Round 9 V Storm

[redVbull]

painful result, but not a surprise given classic Storm pattern ... critical calls, when the game is in balance tend to go in Storm's favour (ie Vaughn stripped in early attacking run ignored by refs, Munster strip Dragons ball carrier called knock-on...) leading to momentum swing ...

Dragons on the backfoot and with their gun spine capitalise we're down 2-3 tries before you know it...

normality is later restored as Storm start getting penalised etc. but no worries they have the kickstart they need.

IMO the Storm coach has, over many years fostered a culture of referee intimidation thru post match press conference criticism ... that has been a factor in refs demoted etc. ... which now works in his favour as refs overlook controversial game-changing calls for fear of getting on this radar.

 

[Gareth67]

Well said Tuddy , the boys can take a few positives from the game , also they didn't give up , as we would had done last year . The forwards can still hold their heads up as can most of the backs .

Key changes need to be made this week with particular attention to our outside defence , leave Milne in the centres in place of Atkins . Melbourne is a class team and has been for years , we on the other hand are just starting to walk .
By saying that , I am not defending their unfair tactics , the quicker that the NRL stamps it out the better are the chances of all teams when playing them .

Of course they were certainly helped along , as usual , by some very dubious calls . I thought that JDBelin was going to have a go at that half-wit ref when it appeared that he had knocked on , but no such luck , just as well .

Mary , well now is the time that the pressure is really being applied to him . If he is truly worth a new contract , then he must solve the teams current problems . Once again the boys need to regroup and stay together and hang tough . Move on from this defeat and string a few more wins together .

 

[Objective View]

Now, for all those who want Dugan to be signed up no matter how much it costs , would it be worth it if it meant we lose Mann , Milne & Lafai ?

Other teams keep their core and sign others on top. Not in Dragonland.

Straight Shooter

 

[SET2JT]

We need a captain to blow up at the refs once in a while. Tyson and Gareth are too nice.

 

[Shulman]

Other teams keep their core and sign others on top. Not in Dragonland.

Straight Shooter

Good to see you back posting. Deep down you're hurting. Guess it's just you're way of dealing with it. Life goes on buddy

 

[Crush]

Storm were just outstanding in the first half. Every other team would have been reeling just as the Dragons were.
Not every other team would have been capable of fighting back in the second half though like Dragons did. Credit to them for playing so well for that last 20 minutes.
Kurt Mann was good.
We need a goalkicker.
Macdonald is a good signing.
Storm are the best team in the comp.
Overall, gritty effort.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Some 'fans' on here seem to come out only when the team are down....
We had almost no ball in 1st half, Ref's smashed us and we got caught out in the edges...
Btw just heard Ch9 idiot stating Cronk was 'borderline' call for sin bin...

Borderline my arse....Melbourne are professionals at using every trick in the book and I might add not in the spirit of the game...wrestling, chicken wing, locking up players arms in the play the ball, the skipper constantly being able to argue with refs to give his players a breather whilst other captains are waved away.....if you throw in the fact that most of Smiths dummy half passes are forward and Billy is usual always in front of the Cronks chip kicks...then they get away with blue murder...and its about time they got pinged.....other than that they are a well coached and professional outfit

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Convincingly beaten today but we must take some positives.....run of sus penalties early put us on the backfoot and for that Melbourne took full advantage and blew us away early......but we hung in there and even though we lost the 2 points we showed some fight and prevented the score being a big blow out........Widdops injury was felt even if it was for his goal kicking alone..I thought Mann went ok whilst he did nothing brilliant he will grow from this game......Macdonald did some really good stuff and he is going to be ok.....Im not convinced that Aitkens game is moving in the right direction...at times he looks to be getting there but then he seems to go missing..I still personaly think Milne would be a better option..although if MaCgregor doesnt start to show some faith in him and pick him week to week then his game will go nowhere as well......thought Sims looked a bit more positive in his stint on the field than he has shown recently and ran with determination....Lafai went ok again but please dont rely just on flicking the ball out when you are being manhandled...its worked at times so far and produced tries but it can be costly as well.....I know we are playing the Sharks away but think we will go ok against them if we learn from today

 

[The calm one]

IMO three very important points came out of today's game.
1. Is Dugan worth the money he and his manager think he is worth.

2. Mann is 1st grade material.

3. Love them or hate them. Storm have grand final written all over them if they stay healthy

 

[dino2170]

we need speed

 

[rasaint]

Sorry to be a broken record but Josh Dugan is simply a standard 1 grader. Signing him on huge money will set us back years on the cap. He has lost the rip and speed of his youth.

 

[getsmarty]

Press Conference: Round 9
Sun 30th April, 07:00PM
A A



St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor and skipper Tyson Frizell discuss the Dragons' 34-22 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.

http://www.dragons.com.au/news/2017/04/30/press_conference_rou.html

 

[thebigredv]

Sorry to be a broken record but Josh Dugan is simply a standard 1 grader. Signing him on huge money will set us back years on the cap. He has lost the rip and speed of his youth.

It's a funny one. He is extremely solid and tries his guts out each week. No one can dispute this. Duges does some great fullback work off our own try line, defends solidly, chimes in for a few good runs but he doesn't create a lot of points, nor does he have a passing game. If you compare him to Boyd, I don't know what Boyd earns, but Dugan isn't worth 3/4 of what Boyd is to a team. Boyd's a match winner, whereas Dugan's days of tearing opposition apart appear to be over. He's contributed greatly to some of our success, don't get me wrong, but I would also be very weary of paying overs for him when you've could easily extend Mann's contract for far less.

 

[getsmarty]

Player Reaction: Jason Nightingale v Storm
Sun 30th April, 07:30PM
A A



St George Illawarra winger Jason Nightingale discusses the Dragons' unfortunate 34-22 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.

http://www.dragons.com.au/news/2017/04/30/player_reaction_jaso.html

 

[getsmarty]

Player Reaction: Josh McCrone v Storm
Sun 30th April, 07:30PM
A A



St George Illawarra halfback Josh McCrone discusses the Dragons' unfortunate 34-22 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.

http://www.dragons.com.au/news/2017/04/30/player_reaction_josh.html

 

[getsmarty]

Dragons struck down by the Storm
Sun 30th April, 06:00PM
A A



The St George Illawarra Dragons have suffered a 34-22 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.

Melbourne scored first in the ninth minute through winger Suliasi Vunivalu when he caught handle of a Billy Slater bomb out wide.

Fellow Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr scored next three minutes later in the opposite corner when he proved too fast for Dragons centre Euan Aitken.

Vunivalu had a double in the 17th minute when he scored with an aerobatic effort in the corner.

Addo-Carr quickly followed with his double when he produced a dive over in the corner of his own in the 25th minute.

The Dragons had some reprieve when veteran winger Jason Nightingale scored following some nice lead-up work from Josh McCrone and Josh Dugan.

Up 22-4 at the half-time break, Storm fullback Billy Slater scored the second half's first two tries in the 45th and 53rd minutes.

On a day for doubles, Nightingale earned his second when he again dove over in the corner in the 59th minute.

Storm halfback Cooper Cronk's sin-binning for a professional foul ended an exciting play that almost saw Nene Macdonald produce a half-field intercept scoring play in the final 15 minutes.

Dragons hooker Cameron McInnes made no mistake 60 seconds later when he crashed over from dummy-half next to the uprights.

Nightingale made it a hat-trick of tries in the final 10 minutes when he again touched down in the corner to help complement the Dragons' mini comeback.

Dragons forward Tariq Sims's try in the final two minutes pulled the deficit back to 10 but by then it was too little too late.

Melbourne Storm 34 (Suliasi Vunivalu 2, Josh Addo-Carr 2, Billy Slater 2 tries; Cameron Smith 5 goals) defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 22 (Jason Nightingale 3, Cameron McInnes, Tariq Sims tries; Josh Dugan goal) at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. Half-time: 22-4. Crowd: 12, 377.

http://www.dragons.com.au/news/2017/04/30/dragons_struck_down_.html

 

[Dragon Revival]

Mac Donsld is overweight and needs to slim down to increase hos speed. Both our wingers are poor with catching kicks.

 

[thebigredv]

.

 

[thebigredv]

Mac Donsld is overweight and needs to slim down to increase hos speed. Both our wingers are poor with catching kicks.

He almost beat Addo-Carr with hardly a start. Not a bad effort really.

 

[2010]

I really admire Duges but if it comes at the cost of losing Mann, Packer and Lafai then it is sad to say that we let him go.
Can never doubt his courage and still is a weapon but to lose 3 to save 1 is not a good deal