Sack mcgregor

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Funny how the pro Mc Fookknuckle people quickly focus on the wins, then try to give it in spades to the pragmatists and happily ignore the startling facts that should be considered when evaluating the coach.

1. What answers do you have for the abysmal 15 minute defensive lapse yesterday and before you answer it consider what Melbourne would do to us if they were allowed that latitude. Yes you have to think about it because we don't play Manly every week.
2. As above but the Newcastle game.
3. Do you think those lapses are the mark of a good coach and do you think the top coaches would be pleased or would they have made changes?
4. Mary didn't select the side yesterday because of vision he was forced into a position. If Thommo and Duges were fit they would have played and Dufty would still be the forgotten man. So do you think Dufty and Host (playing big minutes) made any difference to the team and if so do you realise that only injuries gave you that outcome?
5. If Duges and Thommo are fit for next week would you select them ahead of the Dufty and Host or would you run with what obviously worked extremely well against Manly? What will you say of Mc Fookknuckle if he reverts back to Duges at the back and Thommo on the left in the starting line up?
6. Packer is obviously playing busted big time what do you think of Mc Fookknuckle continually picking him but Packer comes up short re his actual output on the paddock. No doubt he brings something to the team re his inspiration and chat but is that enough for him to be picked?
7. What do you think about us scoring tries from the very same things that Mc Fookknuckle used as excuses last year (kicks) all of a sudden they aren't an excuse they are a weapon FMD what a genius he really is.

Crush, Lizzie and a few others again expect 1 good win to wash away all the sins and still don't understand why people ask for change.
There was 20 minutes yesterday that was absolutely horrendous (and against 12 men) and sides well coached don't have that.

It took until round 20 for Dufty to be given a shot.
That in itself is unforgivable.
The fact that it worked out so well just highlights McGreogor's shortcomings rather than enhancing his reputation as a coach.

 

[Gareth67]

I mentioned last week how the Raiders went on a great roll after that loss too us in that game(2016) , hopefully we will do the same this year.

Yes St.Georgio , it will be interesting to see if yesterday's performance was only another ' flash in the pan ' or indeed the beginning of a late season revival . The players have the ability to do just that , as long they work for one another as they had in the beginning of the year .

 

[Slippery Morris]

Saints were travelling well at the start of the year when Widdop was fit. They struggled when he got injured. Last week the signs were there that they would get back to that form as Widdop looked like he may have got back to 100% as he was taking on last tackle plays more. I was wondering why the weeks before McCrone was given most of the ball on tackle 6 so it made sense.

I am not saying Mary is the best coach. No by all means but Saints have improved from last season especially in attack. And when you compare him to someone like Hasler who you were all crying for he is the better choice. Dogs are playing like Saints were last year with no change and their cattle is good. He is just stuck in his old ways and he looks to have lost the players.

Personally I think Wayne Collins and Matt Head have had a lot to do with his improvement to be honest. Collins under the tutelage of Maguire previous years must have made some input into the defence and Matt Head is highly thought of so he probably improved the attack.

I to was optimistic with Mary but surely what he has done is better than other coaches this season. Just be happy and enjoy the ride. 50 point haul. First time in a decade. Wow that includes when Wayne Bennett was coach. Can't be to upset about that.

 

[Old Timer]

Saints were travelling well at the start of the year when Widdop was fit. They struggled when he got injured. Last week the signs were there that they would get back to that form as Widdop looked like he may have got back to 100% as he was taking on last tackle plays more. I was wondering why the weeks before McCrone was given most of the ball on tackle 6 so it made sense.

I am not saying Mary is the best coach. No by all means but Saints have improved from last season especially in attack. And when you compare him to someone like Hasler who you were all crying for he is the better choice. Dogs are playing like Saints were last year with no change and their cattle is good. He is just stuck in his old ways and he looks to have lost the players.

Personally I think Wayne Collins and Matt Head have had a lot to do with his improvement to be honest. Collins under the tutelage of Maguire previous years must have made some input into the defence and Matt Head is highly thought of so he probably improved the attack.

I to was optimistic with Mary but surely what he has done is better than other coaches this season. Just be happy and enjoy the ride. 50 point haul. First time in a decade. Wow that includes when Wayne Bennett was coach. Can't be to upset about that.

By all means be happy in the moment but don't let it blind you from the truth.
Going along and enjoying the ride is not the way to real success that will only come from proper analysis and constructive criticism.
People keep talking about the coach of the year and the big improvers well IMHO Bellamy has that well and truly covered on both fronts.
He has taken an already great side and made it even greater despite the ageing of his stars and the loss of a few key players at crucial times.
That is the difference between our coach and the best coaches.
We can get odd intermittent fantastic results but we lapse and don't now how to sustain and improve them.
Bellamy is a master at squeezing all the juice out of the lemon whilst he fertilises the tree to yield more fruit.
Mc Fookknuckle knows he can piss on the tree to fertilise but he doesn't concentrate hard enough and pisses on his foot too many times for my liking.
Selections this week will tell you whether he should have worn gum boots.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Bellamy has been coach for how long and Mary for what 2 years? Bellamy has 3 future immortals and added rubbish wrestling tactics to the game. I love my Saints but love the game more and Bellamy has done more damage to the game than any other coach in the history for his own personal glory.

How good did Bellamy go in Origin for NSW without his Immortals?

As far as I am concerned he should have been booted from the game years ago like any coach would of if they brought in dirty tactics that have tarnished the game. The NFL did years ago because they had the ball$ to do so. NRL just decided to let everyone else copy the rubbish and the quality has since dropped.

 

[Objective View]

Bellamy has been coach for how long and Mary for what 2 years? Bellamy has 3 future immortals and added rubbish wrestling tactics to the game. I love my Saints but love the game more and Bellamy has done more damage to the game than any other coach in the history for his own personal glory.

How good did Bellamy go in Origin for NSW without his Immortals?

As far as I am concerned he should have been booted from the game years ago like any coach would of if they brought in dirty tactics that have tarnished the game. The NFL did years ago because they had the ball$ to do so. NRL just decided to let everyone else copy the rubbish and the quality has since dropped.

So you prefer Mary over Bellamy to coach Saints?

LMAO.

Straight Shooter

 

[Old Timer]

Bellamy has been coach for how long and Mary for what 2 years? Bellamy has 3 future immortals and added rubbish wrestling tactics to the game. I love my Saints but love the game more and Bellamy has done more damage to the game than any other coach in the history for his own personal glory.

How good did Bellamy go in Origin for NSW without his Immortals?

As far as I am concerned he should have been booted from the game years ago like any coach would of if they brought in dirty tactics that have tarnished the game. The NFL did years ago because they had the ball$ to do so. NRL just decided to let everyone else copy the rubbish and the quality has since dropped.

It's not a popularity contest so regardless of how we view Bellamy he is still highly successful and is at this time within the NRL rules (I agree much needs to be done there to clean the game up)
The 3 years argument re our coach doesn't wash with me, he has the job, gets paid the money so needs to get the results.
Im not interested in him waisting our good players whilst he learns his trade (if he is capable of doing so) which goes to the heart of the "old boys argument".
If he had been away at other clubs learning his skills and came to us well seasoned then no problems but we don't have enough balls at our club to do that.

 

[Life's Good]

So you prefer Mary over Bellamy to coach Saints?

LMAO.

Straight Shooter

Well you would say that being a Storm supporter and all

 

[Life's Good]

Bellamy has been coach for how long and Mary for what 2 years? Bellamy has 3 future immortals and added rubbish wrestling tactics to the game. I love my Saints but love the game more and Bellamy has done more damage to the game than any other coach in the history for his own personal glory.

How good did Bellamy go in Origin for NSW without his Immortals?

As far as I am concerned he should have been booted from the game years ago like any coach would of if they brought in dirty tactics that have tarnished the game. The NFL did years ago because they had the ball$ to do so. NRL just decided to let everyone else copy the rubbish and the quality has since dropped.

I was happy to see Mary get credit for our early rounds. I wasn't happy to see his contract extended before necessary mainly because I wanted to see how he reacted with a run of losses. As far as I'm concerned he didn't react too well(ultra conservative selections, continuing to select players out of form, poor use of the bench etc). That showed me he didn't learn(or was perhaps too stubborn to change).Yesterdays win great but it was more to do with a poor Manly and some individual brilliance(let's not forget Dufty wasn't getting a game but Mary's hand was forced). As for the Bellamy analogy well they weren't 'future immortals' when they started. Bellamy developed them which is something that Mary could have done with Bird but didn't see the potential or could have helped Dugan develop a passing game but hasn't.
He should still be coaching for a new contract in my eyes because all I want is the best for our club.

 

[Lizzi the dragon]

Still can't believe

Funny how the pro Mc Fookknuckle people quickly focus on the wins, then try to give it in spades to the pragmatists and happily ignore the startling facts that should be considered when evaluating the coach.

1. What answers do you have for the abysmal 15 minute defensive lapse yesterday and before you answer it consider what Melbourne would do to us if they were allowed that latitude. Yes you have to think about it because we don't play Manly every week.
2. As above but the Newcastle game.
3. Do you think those lapses are the mark of a good coach and do you think the top coaches would be pleased or would they have made changes?
4. Mary didn't select the side yesterday because of vision he was forced into a position. If Thommo and Duges were fit they would have played and Dufty would still be the forgotten man. So do you think Dufty and Host (playing big minutes) made any difference to the team and if so do you realise that only injuries gave you that outcome?
5. If Duges and Thommo are fit for next week would you select them ahead of the Dufty and Host or would you run with what obviously worked extremely well against Manly? What will you say of Mc Fookknuckle if he reverts back to Duges at the back and Thommo on the left in the starting line up?
6. Packer is obviously playing busted big time what do you think of Mc Fookknuckle continually picking him but Packer comes up short re his actual output on the paddock. No doubt he brings something to the team re his inspiration and chat but is that enough for him to be picked?
7. What do you think about us scoring tries from the very same things that Mc Fookknuckle used as excuses last year (kicks) all of a sudden they aren't an excuse they are a weapon FMD what a genius he really is.

Crush, Lizzie and a few others again expect 1 good win to wash away all the sins and still don't understand why people ask for change.
There was 20 minutes yesterday that was absolutely horrendous (and against 12 men) and sides well coached don't have that.

1 good win? A few more then that. Mary has his ups and downs as all coachs, just look at Bennett at the knights. your anger that you feel from dragons struggling since Bennett left is not Mary's fault and his helping the dragons currently turn it around. We don't have the roster to be in the eight but where there and looking like finishing the year off strong

 

[Old Timer]

1 good win? A few more then that. Mary has his ups and downs as all coachs, just look at Bennett at the knights. your anger that you feel from dragons struggling since Bennett left is not Mary's fault and his helping the dragons currently turn it around. We don't have the roster to be in the eight but where there and looking like finishing the year off strong

Prior to Sat the last 3 wins and 7 losses were all very ordinary and it was a long time ago since we had a "good win"
Your comment re my supposed anger post Bennett couldn't be further from the truth
I hold Mc Fookknuckle responsible only for the things he says and does / doesn't do.
Mc Fookknuckle got together the roster he wanted so your assertion there is crap
The roster is good enough but the coach lacks skills in important areas as is evidenced by the leaking of big points in short periods and losing close games to shit sides
We might indeed make the 8 but we were in the top 4 for a long time and we didn't go on with it when it mattered most

 

[Spudd]

Did he run over your cat?

 

[giboz71]

Widdop getting hurt, McCrone living up to his NSW cup form, Packer and Duges signing elsewhere and the Origin period in general when both Duges, Friz and even JDB had their minds elsewhere (and seemed to be saving themselves for NSW, as per the Titans game).

All this disrupted our great start, but hopefully we've still put ourselves in a position to make a run for the semis with a decent draw. I'm hoping we win 4/6 which puts us on 32 points and well in the 8.

From there anything can happen. Melbourne is the only team I fear.

 

[MilanDragon]

Funny how the pro Mc Fookknuckle people quickly focus on the wins, then try to give it in spades to the pragmatists and happily ignore the startling facts that should be considered when evaluating the coach.

1. What answers do you have for the abysmal 15 minute defensive lapse yesterday and before you answer it consider what Melbourne would do to us if they were allowed that latitude. Yes you have to think about it because we don't play Manly every week.
2. As above but the Newcastle game.
3. Do you think those lapses are the mark of a good coach and do you think the top coaches would be pleased or would they have made changes?
4. Mary didn't select the side yesterday because of vision he was forced into a position. If Thommo and Duges were fit they would have played and Dufty would still be the forgotten man. So do you think Dufty and Host (playing big minutes) made any difference to the team and if so do you realise that only injuries gave you that outcome?
5. If Duges and Thommo are fit for next week would you select them ahead of the Dufty and Host or would you run with what obviously worked extremely well against Manly? What will you say of Mc Fookknuckle if he reverts back to Duges at the back and Thommo on the left in the starting line up?
6. Packer is obviously playing busted big time what do you think of Mc Fookknuckle continually picking him but Packer comes up short re his actual output on the paddock. No doubt he brings something to the team re his inspiration and chat but is that enough for him to be picked?
7. What do you think about us scoring tries from the very same things that Mc Fookknuckle used as excuses last year (kicks) all of a sudden they aren't an excuse they are a weapon FMD what a genius he really is.

Crush, Lizzie and a few others again expect 1 good win to wash away all the sins and still don't understand why people ask for change.
There was 20 minutes yesterday that was absolutely horrendous (and against 12 men) and sides well coached don't have that.

Firstly, let me begin by saying yes I'm a glass half-full kind of person but I don't have blinkers on.

1) lapses like that are definitely not acceptable, especially if it's a regular occurrence (knights game too). But I'm actually certain that every other club in the comp has had a defensive lapse at some point this season. I'm more interested in how we responded to the defensive lapse.. and that was by scoring another 22 unanswered points against a top 4 side.

2) covered above. But agree not acceptable to be a consistent problem.

3) I believe every coach, especially top ones would've made changes. McGregor actually made a change after their 3rd try, where Vaughan came on for Packer and he himself scored about 5-7 minutes later. Good change.

4) a lot of players get their first game through injury rather than having your International fit. McGregor could've easily gone with Nighty at the back and Mann on the wing with Dufty at 17. The fact he didn't either means one of two things - he learnt. Or he knew he had given Dufty enough time in NSW cup that he'd now be ready to step up straight into the starting side. The host point I'm not fussed on, he is a bench player for us and steps up when a starting forward is out. Mary hasn't been good at blooding backs, but he has actually done well with the forwards.

5) let's find out in about 20 hours.

6) if Thommo is fit, why not let Packer have a break. But possibly like many other players he is able to play through injury or even refuses to be benched.

7) maybe he has learnt? Or is improving his game plans.

 

[Old Timer]

Did he run over your cat?

No but he coached us to 7 losses in 10 games and some of those were against absolute shit teams.
If you think 1 win washes that aside good luck to you.

 

[Objective View]

Mary has his ups and downs

That's why he's f#cked, so to speak.

Straight Shooter

 

[Objective View]

but I don't have blinkers on

Ummm, yes you do. Clearly no insight.

Straight Shooter

 

[MilanDragon]

Ummm, yes you do. Clearly no insight.

Straight Shooter

I actually answered each of his points, just that I answered them from a positive/optimistic point rather than your pessimistic point.

Anyways I'd rather have (according to you) no insight but a positive outlook to life rather than always looking for a negative.

Anyway the only point you could pick on from my whole comment was the personal part about me, rather than anything footy related? Well done champ - so much more insightful reading your posts.

Sharp shooter

 

[Gareth67]

Widdop getting hurt, McCrone living up to his NSW cup form, Packer and Duges signing elsewhere and the Origin period in general when both Duges, Friz and even JDB had their minds elsewhere (and seemed to be saving themselves for NSW, as per the Titans game).

All this disrupted our great start, but hopefully we've still put ourselves in a position to make a run for the semis with a decent draw. I'm hoping we win 4/6 which puts us on 32 points and well in the 8.

From there anything can happen. Melbourne is the only team I fear.

I truly hope so giboz 71 , I really do . Myself , I can see us getting away with the Knights
( but on their home ground I can only imagine them to put up an even more spirited fight )
The Titans also have their sights on a semi birth and will make the Dragons earn a win the hard way . Souths is the game that will make or break us - if we cannot beat them , I cannot see us beating anyone else , imo .

 

[Spudd]

No but he coached us to 7 losses in 10 games and some of those were against absolute shit teams.
If you think 1 win washes that aside good luck to you.

No. One win doesn't negate the rest of the rubbish. Don't jump to conclusions.
I'm no fan of McGregor. But we've got him. Who would you prefer in charge?