Round 2 vs Souths

[Pro Dragons]

You can't take a State of Origin forward (JDB) out of club side and expect the team to play consistently well over a whole season. Likewise, when your captain throws in the towel and wants out, it all becomes a recipe for a disaster. What we desperately need is a coach like Bennett, when backs are to the wall he gets the best out of a team . Unfortunately we have Mcgregor, to be fair I'm sure he is doing his best but to a fan this means little when your team is losing. The only way to stop the rot is to get a new coach but this creates a new problem. Can anyone recall any club having a change of coach and going on to win the premiership in the same season?

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

We won many games last year when Widdop was more-highly involved as a 5/8. Corey Norman tonight did a great pass for a try however when presented in similar opportunities as widdop who capitalized last year, Norman has fallen short.

Widdop chase returns were not energetic as dufty.

We need changes for our next game

Widdop was the form player of the first half of the competition last year.
At 5/8, he was involved in nearly every play.
Fast forward to 2019 ............ McIdiot decides to put Widdop in a lessor performing role.
Yep, makes sense to me.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Widdop forced us to buy a half we didn't want haha wow such a poor little victim mentality. The dragons CHOSE to buy norman. We didn't have to.

If the boys are that mentally weak that the JDB situation has caused them to feel they have no hope this year than widdop has made the right choice to go to England. Seriously. Every so called bad situation can spur a team on to become stronger and more cohesive.

Ppl, including the team, need to take off the poor me attitude and start seeing how widdop leaving can drive their desire to make the most of his time here this year as best as possible (aka a premiership) and banding together to make that if/when jdb is found not guilty we already are marching strong on the field and he can come back and help take the team to the next level.

That's the attitude of a premiership winning team. Not 'ohhh why abandon us widdop!? Oh why does the jdb fiasco have to happen to us!?'

That is weak. Plenty of dragons fans think that it seems. Hopefully the players don't also think that.

Whatever happens can be used at victimhood or becoming more badass.

These situations provide an opportunity for newbies to step up and enhance their reputation at the highest level.
So far, that has not happened. I reckon a lot of the reason is that McGregor is not capable of moulding the young guys into his squad and make them productive from day one.
Many coaches use adversity in their favour to lift teams and help them perform in adversity.
Look at Green and the Cowboys in 2017.
Fell into the 8 with an injury list as long as your arm - at our expense mind you.
Missing Thurston - their chief playmaker and took his team all the way to the GF.
So your point is well made except that McGregor is not Paul Green and Widdop is not Thurston.
IMO Widdop has never been the one to take us to a GF.
Neither as a playmaker or as a captain.
At some point he lost interest in St. George and made a decision to move back to the UK.
Totally his prerogative even though he will not see out his contract.
Play Widdop at 5/8 or at Fullback it doesn't matter.
The current situation will not deliver a premiership and it is flawed to keep hoping that Widdop is some kind of genius that is going to get us there.
I would rather let him go as soon as he announced his intentions and turn over a new leaf.
2019 we will again be treading water.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

You can't take a State of Origin forward (JDB) out of club side and expect the team to play consistently well over a whole season. Likewise, when your captain throws in the towel and wants out, it all becomes a recipe for a disaster. What we desperately need is a coach like Bennett, when backs are to the wall he gets the best out of a team . Unfortunately we have Mcgregor, to be fair I'm sure he is doing his best but to a fan this means little when your team is losing. The only way to stop the rot is to get a new coach but this creates a new problem. Can anyone recall any club having a change of coach and going on to win the premiership in the same season?

Most of us just want a real coach who can muster a quality team and point them in the right direction.
We are not going to get anywhere near a GF so it's pointless waiting any longer to sack McGregor.
Anything after him would be a bonus.
We are sick & tired of McGregor playing players out of position.
He really has no idea.
I don't think we are asking too much.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Widdop was the form player of the first half of the competition last year.
At 5/8, he was involved in nearly every play.
Fast forward to 2019 ............ McIdiot decides to put Widdop in a lessor performing role.
Yep, makes sense to me.

One year later and Widdop is still our captain.
He has announced his departure so I have no idea why that would be.
Even if they move him back to 5/8 - do you think it will deliver a premiership?
Widdop can only perform if our forward pack is steamrolling other teams.
Last year, he looked good because our forwards gave him oodles of time to play.
He cannot play behind a beaten pack. Most playmakers can't so it is not a criticism.
Our forwards this year will not be as dominant as they were last year.
Opposition coaches know what to expect and they are countering McGregor's power game.
In many cases, quite easily.
I think there is far too much expectation on what Widdop can contribute to the cause.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

I think the JDB situation has pretty much ensured this season will be train wreck.

Its been a combination of things ......................

Fake coach.
JDB.
Injuries.
Clueless CEO & board.
Out of position players.
Did l mention, fake coach?

What should of been a brilliant year ahead, has / is, being derailed by all of the above.

 

[LINESPEED]

Its been a combination of things ......................

Fake coach.
JDB.
Injuries.
Clueless CEO & board.
Out of position players.
Did l mention, fake coach?

What should of been a brilliant year ahead, has / is, being derailed by all of the above.

Fake low IQ c**ch

 

[LINESPEED]

Most of us just want a real coach who can muster a quality team and point them in the right direction.
We are not going to get anywhere near a GF so it's pointless waiting any longer to sack McGregor.
Anything after him would be a bonus.
We are sick & tired of McGregor playing players out of position.
He really has no idea.
I don't think we are asking too much.

A new coach & I’d renew membership

Maybe there’re a few thousand others out there too Bruce baby

 

[hazzbeen]

You can't take a State of Origin forward (JDB) out of club side and expect the team to play consistently well over a whole season. Likewise, when your captain throws in the towel and wants out, it all becomes a recipe for a disaster. What we desperately need is a coach like Bennett, when backs are to the wall he gets the best out of a team . Unfortunately we have Mcgregor, to be fair I'm sure he is doing his best but to a fan this means little when your team is losing. The only way to stop the rot is to get a new coach but this creates a new problem. Can anyone recall any club having a change of coach and going on to win the premiership in the same season?

It doesn't matter because we ain't going to win a Premiership with this bloke either , so let's just get rid of him for starters .....

 

[hewi]

I just read Widdop ran 16 meters for the game. 16 meters for a fullback, Houston we have a problem, do we have a solution? Yes, however the coach won’t listen.

 

[LINESPEED]

It doesn't matter because we ain't going to win a Premiership with this bloke either , so let's just get rid of him for starters .....

And keep some juniors in the process?
Win Win?

 

[rasaint]

Hi All, last nights terrible second half really hurts. Everyone has an opinion.

I don’t believe our season is ‘finished’. I think the experiment of Gareth to fullback just hasn’t worked. I don’t believe there is a big conspiracy of ‘old boys and McIdiot’ running and coaching the club who don’t care whether we win or not and so forth. I believe they all have the club and results paramount in their minds.

Being honest I have never felt that Luc was that good. When Luc takes the field the consistent intensity drops. It happened last night again. For sure he has on occassion shown ability and flashes of brilliance, but he spends a lot of time walking and jogging.

Like others here I had heard story’s of Ravawala being amazing, express speed and winger of the year. He isn’t. We seem to now have two slow wingers. At least Pierra has good hands and can beat a bloke. Oh for a winger like Nene.

I hope this happens for now on:

Gareth back to 5/8 (even his post match interview strongly indicated he doesn’t want to be fullback). He is a classy 5/8.

Dufty back to fullback. It’s really unfair on him at present.There is this ridiculous expectation on him that a cameo for 15 to 20 minutes he will carve up. He is almost manic when he hits the field with this burden that every touch must create something special. He played fullback all last year and on balance did well.

Luc and Norman out of team. let’s hope that Graham can get on the park next week and Korbin can stiffen things up a bit.

Ravawala to reserves. Replace with Pearson or Marsters( not Lomax because he isn’t a winger simply too slow for that role. ).

If something like that happens we will improve significantly



I

 

[getsmarty]

One year later and Widdop is still our captain.
He has announced his departure so I have no idea why that would be.
Even if they move him back to 5/8 - do you think it will deliver a premiership?
Widdop can only perform if our forward pack is steamrolling other teams.
Last year, he looked good because our forwards gave him oodles of time to play.
He cannot play behind a beaten pack. Most playmakers can't so it is not a criticism.
Our forwards this year will not be as dominant as they were last year.
Opposition coaches know what to expect and they are countering McGregor's power game.
In many cases, quite easily.
I think there is far too much expectation on what Widdop can contribute to the cause.

I respect your opinions highly Dennis, but your anti - Widdop sentiments are getting boring...Widdop is the least of our problems...A proper coach would be playing him at 5/8 ...and not out of position at fullback...otherwise agree 100 % with you. Have a good day.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I respect your opinions highly Dennis, but your anti - Widdop sentiments are getting boring...Widdop is the least of our problems...A proper coach would be playing him at 5/8 ...and not out of position at fullback...otherwise agree 100 % with you. Have a good day.

You are probably right - I should lay off Widdop a little.
I am not anti Widdop I just don't think he is our Messiah.
Our main problem is not Widdop for sure.
Much bigger foundation problems.

 

[Miller was a legend]

I respect your opinions highly Dennis, but your anti - Widdop sentiments are getting boring...Widdop is the least of our problems...A proper coach would be playing him at 5/8 ...and not out of position at fullback...otherwise agree 100 % with you. Have a good day.

100% on the money

 

[Vinnie]

If I was coach, I would have already known that Leilua is not suited to the right edge and that Leilua is not fit enough to play first grade.

So why wasn't Lawrie, Host and Sims kept on for 80minutes, surely the result could not have been worse?

I'd say our two biggest and most urgent problems are:
Mary does not have a clue how to coach.
Millward always goes for the easy deals rather then sign key player we need. For example, Norman and Johnson were on the market at the time Widdop announced he was moving on. We went of Hayne and pulled out of that deal for good reason and then went for Norman rather than go for Johnson. We also went for two untried wingers instead of going for Johnston and G Jennings. We still have not bought a replacement for JDB.

Mary stubbornly stick with Aitken when it has been clear for a few seasons now that he is our weak link in defence on the right edge. Host made a big difference in the first half but an unfit Leilua showed just how out of touch Mary is. Although everyone can see the problem really revolves around Mary, there is absolutely no accountability for Mary's poor performance.

Our Right edge is the weakest defensive link ive seen in a long long time, but hey we will all still expect to see Aitken and Ravalawa named in the team next week, Leilua will improve and is an instinctive ball player and mobile for a forward but defense not yet up to scratch but i have to ask why place him there ??.

In Coaches defense i would have to say that Leilua wont and wouldn't be in the squad if JDB, Frizzel and K Sims were available. But that doesn't alter the fact that our coach can't read a game or use fringe players. Surely blind Freddy could have seen the opposition attacking our right side !! Does it take 3 tries to attempt to fix it ???? WRONG ANSWER ... Horse has bolted !!

If Dufty is in fact wasting a spot on the bench because he is truly the X Factor player !!! Well i say 2 things to that:

1. A Real X Factor player would be in most cases in the run on side because what makes them X Factors is that they can strike at anytime whether it be the 2nd, 22nd, 32nd minute etc.
2. If that is so our coaches ploy then wouldn't you think that with 10 to 15 minutes to go in the first half when the players are TIRING and we are on TOP and more importantly we are LEADING would that not be a great time to bring in our so called X FACTOR on then ??? We were all calling for that to happen i'm surprised they didn't hear us in Cronulla

It's funny how these things can be seen by ordinary people but not by a supposed First Grade coach. But i dare say the same team (with the inclusion of returning players) will be picked again next week and hey lets all hold faith cause they will eventually click ! PLEASE !!

 

[possm]

You can't take a State of Origin forward (JDB) out of club side and expect the team to play consistently well over a whole season. Likewise, when your captain throws in the towel and wants out, it all becomes a recipe for a disaster. What we desperately need is a coach like Bennett, when backs are to the wall he gets the best out of a team . Unfortunately we have Mcgregor, to be fair I'm sure he is doing his best but to a fan this means little when your team is losing. The only way to stop the rot is to get a new coach but this creates a new problem. Can anyone recall any club having a change of coach and going on to win the premiership in the same season?

The irony is that Craig Young and Peter Doust did meet with Bennett towards the end of 2017 however, no deal was agreed to.

 

[Reddragon]

You could fix all the different problems everybody mentions and it won't make any difference because every coach will hammer our right edge defence

 

[Belta]

I respect your opinions highly Dennis, but your anti - Widdop sentiments are getting boring...Widdop is the least of our problems...A proper coach would be playing him at 5/8 ...and not out of position at fullback...otherwise agree 100 % with you. Have a good day.

With 2 Origin forwards and no Leeson (or his replacement Korbin), we were always gunna do it tough especially with Mary’s bench selections/usage. That’s a big hurdle for any team. That’s the reality. So I’m in no ways laying any blame towards Widopp. I’m not hear to bag him either as he’s been one of if not our best player in his time here at the club, a real quality player that’s lead us to many victories.

But he decided to move on. So on a way he is a problem as he is taking up around 900k and playing out of position.

Preseason I’d commented my preference would of been to release Widdop (frees up 900k?) and go hard for Corey Oates who wasn’t signed. My reasons being we knew what he would deliver - consistency. His strengths are he can finish off tries and run around 200 metres a game. We took a gamble on a cheap winger who really was average last night. On the other wing Peierra played well.

One thing I noticed Last night was our kick returns were very poor. Widdop is not returning the ball with any vigour. Rav seems too unfit or lazy to get back and help or run onto the ball. I think he nearly caused about a dozen forward passes. Rav was also slow getting back for another try. Rav and Widdop slow or no urgency to field and chip kick to name a few.

Not saying we haven’t got a lot of other issues. I think Hunt (whose played well) but is poor at reading defence and in both games ran up took no-one and directly cost us tries and Leilua cost us tries with lazy/poor defence in both games. Rav made costly errors which lead to tries in both games also. That’s a lot for the other boys to carry.

I don’t know where to from here and maybe just another reason for moving Widdop to five eight but this two play makers on top of everything else is having an indirect impact. I thought the one thing Rav would bring was plenty of energy and strong kick returns but that wasn’t so last night. I thought he played well in his debut though. So it’s a tough one. Anyway I’m still hopeful it works out, and glad some young forwards are in the mix.

 

[BLM01]

Well Mary's press conference and the excuses start re the missing players and the lack of experience our young middle forwards have. Then after 20 minites of defending 2nd half we were tired. But we were fresh at half time . Then right on cue becuase Channel 9 raise it..Reporters deflect the real game day issues...Widdop released now?
Then the big pat on the back and chest pump about our 1st half leading 12-6 and how well we played

10 points on how well we played..
1. Our tries are only from trying to get outside any defenses right edge by crabbing sideways in that direction. We have no plays other than that. We have no direct running (except for 1 out forward bash and barge) or players hitting holes at speed in the defensive line it is frustrating me to tears.
2. Souths were in low gear after their soft 1st try. Burgess said the truth..they got complacent. We did not take enough advantage off it. We squandered a few opportunities & chances to be up about 24-6
3. Did Dennis say Cook out played McInnes. 1st half no where near it. Mcinnes made some great runs.....where is his support as Cook has when he darts from Dummy half.
4. Widdop who I love is chiming into the backline but the timing is out.....and they practised that all off season!
5. I thought Hunt tried real hard to break it open in the 1st half..but he was on his own. Norman needs runners of his shoulder but we dont have. His & Norman's kicking game improved from last week. Widdop's was poor.
6. If Hunt's hit was not late early in the game by Tatola whatever his name is..nor was Kerr's
7. Sims has started the year quiet and is a bit out of form.
8. Kerr & Dufty should of been on for at least 15-20 mins in the 1st half. Poor Kerr got shafted in the 2nd half.
9. Latimore is a gap filler only but no real line breaker. I have stated before my thoughts on Leilua and switching off in defense.
10. When Bunnies got fed dinkum we are weak in making yards out of our end from a turnover. We get man handled. Ravalawa & Periera try hard and the only ones with a decent carry. Widdop does nothing to help there. Aitken sometimes. You could throw a paper towel over our side. We need to play more spread out footy moving the opposition around

Onwards and upwards we hope


Cause Fatty & Joey said how great Euan Aitken and how strong he is. Stop looking and harping on one small aspect of his game as their narrow mindedness continually does. Just like Sam going for that kick. They could not stop going on about it and replaying it.