Top 8 almost done.

[jeffdragon]

The top 8 looks almost done and dusted.
Rooters, souths storm ,knights sharks ,raiders, Broncos and probably manly.
Can't see us getting even close .
Not much fun when your season done only half way through the year.

 

[possm]

The top 8 looks almost done and dusted.
Rooters, souths storm ,knights sharks ,raiders, Broncos and probably manly.
Can't see us getting even close .
Not much fun when your season done only half way through the year.

NOW is time to prepare our squad for 2020. Forget about winning games, concentrate on preparing to clear out the deadwood and sign quality management and players.

 

[hewi]

Without a clear out of firstly the coach 2020 will be the same as this year.

 

[possm]

Without a clear out of firstly the coach 2020 will be the same as this year.

The only way to have a clear out is to appoint Gould but none of the old boys are keen on appointing Gould; they want to protect their self interests.

 

[Warabrook saint]

The only clear out we'll see is the fans

 

[possm]

The only clear out we'll see is the fans

I truly hope not because it is very hard to get them back once they begin to follow another club or game.

We need a scandal that is vigour sly covered by the media or a financial report that shows WIN to be losing badly on their investment.

Maybe a wooden spoon would generate some activity.

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

The top 8 looks almost done and dusted.
Rooters, souths storm ,knights sharks ,raiders, Broncos and probably manly.
Can't see us getting even close .
Not much fun when your season done only half way through the year.

Yep. Best we can achieve now is to stuff up someone else's season.

 

[Coffs dragon]

The top 8 is long done for the Dragons in 2019. Avoiding the bottom 4 will be our immediate aim & not collecting the dreaded spoon. Don't forget Mary has been given a free pass for 2019 by our management based on JDB & Widdop built in excuse!!
Rock bottom is well within our sights!

 

[possm]

The top 8 is long done for the Dragons in 2019. Avoiding the bottom 4 will be our immediate aim & not collecting the dreaded spoon. Don't forget Mary has been given a free pass for 2019 by our management based on JDB & Widdop built in excuse!!
Rock bottom is well within our sights!

If management got on top of the JDB salary cap issue in early Jan 19, they would be in a much better place to mitigate the influence this issue has on the players. Contrary to Johnston's statement saying words to the effect that Mary is in the best position to keep the squad's mind on football during the JDB legal battle, it is my opinion that a more wise coach with good man management skills would have don a much better job.

It could be argued that Widdop or Norman are surplus to requirements for season 2019. So Widdop's injury is not a factor at all, in fact I believe if Widdop moved on early in 2019, we would have had room in our cap to recruit a couple of good outside backs.

 

[Slippery Morris]

How can Saints Management be to blame for the JDB issue? His money is included in the cap which they are working with. The NRL have done a good job in stuffing the club up introducing a rule just before kickoff and backdating so it can affect our club. Saints are playing with half a million in playing talent less than other clubs because of it. If Saints bought a player with the JDB money and he beat the charge they would be half a million over. God help Saints if they get caught above the cap by that much. They will probably take the 11 premierships from 56-66 off them as well as kick them out of the comp. You know if Saints bend a rule it is 1000 times more punishment that others. Ask the Sharks and Dogs.

As for planning for 2020, Saints were in good shape before kickoff this season and I thought they would kill it only for off season drama with JDB srewing around and NRL to ruin things.

As for Mary, this is another excuse for him to save his job. There are so many......Didn't Manly go pretty close to winning a comp or make the 8 when they had the Brett Stewart situation and were in a similar position? They need a coach who can win games not make excuses. Mary is world class in that dept.

 

[Miller was a legend]

The top 8 is long done for the Dragons in 2019. Avoiding the bottom 4 will be our immediate aim & not collecting the dreaded spoon. Don't forget Mary has been given a free pass for 2019 by our management based on JDB & Widdop built in excuse!!
Rock bottom is well within our sights!

Frankly if Dragons were to get the spoon, regardless of acceptance around JDB and Widdop, the Coach should be made to fall on his sword.

There are bad years etc, but Dragons with the spoon should be an absolute unforgivable crime

 

[Dragonsteve2]

The top 8 looks almost done and dusted.
Rooters, souths storm ,knights sharks ,raiders, Broncos and probably manly.
Can't see us getting even close .
Not much fun when your season done only half way through the year.

Yes, Jeff. For me the Mudgee debacle signalled we must treasure any win we manage for the rest of the season and ignore the 8. I no longer bother checking the ladder.

But I'm a Dragons fanatic rather than a Rugby League fan. So I will continue to seek out every bit of Dragons info, hang out for every Tuesday arvo team announcement and put the usual emotion into match day. Rejoice in any victory and sulk after each loss.

Where I am affected by the Dragons lowly position is I lose all interest in other games. Because I am not an NRL fan there is no point watching other teams. What do I care who makes the 8 if the Dragons aren't up there? And my only interest in watching SoO is to see how our boys perform and whether they make it through unscathed.

But the 2nd half of this season has great importance for our future success. So many questions to be answered. Which front rowers do we keep? Can Graham go another season? How about Kerr and Timm or will Blacker be the future? Will Jackson Ford make the transition to NRL? What about our wingers - will two decent wingers emerge from Pereira, Rava, Pearson and Saab? What about Dufty and Field? What position is Zac's best? What's to be done with Aitken? Is McInnes the best option for long term captain?

Sadly it is my opinion that many of these questions will remain unanswered because Mary will cling to the mathematical possibility of making the 8 so each week he will stick to what he regards as his best team. If any CC players get a run it will be like Hutch in 2016 - just a token selection.

Despite what I foresee, my fanaticism for the Dragons will remain undiminished. But I have added something new to my bucket list - to watch the Dragons play under a coach other than Mary.

 

[TruSaint]

Never thought I would say it, but I couldnt give a flying f**k ...

No offence to the OP, as I agree, its just that the club has drained my passion... Sure, I will watch each game, but without the fuss of expectation.

 

[Coffs dragon]

Frankly if Dragons were to get the spoon, regardless of acceptance around JDB and Widdop, the Coach should be made to fall on his sword.

There are bad years etc, but Dragons with the spoon should be an absolute unforgivable crime

I agree Miller and considering our roster with current representative players it is unforgivable if we sink to the bottom. Mary seems to be a protected species within the old boys club & the Illawarra remnants. The clock is ticking, but nobody in management seem to look at the time.
BTW your team are killing it and are my dark horse for the premiership. I love the mix of enthusiastic youth and skill that John Morris has developed in his maiden NRL coaching year.
He shows so much promise and I am jealous as we have a Goose in charge of the RedV

 

[possm]

How can Saints Management be to blame for the JDB issue? His money is included in the cap which they are working with. The NRL have done a good job in stuffing the club up introducing a rule just before kickoff and backdating so it can affect our club. Saints are playing with half a million in playing talent than other clubs because of it. If Saints bought a player with the JDB money and he beat the charge they would be half a million over. God help Saints if they get caught above the cap by that much. They will probably take the 11 premierships from 56-66 off them as well as kick them out of the comp. You know if Saints bend a rule it is 1000 times more punishment that others. Ask the Sharks and Dogs.

As for planning for 2020, Saints were in good shape before kickoff this season and I thought they would kill it only for off season drama with JDB srewing around and NRL to ruin things.

As for Mary, this is another excuse for him to save his job. There are so many......Didn't Manly go pretty close to winning a comp or make the 8 when they had the Brett Stewart situation and were in a similar position? They need a coach who can win games not make excuses. Mary is world class in that dept.

Johnstone should have been working to address two scenarios:
a. If JDB is to be stood down, cap and salary policy to be adopted and applications and draft answers to be resolved.
b. If JDB is to play, then public announcements and media strategy to follow.

So when the court came down with it's decision, we should at least by then be able to push the button and sign a replacement and get on with the rest of the season. Also have a strategy in place if JDB wins an appeal.

Remember SGI had no part in the decision to stand down JDB and SGI did not commit a crime, were not charged with a crime and so are not supposed to be harmed by the NRL decision.

 

[Miller was a legend]

I agree Miller and considering our roster with current representative players it is unforgivable if we sink to the bottom. Mary seems to be a protected species within the old boys club & the Illawarra remnants. The clock is ticking, but nobody in management seem to look at the time.
BTW your team are killing it and are my dark horse for the premiership. I love the mix of enthusiastic youth and skill that John Morris has developed in his maiden NRL coaching year.
He shows so much promise and I am jealous as we have a Goose in charge of the RedV

Cheers Coffs.

The sad part is the juniors coming through for the Dragons are very good, the way they have been used and abused, rather than developed into 1st grade, is deplorable

 

[Miller was a legend]

Never thought I would say it, but I couldnt give a flying f**k ...

No offence to the OP, as I agree, its just that the club has drained my passion... Sure, I will watch each game, but without the fuss of expectation.

Come to the dark side with Jubilee Boy

 

[TruSaint]

Come to the dark side with Jubilee Boy

Nearly there brother.

 

[Miller was a legend]

Nearly there brother.

Haha Jubilee would give me a gob full of expletives if he was in here

 

[Dragonslayer]

Winning 8 of our next 13 games (inc tomorrow) would get us to 26 points its not enough imo and I cant see where us winning 8 games comes from. Our 13 games are in order:
Bulldogs
Manly
Cowboys
Storm
Raiders
Panthers
Rabbits
Eels
Titans
Sharks
Roosters
Tigers
Titans

I can only see a max of 5 wins there, which will only get us to 20 points.

It has to be remembered too that teams ahead of us still have 2 points for the bye in hand, these include Cows, Eels, Manly, Raiders and Rabbits, as do teams below us, Panthers, Titans and Bulldogs.