Round 2 vs Souths

[blacksafake]

Your questions are interesting and relevant given the stats from the first game.

For the stat for line engaged we have to go deep down to 22nd on the list before we find Ben Hunt with 3, then Widdop at 34th. No-one else in the top 50. The Storm have 3 players in the top 5, the Cowboys have 4 before we get to Hunt. Our opposition on Thursday have 2 in the top 10, Reynolds and Cook.

As far as offloads our best was, believe it or not, was Latimore with 2.

So basically our game plan is for McInnes to pick up and pass to either Hunt or Norman who the oass on to a one out forward who takes the tackle, rinse and repeat until tackle 5 and then kick. Genius!

Dragons footy.
L plate is certainly an innovator.
Now he's changing the way the game is played by stuffing around with the spine.

 

[jeffdragon]

We will be 0/2 then expecting us to beat broncs and or knights .
We lost our first two a few years ago then went to Canberra and won.

 

[Crush]

I am not writing us off this Thursday night at Kogarah.
We are playing at home and its the perfect opportunity for the young forwards to stand up and be counted.
The spine will have to be much much better to even compete.
The 5 hit ups then kick down the throat of the opposition fullback, while highly entertaining, doesn't seem to bother teams like Souths.
If I was to have a bet I'd be taking Souths 13+ but I wouldn't be completely surprised if we beat them.
#fencesitter

 

[Dragonslayer]

With Friz out here are some of the prospects that played in the CC last Friday.
Obviously moving Lawrie to lock and bringing in Kerr seems the logical scenario, however, just in case:

Robson - 6 runs for 95m, 2 line breaks, 1 try assist, 27 tackles 3 missed 2 ineffective
Timm - 17 runs for 166m, 69 pcm, 32 tackles 5 missed 1 ineffective
Allgood - 10 runs for 92m, 32 pcm, 24 tackles 1 missed 1 ineffective

Even though Jackson Ford isn't eligible his stats were:
19 runs for 184m, 86 pcm, 38 tackles 7 missed 1 ineffective

 

[getsmarty]

DRAGONS


Dragons searching for Rabbitohs rebound
Author
Dragons.com.au dragons.com.au
Timestamp
Mon 18 Mar 2019, 03:30 PM

By James Coman

After losing a half-time lead against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Westfund Charity Shield, the St George Illawarra Dragons are dreaming of revenge just three weeks later.

The Dragons went down in a high-scoring and competitive encounter with their traditional rivals, which saw centre Tim Lafai cross for a pair of four-pointers.

A wet and wild trip to North Queensland last weekend ended with the Cowboys claiming the three points in the opening round of the season.

The short turn around leaves the Dragons with five days to prepare for their second match against the Rabbitohs in a month, with hopes of revenge still fresh on the mind of Dragons enforcer Blake Lawrie.

"In the Charity Shield we didn’t perform to our standard and we’re looking to go up to Kogarah and get revenge on Thursday night," Lawrie said.

"We know the stuff we need to work on, we've done the video.

"Hopefully with a short turn around we go out there and have a good team performance."

Having played in Townsville on Saturday the Dragons come into the match on a brief five-day turnaround before lacing up on Thursday night.

The wet and wild conditions made the task difficult for the travelling Dragons outfit before losing the services of international forward Tyson Frizell to injury.

Returning for their first home game of the season at Netstrata Jubilee Oval ,the Dragons are hoping to kick start their season with a strong performance.

"It was a tough game, disappointing that we didn’t come away with the two points but it’s only Round 1 and hopefully we build from it to this week's game against the Rabbitohs," Lawrie said.

"We’re all confident as a team going forward that we know what we need to work on and that we can get the job done on Thursday night.

"We’ve all been training in a similar position throughout the pre-season so I think we’ll go out there and put on a good performance."

The clash will join a long list of encounters between the two foundation teams but it takes on more value for Dragons junior Jacob host.

“It’s awesome at Kogarah,” Host said.

“I’ve been playing there all up through the juniors and I still think it’s my favourite ground in the whole world.”


https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2019/03/18/dragons-searching-for-rabbitohs-rebound/

 

[gonz]

A fan asked super coach at the airport, Dufty to fb, his reply was who do i drop?
So basically his saying he has to play them all and has no choice.

Well he had a choice leave Norman on the bench and keep what worked last year so well.
His killed our season cause he has no balls, by round 5 players will be arguing and fringe players like robson, field will be keen to leave.

 

[getsmarty]

Westfund High Performance Update: Round 2
Head of Athletic Performance Nathan Pickworth gives us an update on Tyson Frizell and Darren Nicholls who both sustained injuries over the weekend.

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2019/03/18/westfund-high-performance-update-round-2/

 

[getsmarty]

Why Gareth Widdop positional switch is doomed to fail for St George Illawarra Dragons
By Ben Glover
2 hours ago

One of the biggest talking points leading into the 2019 NRL season was the gamble Dragons coach Paul McGregor was taking on a complete shake-up of the side's spine and after just one match legendary Eels halfback Peter Sterling thinks it is doomed to fail.

Sterling's take comes after St George Illawarra were soundly beaten by the Cowboys on Saturday night, with the visitors looking clunky in attack following the shift of skipper Gareth Widdop from five-eighth to fullback to accommodate new signing Corey Norman.

The experiment has relegated livewire 23-year-old Matt Dufty to the bench, with McGregor injecting him for just 13 minutes in Round 1.

McGregor has revealed he expects a spine of Dufty-Widdop-Norman and Ben Hunt at hooker late in games to open up opponents and create try-scoring opportunities but Sterling says the Dragons sacrifice too much when Widdop's taken out of the front line to start games.

"The longer this season goes, the more important we will see the short attacking kicking game is in the modern game," Sterling told Wide World of Sports for Sterlo's Wrap.

"Now along with Adam Reynolds I think that he has the best kicking game in the competition. He's only one of maybe one or two players who actually kicks the ball effectively with his left foot as well.

"And I just think at fullback he's not going to be able to impose that on the game."

While Sterling sees the Englishman as the man most capable of driving success for the Dragons, he is also wary of the inconsistency that has plagued the careers of Hunt and Norman.


https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-wh...hy-widdop-experiment-is-doomed-to-fail_180319

 

[Dragonslayer]

Wouldn't surprise me to see Lomax playing fullback in CC this week.

With Nichols gone for up to 6 weeks, they will move Sailor to the halves opening the fullback option.

Masters is another option at fullback for CC and have Lomax in the centres.

I just can't see McGregor shafting Aitken at this stage (unless he goes to Manly of course).

 

[Mickthedragon]

What gets me is that everyone talks about the Hunt/Norman combo needing time to gel when we went through the same pain at the start of last season and now have it ready to go but he changes it again. He should keep them together with Dufty at fb, Norman on the bench as utility and then worry about the new combo next off season where it can be groomed.
Thats what a normal coach would do.
You play your best players in their most suited positions.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

A fan asked super coach at the airport, Dufty to fb, his reply was who do i drop?
So basically his saying he has to play them all and has no choice.

Well he had a choice leave Norman on the bench and keep what worked last year so well.
His killed our season cause he has no balls, by round 5 players will be arguing and fringe players like robson, field will be keen to leave.

Are you suggesting it's not possible for McGregor to suffer the same injury as Frizz?

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Why Gareth Widdop positional switch is doomed to fail for St George Illawarra Dragons
By Ben Glover
2 hours ago

One of the biggest talking points leading into the 2019 NRL season was the gamble Dragons coach Paul McGregor was taking on a complete shake-up of the side's spine and after just one match legendary Eels halfback Peter Sterling thinks it is doomed to fail.

Sterling's take comes after St George Illawarra were soundly beaten by the Cowboys on Saturday night, with the visitors looking clunky in attack following the shift of skipper Gareth Widdop from five-eighth to fullback to accommodate new signing Corey Norman.

The experiment has relegated livewire 23-year-old Matt Dufty to the bench, with McGregor injecting him for just 13 minutes in Round 1.

McGregor has revealed he expects a spine of Dufty-Widdop-Norman and Ben Hunt at hooker late in games to open up opponents and create try-scoring opportunities but Sterling says the Dragons sacrifice too much when Widdop's taken out of the front line to start games.

"The longer this season goes, the more important we will see the short attacking kicking game is in the modern game," Sterling told Wide World of Sports for Sterlo's Wrap.

"Now along with Adam Reynolds I think that he has the best kicking game in the competition. He's only one of maybe one or two players who actually kicks the ball effectively with his left foot as well.

"And I just think at fullback he's not going to be able to impose that on the game."

While Sterling sees the Englishman as the man most capable of driving success for the Dragons, he is also wary of the inconsistency that has plagued the careers of Hunt and Norman.


https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-wh...hy-widdop-experiment-is-doomed-to-fail_180319

Bang on .................. lets take our best active player and shove him at fullback, away from the general attack and just call on him every now and then, as oppose to every set.

Peter Sterling can see it, the fans can see it but McIdiot can't.

 

[hewi]

Bang on .................. lets take our best active player and shove him at fullback, away from the general attack and just call on him every now and then, as oppose to every set.

Peter Sterling can see it, the fans can see it but McIdiot can't.

But who do I drop, and if the field was only 98 meters long we would have won?

 

[Frank Facer]

A fan asked super coach at the airport, Dufty to fb, his reply was who do i drop?
So basically his saying he has to play them all and has no choice.

Well he had a choice leave Norman on the bench and keep what worked last year so well.
His killed our season cause he has no balls, by round 5 players will be arguing and fringe players like robson, field will be keen to leave.

I would have said to Mary, either drop Aitken and move Widdop to centre, or drop McInnes and move Hunt to hooker and promote Robson onto the bench.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I am not writing us off this Thursday night at Kogarah.
We are playing at home and its the perfect opportunity for the young forwards to stand up and be counted.
The spine will have to be much much better to even compete.
The 5 hit ups then kick down the throat of the opposition fullback, while highly entertaining, doesn't seem to bother teams like Souths.
If I was to have a bet I'd be taking Souths 13+ but I wouldn't be completely surprised if we beat them.
#fencesitter

Bet each way is one kind of betting for sure.
I just hope we show some grit and pride in the jersey.
Our last outing at Kogarah was nothing short of a disgrace that will go down in the dark annals of our history.

 

[Crush]

Wouldn't surprise me to see Lomax playing fullback in CC this week.

With Nichols gone for up to 6 weeks, they will move Sailor to the halves opening the fullback option.

Masters is another option at fullback for CC and have Lomax in the centres.

I just can't see McGregor shafting Aitken at this stage (unless he goes to Manly of course).

There is absolutely no way Mary will play Lomax without an injury to Aitken.
Besides, Aitken played pretty well on the weekend so it'll be almost impossible for Lomax to force his way into NRL.
Its CC for him until injury.

 

[possm]

Sucks that Frizell, Korbin and JDB are out as I think that really reduces the quality of the game in the middle. It’s been start of season hell for you guys but maybe there’s some shining lights in players like Lawrie, Ravalawa, Robson. We went through a shitty injury toll for a couple of years and it saw us emerge some of the young talent we have playing for us now such as Graham, Burns, Murray and Tatola. It’s not a terrible time to get injuries and it’ll help your depth in the long run. I still think it’s gonna be a good game just due to the fact that both teams are always up for the challenge, despite injuries.

Select Lomax, Kerr, Timm and Robson in the 17 for goodness sakes. They can't do any worse than what was dished up in round 1.

 

[LINESPEED]

Are you suggesting it's not possible for McGregor to suffer the same injury as Frizz?

The Waterboy doesn’t have any to injure

Who does he drop?
f**ki* easy
The Latkens FFS!!
Duff 1
Lomax 3
Norman 4
Field & Robson bench

 

[Alec’s-saints]

Who seriously thinks we’re a chance ?

 

[Frank Facer]

Who seriously thinks we’re a chance ?