Round 7 vs Roosters

[Warabrook saint]

And the ones that put him in are lower

 

[Warabrook saint]

Usless garbage

 

[getsmarty]

McGregor laments slow start as St George Illawarra comeback falls short

• Cameron Mee

Dragons Den

Try-time: Zac Lomax. Picture: AAP Image/Craig Golding.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has conceded his team's slow start cost the Dragons in their Anzac Day loss to the Roosters.

After falling behind 14-0 at the break, St George Illawarra mounted a valiant fightback in the second half to narrow the margin to four points with 27 minutes remaining.

The initial 14-point lead proved too great, however, with a late Siosiua Taukeiaho try sealing the Roosters win.

While the Dragons settled into the match in the second half, McGregor conceded the magnitude of playing in front of 38,414 fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Anzac Day got the better of some of his players in the opening 40 minutes.

He was proud of the resilience his players showed to fight back in the second half, but lamented a disappointing first period that was dominated by the Roosters.

"Possession-wise, we had 38 per cent," McGregor said post-match. "They're the best team in the world, you can't give the best team in the world that much possession.

"We're motivated going forward by our second half, we spiked the line a few times. At 14-10 and with a line break down on the left edge, if we went in when we went out, it could've been a different story at 16-14.

"I asked the boys to leave it all out there in the second half and they did exactly that. I just want to know why that wasn't there in the first half."

The second-half fightback came on the back of tries to Zac Lomax and Matt Dufty, with Dufty producing a piece of individual brilliance to narrow the margin to four.

After receiving the ball 35 metres out from his own line, the diminutive fullback stepped past Boyd Cordner before standing up fullback James Tedesco and running circles around Cooper Cronk to complete a 65m effort.

Speaking after the game, Dufty admitted much of the run was simply instinct as he did everything he could to beat multiple scrambling Roosters players.

"It was pretty pleasing, especially at the SCG on Anzac Day," Dufty said. "It was something that came out of nothing and I was lucky enough to get over the line.

"It was all instinct, I got the ball and looked infield and there was a little hole, I fell through it and the rest I don't know what was happening, I just found my way to the line.

"It was pretty daunting coming up against Teddy, when you break the line and you've got the NSW and Australian fullback there. I tried to just take him one way and go back and I was lucky enough to get past him."

The match opened up throughout the final 20 minutes, with both teams creating opportunities to break through for a decisive try as the game looked set to reach a thrilling climax.

While the Dragons threatened, it was the Roosters who held their nerve to secure a signature victory as Dufty's match took a turn for the worse.

Fielding a Cooper Cronk grubber in the 77th minute, Dufty spilled the ball after he was hit hard by Roosters skipper Jake Friend.

The Roosters pounced, with Taukeiaho dancing past a tired Jacob Host and James Graham to cross for the match-sealing try.

Coming off the highs of his superb try, Dufty admitted it was disappointing to produce such a costly error with the game on the line.

"It's disappointing, I let everyone down, not just everyone at the club, but the fans too. We fought so hard and to lose it like that is heart-breaking."


https://www.illawarramercury.com.au...eorge-illawarra-comeback-falls-short/?cs=3713

 

[getsmarty]

NRL Casualty Ward: Every injury from Round 7 and every club’s full list plus return dates
NRL Teams

• April 25, 2019 6:50pm
• by Staff Writers with AAP
• Source: FOX SPORTS

Ben Hunt goes off midway through the Dragons' Anzac Day clashSource: FOX SPORTS
Queensland State of Origin hopeful Ben Hunt suffered a shoulder injury in St George Illawarra’s Anzac Day NRL clash with the Sydney Roosters.

Hunt left the field late in the second half of the Dragons’ 20-10 loss to the Sydney Roosters at the SCG.

A candidate for the Maroons No. 9 jersey, Hunt’s injury comes just six weeks out from the series opener at Suncorp Stadium on June 5.

Round 7
Hunt started at halfback in the first two games last season for the Maroons but looks more likely to be considered for either the hooking or bench utility role this year.

His injury couldn’t have come at a worse time given No. 9 rival Jake Friend starred on return from his own shoulder injury in Thursday’s clash.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor said: “We think it’s a bad cork to his shoulder, defensively he was OK but he just couldn’t catch or pass a ball fluently enough and we couldn’t afford that when we were down by four. We needed fit bodies on the field.”

The Roosters said Jake Friend had an ankle injury, but coach Trent Robinson said that it wasn’t serious.

“He’s OK, but he’s got some packs on him,”said Robinson.


INJURED IN ROUND 7

Ben Hunt, Dragons (shoulder)


https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/1815bd791c87796a80525fed1b2f6699

 

[The Damo]

Well that game was an emotional roller coaster.
We were pretty poor the first half, but our goal line defence was exceptional. For the roosters to have 70% possession, and only score two tries was a great effort. Plenty of teams would’ve been down by 20+ points after that.
Their first try was lucky in that it didn’t touch Trell’s hand, and that consistent reffing would’ve had a penalty blown on the contest.
I don’t think it’s sugar coating anything to say that we had try scoring opportunities denied and they had them given by inconsistent refs calls.
We also were creating opportunities in attack throughout the game, starting to use Dufty’s speed to create overlaps, and he’s getting better at straightening when needed.
Other stuff;
Lomax caught teddy, he’s not slow. Needs to be starting.
Host very good, if he can just up his aggression and intent level he’ll start to really shine.
Luc was good, playing as an impact prop is his best fit for now.
Latimore was bad. His contributions last year were acceptable, but he’s regressed and needs to be replaced.
TKO is one of the best forwards in the game. Should’ve been man of the match.
Ultimately we could’ve won that game but for errors. By far the worst was Aitken not getting to the ball when we could’ve had 6 again. The others came from inexperience, fatigue, and pushing too hard. All more forgivable than that lack of urgency.

 

[The Damo]

Also did something happen to Vaughan? He only played 15 minutes in the second half.

 

[getsmarty]

Losing to 'best in world' no disgrace for McGregor's Dragons
Author
Brad Walter NRL.com Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Thu 25 Apr 2019, 08:53 PM

St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor described Sydney Roosters as "the best team in the world”. Repeatedly.

Besides acknowledging the impressive way the Roosters had begun their 2018 premiership defence, McGregor's praise was his way of pointing out that the Dragons are going alright too.

He delivered the same message in the SCG dressing rooms after his side’s 20-10 Anzac Day loss.

The Roosters are on track to become the first team to win back-to-back grand finals in NRL history after their best start to a season in 20 years.

However, the character shown by an undermanned St George Illawarra to fight back in the second half suggests they will also be among the premiership contenders.

The win was the Roosters' fifth against another team in the top-eight and sixth in succession since their opening round loss to South Sydney. It has them placed better than in recent seasons, when they have started slowly and peaked closer to the finals.

In contrast, the Dragons have started the past two seasons in top form and led the Telstra Premiership for long periods but fallen away as injuries and a heavy State of Origin representation took its toll.



This season they have been without the services of Jack de Belin since round one and lost Gareth Widdop and Korbin Sims to long-term injuries but have still managed to win four of their opening seven matches and push the Roosters to the limit on just 40 per cent possession.

Halfback Ben Hunt injured his shoulder early in the match and couldn’t catch or pass properly but managed to play on until the 68th minute. He is expected to be fit for next weekend’s match against Parramatta.

The ambition within the St George Illawarra camp is to be well-placed when Sims, Widdop and possibly de Belin return later in the season.

“I’d like to play them with 50-50 possession and completing above 80 per cent, but in saying that they won the game and they are a very good football team,” McGregor said. “They have proved that time after time. They are the best team in the world.”

In the end, it was the resolve of the Roosters that got them home after the Dragons players responded to a call from McGregor for them to “leave it all out there” in the second half after trailing 14-0 at the interval.

A 47th minute try to winger Zac Lomax and a brilliant 60-metre solo effort by fullback Matt Dufty reduced the deficit to 14-10 with 18 minutes to go. But as they had done against Melbourne last week, the Roosters scored last to secure the two competition points.


It takes a top team to regain momentum and win close games against good opposition but Roosters coach Trent Robinson believes the premiers are still far from their best.

The key to whether the Roosters can become the first team to win successive grand finals since Brisbane in 1992 and 1993 is maintaining the hunger and desire of the players.

“I think we are hungry and we are seeing some really good signs from players and the team but if you take a step back and have a look at that game the Roosters can improve a fair bit,” Robinson said.

“We are going to stay hungry and I am going to make sure I breed that hunger into them continuously.

“We have worked hard to get a group of players over the last couple of years into this squad, we have worked hard to develop them, a couple of recruits and we want to play better footy each week and each month that goes by. We definitely need to get better.”

An indication of the Roosters' first-half domination was the fact the Dragons had made 203 tackles – 90 more than the Roosters by the interval – and most of the defending they’d been forced to do had been at their own end of the field.

There were several tough calls against the Dragons in the first half but mistakes contributed to the 69 per cent share of possession enjoyed by the Roosters with some poor handling and decision-making.

The back three of Matt Dufty, Jordan Pereira and Lomax didn’t look comfortable defusing kicks from Cooper Cronk in the wide expanses of the SCG and were responsible for five of their side’s seven first-half errors.

Hunt finished with three errors as he struggled through the match after injuring his shoulder in an early collision with Roosters winger Daniel Tupou.

With the SCG being the only ground in the NRL with a cricket pitch, it could be suggested that the Roosters have a greater home field advantage playing at the iconic venue than they did at the adjoining Allianz Stadium.

To prove that point, Jake Friend used the sloping surface to gain a 40-20 kick - their third of the season.

Angus Crichton’s 32nd minute try was scored during the ensuing set of possession but McGregor was entitled to call for "consistency" from match officials after a decision to award an earlier Roosters try after Lomax spilled a Cronk bomb.

Lomax turned his back as he attempted to catch the kick and lost the ball after Roosters winger Daniel Tupou collided with him in the air. A similar incident at the other end of the field was deemed a penalty against Hunt.

A forward pass denied Lomax a first half try but he kick-started St George Illawarra’s second half fight back when centre Euan Aitken put him over after Hunt ran the ball on the last tackle and the Dragons remained in the contest until Siosiua Taukeiaho scored in the 77th minute.


https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/04/25/mcgregor-praises-roosters-but-likes-what-he-sees-in-dragons/

 

[j0nesy]

McGregor laments slow start as St George Illawarra comeback falls short

• Cameron Mee

Dragons Den

Try-time: Zac Lomax. Picture: AAP Image/Craig Golding.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has conceded his team's slow start cost the Dragons in their Anzac Day loss to the Roosters.

After falling behind 14-0 at the break, St George Illawarra mounted a valiant fightback in the second half to narrow the margin to four points with 27 minutes remaining.

The initial 14-point lead proved too great, however, with a late Siosiua Taukeiaho try sealing the Roosters win.

While the Dragons settled into the match in the second half, McGregor conceded the magnitude of playing in front of 38,414 fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Anzac Day got the better of some of his players in the opening 40 minutes.

He was proud of the resilience his players showed to fight back in the second half, but lamented a disappointing first period that was dominated by the Roosters.

"Possession-wise, we had 38 per cent," McGregor said post-match. "They're the best team in the world, you can't give the best team in the world that much possession.

"We're motivated going forward by our second half, we spiked the line a few times. At 14-10 and with a line break down on the left edge, if we went in when we went out, it could've been a different story at 16-14.

"I asked the boys to leave it all out there in the second half and they did exactly that. I just want to know why that wasn't there in the first half."

The second-half fightback came on the back of tries to Zac Lomax and Matt Dufty, with Dufty producing a piece of individual brilliance to narrow the margin to four.

After receiving the ball 35 metres out from his own line, the diminutive fullback stepped past Boyd Cordner before standing up fullback James Tedesco and running circles around Cooper Cronk to complete a 65m effort.

Speaking after the game, Dufty admitted much of the run was simply instinct as he did everything he could to beat multiple scrambling Roosters players.

"It was pretty pleasing, especially at the SCG on Anzac Day," Dufty said. "It was something that came out of nothing and I was lucky enough to get over the line.

"It was all instinct, I got the ball and looked infield and there was a little hole, I fell through it and the rest I don't know what was happening, I just found my way to the line.

"It was pretty daunting coming up against Teddy, when you break the line and you've got the NSW and Australian fullback there. I tried to just take him one way and go back and I was lucky enough to get past him."

The match opened up throughout the final 20 minutes, with both teams creating opportunities to break through for a decisive try as the game looked set to reach a thrilling climax.

While the Dragons threatened, it was the Roosters who held their nerve to secure a signature victory as Dufty's match took a turn for the worse.

Fielding a Cooper Cronk grubber in the 77th minute, Dufty spilled the ball after he was hit hard by Roosters skipper Jake Friend.

The Roosters pounced, with Taukeiaho dancing past a tired Jacob Host and James Graham to cross for the match-sealing try.

Coming off the highs of his superb try, Dufty admitted it was disappointing to produce such a costly error with the game on the line.

"It's disappointing, I let everyone down, not just everyone at the club, but the fans too. We fought so hard and to lose it like that is heart-breaking."


https://www.illawarramercury.com.au...eorge-illawarra-comeback-falls-short/?cs=3713

Don’t be too hard on yourself kid. We created plenty of chances at the other end that should have been converted. Learn from it, move on and keep improving.

 

[RufusRex]

Mary - take some f**king ownership of the shit show that was today.

You are not giving the team the best chance of winning.

The blokes who played can be proud - sure . they tried ... But f**k me you make it hard on them.

1. Field on the bench made more sense than Ravalawa. Once you went down the Lomax route that was obvious
2. Aitken cost us so much in the first half with stupidity and doubled down with that lazy effort. Lomax is obviously the better player. Pick him at right centre FFS.
3. Latimore gives zero impact off the bench. I mean he goes out there and gives Graham/Vaughan a breather but he also gave the entire roosters team a breather too every time he took the ball up ... No impact on the fuel levels of the opposition - just goes through the motions. put a bloke out there who will make an impact
4. Speed on the flanks .. It has only been years we have made do with the slowest wingers in the comp. If only quality speedy wingers were on the market last season - oh wait - they were ... Blokes like Edrick Lee, Jennings immediately come to mind. Wingers with speed turn getting put into touch into try scoring opportuntities.

 

[SaintPauli]

Great effort BUT I cringed everytime the roosters bombed our back 3 or everytime our back 3 ran out from own goal line.

I say replace Aitkin with center and goal kicker Lomax. He needs to get needed experience and toughen up by the finals.
It's well worth the punt. Even though he did not have perfect game I saw enough to see he has a better all round game compared to Aitkin.

Our backs need serious pressure kick takes practise and running to opposition with good ball security practise.

Refs were ridiculous particularly the first half.

 

[Old Timer]

OK - well to me, the point you made about them going back to work on mechanics hinted at them not playing at peak performance. And that looked like an excuse to me. Sorry if I misinterpreted that.

And I didn't quote the coach at all about the best team in the world. I didn't even know he said that (did he?). I'm just stating a fact. They're the premiers and the world cup holders, they are the benchmark and the team to beat this year. Do you not agree with that? I'm comparing our performance against that team. I'm not offering up excuses at all. I'm saying that given that status that they hold at this point in the season, we did end up giving them a run for their money. They're the benchmark and I'm saying given how we played today, we can beat them. Going in, I thought they were streets ahead, but today showed they aren't.

And I'm not sure how the coach didn't see a way to win. We had every opportunity to win. We didn't execute - and there are things to work on, I agree.

And I'm not sure why you get so hung up by what Mary says in his post match interviews. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. If you don't like what he says, don't watch them.

FMD you really do not get what this place is all about.
If what the coach says in the post game interview means nothing then why have the interview in the 1st place and wouldn't it be fair to say the coach should be honest in what he says and take ownership of the result instead of putting all on the players.
If I don't like what he says then I make comment on it or if I don't like what you say I make comment on that.
I do not attend this place for some communal hugging unless of course we are all seeing our team play at the best it can week in week out and there is nothing much to improve on.
My point in the posts you latched onto is that some teams are professional to the hilt and work hard to be the best every week and some get caught up in making excuse after excuse after excuse which is what we get.
How many times can coach say we need to execute better before you finally get the shits with it and for me today there was a game to be won and it would have been a defining moment and yet again the moment passed us by and coaching quality and intelligence cost us dearly.
We needed to be up for the contest from the get go and we were not and then we need to seize the moment and we didn't do that either and this bum's tenure is littered with this instances.
You say we have things to fix which is good but somehow you are sucked into thinking coach can do it and it is f**king obvious he can't.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I have to finally agree that my man Lats needs to go
Rava is not first grade material, needs to be dropped
The bombs Hunt put up were dismal today.
Proud of our second half and we should draw strength by the performance in the second half
The try by Duffy has to be the try of the year.

Our forwards nearly always carry us and they did exceptionally well today given the amount of tackling they had to do.
Unfortunately our spine was outplayed notwithstanding Dufty's great game with ball in hand and a scintillating try.
Friend outplayed McInnes comprehensively and showed the chasm in class between the 2 players. Both as a hooker and a captain.
IMO Cronk outplayed Hunt which begs the question.
What happened to Hunt today?
Last week his kicking game was awesome - today pathetic. No short kicks at all. No repeat sets (5 last week).
What is it with Hunt? We know he is a class player but why can't he do it every week?.
Was he overawed by the occasion? I don't get it.
The only one in our spine to outplay his opposite number was Norman.
Lomax must play every week. The myth about his speed was put to rest today.
Finally, spot on about Latimore - must be replaced. Has no impact and everything he does is in slow motion.

 

[The Damo]

Our forwards nearly always carry us and they did exceptionally well today given the amount of tackling they had to do.
Unfortunately our spine was outplayed notwithstanding Dufty's great game with ball in hand and a scintillating try.
Friend outplayed McInnes comprehensively and showed the chasm in class between the 2 players. Both as a hooker and a captain.
IMO Cronk outplayed Hunt which begs the question.
What happened to Hunt today?
Last week his kicking game was awesome - today pathetic. No short kicks at all. No repeat sets (5 last week).
What is it with Hunt? We know he is a class player but why can't he do it every week?.
Was he overawed by the occasion? I don't get it.
The only one in our spine to outplay his opposite number was Norman.
Lomax must play every week. The myth about his speed was put to rest today.
Finally, spot on about Latimore - must be replaced. Has no impact and everything he does is in slow motion.

Hunt apparently injured his shoulder pretty early in the first half, so I figure that was why he wasn’t as effective or involved as usual.
And Friend was great for them today, but given they had so much more possession and pumped out 400 more running metres than we did that’s a much better stituation for a hooker to show their stuff.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Hunt apparently injured his shoulder pretty early in the first half, so I figure that was why he wasn’t as effective or involved as usual.
And Friend was great for them today, but given they had so much more possession and pumped out 400 more running metres than we did that’s a much better stituation for a hooker to show their stuff.

The only player I think that would be an inspirational captain for us at the moment is T. Sims.
you just know the forwards are going to follow him into battle and he has an excellent temperament.
McInnes is better than Widdop but too young

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Well that game was an emotional roller coaster.
We were pretty poor the first half, but our goal line defence was exceptional. For the roosters to have 70% possession, and only score two tries was a great effort. Plenty of teams would’ve been down by 20+ points after that.
Their first try was lucky in that it didn’t touch Trell’s hand, and that consistent reffing would’ve had a penalty blown on the contest.
I don’t think it’s sugar coating anything to say that we had try scoring opportunities denied and they had them given by inconsistent refs calls.
We also were creating opportunities in attack throughout the game, starting to use Dufty’s speed to create overlaps, and he’s getting better at straightening when needed.
Other stuff;
Lomax caught teddy, he’s not slow. Needs to be starting.
Host very good, if he can just up his aggression and intent level he’ll start to really shine.
Luc was good, playing as an impact prop is his best fit for now.
Latimore was bad. His contributions last year were acceptable, but he’s regressed and needs to be replaced.
TKO is one of the best forwards in the game. Should’ve been man of the match.
Ultimately we could’ve won that game but for errors. By far the worst was Aitken not getting to the ball when we could’ve had 6 again. The others came from inexperience, fatigue, and pushing too hard. All more forgivable than that lack of urgency.

To me, the most concerning aspect was the lack of intent shown by a group of forwards representing what many think is the best pack in the NRL.

There were far too many instances where the Chooks made (on average) 70 metres per set of six yesterday. This is unacceptable.

 

[18to87]

In the under 20’s he did and the tries were great

To me, the most concerning aspect was the lack of intent shown by a group of forwards representing what many think is the best pack in the NRL.

There were far too many instances where the Chooks made (on average) 70 metres per set of six yesterday. This is unacceptable.

Only the best pack with Korbin and JDB.

Perhaps yesterdays performance was a sign that the fatigue will set in a little earlier this year.

 

[West coast dragon]

As soon as I saw Ben Cummins was ref I knew we would lose not blaming the ref at all for the loss as we should’ve taken the result out of their hands but gee whizz Cummins needs to be boiled in oil and have his fat sold as soap

 

[Carlton]

If, bad ref calls even themselves out over the year, we cant get another one for the next two years after that game.

 

[Coffs dragon]

Having Latimore & Ravalawa on the bench was like going into a war with a pop gun. No impact and poor utilisation of the bench. Roosters bench was the complete opposite....it had youth, versatility and energy plus Aubusson as probably the best & most experienced Mr Fix it player in the NRL. Our bench was a 50% after thought!

 

[j0nesy]

To me, the most concerning aspect was the lack of intent shown by a group of forwards representing what many think is the best pack in the NRL.

There were far too many instances where the Chooks made (on average) 70 metres per set of six yesterday. This is unacceptable.

Graham in particular was cooked. He was falling off tackles, slow to cover and laying out of sets like there was no tomorrow towards the end of the 2nd half. This is the first sign of fatigue starting to set in amongst the forwards. Graham needs to be rested more and play shorter stints. Mary needs to utilise his bench better and get rid of Lats for a more dynamic forward. I’d be playing a 4th forward on weeks when we have a short turnaround.