Round 2 v Cowboys

[George Sancti]

Williame went fine when he was on and has a bit of size to play left side forward.
CC

Good point CC. Perhaps Anthony Griffin sees Williame as a future second rower.

 

[Maddragon99]

Good point CC. Perhaps Anthony Griffin sees Williame as a future second rower.

I’m still not a fan of the Williame selection particularly now Bird has proven he can play 80mins. I’d like to see Ford get some minutes so he can start to work his way back.

 

[George Sancti]

I’m still not a fan of the Williame selection particularly now Bird has proven he can play 80mins. I’d like to see Ford get some minutes so he can start to work his way back.

Ford did impress in some of his appearances last year. However, I feel he will need to show good form in the seconds before he will be considered for first grade after his poor pre-season games.

 

[Maddragon99]

Ford did impress in some of his appearances last year. However, I feel he will need to show good form in the seconds before he will be considered for first grade after his poor pre-season games.

Difference being, Williame is a journeyman highly unlikely to be retained after this year. Ford is a 23yr old local Shellharbour product contracted to end ‘22. I know who’d I’d be investing first grade game time into.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

My 2 cents...

Again, every minute under hook see’s continual improvement. If we eliminate 50% of our errors then we win that game by 30+ points imo.

our defence is also improving, the last 15 minutes we were absolutely pinned on our goal line. We would of cracked under Mary and lost that game.

Benny hunt is showing what a class player he is under Hook, the C next to his name and AM taking the pressure off of him has been enormous.

Fui is a beast

Rava’s hands are as safe as houses

Blocker, Alvaro and Merrin have impressed

Kerr is starting to work out the edge position.

Biggest negative for me is Dufty. His D is disgusting. I know Lomax should of contested the kick for the Cowboys first try, but Dufty literally watched Hess fall over the try line, and yes I’m aware that even if Dufty contested that would of still more than likely resulted in a try, but the effort wasn’t even their. Shows a lack of heart. He near on takes a voluntary tackle every kick return he takes and he always looks Susa under a high ball. Unless he improves I’d be surprised if we fight to keep him

As Dirty Harry once famously hissed in Magnum Force..., "a man's gotta know his limitations". I'm not sure that Dufty does and seems to believe that the Dragons are disrespecting him by not signing him immediately to a long-term deal. I actually love watching him attack in space and would love the club to sign him for the next five years just for his entertainment value- but not at full-back- now probably the most physically and skill demanding backline position on the field.

Suggestions by some posters that Lomax is rocks and diamonds like Dufty- so what's the difference?- are unfair. For one, Lomax only came into first grade last year and was tried at full-back and wing before settling finally at right centre. Dufty, a specialist full-back since coming into grade, at 25 has four years of first grade experience on the 21 yo Lomax who has the additional responsibility of goal kicking.

Norman, despite his left foot kicking game which the coaching staff seem to love, for mine still does not get involved enough in attack and take on the line to justify his position at 5/8. In fact, he looks to me like he may have lost his pace. But he can't leave it all to Hunt. I'm still on the Dufty to 5/8 and Norman left right out bandwagon. I'm sure Dufty has a kicking game from his junior days which could be revived.

 

[Como Connection]

I’m still not a fan of the Williame selection particularly now Bird has proven he can play 80mins. I’d like to see Ford get some minutes so he can start to work his way back.

In reserve grade for now.
CC

 

[Como Connection]

Difference being, Williame is a journeyman highly unlikely to be retained after this year. Ford is a 23yr old local Shellharbour product contracted to end ‘22. I know who’d I’d be investing first grade game time into.

He needs to perform, not selected because he is a local junior.
CC

 

[Inisai Toga]

Difference being, Williame is a journeyman highly unlikely to be retained after this year. Ford is a 23yr old local Shellharbour product contracted to end ‘22. I know who’d I’d be investing first grade game time into.

Well he’d have to lift his defence significantly. Like him, but when given the opportunity to play First Grade you’ve got grab it and his defence had been pretty ordinary at times. Really hope he changes it but got to earn it for mine.

 

[redv13]

He needs to perform, not selected because he is a local junior.
CC

One of the worse jersey grabbers besides Luciano.

 

[redv13]

Well he’d have to lift his defence significantly. Like him, but when given the opportunity to play First Grade you’ve got grab it and his defence had been pretty ordinary at times. Really hope he changes it but got to earn it for mine.

He only likes grabbing jerseys

 

[Maddragon99]

He only likes grabbing jerseys

Just to be clear, you lot are rating Williame above Ford? FFS Williame isn’t a NRL player this has been proven over many years. Ford has upside & potential plus a local product. If not Ford I’d rather Feagai or even Ellis on the bench instead of Williame

 

[redv13]

Just to be clear, you lot are rating Williame above Ford? FFS Williame isn’t a NRL player this has been proven over many years. Ford has upside & potential plus a local product. If not Ford I’d rather Feagai or even Ellis on the bench instead of Williame

Not rating Wiliame a better player than Ford but I can understand why the coach has him on the bench ahead of Ford. His form in the trials was terrible and last year he was horrible in 1st grade. Defensively on the edge he was horrendous last year and he needs to go back to reserve grade and sort his shit out. Clearly he had the whole off season to push his way into the 17 and at this point he hasn’t. Maybe a month of reggies will stoke his fire a little and he bounces back and plays to his potential

 

[muzby]

Just to be clear, you lot are rating Williame above Ford? FFS Williame isn’t a NRL player this has been proven over many years. Ford has upside & potential plus a local product. If not Ford I’d rather Feagai or even Ellis on the bench instead of Williame

He’s rating Williame above Ford.

But don’t let it worry you too much.

His lapses in judgment can at times be criminal..

 

[redv13]

He’s rating Williame above Ford.

But don’t let it worry you too much.

His lapses in judgment can at times be criminal..

You’re back again. Twice in one day. If you have something to say orange man please speak up.

 

[muzby]

You’re back again. Twice in one day. If you have something to say orange man please speak up.

Back?

I never left..

So far today you’ve:
- suggested switching our best winger to the opposite side of the field to satisfy your petty grudge against Saab
- ranked Williame, a player with literally the worst winning record of any current NRL player, above Ford, a strong junior with a big future.

Looking forward to your next groundbreaking insight..

Should we move Hunt to prop?

Maybe play 12 men to fool the opposition?

 

[redv13]

Back?

I never left..

So far today you’ve:
- suggested switching our best winger to the opposite side of the field to satisfy your petty grudge against Saab
- ranked Williame, a player with literally the worst winning record of any current NRL player, above Ford, a strong junior with a big future.

Looking forward to your next groundbreaking insight..

Should we move Hunt to prop?

Maybe play 12 men to fool the opposition?

Please show me where I have stated that I rate Wiliame ahead of Ford?? I said I can understand why the coach has made this call.

If you scroll back through the comments I said I wasn’t happy with Wiliame being selected in round 1 or 2 but we need cover for Bird and the outside backs. Not exactly a glowing endorsement for Wiliame is it??

Plenty of other posters in this conversation seem to agree that Ford should be playing reserve grade yet you jump on my comment. Why is that??

Clearly the Ravalawa comment was tongue in cheek to show Saab some love but you obviously missed that. Other posters got it but not you.

 

[Maddragon99]

Not rating Wiliame a better player than Ford but I can understand why the coach has him on the bench ahead of Ford. His form in the trials was terrible and last year he was horrible in 1st grade. Defensively on the edge he was horrendous last year and he needs to go back to reserve grade and sort his shit out. Clearly he had the whole off season to push his way into the 17 and at this point he hasn’t. Maybe a month of reggies will stoke his fire a little and he bounces back and plays to his potential

I understood the initial Williame selection with a question mark over Bird’s fitness but aside from Bird’s two cold drops against the Cows he’s been good. So the Williame selection is now redundant. Hook needs to be looking to the future I’d like to see either Ford or one of the Feagai boys replace him at 17 to give some experience to the next generation players.

Also I was one of the very few on here that stood up for Merrin, his form off the bench has been outstanding. So FU to all those with short memories, Merrin is a 2010 premiership winner & warrants respect.

 

[redv13]

I understood the initial Williame selection with a question mark over Bird’s fitness but aside from Bird’s two cold drops against the Cows he’s been good. So the Williame selection is now redundant. Hook needs to be looking to the future I’d like to see either Ford or one of the Feagai boys replace him at 17 to give some experience to the next generation players.

Also I was one of the very few on here that stood up for Merrin, his form off the bench has been outstanding. So FU to all those with short memories, Merrin is a 2010 premiership winner & warrants respect.

Bird has been great. He is getting into the groove and is playing hard. Great signs for him mentally after 3 years of injuries and torment. His timing will only get better over the next couple of games then hopefully he’ll be flying.
Merrin has been solid from the bench and deserves to hold his spot. Let’s hope he keeps it up. You probably don’t need to throw the FU in but hey each to their own

 

[Maddragon99]

Bird has been great. He is getting into the groove and is playing hard. Great signs for him mentally after 3 years of injuries and torment. His timing will only get better over the next couple of games then hopefully he’ll be flying.

100% agree. I posted earlier it’s a tribute to our new medical & support staff that Bird is playing with so much confidence. Must be burning Bronco fans after their 0-2 start

 

[Dragonsteve2]

I understood the initial Williame selection with a question mark over Bird’s fitness but aside from Bird’s two cold drops against the Cows he’s been good. So the Williame selection is now redundant. Hook needs to be looking to the future I’d like to see either Ford or one of the Feagai boys replace him at 17 to give some experience to the next generation players.

Also I was one of the very few on here that stood up for Merrin, his form off the bench has been outstanding. So FU to all those with short memories, Merrin is a 2010 premiership winner & warrants respect.

Good onya, MD99, for sticking with Merrin. I have noted earlier that while Merrin showed little last year he was offered very little game time in which he could make a serious contribution. I hoped he would show more because the team would certainly benefit from a revived Merrin..

Regarding Williame vs Ford or Feagai: at this stage I am certainly not going to claim to know better than the coach unlike the last 6-7 years when even Blind Freddy would have proved a better strategist than the Coaching Imposter. Just let me make a couple of points - I like Ford and certainly want him to be a long term successful player at the Dragons. But Griffin seems to be looking at no 17 to be covering specific players at this early stage, notably Bird and McCullough, as well as an injured back so if there is no injury, game time could be very limited. In that scenario perhaps a mature player (with less potential) is preferable rather than a developing one. Lomax certainly got little experience from his five and ten minute bursts Mary gave him off the bench in 2019. There was so much criticism of Ford in the trials that perhaps the judgment is he needs time in reserves and now with their bye in Round 2 Ford has only played 40 odd mins since the Charity Shield (quite a mystery he didn't get more time on the field in the one CC game). Similarly Feagai will have better opportunities to develop playing CC rather than spending 70 mins on the 1st Grade bench. Finally Williame did what was required of him in his 10(?) mins vs the Cowboys.