Smh Team Previews

[The Engineers Room]

In his time at Parramatta he was unconvincing and was hurting the side because him playing fullback was causing Reddy to play out of position. As soon as he left, the side looked better.

 

[macavity]

:^o

Propaganda to the last

:lol:

and your sources are...?

 

[Wicks]

Lett was out for nearly an entire season with a buckled knee in 06. He's not exactly injury free either.

Based on what I've seen from two players (and I've seen alot of Lett), Hewitt is more likely to be pushing for a first grade spot than Lett.

It's just my opinion, but one good game from lett wouldn't change my opinion of him.

Well they look to be in similar positions in terms of injury

Hewitt would have a better chance because the Broncos have had up and down results from their wingers

Dragons bought Lett on his background and known ability and they were surprised how well he went

It is not a no brainer

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Dragons bought Lett on his background and known ability

they were surprised how well he went

Slightly contrasting views don't you think?

Hewitt will play first grade this year, Lett is a slim to none chance of playing first grade.

It is a no-brainer because Lett is a career premier league player in my opinion. Hewitt I think can be a handy player in first grade. I don't think he'll be a regular starter, but he'll certainly play more grade than Lett will throughout his career.

 

[madunit]

Tigers recruitment doesn't look that flash either.

It never does.

Saying that, there was a remarkable decrease in the number of former penrith players that were signed this year by the tigers. Something is definitely not right

 

[Wicks]

:lol:

and your sources are...?

You need help to figure it out

How much :roll: less :roll: did Newcastle offer

Dragons offered a one and one contract at the same amount as Newcastle per year So one year guaranteed plus option versus three years

He is a good player and worth the punt since you had money to spend but not good enough on that kind of contract He is a starter for you but not for the Dragons We gave the money to Stanley

 

[Wicks]

Slightly contrasting views don't you think?

Hewitt will play first grade this year, Lett is a slim to none chance of playing first grade.

It is a no-brainer because Lett is a career premier league player in my opinion. Hewitt I think can be a handy player in first grade. I don't think he'll be a regular starter, but he'll certainly play more grade than Lett will throughout his career.

No that was the point of it

He played beyond current expectations and they are with him nearly every day Like that hasnt been said before :lol: They took the chance based on knowing that he represented at every junior level Brisbane took a chance based on what Hewitt did in 2005 and his connection to the club They wouldnt be impressed by anything he did in the last two years

Dragons dont have a premier league team If he stays with Brisbane the wingers wont be as strong as the Dragons and he would play during origin Hewitt can play 50 games for Brisbane and Lett only 10 for the Dragons It doesn't say anything about their relative talents You can see better wingers play fewer games because of the players in front of them

It is about a decision made in the middle of last year and how that is going right now I should have just tossed him in with the injury/personal issue group tbh

 

[The Engineers Room]

It never does.

Saying that, there was a remarkable decrease in the number of former penrith players that were signed this year by the tigers. Something is definitely not right

And where are all the ex Eels recruits this year?

 

[macavity]

He is a starter for you but not for the Dragons

:lol: :lol: :lol:

the majority of our top starting pack would walk into your starting side.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Style police put pressure on Folkes to teach young pups new tricks

February 27, 2008

WHO'S NEW: Charlie Leaneo (Dragons), Justin Tsoulos (Eels), Aaron Groom (Sea Eagles), Michael Sullivan (Warrington), Danny Williams (Roosters).

WHO'S GONE: Mark O'Meley (Roosters), Karl Filiga (Sharks), Willie Mason (Roosters), Trent Cutler (Wests Tigers), Jon Green (Dragons), Billy Ngawini (Titans), Adam Perry (retired), Brent Sherwin (Castleford).

BIGGEST QUESTION: This joint has endured too much in the off-season to boil their plight down to one burning issue. The most pressing, of course, is whether coach Steve Folkes will have a job beyond the start of winter. We're told his tenure won't hang on wins and losses but the Bulldogs' style of play. But let's theorise for a second and say they start getting regularly lapped by 30 points. Who, then, would replace him? Wayne Bennett? Steve Kearney? Mick Potter? Graham Murray? Other relevant questions include: Who will replace departing chief executive Malcolm Noad? Will Graeme Hughes place his bottom in the big chair he's always coveted? Or will it be Noad's boardroom nemesis, Ray Dib? And how many will actually turn up to Noad's farewell drinks? Seriously, the biggest question facing the Doggies in 2008 is whether the players can turn a blind eye to the bunfight in the front office. Noad asked superstar Sonny Bill Williams a few weeks ago if the off-field drama was playing on his mind. "I just play football, bruz," was his simple response. This season, SBW and his teammates will need to play football with more spirit and resilience like never before at a time of crisis.

JOB SEEKERS: Michael Sullivan escaped the NRL to play in England because he was battling a gambling addiction. With those demons exorcised after two seasons at Warrington, he has taken another punt by coming to Belmore. But he has the ability to provide some cunningness to a forward pack sans Mason and O'Meley. While Daniel Holdsworth looks to fill Sherwin's shoes at halfback, recruit Aaron Groom will push Ben Roberts for the No.6 jumper.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Young halfback Ben Barba has been compared to none less than Johnathan Thurston. (Is that why they snapped up the unproven playmaker until the end of 2010?) Bulldogs recruitment guru Keith Onslow heard about the 18-year-old working wonders in Mackay, brought him down last June, and he scored so many points in Jersey Flegg the jaws of those in attendance for those 11 matches remain on the floor. Perhaps the biggest show of faith is this: when Sherwin departed for the old Dart, they turned their eyes to Barba.

REASONS TO BE EXCITED: Well, life cannot possibly get any worse on the field than it has been off it. And hell hath no fury like a Bulldog scorned. As they have shown before at Belmore, they revel when the excrement is hitting the fan the most.

REASONS TO BE WORRIED: Make no mistake, Mason and O'Meley are huge holes to fill in a pack renowned for grinding its opposition backwards. There will be untold pressure on Chris Armit and Jarrad Hickey.

 

[Wicks]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

the majority of our top starting pack would walk into your starting side.

:crazy:

Even if that was true Houston wouldnt be in our starting side He would be an interchange player at best

Reasonably speaking I would say a three and three split

Simpson
Buderus
Ryles
Creagh
Paterson
Stanley

Good to see juniors and years of development Only Ryles and Cross debatable and we know what you will say

Either way the Dragons would have you in the next six

Cross
Young
Poore
Scott
Setu
Houston

Interesting that is two new recruits including one from the Dragons Even Cross is from one of our junior recruitment areas in Batemans Bay

 

[madunit]

And where are all the ex Eels recruits this year?

I think after the performance of one J Morris last year caused the powers to be to reconsider signing players from Parramatta.

 

[macavity]

cross
buderus
ryles
creagh
paterson
simpson

Simpson isn't a front rower. Cross is one of the best front rowers in the game. :crazy: reasonably speaking.....

bench

Houston
Stanley (just for you...)
Young
Poore / Sargent / Royal

FTR Houston carved up in the trial. seems to be improving in leaps and bounds under a real coach.

I think you will be surprised with the development of some of the "second tier" guys we have this year. they ran roughshod over a rated Warriors pack and guys like Royal, Fa'aoso and Taufua were amongst our best. bring on 08!

 

[sooperdooper]

The problem when you produce quality players under the salary cap is that other teams take them at premiums

Then you have journalists writing lists like that and the blind supporters who fall for it

No mention of the players promoted internally last year or the ones that will be promoted this year and next year No mention of shifts in salaries or shifts in roles or needs

Payne - Saffy
Wicks - Setu
Houston - Stanley
Naiqama - Nightingale
Lulia - Whare
Sims - Reynoldson
Hewitt - Lett
Leaeno - OBrien
Peek - Thorby

And you still have Webb as a utility under the salary cap The rest of those names listed in the article were signed as players outside the salary cap and Sailor will be too

your kidding...sure you guys produce alot. And let most go only to sign less capable players. You have gone from a top 2 or 3 team to being outside the 8 in no time

 

[NthKnight]

Interesting that is two new recruits including one from the Dragons Even Cross is from one of our junior recruitment areas in Batemans Bay

BB is in Canberra's junior catchment area, not Illawarra's

 

[Wicks]

cross
buderus
ryles
creagh
paterson
simpson

Simpson isn't a front rower. Cross is one of the best front rowers in the game. :crazy: reasonably speaking.....

bench

Houston
Stanley (just for you...)
Young
Poore / Sargent / Royal

FTR Houston carved up in the trial. seems to be improving in leaps and bounds under a real coach.

I think you will be surprised with the development of some of the "second tier" guys we have this year. they ran roughshod over a rated Warriors pack and guys like Royal, Fa'aoso and Taufua were amongst our best. bring on 08!

If that is the way you want to frame it I can easily put Creagh to start which is where he will end up

Cross is a one year wonder at this stage Again he will be good but you are overrating him

Simpson may be your lock but if you were putting a team together you would sacrifice Simpson or Creagh to get a Stanley or Young into the team like how Simpson is used in off the bench in origin games

Stanley is only experience away from being the best back rower in that group Dragons wouldnt swap him for anyone on the way up including Paterson

Scott is in front of Houston easily Houston is 22 and has had another offseason big deal why wouldnt he improve

Price and Swann were out but otherwise a solid pack I wouldnt be surprised They are good fringe players but not good enough for that combined team You picked up Wicks for too much because there was a major drop from Cross

I think Paterson himself would move into the front row if you had three other back rowers you wanted to start If someone like Lucas Miller stuck around Will Smith make the move with Paterson if interchanges decrease again

We will have to see how starting with bulk will go for Newcastle I think they will be underestimated and make the eight

I think the same will happen with the Dragons This season will look a lot like 2004

your kidding...sure you guys produce alot. And let most go only to sign less capable players. You have gone from a top 2 or 3 team to being outside the 8 in no time

Id like to see an argument against those selections You have just gone along with what was written and not understood how retention plays a large part and how the salary cap impacts

That is about one and half million combined for those players leaving with only two or three in our best 17 prior to last year

Every team spends a year or two out of the eight apart from Brisbane Melbourne looks to be starting a run like that one

The number of injuries to key players was the primary cause last year We may not have been a contender but we would have been a top eight team and fewer injuries would have meant being able to keep some players at cheaper prices including some outside the salary cap allowing for more depth

The question is what those players outside the salary cap will do for us if there are a number of players missing and we use over 30 players

Anyway my response shows that we have replaced those from the salary cap well and there will be another group of up and coming juniors on the way next year

 

[Wicks]

BB is in Canberra's junior catchment area, not Illawarra's

True but I said

Cross is from one of our junior recruitment areas in Batemans Bay

Dragons have players from the area and further south too and also had others go through the lower grades rather than the Raiders before moving on

I was comparing it to the first six of junior/developed players

 

[macavity]

Cross is a one year wonder at this stage Again he will be good but you are overrating him

guess we will see on that one. I think he will kill it for us.

Simpson may be your lock but if you were putting a team together you would sacrifice Simpson or Creagh to get a Stanley or Young into the team like how Simpson is used in off the bench in origin games

Simmo is one of the best backrowers in the game - as is Creigh. Would take either over Stanley or Young. I would take Pato over Stanley too.

Scott is in front of Houston easily Houston is 22 and has had another offseason big deal why wouldnt he improve

I wouldn't swap you.

I think Paterson himself would move into the front row if you had three other back rowers you wanted to start

maybe in a year or two, but at the moment a 6'6 110kg fast backrower with ball skills is just what we need. he is still growing though, by all accounts will probably end up at 115+ but has the height to pull it off.

If someone like Lucas Miller stuck around Will Smith make the move with Paterson if interchanges decrease again

Lucas Miller was terrible for us. completely wrong attitude.

FTR I think Fa'aoso is the man most likely to be a 60-70 minute prop. Pato is too valuable out wide.

We will have to see how starting with bulk will go for Newcastle I think they will be underestimated and make the eight

we have a big pack, yes, but our back row can all play 70mins and are mobile. Fa'aoso played 80 against the warriors at lock too - our weak link is going to be Wicks time-wise. I think we will be underestimated all year - and I also think we have one of the better packs (maybe top half dozen) in the comp. I expect that to be recognised mid way through the year.

For us, what is going to be the big change is that, skill aside, we are again going to have a pack that hurts blokes. other teams aren't going to want to play us, and that hasnt been the case since Chief retired. We can't wait to be honest.

I think the same will happen with the Dragons This season will look a lot like 2004

looks like 2001 to me... ;-)

 

[perverse]

looks like 2001 to me... ;-)

it does have that same vibe of uncertainty doesn't it?

i love it when people write us off

 

[macavity]

it does have that same vibe of uncertainty doesn't it?

i love it when people write us off

yup.

we were supposed to be gone without Matty, Daisy and Butts.

supposed to be gone without Joey now too....