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The Rumours Thread

baggygreen man

baggygreen man

Bench
Messages
3,824
denis preston said:
for contingency we need a very good 6 or 7 with a kicking game and then advise Ben that 9 is his position. Worst case he spits it so we save a Mill. Either way we need to get our finger out NOW for a 6 or 7. The massive issue is we have 2 to 2.5 mill to spend on 3 elite players but nobody wants to come. The Board has got to do something NOW.
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Spot on dp. If no one here wants us our BOD needs to send our scouts to England to pick up a quality big bopper prop, a game managing half and a pacey three quarter. Otherwise we back our lower graders or perhaps even fast track one or two of our juniors. Other clubs are doing this.
 
baggygreen man

baggygreen man

Bench
Messages
3,824
Auntie.Gerald said:
our kicking game was ordinary at best and set us up to fail
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Hunt has gone backwards fast in this respect, from one of the comp's best tacticians with the boot to one of the worst. When was his last 40/20, his mid field bombs apply no pressure, he fails to find space with his long kicks and even his short bombs and chips are not hitting the mark on some occasions. I saw him miss a 10m drop out a few games back.
 
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Wolfgang90

Juniors
Messages
519
Parko1310 said:
Cook is awful. Hasn't been good in years, absolutely not. Not to mention his two forward passes he throws per set would get called in a Red V jersey. Jayden Brailey should be our target for 9, actually a genuine chance Newcastle let him go and is the perfect type of hooker for us to then allow Liddle to come on either side of the half and rip up tired defences.

In terms of halves we could look at: Jonah Pezet, especially after having done his ACL. Would Melbourne be more willing to let him go now? Would he reconsider staying with how long he's going to have to wait for a shot down there? Sexton is killing NSW cup and is off contact as we speak. A much better half than people give him credit for. Clear upgrade on Kyle as well, who I'm sorry, just isn't good enough. He's fine as a back up, nothing more. Ilias is complete shit, I wouldn't even consider him. Latu Fainu. Is he happy to play 14? He'll be stuck behind Galvin and Luai, potentially even Sezer for another year, who is a stop-gap option for a year himself. Ethan Sanders off to the Raiders, interesting he'd leave a place where he's stuck in reserves for another place he'll be stuck in reserves. Eventually one of Strange or Fogarty would have to make way. How long is Sanders going to sit in reserves in Canberra? It's worth asking the question, particularly around Fogarty as he'd be more likely.

Other players in other positions we should be targeting: Angus Crichton, Trey Mooney, Blaize Talagi, Reimis Smith (and this is just for 2025), I'm sure there's more too, especially with players wanting out of their current contracts for varying reasons
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100% spot on. Kyle Stanley has done a great recruitment job with the Dragons SG ball team, he clearly has a connection to the Polynesian kids/players/families & I hope we utilise him in our senior squad recruitment. Especially considering SG ball kids speak highly of Kyle & Willie Talau, so having them involved in future senior squad recruitment will help retain these young guns.
 
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shiloh dc

Juniors
Messages
357
Wow wow wow.
Can you imagine in 2025 we sign nobody of any note and we lose our 3 best players this year - Debelin, Lomax & Sua. In this instance i would pray Flanagan also resigns.
Then and only then will the heat be turned onto management to relinquish all positions and possibly sell the whole team.
I now seriously wonder if Hunt's about-turn to stay at the Dragons was on the basis both Lomax & Debelin were let go?
Do management realise how much the supporter base is dwindling. Those that were able to watch the 11 in a row are getting old and slowly dying off. Few of their grandkids are supporting the Dragons. We will end up a development team where our best young players are poached. Occasionally a group will come throw and reach a final but they will soon be picked off by richer teams.
In 50 years of supporting the Dragons this is my lowest ebb. That could change if we lose on the weekend.
 
Dragon David

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,773
shiloh dc said:
Wow wow wow.
Can you imagine in 2025 we sign nobody of any note and we lose our 3 best players this year - Debelin, Lomax & Sua. In this instance i would pray Flanagan also resigns.
Then and only then will the heat be turned onto management to relinquish all positions and possibly sell the whole team.
I now seriously wonder if Hunt's about-turn to stay at the Dragons was on the basis both Lomax & Debelin were let go?
Do management realise how much the supporter base is dwindling. Those that were able to watch the 11 in a row are getting old and slowly dying off. Few of their grandkids are supporting the Dragons. We will end up a development team where our best young players are poached. Occasionally a group will come throw and reach a final but they will soon be picked off by richer teams.
In 50 years of supporting the Dragons this is my lowest ebb. That could change if we lose on the weekend.
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What the hell is going on at this club?? Why have we not heard about these matters from the CEO and Flanno on what the club is facing and what they intend to do about it? We appear to be in a crisis situation. We looked forward to brighter years ahead when Hook was sacked and Flanno was the heir apparent, but we look like we are going backwards at a great number of knots and free falling into a nothingness!!??

"Those that were able to watch the 11 in a row are getting old and slowly dying off" that's me and a few others who have been waiting and waiting for better years before the bells toll. Bloody hell that's what it feels like.:(
 
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shiloh dc

Juniors
Messages
357
Dragon David said:
What the hell is going on at this club?? Why have we not heard about these matters from the CEO and Flanno on what the club is facing and what they intend to do about it? We appear to be in a crisis situation. We looked forward to brighter years ahead when Hook was sacked and Flanno was the heir apparent, but we look like we are going backwards at a great number of knots and free falling into a nothingness!!??

"Those that were able to watch the 11 in a row are getting old and slowly dying off" that's me and a few others who have been waiting and waiting for better years before the bells toll. Bloody hell that's what it feels like.:(
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Why is it Penrith run out to AC/DC's Hells Bells - it should be us!
 
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Parko1310

Juniors
Messages
1,211
I don't think moving on from de Belin is a bad thing. The catch is: who in the world are we replacing him with? Lawrie is deadset horrendous. Sele and F Molo are bench props currently starting. The young blokes we have coming into the 30 next year look the goods, but they need good forwards around them and won't be ready for the NRL right off the bat. Obviously Toby Couchman is being played in the middle, so that is where his long term future seems to be. But we really need to sign 2 quality middles from outside the club that can get us results, and bring these younger kids through. Their confidence will be destroyed if they're getting smashed every week
 
Dragon David

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,773
Well we are not the only club at the moment given the cold shoulder. The Roosters look like losing out and not getting Fifita and Gagai. Fifita to Penrith and Gagai to stay at the Knights is what the pundits are saying.

The Roosters won't be too upset, they will get the right guys and they will have plenty to spend like us but we don't get the right guys unfortunately.
 
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Parko1310

Juniors
Messages
1,211
hewi said:
At what stage do you say no to a 33 year old who is blocking a 20 year old Couchman? I think it’s time to move on.
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Like it or not as well, he is part of the ongoing cultural issues at the club and the terrible perception of the club from the outside. No one is questioning he's been playing well, but given this, it speaks volumes that no one else in the NRL wants a bar of him
 
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shiloh dc

Juniors
Messages
357
hewi said:
At what stage do you say no to a 33 year old who is blocking a 20 year old Couchman? I think it’s time to move on.
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At the stage when the 33 year old is performing worse than the other 29 players signed. But when your 33 year old is your best performing player, has been a one team player and bleeds Red & White - you keep him at all costs.
Lets see where this 700K goes - what the bet they waste 600K on Jacob Host. You can see it coming miles away.
 
TheRev

TheRev

First Grade
Messages
8,626
We do have an offer on the table to JDB, so Flanno is obviously happy enough to keep him another year (even though I agree re: culture).. im sure it will come down to money.. Jack was I think always going to get offers from overseas, and tbh I wouldnt rule out offers from other NRL sides but much later in the year if they are desperate for a middle. I was hoping we would have it wrapped up well before then.

Its a hard game.. Flanno is doing the right thing by the salary cap.. but hes also in a club with no pulling power, so its a dangerous game being played with Jack, Lomax and Su'a.
 
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