The Rumours Thread

[TheRev]

Agreed.. I always thought it was obvious.. but the Dolphins game rammed it home.. our roster is not 1st grade standard.. these guys the dolphins starting pack plus those that they casually bringing off the bench are origin or recently rep standard.. its not even the same spectrum as what we are dishing up.. guys like Wallace, Bromwichx2, Nicholls, Kaufusi, Stone, Gilbert.. all of those guys could wear a rep jersey and do a job, and then throw in some up and comers..

We are walking in with FMolo, JDB, Su'a.. thats it in terms of quality.. Lawrie/Musgrove/Bird are 1st graders, and then its off a cliff.. compounded by how slowly our young forwards come thru.. the gap is so large that give ourselves almost no chance of competing even with the best coaching.. I couldnt believe we didnt sign a David Fifita or some 700-900k level forward after last season when we let Sims & Maguire go.. and I think we tried.. we should have had 2 of em come in.. but we ended up settling on BMM for 1 of those spots.. but we need real forwards.

Coric its the one you were thinking of btw, still a chance, props develop late.. but id put him more in the lawrie mould.. short but heart galore... and given the years burnt with covid and injury.. I think hes a 'project' to work with.. good club man, but its someone you could rely on for 2024/2025.

 

[Mojo]

Always good to have a greek in your team. I hope he makes it to NRL. We need these passionate players that bleed red and white.

Plus he and his old man can concrete your driveway; mates rates, cash only - ok?

 

[BLM01]

Agreed.. I always thought it was obvious.. but the Dolphins game rammed it home.. our roster is not 1st grade standard.. these guys the dolphins starting pack plus those that they casually bringing off the bench are origin or recently rep standard.. its not even the same spectrum as what we are dishing up.. guys like Wallace, Bromwichx2, Nicholls, Kaufusi, Stone, Gilbert.. all of those guys could wear a rep jersey and do a job, and then throw in some up and comers..

We are walking in with FMolo, JDB, Su'a.. thats it in terms of quality.. Lawrie/Musgrove/Bird are 1st graders, and then its off a cliff.. compounded by how slowly our young forwards come thru.. the gap is so large that give ourselves almost no chance of competing even with the best coaching.. I couldnt believe we didnt sign a David Fifita or some 700-900k level forward after last season when we let Sims & Maguire go.. and I think we tried.. we should have had 2 of em come in.. but we ended up settling on BMM for 1 of those spots.. but we need real forwards.

Coric its the one you were thinking of btw, still a chance, props develop late.. but id put him more in the lawrie mould.. short but heart galore... and given the years burnt with covid and injury.. I think hes a 'project' to work with.. good club man, but its someone you could rely on for 2024/2025.

You forgot Hunt and Lomax and I think Liddle is better than what we have had for a few years especially if you rate Musgrove as a 1st grader which I dont. Suli as is Sullivan & Sloan with the right coaching. WE have just about named a starting 13.
There is a reasonable side within our midstthat I hope the next coach can bring out with good coaching with the right players brought in to compliment and balnace of our squad

 

[TheRev]

You forgot Hunt and Lomax and I think Liddle is better than what we have had for a few years especially if you rate Musgrove as a 1st grader which I dont. Suli as is Sullivan & Sloan with the right coaching. WE have just about named a starting 13.
There is a reasonable side within our midstthat I hope the next coach can bring out with good coaching with the right players brought in to compliment and balnace of our squad

Yaa, I just meant the forward packs, I think we can have whatever backs we want, but if we cant put another 2 legit first grade props (plus maybe a lock) into our squad, we are relying on luck to go our way.. and also how awful our opposition are on the day.

 

[Dragon David]

Yaa, I just meant the forward packs, I think we can have whatever backs we want, but if we cant put another 2 legit first grade props (plus maybe a lock) into our squad, we are relying on luck to go our way.. and also how awful our opposition are on the day.

Yes, I agree that we are cannon fodder in most games when it comes to our forwards versus the top teams' lot and now even the bottom teams' lot. Because our guys are not as big and robust as some of the other clubs, including some of their bench players even, we run out of puff and that's when the opposition senses it and takes full control at the end and run all over us. If the other teams have an off day, we might be lucky to jag a win but that isn't how things should be.

I want our guys to dominate not be dominated and the only way to get that domination is by coughing up a bit more and paying guys that we actually need not just to fill in the blanks. A change of coach will not change our fortunes unless the playing stocks are stronger and faster. That is what the coach will want and why not?

This is the chance to do it and we have got to grab these chances by the balls and not let go - ouch! I know that currently there is limited quality and numbers of solid mongrel forwards and fast backs now, but there should be many more coming free next year and we should not confine ourselves to local, intra and interstate guys, we should cast the net over the pacific islands, NZ and the UK.

We just cannot afford to waste this opportunity to get the best in the coaches, support staff and players, otherwise, why bother getting rid of Hook?

 

[lemnoc]

We can't find one NRL standard front rower, Eels just discover another one with Wiremu Greig, who ran for over 150m last night.

 

[Dragon David]

We can't find one NRL standard front rower, Eels just discover another one with Wiremu Greig, who ran for over 150m last night.

I wonder how bloody hard our Recruitment guy or scouts try and get these guys. Even if we just get one of these big fellas that would help but oh no "me look but me can't find" is probably that Recruiters excuse.

 

[Mojo]

Worse, we produce them and let them go.

 

[SAP58]

I wonder how bloody hard our Recruitment guy or scouts try and get these guys. Even if we just get one of these big fellas that would help but oh no "me look but me can't find" is probably that Recruiters excuse.

Who is our current recruitment manager ? Flanagan was getting paid to do something like that without a lot of success so who is looking at potential buys for 2024 ?? Peter Brady ??

 

[Dragon David]

Who is our current recruitment manager ? Flanagan was getting paid to do something like that without a lot of success so who is looking at potential buys for 2024 ?? Peter Brady ??

I don't think that there is an actual R & R guy at the club at the moment and Ben Haran is possibly doing the General Manager of Football job as well as covering the recruitment roll until hopefully Nathan Brown re-joins the club.

‘The situation we’re in’: Dragons boss reveals the recruitment toll of impending Griffin call

‘The situation we’re in’: Dragons boss reveals brutal hidden toll of Griffin saga

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[SAP58]

I don't think that there is an actual R & R guy at the club at the moment and Ben Haran is possibly doing the General Manager of Football job as well as covering the recruitment roll until hopefully Nathan Brown re-joins the club.

‘The situation we’re in’: Dragons boss reveals the recruitment toll of impending Griffin call

‘The situation we’re in’: Dragons boss reveals brutal hidden toll of Griffin saga

www.foxsports.com.au

Thanks DD so Ben Haran is not performing in two roles then !

 

[Mojo]

I think it’s been clear for a long time that they gave Hook a free hand for a while, and witnessed him recruiting a bunch of old-boys, then had to try recruiting without Hook’s involvement. Strong gut feel tells me nobody would have wanted the job while Hook remained on the payroll. Now we may have a chance to employ somebody with some merit fit the role. Why it seems some people haven’t been doing much - I reckon they’ve had to go about things virtually in secret.

 

[twinkletoes]

Haran is a light weight in the recruitment field. I’m also hearing his ongoing employment at Dragons is becoming a deal breaker with Ryles…. who the hell is he and who is he related to on the Board that he has become such a protected species

 

[TheRev]

I think it’s been clear for a long time that they gave Hook a free hand for a while, and witnessed him recruiting a bunch of old-boys, then had to try recruiting without Hook’s involvement. Strong gut feel tells me nobody would have wanted the job while Hook remained on the payroll. Now we may have a chance to employ somebody with some merit fit the role. Why it seems some people haven’t been doing much - I reckon they’ve had to go about things virtually in secret.

We need to make the most of 2023, we get a sort of free pass with excitement and optimism around 2024.. its a good time to make some signings.. its been very hard to recruit anybody these last year or years even.

Haran is a light weight in the recruitment field. I’m also hearing his ongoing employment at Dragons is becoming a deal breaker with Ryles…. who the hell is he and who is he related to on the Board that he has become such a protected species

If the 2yr Haran extension is true, then the board need an upper-cut.. you don't make a pre-emptive move like that unless you are trying to protect 'a mate' from the incoming coach's structural changes. I'm just hoping it was fake news.. but its a strange thing to have make up..

It also feels like we have 5/8 old boys on the board still.. maybe we arent quite there in terms of cutting the dead wood.. its still a majority.

 

[Dragon David]

We need to make the most of 2023, we get a sort of free pass with excitement and optimism around 2024.. its a good time to make some signings.. its been very hard to recruit anybody these last year or years even.

If the 2yr Haran extension is true, then the board need an upper-cut.. you don't make a pre-emptive move like that unless you are trying to protect 'a mate' from the incoming coach's structural changes. I'm just hoping it was fake news.. but its a strange thing to have make up..

It also feels like we have 5/8 old boys on the board still.. maybe we arent quite there in terms of cutting the dead wood.. its still a majority.

I honestly don't think that the Board of the Dragons joint venture know what the hell they should be doing to get us out of this mess. My god, surely by now they would have ramped up, put all the coal into the engine and got the new coach all sorted out, signed, sealed and delivered. Hook has been gone for a couple of weeks and they seem to be dillying and dallying about. As soon as Hook was hooked they should have had someone already the next day more or less lined up to sign the coveted contract.

I have a fear and feeling that all this will be a messy situation down the track - I fear it greatly and I'm not joking.

 

[qld redvee]

We can't find one NRL standard front rower, Eels just discover another one with Wiremu Greig, who ran for over 150m last night.

How is life today going in reserves is he worth a bench spot as he has size. Surely he is worth a go

 

[qld redvee]

Should be lui tosa in reserve grade..he is big and runs hard from reports on here.he was one of our big signings this year so should be worthy of a bench spot at least

 

[SAP58]

We need to make the most of 2023, we get a sort of free pass with excitement and optimism around 2024.. its a good time to make some signings.. its been very hard to recruit anybody these last year or years even.

If the 2yr Haran extension is true, then the board need an upper-cut.. you don't make a pre-emptive move like that unless you are trying to protect 'a mate' from the incoming coach's structural changes. I'm just hoping it was fake news.. but its a strange thing to have make up..

It also feels like we have 5/8 old boys on the board still.. maybe we arent quite there in terms of cutting the dead wood.. its still a majority.

Who does Haran report to ? Ryan Webb I expect so he should be asked to verify that this is correct & explain why ? What has he done to deserve the 2yr extension ? If true I agree this would be a problem for any new coach who would want a say in who he works with. If true this would confirm we have totally lost the plot & let’s forget about a new coach of any credibility & it will put us back at least 5yrs IMO.

 

[justadragon]

Our coaching appointments, our pathways, our recruiting etc have been on a downward spiral since Bennett left and it wasnt addressed properly when it became very noticeable in the Price era. Our golden children the board thought they could fix everything by appointing McPeanut because he was the ultimate Dragons man who could rectify everything. My very first question in the appointment of McPeanut would have been " what credentials has he got coaching an NRL side ? " the rest is history. So now we are trying to fix Price's mess, McGregor's mess and Hook's mess. I sit here and think this period of destabilisation has gone on for 10-12 years and all of a sudden this new coach has to rebuild the team from the bottom up, we need a roster cleanout of about 50% of our top 30, we have to get our juniors up to speed, we have to employ a very good top line staff because in the time where we most needed it we appointed numpties with zip experience in the most critical roles GM and R + R. So I sit here and ponder about all these things and the amount of time it took to get here, and we expect to be competitive when ?? Where do all these magical players appear from, what juniors do we have that are ready to go ?? If we are competitive within 5 years it will be a miracle.

 

[BLM01]

We need to make the most of 2023, we get a sort of free pass with excitement and optimism around 2024.. its a good time to make some signings.. its been very hard to recruit anybody these last year or years even.

If the 2yr Haran extension is true, then the board need an upper-cut.. you don't make a pre-emptive move like that unless you are trying to protect 'a mate' from the incoming coach's structural changes. I'm just hoping it was fake news.. but its a strange thing to have make up..

It also feels like we have 5/8 old boys on the board still.. maybe we arent quite there in terms of cutting the dead wood.. its still a majority.

2 yr extension to work under a new GM hopefully Richardson