Round 20 v Cowboys

[denis preston]

Amone produced nothing in attack yesterday, yes deardon and townsend may have been quiet, thats what happens when you have attacking players right across the park, you could also say that Holmes was quiet so not much needs to be done by the halves except to keep the shape both in attack and defence, both of which the dragons failed miserably at.

I really hope that whilst we are committed to Pathways, and rightly so , we do have a cut off point in relation to what are willing to pay to keep them. I just have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of our players are paid more than we think or worth. The side desperately need 2 to 3 very good players to inspire the rest. Have we got the money to spend but no one out there or we haven't and we are really up shit creek !

 

[qld redvee]

I really hope that whilst we are committed to Pathways, and rightly so , we do have a cut off point in relation to what are willing to pay to keep them. I just have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of our players are paid more than we think or worth. The side desperately need 2 to 3 very good players to inspire the rest. Have we got the money to spend but no one out there or we haven't and we are really up shit creek !

denis
not only do we need good players we need to change our attacking style from our virtually negative style to something that we stand deep run on to it and have the ability to go side to side .. A real good running secondrower a prop with size and mobility and running hooker are essential and take pressure off hunt with a second ball player . Lets hope our 2 new assisstants can put some starch in the defence and some zip in attack

 

[justadragon]

I really hope that whilst we are committed to Pathways, and rightly so , we do have a cut off point in relation to what are willing to pay to keep them. I just have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of our players are paid more than we think or worth. The side desperately need 2 to 3 very good players to inspire the rest. Have we got the money to spend but no one out there or we haven't and we are really up shit creek !

100% Denis, how in the hell can we possibly be over the cap with what we have, it makes no sense at all. And to top it off why havent we heard from our R & R guy Flanno telling us exactly where we stand, what we have for the future and what our young guys are up to. Man if you want to see an inclusive club go to the Collingwood web site, now there is an informed club which caters to the members and fans in every way, whilst we are just mushrooms feeding off bullshit from the media, we are so disconnected its not funny, actually its pathetic.

 

[justadragon]

denis
not only do we need good players we need to change our attacking style from our virtually negative style to something that we stand deep run on to it and have the ability to go side to side .. A real good running secondrower a prop with size and mobility and running hooker are essential and take pressure off hunt with a second ball player . Lets hope our 2 new assisstants can put some starch in the defence and some zip in attack

I agree totally but where are these assistants going to come from and most importantly where are the players we need going to appear from, obviously money is not enough for them to show up at the dragons, in both cases.

 

[Dragon David]

I really hope that whilst we are committed to Pathways, and rightly so , we do have a cut off point in relation to what are willing to pay to keep them. I just have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of our players are paid more than we think or worth. The side desperately need 2 to 3 very good players to inspire the rest. Have we got the money to spend but no one out there or we haven't and we are really up shit creek !

If our players were on the open market now I honestly don't think that there would be too many picked up by other clubs and if they were, they would go cheap. Maybe Hunt, Ramsey and Suli might get reasonable offers but the rest, pffft. Our young guys haven't played enough top grade footy to set the world on fire and to get the interest from other clubs.

Super League is the place that they will end up with.

 

[Smacka]

Amone produced nothing in attack yesterday, yes deardon and townsend may have been quiet, thats what happens when you have attacking players right across the park, you could also say that Holmes was quiet so not much needs to be done by the halves except to keep the shape both in attack and defence, both of which the dragons failed miserably at.

No argument there - they played to our weakness & simply ran around our old , slow Guys. Our Halves have to battle behind a useless pack of Forwards every match : even Cleary would have no success with our lot.

 

[Ghostrider22]

In the second half the Cowboys threatened on every play. Meanwhile we just hit it up the middle with some plodding forward and then throw to Hunt or Amone for a kick. Really embarrassing to watch.
Talk about a side that looked coached verses a side with no idea.
Tell Hook to have a look back at that game and see what a drilled and attacking side looks like.
PS Amone at five eight is not working and we missed Cody and Suli big time

That’s the so called Coaches

 

[justadragon]

No argument there - they played to our weakness & simply ran around our old , slow Guys. Our Halves have to battle behind a useless pack of Forwards every match : even Cleary would have no success with our lot.

agreed, you would have to question the training and execution of plays to at least get us on the front foot, but here we are at R21 wondering why our plays are so poor and why our players look way beyond their depth, something is not right about the whole strategy.

 

[Ghostrider22]

I really hope that whilst we are committed to Pathways, and rightly so , we do have a cut off point in relation to what are willing to pay to keep them. I just have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of our players are paid more than we think or worth. The side desperately need 2 to 3 very good players to inspire the rest. Have we got the money to spend but no one out there or we haven't and we are really up shit creek !

We need 4/5 players of Ben Hunt’s ilk, spread throughout the team with the young blokes then you would see a different team. Plus you need to get rid of Griffin. Until that happens nothing will change.

 

[Slippery Morris]

I was at the game yesterday and what a train wreck. Burns is terrible in defence. Bird should have played his spot and not been moved. Hook has this fascination with Burns. He is horrible yet will be named and play more minutes than other forward. Francis Molo looked damaging every time he gets the ball and makes meters yet gets less time than the other forwards. This team is a mess. The assistants may not be doing their jobs hence being sacked but selections are Hook and the team on Sunday was terrible. Woods and McCullough have to be the slowest players in the comp by a mile yet get picked. Not sure why Michael Molo got dropped he has potential and far better than Burns. Up against a young Cowboys outfit they should have given Max Feagai or another young centre a run or at least kept Mbye there and Sloan at Fullback. Mbye was good and has been this season just used poorly. He should be the hooker and Macca to play as back up.

Hook makes Mary look like a future immortal coach for Saints. Saints have gone backwards big time. At least when Mary came in they looked better than under Price. Hook has completely gone backwards and Saints are even worse than they were under Price and that is saying something.

Hopefully a new coach will put Hunt at 9, Sullivan/Amone halves and Ramsey/Sloan fullback to make it a formidable spine. Holbrook is copping it delux because he put in a young spine this season and yet watch how much better they will be next season. They will get alot out of this season. Saints will get even worse with the clown Hook. They should have done the same yet Hook picks his mates over what is good for the club moving forward.

Crowds are getting smaller so the board should have big concerns as they game should have been packed out yesterday. I hope the board took notice but I doubt they did.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

Merely satire my friend , many of our boys are unfortunately in the twilight of their careers .

Once a big name at another club many years back , however we all age - even rugby league players. Their bodies can only do so much and it’s about time that our movers and shakers in the Dragon’s boardroom realize that and in future sign quality players whom still have plenty of seasons in them .

Spot on Mate

 

[slippery5]

There was a moment in the second half when our dummy half took on the defence & committed the markers, & I thought, "Geez about time McCullough showed some speed" but then I realised it was actually HUNT.
At that point I realised I'm not just pin pointing such a hindrance in our attack but what is this guy (Coach??) watching.
Unfortunately it wouldn't haver mattered if Sullivan was available or not, to not move at least M'Bye to 9 & try to inject some attack with Sloan is outright LUDICROUS. we had a FB & Dummy half that gave us NOTHING.
I hate to say it, but I never thought I would be bashing my head up against the wall again after all those years with McNoidea.
Please someone, open your eyes, or at least get Gus back to do another review !!!!!!!!

 

[HenryTatana]

We all know we have trouble recruiting players. Well let me tell you, who the hell would want to be an assistant coach under Hook. They’d be on a hiding to nothing. The only chance would be an ex first grade coach who can’t get another gig, and then would they come? Me thinks not.

 

[RedVee_8]

I was there yesterday as well.
What else gets me is that there is ample evidence that the current game requires ball movement. We still ruck it one out for 5 and a kick. Hook just needs to look at the improvement in the dogs & tiggers over recent weeks.

 

[I'm Hornby]

Not sure why everyone is complaining. Did anyone really expect this to go any differently? Ben Hunt has been carrying this team all year. We win against lower sides but lose against better ones. We lose against lower sides if Ben Hunt is not 100%. We desperately need a strong hooker and five-eight to take some of the load off Hunt. We haven't got them. Other than Hunt it's a very average roster with many players well past their prime.

Yep well said. The common theme before a game against a top 8 or even top 4 side is that people want to believe there is an upset coming and we'll shit it in, some of the posts before kick off yesterday show this.

Then when we go on to lose, for the next week or however long until we win again, there is a flood of negative posts.

The sky high expectations some have of the team are their own worst enemy, the reality has always been this year and last that at the very best we finish 8th and at the very worst we will finish 12th.

 

[carltonsouth79]

Last night when I was at the game I noticed Bird making defensive errors and forced passes and dropped balls
I like this guy but he needs to pull his head in
Anyone have kayo
Have a look at the 5 minute mini

Bird has had a few stints at centre for us and I don’t think he has been successful.
He is just too slow for centre and rushes up to avoid being caught out for mine. Tough as and a competitor but takes a lot of risky options. Much prefer him as an edge back rower

 

[Como Connection]

Bird has had a few stints at centre for us and I don’t think he has been successful.
He is just too slow for centre and rushes up to avoid being caught out for mine. Tough as and a competitor but takes a lot of risky options. Much prefer him as an edge back rower

Lock is his spot, full stop.

 

[Crush]

Hey so next game Sharks, having a season aren’t they? Fitzgibbon, what a dream start to his career, well worth the gamble they took.

 

[dannyt]

Hey so next game Sharks, having a season aren’t they? Fitzgibbon, what a dream start to his career, well worth the gamble they took.

We wanted to take the same gamble.

 

[SBD82]

Yep well said. The common theme before a game against a top 8 or even top 4 side is that people want to believe there is an upset coming and we'll shit it in, some of the posts before kick off yesterday show this.

Then when we go on to lose, for the next week or however long until we win again, there is a flood of negative posts.

The sky high expectations some have of the team are their own worst enemy, the reality has always been this year and last that at the very best we finish 8th and at the very worst we will finish 12th.

That might be valid.

Except it’s been the same shit for the past ten years.