The Rumours Thread

[Dragons4me]

I know myself DP, I get angry and frustrated and god knows I have vented my spleen on here, especially about our games and certain player performances, but when it comes to recruitment, we are so far removed from what actually happens that its not worth getting upset about it anymore. But I do see a shift in recruiting in the junior grades which personally I think its the only way out of this mess. We have really homed in on some young gun recruits, lets get our pathways spot on and the future will look brighter. We may as well learn our lesson now that with possibly 20 teams in the comp , our elite players are coming from within and nowhere else, worked for Penrith and it will work for us.

Good post as usual and great discussion. My hope moving forward is that Twiggy's financial backing puts us in the top echelon of clubs and back on top where the Dragons belong. How good would it be for the Dragons to be like the Panthers? Confident of any win and also of making the finals just about every year?

 

[Dragon David]

Good post as usual and great discussion. My hope moving forward is that Twiggy's financial backing puts us in the top echelon of clubs and back on top where the Dragons belong. How good would it be for the Dragons to be like the Panthers? Confident of any win and also of making the finals just about every year?

Yes, that would indeed be a great feeling every year. Got to believe that it will happen and it will.

 

[Reddragon]

Good post as usual and great discussion. My hope moving forward is that Twiggy's financial backing puts us in the top echelon of clubs and back on top where the Dragons belong. How good would it be for the Dragons to be like the Panthers? Confident of any win and also of making the finals just about every year?

That’s the model!

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

I foresee some random early year signings of a few old hands floating around. No idea who but some genuine squad filler. Nothing to get excited about but that’s about all the club can muster.

The group will probably overachieve again with the head coach but finals will be another year away while ‘we don’t have the cattle’.

More interested to see if we can discard Lawrie and Mikaele right now but has there even been any talk of Blake on the chopping block. Surely the coach can see he is done.

 

[jay mac]

I know myself DP, I get angry and frustrated and god knows I have vented my spleen on here, especially about our games and certain player performances, but when it comes to recruitment, we are so far removed from what actually happens that its not worth getting upset about it anymore. But I do see a shift in recruiting in the junior grades which personally I think its the only way out of this mess. We have really homed in on some young gun recruits, lets get our pathways spot on and the future will look brighter. We may as well learn our lesson now that with possibly 20 teams in the comp , our elite players are coming from within and nowhere else, worked for Penrith and it will work for us.

Great post. Along these lines as well, I have been thinking about how a very few teams have remained dominant over the past 5 or so years in the salary cap era. For all the rhetoric around the Roosters having “brown paper bags” etc etc, this isn’t necessarily true. My thoughts are that the salary cap is actually creating an uneven playing field and is advantageous for teams like the Panthers due to their strong pathways, and the Storm due to their strong culture and systems. Put simply the “have nots” are the teams, like the Dragons, who must pay top dollar for recruits to remain competitive. Meanwhile, the Panthers just continue to roll first graders off the production line to replace the guys that get a better offer somewhere else. Similarly, the Storm seem to have that knack (again, due to culture and systems) of developing discards into some of the best players in the comp. Hell, one of ‘em just won the Dally M.

 

[maestro1]

Current article on the Panthers stating they have an 11 (yes 11) person retention and recruitment team. And the focus is on retention. Only bought in about 5 players during their 5 GF run. All retention/recruitment /development personnel are on the same page.

Meanwhile back at the ranch ......... Fxck we are a uselessly managed club. We need to be a club that every fibre of our being is set on "success" and every decision is about that success. Only employ the best available for EVERY job. Move all the anchors on and bring in the people who get shit done. It is so fxcking frustrating watching the Storm, Roosters, Panthers of this world and watching how professional they are and how successful they are. I've been watching old games from the Bath era and later the Bennett era and noticing how so much has changed. The crowds were unbelievable, we seemed invincible on the field, our management had a real desire for success. What the fxck happened. Did I fall asleep for 15 years and while in my slumber, these management fxckers ruined our club with shit decision after shit decision, cronyism, nepotism and down right WRONG appointments. WHEN IS HARAN BEING REMOVED??