Round 25 v Sharks

[mattw5]

Sloan needs to go develop his game in the Super League cut our losses & give him permission to leave.

 

[Georgeg]

Has anybody else noticed that the 2 teams Flanno wanted to beat the most (bulldogs & sharks) have beaten us convincingly twice this year! Maybe Flanno should keep his private issues to himself & not share it with the media. It just gives the opposition extra incentive.

 

[since77]

Tries hard but he’s no 5/8. Not many options at the moment. Marschke??

I'm just surprised so many people thought Bird was good. I thought he tried hard but he just got in the way. No one in the team seemed to know what he was going to do. Some of the dropped ball was his fault IMO.

 

[St Tangles]

Everyone is so negative. Yes we lost a crucial game, but zoom out, did you even think we’d be in this position in the first place? We played a top 4 team and lost. Wow what a shock after battling for the spoon last year

It's not the losing that gets people upset

It's the way we lose

We look like we give up

 

[since77]

Yesterdays game once again highlights how much we need quality front rowers. How many games this year have we struggled to get out of our own end? The Scum did it with ease.
Lawrie once again a deadset waste of a jersey. I categorically refuse to believe we don't have better options.

 

[Lovemedragons]

People talking about the orchestration of the finals by the nrl but today, just like against the dogs a couple weeks ago we were given a prime opportunity and flopped big time. No one to blame but us. More or less has been the result in any big time match this year against credible opposition ie a flogging.

was embarrassing today. No excuses.

yep point taken

 

[Old Timer]

Everyone is so negative. Yes we lost a crucial game, but zoom out, did you even think we’d be in this position in the first place? We played a top 4 team and lost. Wow what a shock after battling for the spoon last year

The fanfare surrounding S F and the constant talking him up with what he has done with this team means that with 3 rounds to go we shouldn’t be copping a flogging after a tough win.

The +/- clearly shows we are a poor team in attack & defence however some think including the dumb arse media that after jagging a few wins we are some how gigantic improvers but when we cop a belting they hop off our horse very quickly.

We in here try to find ways to talk it all up like

Sloan has improved ffs he caught some bombs in a couple of games back to back and he made a few critical tackles but IMO improvement means you don’t regress to your old ways but Sloan does exactly that.

Leilua still a poor defensive player and unfit

Lawrie well nothing more to say.

Hunt same old Ben.

F M well and truly over rated.

T E little wonder why he is with us and not the Storm

C T talked up because of tough carries but takes intercepts and is caught within 10 paces

Feagai’s were rightly on the outer in this place but a couple of goodish games and all of a sudden S F has turned them around and they are keepers fmd they are barely back up.

Of course there are others but we know the truth about them.

Other than the ladder position I would really like to know where the improvement is and how much of it has been sustained and that IMO sits directly with the coach.

If improvements are not sustained then why call them improvements aren’t they just an occasional blip on the radar?

 

[justadragon]

Its been that long since we have even contended for a finals spot that we dont know how to handle ourselves as a club in total, both players and staff cant deal with the pressure, to go a step further even big time games like Anzac Day or a win to stay in touch with the top 8 over the years, we dont show up, no matter who the coach is. Like lets face it what has been our aspiration the last few years, either not to win the wooden spoon or to break into the top 8.
My point further goes that as a club in total our mindset is, we have achieved if we make the 8, not hey lets give the premiership a red hot go and at least show our fans that if we make the 8, we will be able to compete. Yesterday just proved that even if we were to make the 8 the Sharks could have been one of the teams we played first up, and what would we have said after that result, hip hip hooray we made the 8 but we were f$%ken cannon fodder first up.

As a club in whole, look at our KOE and JF sides as well, yes you can throw in NRLW, this will possibly be the 3rd year running where not one team from the Dragons has competed in finals. What makes our club so bad across the board, we won SG BALL, and this year JF had no excuses but they have self imploded, KOE have improved slightly but they still throw away games. I know Flanno is trying to get this winning mindset across the club, the NRL side has been the most inconsistent side in the league and certainly cant handle any pressure or expectations put on them. I do understand losing to the top teams but why must we give up huge scores to them.

When other teams are already predicting that they will be in the 8 at the expense of the Dragons there is certainly something wrong with the way our club is being looked at, and I'm sorry to say it's being looked as as a bunch of losers. We all know our leadership has been questionable to say the least and yesterdays game plus all the other critical games that we have lost, its been non existent. Our many great captains of the past, how many would have stood for the performances that we have had this year. I cant think of one, why because they loved the Dragons and they were winners and great men, they would never take from the club but they would always give !!!

 

[jeffdragon]

Twice we should of challenged.
One where ball was knocked out by the knee and another where there was a hand on the ball.

Also we need forwards.
I get disappointed when we are linked to a player like Safiti.
As the forwards we heve don't cut it.
Val and Cookie coming but can't do much if pack is still shit.

 

[baggygreen man]

Sloan needs to go develop his game in the Super League

He and Su'A are our most improved players. Sloan now plays with intent in kick return, under the bomb and defense. Did you miss his on line ball and aller that saved us six points we could not afford to lose early in the second stanza.
A poor roster, lack of creativity from our halves and specially Hunts inability to control a game and inspire his players are the main reasons we will miss yet another final series. The sixth since Hunt joined us.

 

[Lovemedragons]

Twice we should of challenged.
One where ball was knocked out by the knee and another where there was a hand on the ball.

Also we need forwards.
I get disappointed when we are linked to a player like Safiti.
As the forwards we heve don't cut it.
Val and Cookie coming but can't do much if pack is still shit.

I want Sam Walker and NAS added to our squad, instant credibility. Dreaming.

 

[baggygreen man]

The fanfare surrounding S F and the constant talking him up with what he has done with this team means that with 3 rounds to go we shouldn’t be copping a flogging after a tough win.

The +/- clearly shows we are a poor team in attack & defence however some think including the dumb arse media that after jagging a few wins we are some how gigantic improvers but when we cop a belting they hop off our horse very quickly.

We in here try to find ways to talk it all up like

Sloan has improved ffs he caught some bombs in a couple of games back to back and he made a few critical tackles but IMO improvement means you don’t regress to your old ways but Sloan does exactly that.

Leilua still a poor defensive player and unfit

Lawrie well nothing more to say.

Hunt same old Ben.

F M well and truly over rated.

T E little wonder why he is with us and not the Storm

C T talked up because of tough carries but takes intercepts and is caught within 10 paces

Feagai’s were rightly on the outer in this place but a couple of goodish games and all of a sudden S F has turned them around and they are keepers fmd they are barely back up.

Of course there are others but we know the truth about them.

Other than the ladder position I would really like to know where the improvement is and how much of it has been sustained and that IMO sits directly with the coach.

If improvements are not sustained then why call them improvements aren’t they just an occasional blip on the radar?

Sloan still facing too much scrutiny here. You say he has improved and he has, across the board. But every player makes mistakes in a game and as he is a position whereby he has the most aspects to take care of, naturally he will come up with the odd error. Imho Sloan's positives now far override his negatives, which was not the case last year.

 

[baggygreen man]

The question is whats the alternative.. Marshke maybe back this week, he could be a 14 (but he has not finished a game since like.. um.. like 2-3 months ago?). RFM could come back in, but he was pretty awful in cup.. but that frees up Leilua to be the 6 if we need it.. or Sua to centre..

Boy that is messing up things. Luch at 5/8 does it for me. Nu Brown should be the utility otherwise why did Flanagan bring him here from the SL. Has barely been spotted. Nick Quinn,20, could be promoted to play 5/ 8 or utility which he has been doing in Flegg. This kid had five years in the Pathways before joining Flegg. Failing this, the coach already has a play maker under his nose, Tyrell Sloan. Has 10 try assists to his name and probably just as many near misses.

 

[baggygreen man]

The fanfare surrounding S F and the constant talking him up with what he has done with this team means that with 3 rounds to go we shouldn’t be copping a flogging after a tough win.

Spot on. But sorry to say we are in the minority when you criticize the coach on here.

 

[since77]

Other than the ladder position I would really like to know where the improvement is and how much of it has been sustained and that IMO sits directly with the coach.

You've kind of answered your own question here OT in the words I've bolded above. Obviously we're all disappointed with yesterday but come on don't bring out this old chestnut of where is the improvement? We've improved upon everything from the Griffin era, any fair minded observer can see that. Have we improved enough to compete with the best sides? No, not yet. But seriously, what did you expect in 2024? Top 4? Top 8? I expected us to be exactly where we are right now. Good then bad then good then bad. Exactly what has happened all year.
Any observer can see the biggest issue is the roster. Not helped by a few injuries and an outrageous suspension for Kyle F just when we needed all best available players on the field.
Frankly that fact that SF has pulled one of the worst rosters in the NRL up to be still in the scrap for the finals at this stage of the year is something he should be applauded for. But of course, you can't bring yourself to give the guy any credit at all.
It's the roster thats the problem. Its obvious to any fair minded observer. One, preferably two big mean front rowers. One or two needed in the backline. Holmes coming next year. Some strengthening of the halves. Fix those 3 things we're all cheering more next year.

 

[Dragon David]

Its been that long since we have even contended for a finals spot that we dont know how to handle ourselves as a club in total, both players and staff cant deal with the pressure, to go a step further even big time games like Anzac Day or a win to stay in touch with the top 8 over the years, we dont show up, no matter who the coach is. Like lets face it what has been our aspiration the last few years, either not to win the wooden spoon or to break into the top 8.
My point further goes that as a club in total our mindset is, we have achieved if we make the 8, not hey lets give the premiership a red hot go and at least show our fans that if we make the 8, we will be able to compete. Yesterday just proved that even if we were to make the 8 the Sharks could have been one of the teams we played first up, and what would we have said after that result, hip hip hooray we made the 8 but we were f$%ken cannon fodder first up.

As a club in whole, look at our KOE and JF sides as well, yes you can throw in NRLW, this will possibly be the 3rd year running where not one team from the Dragons has competed in finals. What makes our club so bad across the board, we won SG BALL, and this year JF had no excuses but they have self imploded, KOE have improved slightly but they still throw away games. I know Flanno is trying to get this winning mindset across the club, the NRL side has been the most inconsistent side in the league and certainly cant handle any pressure or expectations put on them. I do understand losing to the top teams but why must we give up huge scores to them.

When other teams are already predicting that they will be in the 8 at the expense of the Dragons there is certainly something wrong with the way our club is being looked at, and I'm sorry to say it's being looked as as a bunch of losers. We all know our leadership has been questionable to say the least and yesterdays game plus all the other critical games that we have lost, its been non existent. Our many great captains of the past, how many would have stood for the performances that we have had this year. I cant think of one, why because they loved the Dragons and they were winners and great men, they would never take from the club but they would always give !!!

Good one justa. Poor leadership, poor recruitment and poor coaching not in any particular order have contributed to our lack of playing finals footy for too long. Its not just saying - "great we made the finals in this grade this year or we made the finals in these grades". We haven't been there for years and you can forget about us being in finals on a regular basis. That is when you know that the club is back on track.

You take the Storm as the best example. Ok they don't win the premiership every year, but they have consistently been in either the top 4 or top 8 nearly every year since 1999 excluding the 2010 year when all points were deducted. Now that is consistency in a nutshell.

It takes brilliant coaching, brilliant recruitment and brilliant leadership and of course to add brilliant administration and systems so as to maintain being above the rest of the clubs in the competition.

We are more or less giving praise for what Flanno has done in his first year with us. In Flanno we trust is what the go is. With a much needed amount of luck we might make the top 8 this year. That is fine if we do but I'm looking at the club being consistently up there and I just wonder if what we have even with the likes of Flanno being head coach will be enough to make us a force every year. Just making one top 8 finish and then fall back again for years will not be good enough as far as I am concerned. If the Sharks can do it, then surely we can.

 

[denis preston]

Sloan needs to go develop his game in the Super League cut our losses & give him permission to leave.

Love to see your other 11 posts if they are of this quality!

 

[redandwhite4evr]

My take on yesterday's disaster is that we were exposed-ruthlessly- by a much superior team probably with another 20% improvement in them when Hynes, Talakai and their two starting wingers return.

Conversely, the players we were missing yesterday- Flanagan,Sele, RFM, BMM, Suli- I doubt would have given us much of what we really needed.

At the most basic level, this team lacks three essential ingredients- in the right places. Firstly size- the media talk us up as a big physical side but we lack big, fit, high impact props. Royce Hunt, Hamlin-Uele, Rudolph and Hazelton killed us yesterday and made metres at will.

Secondly speed and footwork- the size we do have -in the outside backs- slows us down. Tui, Lomax and the Feagai brothers I doubt we'll be seeing in any sprint final on GF day. The footwork that Ramien and Iro put on Max and Matt yesterday resulted in tries. We over rely on Sloan for speed but of course he is lacking in other areas. The recruitment of Holmes next year will help but not enough imo.

Speed is also lacking in our non-prop middles and backrow. Sua is the exception but yesterday Nikora was just about motm and McInnes and Williams were far more mobile than Tom E, Luch (who still looks like he's swallowed a sheep) and the Couchmen.

Finally, footie intelligence- hate to say it but Fitz outcoached Flanno- we only started to think about off loading consistently when we were playing catchup in the second half. No signs of any planned moves like the outside inside pass that resulted in Sloans' try against the Dogs. Head down bum up, one out, easy to defend stuff that the Sharks could see coming a mile away.

The depressing truth is that we are no closer to a comp winning team than we were 5 years ago under Mary- bargain basement recruiting, poor talent scouting and poor coaching has led us here. As I understand it, the Sharks scouting system uncovered a lot of yesterday's team from outside their relatively small junior set up. (Hunt, I think, was discovered in WA).

More evidence of systemic probs? the Sharks are fielding an NRLW team for the first time this year and they are leading the comp. Thumped us- who've been in the comp for some time- 28-4. Again, better recruitment and coaching.

 

[Old Timer]

You've kind of answered your own question here OT in the words I've bolded above. Obviously we're all disappointed with yesterday but come on don't bring out this old chestnut of where is the improvement? We've improved upon everything from the Griffin era, any fair minded observer can see that. Have we improved enough to compete with the best sides? No, not yet. But seriously, what did you expect in 2024? Top 4? Top 8? I expected us to be exactly where we are right now. Good then bad then good then bad. Exactly what has happened all year.
Any observer can see the biggest issue is the roster. Not helped by a few injuries and an outrageous suspension for Kyle F just when we needed all best available players on the field.
Frankly that fact that SF has pulled one of the worst rosters in the NRL up to be still in the scrap for the finals at this stage of the year is something he should be applauded for. But of course, you can't bring yourself to give the guy any credit at all.
It's the roster thats the problem. Its obvious to any fair minded observer. One, preferably two big mean front rowers. One or two needed in the backline. Holmes coming next year. Some strengthening of the halves. Fix those 3 things we're all cheering more next year.

What I was told to expect is a team that would be fit, tough, defensively sound, wouldn’t beat themselves and other teams would have to beat us on their own merits.

If that had of occurred then I would admit we have improved even if we weren’t winning.

But by any measure we have not ticked those boxes which is what we were told we would get.

 

[Illusion]

Say no more ....... This ...........

The fanfare surrounding S F and the constant talking him up with what he has done with this team means that with 3 rounds to go we shouldn’t be copping a flogging after a tough win.

The +/- clearly shows we are a poor team in attack & defence however some think including the dumb arse media that after jagging a few wins we are some how gigantic improvers but when we cop a belting they hop off our horse very quickly.

We in here try to find ways to talk it all up like

Sloan has improved ffs he caught some bombs in a couple of games back to back and he made a few critical tackles but IMO improvement means you don’t regress to your old ways but Sloan does exactly that.

Leilua still a poor defensive player and unfit

Lawrie well nothing more to say.

Hunt same old Ben.

F M well and truly over rated.

T E little wonder why he is with us and not the Storm

C T talked up because of tough carries but takes intercepts and is caught within 10 paces

Feagai’s were rightly on the outer in this place but a couple of goodish games and all of a sudden S F has turned them around and they are keepers fmd they are barely back up.

Of course there are others but we know the truth about them.

Other than the ladder position I would really like to know where the improvement is and how much of it has been sustained and that IMO sits directly with the coach.

If improvements are not sustained then why call them improvements aren’t they just an occasional blip on the radar?