Round 6 v GC Titans

[Sloan Ranger]

Luc off the bench is a must after what I saw last night, he was a real positive impact which surprised me because I don’t have a high opinion of him mainly because he is more cold than hot and he is undisciplined. His big issue is putting good performances together consistently, and next Thursday we are up against a team with some gun forwards…we need Luc to keep firing.

When I see Luc play a good game in a losing side I'll be convinced. I think Sua and the young forwards carry him. Hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Brilliant way to start the weekend with a win.
I thought Illias was ok, kicking game not the best but not the worst. Can I ask why does he park himself on the outside so close to the touch line with not much room to move for his kicks? It’s a bit strange.
KF was good, I like the way he backs up players, I wish Sloan would do that more often.
I could still see the Titans forwards rolling through the middle quite easily, we struggled a bit to contain some of their big guys. This will obviously be our achilles heel for the rest of this season. Flanno needs to rotate the young guys who have the fitness to stay in the game for longer minutes. The older guys in the front row need to be rotated a lot more often to keep momentum. Flanno really needs to get this right.

 

[Sloan Ranger]

Others have noted the Cook/ Liddle situation isn't quite working. Crazy idea, could both start and play 80 minutes, swapping between hooker and lock? It would get us four forwards on the bench and another substitution. The middles could go harder. Or would it make us too small in the middle?

 

[Mojo]

Others have noted the Cook/ Liddle situation isn't quite working. Crazy idea, could both start and play 80 minutes, swapping between hooker and lock? It would get us four forwards on the bench and another substitution. The middles could go harder. Or would it make us too small in the middle?

It’s an option for sure but I think Liddle is a genuine strike weapon against tired forwards. I think, when people are saying the Cook / Liddle rotation isn’t right, what they’re really seeing is that Cook is less strike than he used to be but he’s always had great fitness and endurance. I think Flanno is using them correctly - could maybe bring Liddle on a little earlier.

 

[TruSaint]

 

[Sloan Ranger]

It’s an option for sure but I think Liddle is a genuine strike weapon against tired forwards. I think, when people are saying the Cook / Liddle rotation isn’t right, what they’re really seeing is that Cook is less strike than he used to be but he’s always had great fitness and endurance. I think Flanno is using them correctly - could maybe bring Liddle on a little earlier.

Fair enough. But I do like the idea of having our smartest/spine players on the field as long as possible.

 

[SnowDragon]

Ok, been sitting back and reading the forum After the win. Thinking.

2 roles for the halfback are controlling the game and setting up the attacking structures. I separate since I think the attack is actually been good all year. When we get into position our strike rate is damm good. sure, Illias for example doesn’t have Hunts numbers, but the team is so much better. Predictability of what we will do is way down. Less kick tries, but movement both ways and still some options thru the middle.

on the other hand, as a team we struggle to get into position at times. Yes, dumb errors have been mentioned, and the kicking game is inconsistent. Gutho has tightened the defence. But the halves still don’t control the game and positioning as I’d like. It’s not just them of course.

on a positive note, errors can be fixed, and there is definitively Improvement in Our halves, and thus in the team. There is a football team in there even if this year will be ups and downs. 2025 identifies what’s needed to transform to a top 4 team! (At least that’s my hope)

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Good scoreboard win for SGI- shame only 8000 there to see it- yes- you can only beat what's put in front of you - but- BUT as I watched the Gold Coast implode, I started to think about the Paul Kelly 80s classic-(which I"ve often thought should replace " Oh When the Saints Go Marching in" as our anthem). However tonight "I've done all the dumb things" was the theme song for the Titans.

Normally old Dessie would fire up but he looked bemused and in shock at the clown show his team produced. For that reason, I am not going to pass judgement on our performance as I doubt that any team could play as badly against us as the Titans did last night.

The disturbing thing was that even allowing for their ineptitude, they managed to score that try from the kick off where half our team was pushed off in the process. That should have been a wake up call for Young or whoever masquerades as our defence coach for the much tougher tests we will face in the next two weeks.

 

[justadragon]

Good scoreboard win for SGI- shame only 8000 there to see it- yes- you can only beat what's put in front of you - but- BUT as I watched the Gold Coast implode, I started to think about the Paul Kelly 80s classic-(which I"ve often thought should replace " Oh When the Saints Go Marching in" as our anthem). However tonight "I've done all the dumb things" was the theme song for the Titans.

Normally old Dessie would fire up but he looked bemused and in shock at the clown show his team produced. For that reason, I am not going to pass judgement on our performance as I doubt that any team could play as badly against us as the Titans did last night.

The disturbing thing was that even allowing for their ineptitude, they managed to score that try from the kick off where half our team was pushed off in the process. That should have been a wake up call for Young or whoever masquerades as our defence coach for the much tougher tests we will face in the next two weeks.

Yep wont argue there with you, we were in shock when that happened. It's as if half the Dragons side just applauded the Titans scoring a try.

 

[Dorothy the Winowhore]

Geez....we wont be the last team to let a rampant David Fifita run through them occasionally. The guy is a freak.

Having said that, I would also like to praise Ilias for the number of times he stopped Fifita on our right edge, alone and with Su'a / Suli assists. The kid can tackle.

 

[sammymills]

Geez....we wont be the last team to let a rampant David Fifita run through them occasionally. The guy is a freak.

Having said that, I would also like to praise Ilias for the number of times he stopped Fifita on our right edge, alone and with Su'a / Suli assists. The kid can tackle.

I second this. Fifita is an absolute animal you can’t contain everyone. When he pulls his finger out he would be top 3 ball runners in NRL.

 

[thebigredv]

The issue is not David Fifita, the issue is at that time of the game we are a spent force and playing at 50% of our ability.

The win was lovely but it was still obvious that this team struggles to play for a full match, and while fatigue is a real thing all teams must face, we seem to hit an absolute wall around the hour mark. It was fortunate that Gray got 10 in the bin when he did.

 

[getsmarty]

'I think I'm getting used to it': Egan all smiles after maiden try

Dragons rookie Dylan Egan has a chat about nabbing his first NRL try, getting used to the intensity of first grade & notching a handy victory in Wollongong.

www.dragons.com.au

 

[since77]

The issue is not David Fifita, the issue is at that time of the game we are a spent force and playing at 50% of our ability.

The win was lovely but it was still obvious that this team struggles to play for a full match, and while fatigue is a real thing all teams must face, we seem to hit an absolute wall around the hour mark. It was fortunate that Gray got 10 in the bin when he did.

We create our own fatigue. Get rid of the dumb errors in our own half and the dumb yardage penalties and at least half that fatigue doesn’t happen. Like Radiohead once sang, you do it yourself and that’s what really hurts……..

 

[Victoire]

On Gutherson. The pleasure of being in attendance among such a miniscule audience, is you get to hear Saint Gutho in action. The man seems to treat every game like his own personal TED Talk, and on such a quiet Friday evening in the Gong we got to listen to almost every word. The chatter, the barking, the celebrating... was a riveting listen. Would tune in again. 5 stars.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Great win against the Titans who were terrible, but you can only play what is in front of you and Saints don't rattle up a big scoreline as often as we would like.

I can't believe Dylan Egan played 79 mins? He only came off because he was injured. This kid started his 2nd NRL game. How impressive is that especially with the performance he gave. We are all saying that Saints need big alpha forwards, well I think Saints are going to get very hungry enthusiastic teenagers stepping up to the plate and proving they belong. Stewart, Couchy and Egan are FG material and it appears there will be more coming on throughout the year in Tonga and Latu.

The spine played well and it was good to see more of Kyle Flanno this game. Suli was rocks and diamonds. How good was Val Holmes. He is making me forget Lomax is no longer a Dragon quicker than I thought. Money man was back and it was good to see him and Sloan score doubles. They sure make it hard for Val to kick his goals as most tries this year are out wide.

Saints won due to good coaching I feel as Flanno out smarted Dessi by using Gutho more as a deco as it seems to have ruined Dessi's game plan. For that to work though Elias and Flanno had to play their part and they did. The spine is coming together.

It is so frustrating that Saints should be on 10 points if not for the 2 fade out performances but comps are not won in March/April so hopefully those 2 games don't come back to bite. Beating the Storm was one way of getting a game back as that is a game you don't expect to win especially seeing they will end up first on the ladder and smash a lot of teams in the process.

I have a feeling if Saints make the 8 they may surprise teams going off that Storm victory. Saints biggest problem is just getting there. They showed that they can play finals footy. It would be good to get the young kids finals experience in their first season.

 

[SEAT 1A]

I'm just going to be positive this week.

Lawrie, Illias, TC and Luc made me have egg on my face after last week. JDB defence was top shelve.

Great win, Flanno outcoached Dessie and well done lads.
Who knows how we will go Thursday night but it was a much needed two points.

 

[getsmarty]

'One of the boys': NRL veteran praises Egan on the back of first points

Dylan Egan's NRL debut was just the beginning of something special.

www.illawarramercury.com.au