Round 9 vs Dogs

[blacksafake]

I thought it was funny how we got pinned for escort penalty from random when that happens every tine every game
Disagree with concerns re injuries, faster game and getting rid of mongrel
heading back to a normal balance of players whereas in recent years it was far outweighed by the bigger mongrel players you speak of.
Look how scarce good backs have become

I thought it also funny how by Round 9 the play the ball crack down no longer matters... again

Agree
All the “tough” talk about clamping down is just that, “Talk”.
I may be wrong but only one person has been binned for repeated six agains & surprise, surprise it was Sims against the eels.
I’m happy for any ruck or offside when bringing the ball out from your own half being a penalty & if in oppositions half play on.

 

[Slippery Morris]

That was a really bad 1st half of footy. I don;t think I will ever see worse? Actually if I Watch most games under the Steve Price reign, I will find plenty.

Key take outs for me:-

1. How good was it to see the 3 juniors play. They look really good. Saints have a good future ahead with Amone, Sullivan, Feagai x 2, Ramsey, Lomax and Dufty as the local juniors coming through in the backs. Saints do not need to waste and cash on a back that is for sure as they will need to have the cash in reserve to lock these guys up. I feel like Amone has a bit of RTS about him. His build and his quick feet. I like this kid. Worried about the Feagai twins playing against the Scum as they will try and break these twins up as well and offer ridiculous money to one so he can leave his brother. Yep, the family club.

2. I have bagged the bunker delux but that try to Vaughn was a top call. Not because it was Saints but the Dogs player was clearly milking it. He could have tackled Vaughn but was looking for obstruction. Lots of players try and milk these type of calls, maybe they may think twice now. Also, the guy that was in the bunker in the Roosters game (Chiddy) who was dropped is the guy that has given the Saints the bad calls so glad he was finally caught out. Now we know he is a Parra fan. How was that not a sinbin at lease. Poor Hutch. He was in all sorts. That looked so painful that my own ribs hurt watching it.

3. Billy Burns and Tyrell did ok in the centres. Burns played more centre than backrow poor bloke. Not sure they can get away with it against Storm though. Good to have Rava back this week. Maybe try him at centre.

4. Maguires late hit in the last 30 seconds of the game. That was so silly. There was nothing doing. Hopefully he can get off as he was already committed and could not pull out of it. Saints need him for the Storm game.

5. Ben Hunt back to his best and the team morale looks so good out there. When Amone scored it was like they won the GF. Great to see.

Saints have a good run in the next 6 games apart from Storm. They can win 5 of those if they aim up and get to 20points by round to cement a top 8 spot before they play the big guns. They now have a 2pt buffer and hand +/- to keep them in the 8 after the storm game if they lose that. The players just need to play decent footy and they will make the 8. Hopefully the Tigers game will be a good reminder of how they cannot afford to go in cocky.

 

[TruSaint]

That was a really bad 1st half of footy. I don;t think I will ever see worse? Actually if I Watch most games under the Steve Price reign, I will find plenty.

Key take outs for me:-

1. How good was it to see the 3 juniors play. They look really good. Saints have a good future ahead with Amone, Sullivan, Feagai x 2, Ramsey, Lomax and Dufty as the local juniors coming through in the backs. Saints do not need to waste and cash on a back that is for sure as they will need to have the cash in reserve to lock these guys up. I feel like Amone has a bit of RTS about him. His build and his quick feet. I like this kid. Worried about the Feagai twins playing against the Scum as they will try and break these twins up as well and offer ridiculous money to one so he can leave his brother. Yep, the family club.

2. I have bagged the bunker delux but that try to Vaughn was a top call. Not because it was Saints but the Dogs player was clearly milking it. He could have tackled Vaughn but was looking for obstruction. Lots of players try and milk these type of calls, maybe they may think twice now. Also, the guy that was in the bunker in the Roosters game (Chiddy) who was dropped is the guy that has given the Saints the bad calls so glad he was finally caught out. Now we know he is a Parra fan. How was that not a sinbin at lease. Poor Hutch. He was in all sorts. That looked so painful that my own ribs hurt watching it.

3. Billy Burns and Tyrell did ok in the centres. Burns played more centre than backrow poor bloke. Not sure they can get away with it against Storm though. Good to have Rava back this week. Maybe try him at centre.

4. Maguires late hit in the last 30 seconds of the game. That was so silly. There was nothing doing. Hopefully he can get off as he was already committed and could not pull out of it. Saints need him for the Storm game.

5. Ben Hunt back to his best and the team morale looks so good out there. When Amone scored it was like they won the GF. Great to see.

Saints have a good run in the next 6 games apart from Storm. They can win 5 of those if they aim up and get to 20points by round to cement a top 8 spot before they play the big guns. They now have a 2pt buffer and hand +/- to keep them in the 8 after the storm game if they lose that. The players just need to play decent footy and they will make the 8. Hopefully the Tigers game will be a good reminder of how they cannot afford to go in cocky.

Nice summary Slip.

 

[jeffdragon]

Vaughan and mcguire fined for tackles in game.
No suspensions.

 

[Dragonsteve2]

That was a really bad 1st half of footy. I don;t think I will ever see worse? Actually if I Watch most games under the Steve Price reign, I will find plenty.

Key take outs for me:-

1. How good was it to see the 3 juniors play. They look really good. Saints have a good future ahead with Amone, Sullivan, Feagai x 2, Ramsey, Lomax and Dufty as the local juniors coming through in the backs. Saints do not need to waste and cash on a back that is for sure as they will need to have the cash in reserve to lock these guys up. I feel like Amone has a bit of RTS about him. His build and his quick feet. I like this kid. Worried about the Feagai twins playing against the Scum as they will try and break these twins up as well and offer ridiculous money to one so he can leave his brother. Yep, the family club.

2. I have bagged the bunker delux but that try to Vaughn was a top call. Not because it was Saints but the Dogs player was clearly milking it. He could have tackled Vaughn but was looking for obstruction. Lots of players try and milk these type of calls, maybe they may think twice now. Also, the guy that was in the bunker in the Roosters game (Chiddy) who was dropped is the guy that has given the Saints the bad calls so glad he was finally caught out. Now we know he is a Parra fan. How was that not a sinbin at lease. Poor Hutch. He was in all sorts. That looked so painful that my own ribs hurt watching it.

3. Billy Burns and Tyrell did ok in the centres. Burns played more centre than backrow poor bloke. Not sure they can get away with it against Storm though. Good to have Rava back this week. Maybe try him at centre.

4. Maguires late hit in the last 30 seconds of the game. That was so silly. There was nothing doing. Hopefully he can get off as he was already committed and could not pull out of it. Saints need him for the Storm game.

5. Ben Hunt back to his best and the team morale looks so good out there. When Amone scored it was like they won the GF. Great to see.

Saints have a good run in the next 6 games apart from Storm. They can win 5 of those if they aim up and get to 20points by round to cement a top 8 spot before they play the big guns. They now have a 2pt buffer and hand +/- to keep them in the 8 after the storm game if they lose that. The players just need to play decent footy and they will make the 8. Hopefully the Tigers game will be a good reminder of how they cannot afford to go in cocky.

Well stated, Slippery!
I enjoyed my arvo of footy at Jubilee. Reserves hanging on for only their 2nd win of the season was a good start but particularly pleasing with so many youngsters on display - Schiller, Sloan, Sherab, Coric and Shalom. I will be interested to see whether Jayden Hunt picks up a contract. He seems to do the hard work each week and made a great break yesterday only to try to beat the fullback himself rather than giving a flying Sloan(?) a clear path to the try line. Good to see Billy Britain getting through the last hour of the game and appearing unscathed.

As far as the NRL side goes I can cope with a disappointing first half if the boys run in five 2nd half tries even against the bottom team. While the ball being dropped regularly in the first half was irritating I was enjoying watching the two Feagais playing their first and fourth games, Fui filling in strongly at centre and the continued development of Lawrie with some punishing tackles. Very impressed with the Feagais under the high ball and their ability to make tackles, maybe benefiting from working with newly official Legend, Jason Nightingale. Nice passage of play late in the game with Lawrie offloading to Burns and Dufty powering through. Some good signs for the future.

Great to see Amone having some nice touches in his 15 mins. What a turnaround from Mary - a 19 yr playing an NRL game having not played a Flegg or NSW Cup game (I know he played a couple of trials). I have never heard of that at any club. Nice to have a coach who will give youth a go rather than going to great lengths to find alternatives. Appalling to think back to Lomax being given 5 minutes late in games. I have no doubt Mary has delayed the growth of Dufty, Lomax and others no longer at the club such as Garrick, Host and Leilua.

Sad to see Mat Feagai injured late. But this was not enough to upset his Dad who was still all smiles at full-time, a humble man obviously very proud of his boys' performances. The Amone and Feagai clans with their friends appeared to take up one big corner of the outer ground.

There will be some tough weeks ahead this season especially next Sunday but things are looking up for the next few years.

 

[kit66]

That was a really bad 1st half of footy. I don;t think I will ever see worse? Actually if I Watch most games under the Steve Price reign, I will find plenty.

Key take outs for me:-

the Storm game.

5. Ben Hunt back to his best and the team morale looks so good out there. When Amone scored it was like they won the GF. Great to see.

Saints have a good run in the next 6 games apart from Storm. They can win 5 of those if they aim up and get to 20points by round to cement a top 8 spot before they play the big guns. They now have a 2pt buffer and hand +/- to keep them in the 8 after the storm game if they lose that. The players just need to play decent footy and they will make the 8. Hopefully the Tigers game will be a good reminder of how they cannot afford to go in cocky.

About 20 minutes in I remember thinking " is Hunt playing today ", I didn't see him do anything, I had to strain my eyes to find him. He may have improved slightly in the 2nd half but his 3 halves of footy before that were well below what's expected of a marquee player. Clune has arguably been more dangerous in attack this year than Hunt. I'm really disappointed in him.

 

[st.phil]

About 20 minutes in I remember thinking " is Hunt playing today ", I didn't see him do anything, I had to strain my eyes to find him. He may have improved slightly in the 2nd half but his 3 halves of footy before that were well below what's expected of a marquee player. Clune has arguably been more dangerous in attack this year than Hunt. I'm really disappointed in him.

wow - really goes to show how different eyes see different things. When clune is there - I cant see us scoring and am almost shocked when we do. Great back up but he is not a playmaker. With Hunt - we actually have a playmaker who can setup tries as well as challenge the line. He broke the game open in the second half yday IMO.

 

[Spazer]

Apart from the intercept pass I thought Hunt played okay, Norman too, their running game was good and got us on the front foot for some of our tries.

I loved Norman screaming at Tariq to "run into the f**king hole" right before Matts try.

 

[George Sancti]

Well stated, Slippery!
I enjoyed my arvo of footy at Jubilee. Reserves hanging on for only their 2nd win of the season was a good start but particularly pleasing with so many youngsters on display - Schiller, Sloan, Sherab, Coric and Shalom. I will be interested to see whether Jayden Hunt picks up a contract. He seems to do the hard work each week and made a great break yesterday only to try to beat the fullback himself rather than giving a flying Sloan(?) a clear path to the try line. Good to see Billy Britain getting through the last hour of the game and appearing unscathed.

As far as the NRL side goes I can cope with a disappointing first half if the boys run in five 2nd half tries even against the bottom team. While the ball being dropped regularly in the first half was irritating I was enjoying watching the two Feagais playing their first and fourth games, Fui filling in strongly at centre and the continued development of Lawrie with some punishing tackles. Very impressed with the Feagais under the high ball and their ability to make tackles, maybe benefiting from working with newly official Legend, Jason Nightingale. Nice passage of play late in the game with Lawrie offloading to Burns and Dufty powering through. Some good signs for the future.

Great to see Amone having some nice touches in his 15 mins. What a turnaround from Mary - a 19 yr playing an NRL game having not played a Flegg or NSW Cup game (I know he played a couple of trials). I have never heard of that at any club. Nice to have a coach who will give youth a go rather than going to great lengths to find alternatives. Appalling to think back to Lomax being given 5 minutes late in games. I have no doubt Mary has delayed the growth of Dufty, Lomax and others no longer at the club such as Garrick, Host and Leilua.

Sad to see Mat Feagai injured late. But this was not enough to upset his Dad who was still all smiles at full-time, a humble man obviously very proud of his boys' performances. The Amone and Feagai clans with their friends appeared to take up one big corner of the outer ground.

There will be some tough weeks ahead this season especially next Sunday but things are looking up for the next few years.

Tremendous account of the afternoon Dragonsteve2. You have reminded me of days gone by and the enjoyment of when I was able to get to the games. I hope you find the time to provide a similar precis on future games.

 

[Gareth67]

Im happy for it to go back to how it was ..... This 6 again is ruining the game in my opinion ..... Half the time you don't know what the 6 again is for , Seems to be more injuries as the game gets faster , the DNA of players will change the players with a bit of Mungel will be phased out ..... Forwards will become faster leaner it will be like having backs as fowards ......

Yes Ghostrider , it appears that nothing truly changes with those chaps , as in years gone past there is usually 1 or 2 who have a team that they apply the rules to the letter of the law , yet with others they will allow to get away with anything .

 

[kit66]

wow - really goes to show how different eyes see different things. When clune is there - I cant see us scoring and am almost shocked when we do. Great back up but he is not a playmaker. With Hunt - we actually have a playmaker who can setup tries as well as challenge the line. He broke the game open in the second half yday IMO.

Well there's the stats at NRL.com where your eyes will see the same as everyone elses and those stats show the following : Clune is marginally behind Hunt in areas like try assists, linebreak assists and line engaged, though not by much and some of that is due to McCullough and Norman being less likely to involve Clune or pass to him. Clune is the better defender, makes less errors and is the best at the Dragons for " player in support " ( the only Dragon in the top 50 - at 11th ). Both have played 5 games so look at the averages of each category. On top of that Clune is ahead of Norman in everything but kicking.
Hunt is on a million and Clune is on sweet f.a so it comes down to expectation and getting your money's worth. As I said Hunt is letting us down big time and we've a right to be disappointed in that.

I'm not saying I want Clune playing in the 7, just saying Hunt needs to earn his fkn money. And, sorry, a one armed, cross eyed midget could have broken the game open yesterday and should have been doing it from the 5 minute mark.
No offence to you st.phil, obviously I'm not a happy man atm.

 

[LINESPEED]

Yes Ghostrider , it appears that nothing truly changes with those chaps , as in years gone past there is usually 1 or 2 who have a team that they apply the rules to the letter of the law , yet with others they will allow to get away with anything .

I remember Dad had it in for Col Pearce - reckoning he had it in for the Dragons.
I remember scrum penalties seemed to be his specialty.
His first grandfinal in’55,
then he officiated from ‘64-‘68.

These days a ref could find an offside penalty in nearly every play if they so desired.

A tough job nevertheless

 

[boardlumps62]

Dufty scored 2 tries I believe. He was switched on the ball just doesn't get to him when he is in space. There was another missed chances. He didn't drop a ball from memory.

 

[Gareth67]

I remember Dad had it in for Col Pearce - reckoning he had it in for the Dragons.
I remember scrum penalties seemed to be his specialty.
His first grandfinal in’55,
then he officiated from ‘64-‘68.

These days a ref could find an offside penalty in nearly every play if they so desired.

A tough job nevertheless

I didn’t mind him , he seemed to be impartial , but perhaps earlier in the piece - the late 50’s , when he was earning his spurs he may had been as your dad said .

Still I would much rather have those men in white from those years referring the games, then the knuckleheads of today .

 

[Inisai Toga]

I remember Dad had it in for Col Pearce - reckoning he had it in for the Dragons.
I remember scrum penalties seemed to be his specialty.
His first grandfinal in’55,
then he officiated from ‘64-‘68.

These days a ref could find an offside penalty in nearly every play if they so desired.

A tough job nevertheless

He wouldn’t have been happy in the ‘67 Final then; by his own admission Pearce should have penalised Les John’s in the final minutes in front of the Sheridan Stand posts that would have made it 13-12 to Saints and into our 12th consecutive Grand Final.

 

[st.phil]

Well there's the stats at NRL.com where your eyes will see the same as everyone elses and those stats show the following : Clune is marginally behind Hunt in areas like try assists, linebreak assists and line engaged, though not by much and some of that is due to McCullough and Norman being less likely to involve Clune or pass to him. Clune is the better defender, makes less errors and is the best at the Dragons for " player in support " ( the only Dragon in the top 50 - at 11th ). Both have played 5 games so look at the averages of each category. On top of that Clune is ahead of Norman in everything but kicking.
Hunt is on a million and Clune is on sweet f.a so it comes down to expectation and getting your money's worth. As I said Hunt is letting us down big time and we've a right to be disappointed in that.

I'm not saying I want Clune playing in the 7, just saying Hunt needs to earn his fkn money. And, sorry, a one armed, cross eyed midget could have broken the game open yesterday and should have been doing it from the 5 minute mark.
No offence to you st.phil, obviously I'm not a happy man atm.

Lol at clune a better defender. Your stat analysis is pretty limp, small sample and hunt was on top of comp for try assists b4 injury. I’m
Not saying he’s perfect but the comparison to clune is laughable

 

[Crush]

About 20 minutes in I remember thinking " is Hunt playing today ", I didn't see him do anything, I had to strain my eyes to find him. He may have improved slightly in the 2nd half but his 3 halves of footy before that were well below what's expected of a marquee player. Clune has arguably been more dangerous in attack this year than Hunt. I'm really disappointed in him.

I thought the same thing after 20 minutes, where was Hunt?
I have to disagree with your second half assessment though, I thought Hunt was excellent. Once the ball started going to Hunt and not Norman we looked so much more dangerous.
Having said that, the bulldogs are absolutely cooked. They won’t win many more games this year.

 

[st.phil]

Well there's the stats at NRL.com where your eyes will see the same as everyone elses and those stats show the following : Clune is marginally behind Hunt in areas like try assists, linebreak assists and line engaged, though not by much and some of that is due to McCullough and Norman being less likely to involve Clune or pass to him. Clune is the better defender, makes less errors and is the best at the Dragons for " player in support " ( the only Dragon in the top 50 - at 11th ). Both have played 5 games so look at the averages of each category. On top of that Clune is ahead of Norman in everything but kicking.
Hunt is on a million and Clune is on sweet f.a so it comes down to expectation and getting your money's worth. As I said Hunt is letting us down big time and we've a right to be disappointed in that.

I'm not saying I want Clune playing in the 7, just saying Hunt needs to earn his fkn money. And, sorry, a one armed, cross eyed midget could have broken the game open yesterday and should have been doing it from the 5 minute mark.
No offence to you st.phil, obviously I'm not a happy man atm.

“Letting us down” ,ridiculous. He leaves nothing out there and is leading from the front as captain , played for 30 mins on a broken leg ffs.

 

[redv13]

I thought the same thing after 20 minutes, where was Hunt?
I have to disagree with your second half assessment though, I thought Hunt was excellent. Once the ball started going to Hunt and not Norman we looked so much more dangerous.
Having said that, the bulldogs are absolutely cooked. They won’t win many more games this year.

Hunt 2nd half was a big step towards where he was pre injury. Encouraging signs in the 2nd 40 for BH

 

[kit66]

Lol at clune a better defender. Your stat analysis is pretty limp, small sample and hunt was on top of comp for try assists b4 injury. I’m
Not saying he’s perfect but the comparison to clune is laughable

The comparison is only to show that Hunt isn't performing as well as he should be, simple and the stats show Clune's superior defence, it's not merely my opinion.

Hunt's performance in the 2nd half against the worst Bulldogs team in half a century wasn't that great either considering the dogs had lost Allen, Flanagan and Lewis and also Hopoate in the bin for 10. Have a look at the hospital passes, poor kicks and a very stupid intercept he gave Meaney. He's a long way from his best and needs to improve.