Round 4 v Storm

[since77]

I've just watched the game again and OMG, Gough was putrid against us. In the space of 1 min, he missed a knock on from Coates when Guthos tried to pass the ball to Sloan over the top of Coates. He then penalised Luciano for jack shxt, then Sia for wrestling the neck (storm do this EVERY tackle, then penalised JDB when King dropped the ball cold. This was followed by penalty for a grapple on Blore (Guthos & Tupoloti were claiming the exact same thing and got nothing), this was followed by a series of 6 agains that I'm still trying to understand why.
Oh..... and if we had any other 7 in that first 20 mins, we would have been down 18 points. Ilias was a beast with his online defence.

While we all obviously put our Dragon's coloured glasses on when we watch a game that was probably the most blatantly poor refereeing performance I've seen for a bloody long time. The more the crowd let Gough know how bad his calls were, the more the arrogant tosser doubled down. If we ended up losing I was hoping Flanno was going to spend $10000 at the press conference.
That was one of the gutsiest wins from a Dragons side I've seen probably since 2010. EVERYTHING went against them in that game - penalties, six agains, possession, field position and they just hung in there.
Congrats to Flanno and the team for doing the jersey proud yesterday - also think Flanno coming down to the sideline in second half was a real masterstroke - I think his presence on the sideline really helped - we're all in this together - let's go!!

 

[baggygreen man]

Congrats to Flanno and the team for doing the jersey proud yesterday

How sweet it is. To play the Storm then come out on top shows this team is headed for bigger things this season. Specially pumped by our gritty defense in our end zone.

 

[baggygreen man]

Dead set JDB must make every team second tackle, the guy is relentless and just hates any bloke beating him. Gonna be a hard act to follow when he retires.

 

[Desperate Dragon]

How sweet it is. To play the Storm then come out on top shows this team is headed for bigger things this season. Specially pumped by our gritty defense in our end zone.

Even sweeter beating them in Melbourne last year, and going back to back in Kogarah yesterday against one of our true bogey teams.
Hope we just keep giving it to them for years to come.
We owe them plenty.
How good is it to be a Dragon today, and every other day?????!!!!!

 

[baggygreen man]

Three games in and yet to be remotely enthused by Cook. Distribution is clean but that is his only asset. Watch his defense closely, is reluctant to make the first tackle, when he does he usually misses his man, falls off him or holds on till help comes. No longer has that blistering pace needed to scoot from dummy half either. Flanno erred bringing him here and making him co captain as he gets the priviledge of starting and playing far too many mins, while the better player, Liddle is given the crumbs.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I liked the rushing in, high fives and mini celebrations when Lucy rushed in for justice.

That’s a highly charged side.

Liddles try was exceptional as he has to contort his body to unnatural positions and get the grounding atomically perfect.

It wasn’t as easy at it looked, they were half ready for it.

That old saying that it’s a game of inches springs to mind. He ran the gauntlet and got there by a whisker.

 

[56to66]

Three games in and yet to be remotely enthused by Cook. Distribution is clean but that is his only asset. Watch his defense closely, is reluctant to make first tackle, when he does he usually misses his man or falls off him. No longer has that blistering pace needed to scoot from dummy half. Flanno erred bringing him here and making him co captain as he gets the priviledge of starting and playing far too many mins, while the better player, Liddle is given the crumbs.

I guess Cook doesn't really know how to play in the Red V, they let him go when he was younger, he was the one pestering Flanno to sign Ilias, if he and Ilias don't produced this year, they both can go back to the wabbits.

 

[baggygreen man]

Plenty of you were going ga ga over the Egan debut. Yes he showed good intent and enthusiasm with his strong running, has some mongrel too and did his share in defense. Gotta say I was more impressed by his bench mate Stewart. Pretty much took over the JdB role as back line link man, had a few good carries while his tackling was clinical almost all round the legs like our great defender. I think we may have found ourselves a JdB replacement lock if Flanno thinks the same..

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Gough was so obviously one-sided even Casey Badger was embarrassed into being fair!

 

[JamesRustle]

Anyone want to take a guess as to what sweet nothing's couchman was whispering into coates' face in the last minutes??

 

[Rocket Rod]

Plenty of you were going ga ga over the Egan debut. Yes he showed good intent and enthusiasm with his strong running, has some mongrel too and did his share in defense. Gotta say I was more impressed by his bench mate Stewart. Pretty much took over the JdB role as back line linkman, had a few good carries while his tackling was clinical almost all round the legs like our great defender. I think we may have found ourselves a JdB replacement if Flanno thinks the same..

Did Stewart get injured?

 

[Number of the Beath]

Just watched the replay and noticed the Keystone Cops comedy double-take when Wishart realised that he hadn't prevented Liddle from scoring.
Comedy gold.

 

[An Old Westie Dragon]

Liddles try was exceptional as he has to contort his body to unnatural positions and get the grounding atomically perfect.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for sending Lidds over to us, Silverdale. That was very nice of you. He has been great for us. Fast becoming my favourite Dragon.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for sending Lidds over to us, Silverdale. That was very nice of you. He has been great for us. Fast becoming my favourite Dragon.

No room at the Inn.

But he left on pretty good terms.

He always had a lot of potential, Flanno is better placed than Benji to build his game.

And Id like to thank you for sending Birdy over. We are using him selectively and it’s working.

Hopefully Klem finds his feet. My investigations suggest you picked him for less than factory, a bargain even. But that all depends what he brings.

Return in investment I suppose is the measure, but I think that extends to stuff beyond performance.

So Hunt was a net loss.

 

[Parko1310]

Plenty of you were going ga ga over the Egan debut. Yes he showed good intent and enthusiasm with his strong running, has some mongrel too and did his share in defense. Gotta say I was more impressed by his bench mate Stewart. Pretty much took over the JdB role as back line link man, had a few good carries while his tackling was clinical almost all round the legs like our great defender. I think we may have found ourselves a JdB replacement lock if Flanno thinks the same..

Shame that he's now injured. Only three games into his career but he looks pretty comfortable out there. Hopefully it doesn't mean Lawrie comes back in.. but Sele will probably be underdone even if he can play next week

 

[True_Believer]

I liked the rushing in, high fives and mini celebrations when Lucy rushed in for justice.

That’s a highly charged side.

Liddles try was exceptional as he has to contort his body to unnatural positions and get the grounding atomically perfect.

It wasn’t as easy at it looked, they were half ready for it.

That old saying that it’s a game of inches springs to mind. He ran the gauntlet and got there by a whisker.

I love the comradery as well. Everyone runs in to celebrate and it looks like a team that enjoy playing together.

I said it in another post but the influence Gutho has had on the team has been outstanding. He's constantly talking and directing, he's questioning the refs all the time, he's encouraging players and supportive when mistakes are made. We've finally got a captain that feels like a captain. Love him celebrating to the crowd when we got the first try and I love the raw emotion he showed at the end of the game.

It's funny to watch Cook, Gutho, Holmes and now Klemmer run around with the red V on. I feel like we've got the makings of something good here. Might be a bumpy year until we all click, but the fact they are all working for each other and look like a single unit gives me some confidence. I think we are still short a couple of quality players but I definitely believe we're on the right track.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Guler suspended for 3 games, 4 if he challenges it

 

[maestro1]

Why does it seem we get roasted more than other teams. 3 weeks ...fxck me. Seems excessive for a no intent indiscretion. There is no way Gulers intention is to put the attacker into this position. The attacker usually puts himself in this position.
This that merkin Luke Patten screwing us again. He fxcking hates us.

 

[Drewbrees]

Give credit where it's due, Ilias played well today. His kicking game was excellent and his defence is very solid. I thought he was a better organising half than Wishart today....and he is coming back from a major injury and a public dressing down from the coach last week. Good response.

Bloody oath.

 

[InFlannoWeTrust]

Reflecting on yesterday game. Besides Holmes missed goal thought he was solid.
Gutho again close to MOM, have really missed that link up play since Boyd .
JDB again solid. Deffs need to extend him by another year looks fit and still chopping blokes in half.
Su’a needs to do that weekly - outstanding. Close to MOM.
Egan outstanding debut .
Thought Kyle got more involved as he’s been missing the first two week.
illias kicking game was great. Pinned them within their 20 with some good bombs - unlike hunt

obviously since we’re the dragons we don’t come off a good win like that with no drama .. Now onto next week. Few problems.

- Stewart 3-6 weeks fracture
-Guler 3-4 weeks crusher tackler . Weeks pending if we challenge .

who comes in. Do we debut Loko for guler?
(- Loko 10 runs for 123m in cup )

probably rfm will come in for Stewart.
or do we shuffle JDB into front row ?

Quite a few decision! Lawrie played nsw cup for (16 runs 136m) though never broke the line.

Personally I would give Loko for guler . Can play 20/25 mins
Egan to play 13 JDB move into front row
Rfm on bench .