Round 5 vs Souths

[getsmarty]

Dragons press conference - Round 5
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor, 250-game veteran Jason Nightingale and captain Gareth Widdop address the media after their 16-12 win over South Sydney Rabbitohs

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/04/06/dragons-press-conference-round-5/

 

[getsmarty]

 

[getsmarty]

Dragons hold on after Souths NRL fightback

• National Sport News
  
  
  
  St George Illawarra have kept their perfect start to the NRL season, beating South Sydney 16-12.
  St George Illawarra have maintained their unbeaten start to the NRL season, outlasting a never-say-die South Sydney 16-12 at Jubilee Oval.
  
  Paul McGregor's side reinforced their status as the competition pacesetters after celebrating Jason Nightingale's 250th game in style on Friday night with their fifth win on the trot.
  
  Souths looked dead and buried, down 16-2 in the 71st minute, however a couple of pieces of Cody Walker brilliance set up a grandstand finish.
  
  First he scored in the 72nd before throwing a floating cut-out pass for Greg Inglis to cross and reduce the margin to four.
  
  However the Rabbitohs' No.6 bombed a chance to win the game when he dropped it cold with his side camped on the Dragons' line with two minutes remaining.
  
  The referees were again dragged into the spotlight when they controversially denied Nene MacDonald a first-half try for an obstruction.
  
  However it mattered little as the Dragons held off a late Souths surge to maintain their standing at the top of the ladder.
  
  Back-rower Tariq Sims was a standout for the Dragons, pulling off a series of big hits, including a bell-ringer on Adam Reynolds which forced the Souths' halfback from the field for a concussion assessment in the final 10.
  
  Souths were doing well to be down by just six at the break, but the Dragons pressed their advantage when Ben Hunt fired Matt Dufty through a hole with the pocket rocket fullback running 60 metres to score to make it 14-2.
  
  Nightingale had a typically classy outing in his milestone match, coming up with two try-savers in the space of a minute, including a desperate effort to deny Robert Jennings.
  
  The referees were a talking point when MacDonald was controversially denied a 31st minute try which would have given the home side a 12-0 lead.
  
  After being awarded the four-pointer by on-field referee Gavin Badger, the decision was overturned by video review official Steve Chiddy.
  
  The bunker ruled lead runner Sims took out Reynolds in the lead-up but it was Reynolds who made contact with Sims, pushing him away.
  
  MacDonald was superb in the first half but, on three occasions, was denied a chance to score.
  
  The Dragons' winger was held up by some desperate Souths defence and, 30 seconds later, was bundled into touch just short of the line.
  
  The Dragons eventually took first blood through Euan Aitken in the 19th when he stood up Inglis, who was left clutching at air, and never gave up the lead.
  
  McGregor said they would have lost this kind of match in past years and suggested the Red V had discovered some grit in the off-season.
  
  "We wouldn't have won that game last year. In fact we didn't win this game against Souths last year," McGregor said in reference to the 26-24 loss to Souths in 2017 at the SCG when they let in two tries in the last five minutes.
  
  "It tells me that we're going in the right places."
  
  Souths coach Anthony Seibold said his side counted themselves lucky to be in the game at halftime after being on the wrong end of a 60-40 possession split.
  
  "We certainly didn't get beaten on effort tonight," Seibold said.
  
  "But we're not happy with the result, we didn't get the job done and everyone could see their execution in the tackle wasn't good enough.
  
  "I'm really proud of the effort but we have to be better to beat the best sides in the comp."
  
  
• http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5328519/dragons-hold-on-after-souths-nrl-fightback/

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Ok, a wins a win, but.....
Our kicking game was the poorest I've seen all year.

Now having said that, our defence was exceptional, we had no ball or field position in the second half, we still held them out for repeat sets.

Good tough win.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Yeah I agree, in the tough arm wrestle game I don't think you can carry Luc, he cannot be relied upon when the going gets tough.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Oh and just putting it out there, but whoever counts the crowd don't do maths.
If there wasn't 18 000 there I'll give it away, it was as full as I've seen Kogarah for some time.

 

[Frank Facer]

Dragons take leaf out of Cowboys' playbook
Author
Brad Walter Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Fri 6 Apr 2018, 10:15 PM

It is a sign of St George Illawarra's depth that Dragons coach Paul McGregor was able to borrow a page from Paul Green's playbook and use his middle forwards to hold out South Sydney 16-12 on Friday night at Jubilee Oval.

With the Dragons dominating the Rabbitohs everywhere except the scoreboard in the first half, McGregor interchanged James Graham, Paul Vaughan and Jack De Belin simultaneously in the 27th minute.

Leeson Ah Mau, Jeremy Latimore and Kurt Mann, who played lock, were their replacements.

The star forwards were re-introduced gradually before the midway point of the second half to help the Dragons late in the match when the possession stakes inevitably shifted back towards their opponents.

Green has used a similar ploy with great effect at North Queensland in recent seasons, with his two starting props and lock Jason Taumalolo usually coming to the bench around the 25th-minute mark and returning midway through the second half.

Dragons lock Jack De Belin. Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos
For McGregor to interchange Graham, Vaughan and De Belin at the same time indicated the confidence he has in the squad, which has been virtually unchanged during their five-game winning streak.

Every member of the starting line-up except Graham and hooker Cameron McInnes have scored tries so far this season in another sign of how well the Dragons are playing.

The Cowboys rely on the tactic to steamroll teams at the back end of matches but the Dragons needed the refreshed Graham, Vaughan and de Belin to help them hang on against a Souths side who refused to give in.

After having just 31 percent of possession in the first half and not making it inside the Dragons 20 metres until the 35th minute, the Rabbitohs were predictably out on their feet by the end of the match.

However, it was a gutsy effort by Anthony Siebold's men to almost snatch an unlikely win after scoring late tries through fullback Alex Johnston in the 72nd minute and Greg Inglis to minutes later.

For the opening 40 minutes it had been the men from Redfern who were under siege. They were forced to make 124 tackles to 51 by the Dragons, who at one stage had 77 percent of possession.

The dominance of the home team in the first half was highlighted by how many metres Graham (100m), Vaughan (97m) and De Belin (94m) made in their 27-minute stints.

The Dragons had five more players who carried the ball more than 50 metres, whereas Dane Gagai was the only Rabbitohs player to do so.

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/04/06/dragons-take-leaf-out-of-cowboys-playbook/

That is why we need another top prop, such as Pangai, so that we don't lose anything or drop in intensity when our two props and Debelin are replaced. We have to be able to continue our dominance for the whole 80 minutes.

When Nth Qld replace their 2 props and Taumalolo they do drop in intensity too.

 

[Frank Facer]

I think Cook should be NSW hooker after tonight's performance and others this year too.

 

[This Year?]

Read that Souths had 35 tackles in our 20. If so the boys did well.
Just a sideline, when Aitken was down with cramping I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard badger asking “Greg” on 2 occasions are you ok whilst he was getting up. No such thought for poor Euan.

Badger is a merkin. He wanted that game to be close and done everything possible to make it so.

 

[Frank Facer]

Badger is a merkin. He wanted that game to be close and done everything possible to make it so.

Did you really call Badger a merkin or did the site edit your post? lol

 

[ouryears]

Badger is a merkin. He wanted that game to be close and done everything possible to make it so.

Agree mate, out at the ground it was very obvious, I was sitting me some Rabbitoh folk and they were even sympathetic towards us.

The sooner we get driverless car technology to create refereeless games the better, a robot will be perfect, no favouritism, no potential cheating, remove the emotion the refs show and referee without the constant major stuff ups

 

[ouryears]

I think Cook should be NSW hooker after tonight's performance and others this year too.

And an ex Dragon too

 

[possm]

I think Cook should be NSW hooker after tonight's performance and others this year too.

We should have kept Cook, it was foolish to let him go. He would've been great in a hooker rotation and now proves he can do 80min. I hope Robson can be as effective. McInnes is doing a great job but has not shown any spark in attack for a while. Instead of persisting with Rein and buying Havilli, we would have been better off keeping Cook.

 

[Old Kogarah Boy 1]

Agree mate, out at the ground it was very obvious, I was sitting me some Rabbitoh folk and they were even sympathetic towards us.

The sooner we get driverless car technology to create refereeless games the better, a robot will be perfect, no favouritism, no potential cheating, remove the emotion the refs show and referee without the constant major stuff ups

Yep, what really chafes my buttcheeks is if a ref gives a heap of penalties to a team, you know full well he will give them back to the other team at the tail end of the game.

 

[hazzbeen]

Yeah I agree, in the tough arm wrestle game I don't think you can carry Luc, he cannot be relied upon when the going gets tough.

At this stage of his footy Luc is not a player you want in a tight game that has become a bruising forward battle . He is ok to bring on when we are in cruising as he can be flashy at times . Mary holds the reins here ......

 

[dragonssamy61]

Should not be in the first grade team, full stop, will cost a game or two.
Sele has much more power and effort in his game and deserves a run in front LL and takes the 14 spot and play in the middle with Mann to cover the wide position LL's been playing and handle it with ease.
CC

Spot on cc

 

[Tuddy]

Interchanges were significantly different last night. My bet is that Mary has faced the reality that SOO is going to deplete our ranks considerably. My bet is he was trying to give the team a feel for what it will be like when Frizz, JDB, Vaughan and Hunt disappear for a few weeks. Giving them some self belief may really make a difference.

Not a bad ploy if that was the case.

 

[FlameThrower]

Great to get the win, but we did not play as well as we have in earlier rounds.
I really believe we were dudded at least 1 try and Souths were given a number of repeat sets on our line from dubious calls.
More importantly we stood up to the momentum swing by Souths, helped along by the tsunami of the refs whistle...
I’m sure in previous years we would have lost that game..

 

[FlameThrower]

Interchanges were significantly different last night. My bet is that Mary has faced the reality that SOO is going to deplete our ranks considerably. My bet is he was trying to give the team a feel for what it will be like when Frizz, JDB, Vaughan and Hunt disappear for a few weeks. Giving them some self belief may really make a difference.

Not a bad ploy if that was the case.

Yes he tried to mix it up and not sure it worked so well.

 

[FlameThrower]

At this stage of his footy Luc is not a player you want in a tight game that has become a bruising forward battle . He is ok to bring on when we are in cruising as he can be flashy at times . Mary holds the reins here ......

Very disappointing last night - basic errors & drop ball meant we were under the pump as a result.