The Rumours Thread

[denis preston]

Des Hasler had Morgan Harper and Brad Parker ahead of Suli at Manly for good reason , and Neither Harper or Parker are what you would call Gun centres.
If the Dragons call on Hasler to replace Hook you can bet on Suli getting punted or at least moved to back row.

This sounds like a personal vendetta from a 19 poster.

 

[Old Timer]

Suli’s style of play resembles nothing like a top class centre. For example Mark Gasnier and Mark Coyne were probably our best centres we have had in last 40 years. Both had good speed, agility, could step and hand great hands . Suli has none of the above. Suli’s poor agility is further exposed in the centres rather than S row. His only asset is to gain metres which again is better suited to S Row

Any chance you played centre with Gitano during your career?

Your other post re Hasler, Harper etc just goes to prove that some coaches can get the best out of some players yet fail with others despite the obvious ability of the player.

Suli once coming to us showed very quickly what a weapon he can be and if not for some poor play by our halves and his injury he would have the best season of his career despite the fact that many in here believe that Hook can't coach.

If our halves click this year and Suli stays injury free I'm very confident that his side of the field will be the least of our worries in defence and it will be the best side for our attack.

 

[since77]

Best thing to happen in 2022 was Suli.
He’s the absolute least of our MANY problems.
If you think he’s the prime target for every coach then maybe you have taken too many hits on the chin Iron Mike.

We need to sit Iron Mike down in a corner with Gitano where they can both discuss how much they (don’t) know about centres.

 

[lombard]

If Ramsey has completely recovered from his illness then he would be the better of the two for the fullback role .

Sloan has been in the position , but has failed to impress , more so in his final game there where he allowed the ball to bounce as if he was a distant relation of Mr. Duffy .

Undoubtedly Sloan has plenty of speed , but we need to someone with a bit of size at fullback to tackle . I am not saying that is Ramsey’s strong point , however to me he offers much more than Sloan in that position .

I doubt Ramsey plays at all in 2023. He still needs further operations and significant treatment. Hopefully the kid can recover to have a career.

 

[Crush]

I doubt Ramsey plays at all in 2023. He still needs further operations and significant treatment. Hopefully the kid can recover to have a career.

It’s terribly sad isn’t it, really feel for the kid, just as his career was starting it’s come to an abrupt halt, fingers crossed he’s OK.

 

[Iron Mike]

Des Hasler had Morgan Harper and Brad Parker ahead of Suli at Manly for good reason , and Neither Harper or Parker are what you would call Gun centres.
If the Dragons call on Hasler to replace Hook you can bet on Suli getting punted or at least moved to back row

This sounds like a personal vendetta from a 19 poster.

Dennis
Definitely nothing personal against Moses, just believe that young Matt Feagai has a lot more to offer the team in the centres where he actually played all his junior football . Moses strengths ( mainly yardage gains )seem better suited to S Row . Also with Feagai in centres and Sloan on the wing we gain some much pace out wide.
In regards to Des Hasler the facts are he is one of the most decorated rugby league player/ coaches in the history of the game. I wouldn’t be dismissing Des’s opinions too easily

 

[Gareth67]

I doubt Ramsey plays at all in 2023. He still needs further operations and significant treatment. Hopefully the kid can recover to have a career.

I thought that the lad was on the way to recovery , that he is still very ill is sad indeed . May he at the very least regain good health and then look at what is best for him .

 

[dragon thomo]

Big Nelson is rumoured to shock switch to Sydney club.
Now that would be a good signing.

 

[shiloh dc]

Big Nelson is rumoured to shock switch to Sydney club.
Now that would be a good signing.

To the Bulldogs - they have capacity under the cap???

 

[Gareth67]

Big Nelson is rumoured to shock switch to Sydney club.
Now that would be a good signing.

As much as I dislike his head high tackling , he would certainly add some much needed bulk to our pack .

Also I feel that Bellamy sent him out on to the field with specific instructions to lay waste to the opposition play makers and was merely following instructions .

All in all he had his best season with the Storm and is just the type of forward that the Dragons need at present .

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

To the Bulldogs - they have capacity under the cap???

ofcourse they can still fit Moses, Crichton, Leniu and NAS

 

[RedVDave]

Let's hope the Bulldogs are getting ready to party like it's 2002.

 

[Dragon David]

Let's hope the Bulldogs are getting ready to party like it's 2002.

It would be good RedVDave -

"NRL Bulldogs 2002

In mid-2002, the Bulldogs were found guilty of serious and systemic breaches of the salary cap. NRL Chief Executive David Gallop described the violation as "exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature". The club received the maximum fine of $500,000, and was stripped of all 37 competition points."

They will have a reasonable amount of cap left to sign up more expensive guys once they get rid of several more unwanted players but one day those higher paid guys will need to be punted to reduce the Dogs cap in a few years time to be cap compliant and maybe they might not be able to do it and then be in breach. I'm hoping that will be the case.

 

[Qdf]

It would be good RedVDave -

"NRL Bulldogs 2002

In mid-2002, the Bulldogs were found guilty of serious and systemic breaches of the salary cap. NRL Chief Executive David Gallop described the violation as "exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature". The club received the maximum fine of $500,000, and was stripped of all 37 competition points."

They will have a reasonable amount of cap left to sign up more expensive guys once they get rid of several more unwanted players but one day those higher paid guys will need to be punted to reduce the Dogs cap in a few years time to be cap compliant and maybe they might not be able to do it and then be in breach. I'm hoping that will be the case.

Certainly makes you contemplate,
How come the Bulldogs are aggressively buying (top class) players, and Stgeorge illawara can't land one top class player.?
The question is,why not?

 

[Dragon David]

Certainly makes you contemplate,
How come the Bulldogs are aggressively buying (top class) players, and Stgeorge illawara can't land one top class player.?
The question is,why not?

I don't know how hard or even if they are even trying to land top class players Qdf and there have been many people on here give reasons why. I think for the next few years the club will be concentrating on ensuring our juniors have good pathways to be thoroughly developed and given experience in the respective grades subject to their growth in development worthy of eventually being first grade players.

The nursery of good future players in the regions of the South Coast and the St George District is quite big as we know. In the past, we have had many players become great for several clubs including the Dragons and who knows who there might be just waiting to show his excellence as a great forward, back etc.

To sign top class players will mean spending higher amounts for several individuals at the expense of bringing up and paying for more kids that have prospects and once they become "top class" themselves, they would then be costly to keep and could leave but that is what the cap is about.

So I am hoping that the club knows what they are wanting and know what they are doing about the future.

Yes, it would be great to field a team of top class players on high wages but more or less leaves little to pay for the other players in the squad who could be just a few tweaks away from being top class themselves. Nearly every week since the end of the 2022 season, we see that the Bulldogs are "talking" to certain noted big money players and we wonder how in hell do they attract them. A lot to do with the clubs management, sponsors and spiel that they have going for them under Ciraldo and Gould. I can see that they will be a force in the years ahead but I can also see that there will be money problems and keeping those new guys on big bucks doesn't come cheap (haha) so one day, they will come a cropper. Right now they look like they want immediate results and a premiership at a big cost.

 

[possm]

I believe the only way forward is to have a good mix of NRL standard players and juniors. The top 30 makeup needs to be planned and evolve in a way that keeps the NRL team competitive, while at the same time, providing a pathway for our juniors.

 

[denis preston]

just gotta get our 3rd party act together as well as stop paying players like Debellin 150k more than we should.

 

[Captn]

All well and good but some of the coaching regarding team selection, beach time and actual playing minutes does NOT feed into this strategy. Retention and or replacement of players like Sims doesn’t really fit into this scenario either.

 

[BIG RIG]

I am hearing reports that we are set to sign New Zealand Warriors forward Ben Murdoch - Masila on a 1 year deal

 

[BIG RIG]

I am hearing reports that we are set to sign New Zealand Warriors forward Ben Murdoch - Masila on a 1 year deal

Correction a 2 year deal