The Rumours Thread

[qld redvee]

Wasnt he one of ours ....... ?

Yes

 

[TheRev]

we do of course need to win this game against said ex-dragons.. I mean we should win by 30.. but will never hear the end of it if we dont.

 

[jak]

we do of course need to win this game against said ex-dragons.. I mean we should win by 30.. but will never hear the end of it if we dont.

we should win, as you say by 30+but what worries me is every one of our players will be doing their best not to get injured, thinking about las Vagas and their seat on the plane, and I wouldn't blame them

 

[TheRev]

we should win, as you say by 30+but what worries me is every one of our players will be doing their best not to get injured, thinking about las Vagas and their seat on the plane, and I wouldn't blame them

Now that you mention it.. I wonder if this is actually still a trial for some of the 22 positions, or is it all done and dusted? i.e. Are some of the players playing for their spot, im thinking wingers, centre maybe bench forwards or the 14.. everything else is pretty locked in.

 

[redv13]

Now that you mention it.. I wonder if this is actually still a trial for some of the 22 positions, or is it all done and dusted? i.e. Are some of the players playing for their spot, im thinking wingers, centre maybe bench forwards or the 14.. everything else is pretty locked in.

I’d say that most would be locked in. OT mentioned it earlier, and I agree, just hope that LPT, Nick and/or Jacob don’t miss out and Lawrie gets a gig. That would be a negative in my eyes, but at the end of the day it’s Flanno’s call not mine

 

[possm]

I'll be more than satisfied if Atkinson can bring a longer kicking game to the team...and put then more on the front foot more often...

Reed's long kicking game proved to have a great influence on the Dragon's field position in last week's game against Newcastle.

 

[qld redvee]

I’d say that most would be locked in. OT mentioned it earlier, and I agree, just hope that LPT, Nick and/or Jacob don’t miss out and Lawrie gets a gig. That would be a negative in my eyes, but at the end of the day it’s Flanno’s call not mine

Ct on the wing is still a concern if his hammy is a bit dodgy

 

[redv13]

Ct on the wing is still a concern if his hammy is a bit dodgy

Absolutely a huge worry, not only for round 1 but for the season in general

 

[TheRev]

its rly only an issue if CT goes down in a game like he did last year.. which rly messes us up.. even though in 2026 we probably have an outside back on the extended bench, it would still use a sub and leaves us with a 3 man bench.

imo the gap between our top 4 wingers (Tu, Fale, CT, Feagai) is not that much.. and we need 2 of em per game... could easily make a case for any of them to be selected.. that said Fale is probably being positioned as ctr cover also.

 

[twinkletoes]

I also noticed in the training video on the Dragons website that Atkinson is quite the talker… I think this will be a great benefit together with Gutho… another positive

 

[TheRev]

Yep I mean its too early to know, but I'm really hopeful Atkinson will be a genuine 7 for us.. hes outgoing, absolute competitor.. has the skillset.. maybe the job is too much (esp with our 2026 pack) but hes a chance...

Not gonna take 'too much' out of saturday though.. this is a reserve grade opposition.. but hopefully a good first hit-out for him.

 

[Dragsters]

Yep I mean its too early to know, but I'm really hopeful Atkinson will be a genuine 7 for us.. hes outgoing, absolute competitor.. has the skillset.. maybe the job is too much (esp with our 2026 pack) but hes a chance...

Not gonna take 'too much' out of saturday though.. this is a reserve grade opposition.. but hopefully a good first hit-out for him.

It will be a good chance to have a flex against a second string outfit, sort some combos, have a bit fun, put on some attacking raids, mount a score and seal the Pre-season Challenge and head to Vegas with a positive outlook...

 

[jak]

It will be a good chance to have a flex against a second string outfit, sort some combos, have a bit fun, put on some attacking raids, mount a score and seal the Pre-season Challenge and head to Vegas with a positive outlook...

sounds easy

 

[blacksafake]

its rly only an issue if CT goes down in a game like he did last year.. which rly messes us up.. even though in 2026 we probably have an outside back on the extended bench, it would still use a sub and leaves us with a 3 man bench.

imo the gap between our top 4 wingers (Tu, Fale, CT, Feagai) is not that much.. and we need 2 of em per game... could easily make a case for any of them to be selected.. that said Fale is probably being positioned as ctr cover also.

Which is why I think Feagai will be a regular on the bench

 

[maestro1]

Absolutely a huge worry, not only for round 1 but for the season in general

The new interchange rules helps immensely with this. If CT goes down in a game, your outside back interchange player comes into play.

 

[maestro1]

It will be a good chance to have a flex against a second string outfit, sort some combos, have a bit fun, put on some attacking raids, mount a score and seal the Pre-season Challenge and head to Vegas with a positive outlook...

I'd prefer a suffocating prep, because that is what the dogs will bring.Steel is tempered in fire not in water.

 

[chewbacca]

Which is why I think Feagai will be a regular on the bench

I much prefer Feagai over CT. He is able to make the hard metres and has more pace and general athleticism. He also has hamstrings that work.

The CT air-swing from the drop-out last week was laughable.

 

[Dragsters]

I'd prefer a suffocating prep, because that is what the dogs will bring.Steel is tempered in fire not in water.

Sure. Me too but it is what is and we should use it to our advantage to work our way into Vegas...

 

[TheRev]

Which is why I think Feagai will be a regular on the bench

yeah hes perfect.. covers 1thru5, experienced/reliable and missing cup games less of an issue.. as he doesnt need the development time in NSW Cup that pretty much all the other young backs do...

I assume Feagai is in his final year with us though that's still TBD, but it would assume we are going to be able to land some outside backs for 2027.. cause right now I dunno, like Heidke is the only one who would be needing a Top30 I feel anytime soon but maybe he will be Dev, Kirk also perhaps Dev when he returns from a long injury.. but Buchanan might get an upgrade also.. that could be CT/Feagais spots taken up already + Tu is Top30 next year, hes taking Lawsons spot.. and that doesnt leave a huge amount of room.. we also need a Sloan replacement who covers fullback.. Its tighter than I want it to be, which is why I dont think Feagai will get a new contract even though hes quite useful as our depth 1-5 guy.. I just dont think we have the slots..

And its probably because were a bit heavy with the number of forwards in our 30.. cause it feels like our outside back depth is some of the weakest in the NRL... there isnt rly anyone in reserve grade (bar heidke who might even be in flegg) who im excited about pushing our NRL team.. guys like Tamale and SFinau in recent years for example.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Wouldn't surprise me if Lawson moves on during the year, can't see us offering him another deal, he is currently injured, so i would assume when he is back and playing that maybe he decides to go back to union..