

Scored 20 points

Away Team

Dragons

Scored 16 points
Venue: ANZ Stadium

Match broadcasters:

• Nine Network
• Foxtel
• LIVE PASS

The Dragons took an early lead when Widdop landed a fourth-minute penalty goal after a dangerous tackle by Souths hooker Damien Cook on his NSW Origin team-mate Tyson Frizell.

Saab gave the first glimpse of why McGregor handed the 199cm teenager his NRL debut when he leapt above Graham to tap back a Widdop cross-field kick only for centre Euan Aitken to knock on.

An Adam Reynolds penalty goal levelled the scores in the 19th minute and the game became an arm wrestle as both teams battled for field possession but the weight of possession heavily favoured the Rabbitohs.

After three consecutive sets on the Dragons line, Gagai crossed for his first try in the 31st minute when Walker ran from the left to right side to create an overlap out wide for the Rabbitohs against tiring defence.



Gagai goes over

Trailing 6-2 at the interval, St George Illawarra started the second half poorly when Hunt knocked on at first receiver in the 43rd minute and Walker dummied his way over to score on the following set of tackles.

Reynolds again missed the conversion but the Rabbitohs continued to turn the screw and four goal-line drop outs kept their opponents under pressure and starved them of possession.

The Dragons looked ready to capitulate when Hunt attempted a short goal line drop out and kicked the ball into Vaughan as he was attempting to get onside.

The comedy of errors resulted in a penalty against the Dragons and Gagai scored his second try in the 56th minute to put the Rabbitohs ahead 14-2 but the visitors rallied late to set up an epic finish.

Saab scored his first try in the 66th minute when he pounced on a Widdop grubber and he crossed again eight minutes later after McInness's charge down heroics to level the scores at 14-14.

Widdop appeared to have snatched victory with a 78th-minute penalty goal from the sideline but the Rabbitohs regained the ball from a short kick off and Graham broke the Dragons hearts when he dived over in the corner as the full-time siren sounded.

"We got ourselves back from a 14-2 deficit which was good, into a winning position," McGregor said. "Catch the ball, make the tackle, we win the game.

"We knew they'd kick off short, we loaded up that left edge but we didn't come up with the catch so we needed to defend the set and we just didn't. It's tough but that's footy."


https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2019/07/26/rabbitohs-steal-last-second-win-over-brave-dragons/

Brad provides a glass half full description of the Dragon's performance.
Dominated, outplayed and flattered by the final score is more appropriate.
"Brave" would suggest that the whole team busted a gut and played to their ability only to get pipped at the post.
That is not what transpired.

 

[ALSGI]

Absolutely guttered today.

Washed the car, peeled the stickers off and the rego plates are going next week.

Had enough for now.

Done.

 

[getsmarty]

Absolutely guttered today.

Washed the car, peeled the stickers off and the rego plates are going next week.

Had enough for now.

Done.

Chin up Buddy....plenty of us feeling the same way....

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Thanks for that mate and I enjoy coming on and chipping in my 2c worth with a great bunch of blokes

Yes we are lol

 

[Wittenberg]

Saab is capable of being the best winger in the game when he bulks up and has more experience.

Yes as long as he learns to stay on his man and doesn’t catch the STGI winger illness of rushing in when defending. He certainly has real potential.

 

[BLM01]

You make some good points but Reynolds a reserve grader?
More like one of the best half backs in the comp but that being said, Hunt is not on $1.2m unless his contract is increasing every year.
The point with Hunt is that he hardly ever wins us games as the dominant play maker.
Compared with most of the names you mention, he just does not influence outcomes the same as they do so naturally he attracts attention from the media.
If you want to talk about media bias then I thought you were going to mention why there is not a lot more blow torch focus on McGregor.
Why does the media tip toe around our coaching issues?
15th on the table and hardly any scrutiny or hard questions being asked.

Josh not Adam..although I reckon he is on good coin though more than they admit or that he resigned for 500K they say...pffttt
And there has been enough said on here about McGregor and lack of blow torches as you say. I was purely as per my comments focuusing on what went down last night but that is the beauty of these forums...different interpretations on how things read to us all

 

[blacksafake]

Say what you want about players and the team last night. Yeh for the most we were poor except for Widdop & Saab who had a good debut (last defnsive glitch) and was his legs taken out trying to catch the ball..probably yeh. And a lot of those mentioned earlier performed poor..probably.
But again spark in dufty..comes on with 3 mins to play and as i said earlier the back 3 were never going to get our sets going and Mary's selections and bench rotation is poor and we know he cant coach.
But I am going to whinge about some other things.
1. Refs now allowing people to be dragging people back towards goal line along the ground when mometum halted even after calling held of course when coming out of trouble. They do nothing unless it is a sideline.
2. I like Gus but if you were listening to 9 last night the amount of times he bagged us for being down on confidence, body language was way over the top an bordering on bias (we deserve it from within but commentary was appaling and he sould of been bagging the coach)
3. Then even if Hunt is on 1.2 (I dont think he is) it is a number the media keep trotting out to continually remind us all as (yeh he had some bad things last night and some good) but the way the media lay into him cause of his salary alone again is bias agend seeking. Not talking about mental health welfare worry for him which is overdone...but just plain bias media calling. He deserved a rocket fo past few weeks but..

Here is a few names that never raise an eyebrow for ther club performances on big money. Klemmer 1 mill +, Foran 1.1, Cherry 1.2, Reynolds 800K reserve grader, Farah 900K from 4 yrs ago, Milford & Jack Bird close to 1 mill, Crichton 800-900K, Cleary (nearly 1 mill), Isaac Luke, Sezer, Moylan, Mbye, Brooks let alone Titans overpaid players..why is that?

Just sayin and having another whinge about media bias

Really agree with all this BLM01, especially the constant Hunt bashing. The 1.2m line really pi55es me off. No mention of him normally being the first to chase kicks & make the first contact in the tackle. Whenever he does something good it’s normally glossed over.Another player you add to your list is Moses.

 

[West coast dragon]

No thanks, but we have a really experienced hooker and a former fullback that you can have, you will almost then have a complete set with Hunt, Norman, Pearson Tariq and Korbin Sims and Maranta.

hope the hairs around your arse turn into bats and beat the shit out of you lol thanks for the reminder lol watch the titoons today danger game

 

[TruSaint]

hope the hairs around your arse turn into bats and beat the shit out of you lol thanks for the reminder lol watch the titoons today danger game

 

[BLM01]

Really agree with all this BLM01, especially the constant Hunt bashing. The 1.2m line really pi55es me off. No mention of him normally being the first to chase kicks & make the first contact in the tackle. Whenever he does something good it’s normally glossed over.Another player you add to your list is Moses.

Thought about Moses but I think he has stood up for Parra this year and everything revolves around him. They are on 22 points!

 

[lynx000]

hope the hairs around your arse turn into bats and beat the shit out of you lol thanks for the reminder lol watch the titoons today danger game

Now that is not very nice, I am just trying to assist your club's apparent recruiting strategy.

 

[brokendigit]

How long before people start getting their Dragons tatts lasered off?

 

[West coast dragon]

Now that is not very nice, I am just trying to assist your club's apparent recruiting strategy.

We don’t have a strategy that’s where you’re wrong I’m watching bad times at the El Royale a lot of similarities with our season except our title would be bad times at the El Wollongong

 

[West coast dragon]

How long before people start getting their Dragons tatts lasered off?

Funnily enough I did years ago as it was a shit job hurts a lot more than getting them so choose wisely lol