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Round 2 v storm

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
19,522
From what I've seen, the Dragons have put in a lot of work on their defence during the off-season. So what has changd since season 2025, Mick Ennis is on board.
What I’ve seen is we played 2 trials against 2nd graders and 1 nrl game on a narrow, short field.

Our attack was shithouse in all the games and our defence is yet to be tested under normal match conditions.

In Vegas we looked quite vulnerable on the outside despite the field being 8 metres narrower so in respect of defence the jury is still out for mine.
 

jeffdragon

Bench
Messages
4,657
What I’ve seen is we played 2 trials against 2nd graders and 1 nrl game on a narrow, short field.

Our attack was shithouse in all the games and our defence is yet to be tested under normal match conditions.

In Vegas we looked quite vulnerable on the outside despite the field being 8 metres narrower so in respect of defence the jury is still out for mine.
Against the knights they bombed a few tries and Souths were a reserve grade side.
Our outside defence especially Val was bad in Vegas.
We just scambled well.
 

The Word

Juniors
Messages
778
At the start of each season I'm looking at the fixture list and trying to work out where the wins will come from. Personally I had the Vegas game down as a big loss. I was pleasantly surprised we nearly won it.

Melbourne are a better team than us but Wollongong home advantage will close the gap somewhat. I had this one as a narrow Storm win. I'm not going to commit harakiri if we lose. But I'll be very happy with a win which I think is a small chance but possible.

I have the Parra game as our first win of the season. Anyone who thinks these chumps are any better off than we are is kidding themselves.
 

hewi

Bench
Messages
4,915
If you couldn't scramble better on a field that is 8m narrower then all is lost.

The fact that we had to scramble on a field that is 8m narrower is the alarming part.

It was actually only 5 meters narrower however I agree with you it’s a concern
 

maestro1

First Grade
Messages
5,487
It was actually only 5 meters narrower however I agree with you it’s a concern
So the 5m narrower field wasn't also an advantage to the dogs????? Going into the game, every "expert" was talking about the great advantage the narrower field was going to be for the dogs. Many posters on here were fearful of the advantage to the dogs.

They played to exactly the same conditions as the dogs, did a remarkable job with 15 to 20% less ball than the dogs, were starved of any ball in their red zone by Atkins pulling shit decisions out of his arse, 9 to 3 penalty count against............ and we can't just say " great jobs boys".
Willie Mason, who once called our team soft was waxing lyrical about our effort, defence and toughness in Vegas. Yet our own fans, cannot.
 
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Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
8,439
Hey 77,
We are about the same vintage. You should remember Greg Hartley.

So, you are telling me matching fixing isn't done anymore and game outcomes are not decided by referees and bookies anymore?
Dogs v Dragons was the perfect game to sell to the US for fixing bets and how easy it can be done following the NRL. They showed how easy they can manipulate a game whilst trying to make it look like a fair contest.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
8,439
Being that far out and Val Holmes looking too sore to kick a long range FG which he has done before, they should have just played for the draw in the end and kicked it out for a scrum with 40 seconds to go. 1 point would have still been a good result considering the amount of ball and field position Saints had.

Saints record in golden point is terrible so they should probably look to take the 1 point instead of tryng to win going forward. 1 points is better than none and impacts the opposition just as much as them.
 

Flinstone

Juniors
Messages
370
Being that far out and Val Holmes looking too sore to kick a long range FG which he has done before, they should have just played for the draw in the end and kicked it out for a scrum with 40 seconds to go. 1 point would have still been a good result considering the amount of ball and field position Saints had.

Saints record in golden point is terrible so they should probably look to take the 1 point instead of tryng to win going forward. 1 points is better than none and impacts the opposition just as much as them.
Yes the shots at FG were just too far, low %, big risk of missing and giving away a 7 tackle set from the 20.
 

hewi

Bench
Messages
4,915
So the 5m narrower field wasn't also an advantage to the dogs????? Going into the game, every "expert" was talking about the great advantage the narrower field was going to be for the dogs. Many posters on here were fearful of the advantage to the dogs.

They played to exactly the same conditions as the dogs, did a remarkable job with 15 to 20% less ball than the dogs, were starved of any ball in their red zone by Atkins pulling shit decisions out of his arse, 9 to 3 penalty count against............ and we can't just say " great jobs boys".
Willie Mason, who once called our team soft was waxing lyrical about our effort, defence and toughness in Vegas. Yet our own fans, cannot.

They did an outstanding job against 14 dogs and let’s hope they bring home the chocolates against the Storm
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
8,439
I hope the Storm win big tonight as playing them after they lose a game may add that little bit of motivation to belt the saints and play to their dirty best. All the wrestling moves will be out for show at WIN Stadium.

If Saints can come out of these 2 games (Dogs and Storm) with losses and a points diff of less than 6 that would still be a solid result as you would expect them to lose to them. The games to worry about losing is to the teams not expected to make the 8. Dogs and Storm are teams that can pile on points and will do so with most teams so it would be good to get them out of the way with minimal damage.

Eels, Titans, Cows and Manly to follow which are games that Saints can make up ground. If Saints are 3-3 it will not be a bad start to the season at all. A realistic target after 6 games.
 

True_Believer

Juniors
Messages
1,973
So the 5m narrower field wasn't also an advantage to the dogs????? Going into the game, every "expert" was talking about the great advantage the narrower field was going to be for the dogs. Many posters on here were fearful of the advantage to the dogs.

They played to exactly the same conditions as the dogs, did a remarkable job with 15 to 20% less ball than the dogs, were starved of any ball in their red zone by Atkins pulling shit decisions out of his arse, 9 to 3 penalty count against............ and we can't just say " great jobs boys".
Willie Mason, who once called our team soft was waxing lyrical about our effort, defence and toughness in Vegas. Yet our own fans, cannot.
Sssshhhhhh! Coach and Team bad M'kay?
 
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