Team for the Broncos Game

[Slippery Morris]

If they did not sign up Keating, Rose, Henry and Nielsen they could have kept Bird by giving him the cash they gave those 4. Oh well, Saints are not the only club to make this mistake that is for sure. Thurston anyone?

Give a 20 year old untried player big dollars or use it to bring in 3 guys that have played in a Grand Final or Origin game. How were they to know they would end up being duds.

Bird was impatient and wanted a crack in the NRL quicker than what Saints were prepared to offer him. He could be the next Barba, Tim Smith, etc. 2nd year syndrome might hit like it did those 2.

 

[bottle]

You can't ditch 4 from your top 25 and sign 1.
You have to sign 4. If one of the ones you ditch isn't from your top 25 you can't use that money to sign someone to your top 25 anyway.
It's been this way for yonks now.

 

[Cagey Mac]

No I wouldn't.

I'm just questioning our strategy on who our back up halves should be. It's a no brainer to give the gig to Hutch or Crook, otherwise, what are they doing here? Are they not part of the succession plan?

I would have thought the decision not to retain Williams, Henry or Bird meant that we had complete faith in Hutch or Crook.

If we're now thinking about putting a winger and backrower (Farrell and Marketo) who are both fringe first graders, or a player that normally plays lock or prop (De Belin) in such a key postion, I am seriously questioning our roster management.

They may have a future at the club but they're kids really and will need time to develop
Not many NYC players come straight into NRL and those that do often struggle.

And Red I don't think Bird would cut it in the pack playing as a full-time NRL forward be it a lock or whatever at this time. Maybe he could have been guaranteed a bench, Marketo style role. Actually that would have been kinda cool.

 

[watatank]

No I wouldn't.

I'm just questioning our strategy on who our back up halves should be. It's a no brainer to give the gig to Hutch or Crook, otherwise, what are they doing here? Are they not part of the succession plan?

I would have thought the decision not to retain Williams, Henry or Bird meant that we had complete faith in Hutch or Crook.

If we're now thinking about putting a winger and backrower (Farrell and Marketo) who are both fringe first graders, or a player that normally plays lock or prop (De Belin) in such a key postion, I am seriously questioning our roster management.

I agree with the point you are trying to make but we haven't established that those wingers and backrowers are actually the backup plan. Hutchison has played the only game Marshall has missed so far this season, so I'd imagine he would get another chance. Marshall might still play, who knows? Time will tell.

 

[giboz71]

I agree with the point you are trying to make but we haven't established that those wingers and backrowers are actually the backup plan. Hutchison has played the only game Marshall has missed so far this season, so I'd imagine he would get another chance. Marshall might still play, who knows? Time will tell.

Mate I hope so. Despite the speculation, I fully expect Hutch to slot in if Benji can't go despite the speculation.

I can't imagine Mary and co planned to slot in Farrell, Marketo or De Belin in the event that one of our halves went down. If they did, then we have problems.

Think back to the Cowboys game where we were favoured to win as their star halves were playing Origin. In steps Lui and Thompson who outplay our starting halves.

Cowboys have the best starting halves in the game and they have ready made back ups. Don't see why we should resort to back rowers and wingers.

 

[Jubileeboy]

You can't ditch 4 from your top 25 and sign 1.
You have to sign 4. If one of the ones you ditch isn't from your top 25 you can't use that money to sign someone to your top 25 anyway.
It's been this way for yonks now.

Exactly.

 

[watatank]

You can't ditch 4 from your top 25 and sign 1.
You have to sign 4. If one of the ones you ditch isn't from your top 25 you can't use that money to sign someone to your top 25 anyway.
It's been this way for yonks now.

I doubt any of those players mentioned are in the top 25.

 

[Jubileeboy]

I doubt any of those players mentioned are in the top 25.

Rose and Neilsen were both in top 25 ?

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Lets hope this stat keeps going......A Bronco team coached by Bennett hasn't beaten the Dragons in 10 years

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Who exactly makes up the top 25 is anybody's guess. The dragons website actually lists 32 players for the nrl squad. I do recall you have your top 25, as per salary cap, minimum wage around 80k, then they must have a second tier group of players that does not count towards salary cap.

http://www.dragons.com.au/team/player-profiles.html

 

[bottle]

I doubt any of those players mentioned are in the top 25.

Seriously?
Rose and Nielsen?
In any event, the point is still valid. You can't ditch four from your second tier to give more money to someone you want in your top 25. The salary cap doesn't work that way.
After all this time it's still a mystery bag to some.

 

[watatank]

Fair call. To be honest I forgot about Nielsen and while I have never really rated Rose as that standard of player it's fair to say that he would have been signed as such if for no other reason than to save money.

 

[since77]

Lets hope this stat keeps going......A Bronco team coached by Bennett hasn't beaten the Dragons in 10 years

last round 2014 vs Newcastle?

 

[rainman44]

last round 2014 vs Newcastle?

A Broncos team

 

[Willow]

Got a few tickets for this game and it looks like we have one left over. Free to anyone who wants it, PM me and we'll arrange the handover. In Bay 318.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

I think if our forwards can hold their own we can get away with this one....biggest danger for us imo is Adam Blair...shame hes back this week..he always seems to get their forwards rolling...still if we are to be in the finals we have to beat these top teams at some stage....

 

[getsmarty]

McGregor wary as Dragons take on Broncos

By MITCH JENNINGS

Aug. 13, 2015, 8:03 p.m.



RUGBY LEAGUE
Dragons coach Paul McGregor refuses to believe the Broncos are on a downward slide ahead of a potentially season-defining showdown with the competition front-runners in Brisbane on Friday.
Joint competition leaders after 12 rounds, the Dragons and Broncos have endured vastly different fortunes over the latter half of the season.
The Broncos shot four points clear at the top of the ladder on the back of six straight wins before two straight losses brought them back to the field heading into Friday's encounter.
The Dragons, due in part to a horror run of injuries and suspensions, tumbled to seven straight losses and momentarily dropped out of the top eight before wins over the Knights and Warriors put their season back on track.
The Dragons won their first game in nine starts against their old rivals at Kogarah in round seven but haven't managed a pair of wins against the Broncos in a season since 2008.
Wayne Bennett's men will be desperate to avoid a third straight loss but McGregor said that hasn't factored into his side's thinking.
"It doesn't come into my concerns as far as what I can control," McGregor said.
"What they've done the last two weeks is out of our control what we do tomorrow night is in our control.
"Certainly I know a dangerous Brisbane side is a side that's been beaten. They don't get beaten often that's why they're winning the competition. They've got a quality coach and quality players.
"We did get a victory in a tight one in Sydney [in round seven] but the return game here has nothing to do with that.
"It's a completely different week in a year and completely different circumstances.
"Brisbane's start to the game is always really good, they blow teams away early so we've got to be ready for that and we've got to more than match their intensity early in the game and maintain that for 80 minutes."
Broncos skipper Justin Hodges is a notable omission.
McGregor said a victory over Brisbane - the second of back-to-back road games - would be huge boost to the Dragons finals hopes.
"It's the pointy end of the season and every game from here on in is very important," McGregor said.
"We've got to turn into a six-day turnaround into Penrith on Thursday night and then we finish with the Titans and the Tigers.
"Every game's important now because we need to win four of our last six."


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/3278682/dragons-moment-of-truth/?cs=302

 

[Vasilevsky]

The way I saw JDB and Marketo defend on that right edge last week, in comparison to Marshall and Matatiua, wow, what a difference. And Matatuia and Aitken seemed to form a bit of a combo on that left edge as well.

Mary needs to go with what worked last week IMO.

P.S. JDB, even if not playing 5/8, is no longer a bench player. He needs to start.

Whether he starts or not probably won't affect the minutes he plays. He will be in the middle, running hard, tackling hard and showing some skill with offloads and ball playing for about 60min barring any injuries.

 

[BlackDuckSaint]

St George Illawarra Dragons Head Coach Paul McGregor has finalised his line-up ahead of the fixture against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane on Friday.

Dragons halfback Benji Marshall has been omitted from the fixture having failed to overcome a minor hamstring strain with prop Jack de Belin shifting to partner five-eighth Gareth Widdop in the halves.

Furthermore, fellow prop Trent Merrin has been elevated to the starting forward-pack in lieu of captain Ben Creagh who reverts to the interchange alongside hooker Craig Garvey, utility Drew Hutchison and prop Mark Ioane.

1. Josh Dugan
2. Nathan Green
3. Euan Aitken
4. Peter Mata'utia
5. Justin Hunt
6. Gareth Widdop
17. Jack de Belin
8. Leeson Ah Mau
9. Mitch Rein
15. Trent Merrin
11. Tyson Frizell
12. Joel Thompson
13. Mike Cooper
14. Craig Garvey
10. Ben Creagh (c)
18. Drew Hutchison
20. Mark Ioane

 

[STGI]

How could carry 2 ball players on the bench against the big broncos pack