Walmsley to sign - Possm take a bow!

[Dragon66]

I hear what you are all saying, and I agree that Aitken made some poor decisions at times when coming out of the line quickly to try and shut down an opposition spreading the ball wide. It did cost us.
But that was inexperience playing in McGregor's clever defensive pattern and he will learn from that, I have no doubt about that.

The bigger problem was McGregor's defensive strategy - a compressed middle (Power Game in Defence) that left way to much space for opposition coaches to target our edges. Blind freddy could see how much space was on the edges.
No only Aitken, but McDonald and Nighty were regularly turned inside out once a team spread the ball quickly to the edges from 40 metres out.
Quite often they recovered quickly, but in many cases the opposition found plenty of space to attack our try line.

I'm not a coach so I can't fix the problem, but as a keen follower of the game I can still see the problem.

Aitken is already a backrower playing in the centres so a move to the bench as a utility player because of his skill set and versatility makes him more useful as an interchange player than Mann who can only substitute for an injured backline player, or who gets 10 minutes as a substitute near the end of the game.

IMO, Aitken adds more value to the balance of the squad than Mann, though I agree Mann is good enough to be in the starting lineup. Hopefully his form in the reggies will demand a start, and the form of the starting centres and wingers is so good that he will have to bide his time and wait for injury or Origin to make a claim.

My preference for the starting centres at this stage is Lafai and, depending on trial form, Herbert. Both specialist centres who can run AND pass.

 

[ChargingPatJarvis]

We actually have a bench utility who can cover in the forwards or the backs. That is Aitken.

Mann woundn’t have been resigned unless Mary had him planned for the 17 and that is likely the bench utility role (which I agree is silly).

What I’d love to see is Mann on the left wing and eventually Lomax or Herbert as right centre and Aitken as the utility on the bench (assuming he can cover dummy half as well)

This gives us 3 versatile players in the 17. Mann, who can cover any position in the backline, Hunt who can cover hooker and Aitken who can play centre or back row.

The worrying thing (IMO) with Aitken, is his durability. I wouldn’t want him on the bench just in case he broke down. Aitken coming on cold could be an issue?

 

[Gareth67]

Walmsley needs to drop asking price

England international Alex Walmsley continues to be linked with a stint in the NRL from 2019.

The Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights are just a few of the clubs that have made enquiries however some are baulking at the asking price of around $600,000 a year.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/01/31...rbury-bulldogs-boardroom-candidate-paul-dunn/

Going by that report ( dated 31-1-18 ) the man has not signed on with any NRL club and that includes the Dragons . So have we been led down the garden path - yet again ?

 

[Life's Good]

FMD all this talk about if a back gets injured during a game what do we do?
People somehow think that the possibility of that occurring means that selecting a utility for the entire season is justifiable.
If we lose 1 game due to a back being injured during a game and we have only 4 forwards on the bench then so be it we lose 1 game.
We then regroup and replace the injured back with another back for the next game.
I guarantee you that we lose more games by having not enough forward cover on the bench than we ever do by not having a "utility" back warming the bench for 7 minutes a game.
Wake up people losing 1 game is not the issue losing lots of games due to having f**ked forwards that have blown their poofoo valves is what must be avoided.

I’m with you here. Being able to alter a game plan to cover for an injury is a key skill in a coaches armoury. You pick the 17 best available players and should someone get injured you shift players around to compensate.
It’s impossible to pick a 17 in anticipation of something going awry so it’s about game management, on & off the field, when a player gets injured.

 

[kit66]

I think the issue these days isn't injury, it's the HIA process where there will be multiple games where we lose a back for a portion. I'm not totally against a bench of forwards, but I always think back to a Tigers game a few years ago where Lovett ended up in the centres due to injury and got taken to the cleaners. With the HIA process it could be more than 1 game.

Excellent point. This is a real issue these days and having one of your backs go down, to HIA or game ending injury can be very disruptive if you have to start shuffling forwards and backs around.

Having someone on the bench who can play anywhere in the backline from 1 to 7 is a smart move and honestly a luxury we can afford with an 80 minute hooker and 2 80 minute backrowers ( becoming more common ). Also if you have a real strike player like Field or someone, that wouldn't hurt either.

I wonder if those agitating for a 4 forward bench can come up with a reasonable rotation schedule, keeping in mind we're now down to just 8 interchanges. Give it a shot, I'd be interested to see your master plans.

 

[Overseas dragon]

Excellent point. This is a real issue these days and having one of your backs go down, to HIA or game ending injury can be very disruptive if you have to start shuffling forwards and backs around.

Having someone on the bench who can play anywhere in the backline from 1 to 7 is a smart move and honestly a luxury we can afford with an 80 minute hooker and 2 80 minute backrowers ( becoming more common ). Also if you have a real strike player like Field or someone, that wouldn't hurt either.

I wonder if those agitating for a 4 forward bench can come up with a reasonable rotation schedule, keeping in mind we're now down to just 8 interchanges. Give it a shot, I'd be interested to see your master plans.

Well obviously if you have only 8 interchanges you must use them and no more splinters .over to you Mrs McGregor.........

 

[possm]

Excellent point. This is a real issue these days and having one of your backs go down, to HIA or game ending injury can be very disruptive if you have to start shuffling forwards and backs around.

Having someone on the bench who can play anywhere in the backline from 1 to 7 is a smart move and honestly a luxury we can afford with an 80 minute hooker and 2 80 minute backrowers ( becoming more common ). Also if you have a real strike player like Field or someone, that wouldn't hurt either.

I wonder if those agitating for a 4 forward bench can come up with a reasonable rotation schedule, keeping in mind we're now down to just 8 interchanges. Give it a shot, I'd be interested to see your master plans.

Mann on the field means you do not have to have a back on the bench. What you need is a backrow forward who can play centre if required - Sims, Host or Leilua. Mann can move to the injured player's position if required. Mann is too good a player to sit on the bench just in case.

 

[kit66]

Mann on the field means you do not have to have a back on the bench. What you need is a backrow forward you can play centre if required - Sims, Host or Leilua. Mann can move to the injured player's position if required. Mann is too good a player to sit on the bench just in case.

Where is this " forward to play centre " idea coming from, is it a leftover from the Bennett days ? There's a lot of very speedy backs around these days in case you haven't noticed. A lot of Islanders coming in and things are speeding up. If you think we got hammered out wide last year then see how you go with a forward playing centre. Thompson was the only forward we had that I'd put anywhere near center and he's gone.

I agree totally that Mann should be in the team, 100%, right centre would be smart.

How about this idea then - considering you have Mann in the run on team ( can be moved to cover any spot ) - a bench of 3 forwards and 1 young back like Lomax , Field or Herbert to give him a run and ease them into 1sts.
3 forwards to use in rotation is enough with the 8 interchanges and the 80 minute guys. What use is a 4th who probably won't get much time if any.
I see no-one's had a shot at a rotation plan, not that easy eh.
If you're worried about particular forwards suffering burn out then give them a week off here and there and give someone else a run.

 

[Dragon Revival]

One thing is for certain that we need to win a premiership in the next 3-4 years as most of our best players only have 3-4 years left which means that after that we will be in a rebuilding stage.

 

[gonz]

Walmsley needs to drop asking price

England international Alex Walmsley continues to be linked with a stint in the NRL from 2019.

The Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights are just a few of the clubs that have made enquiries however some are baulking at the asking price of around $600,000 a year.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/01/31...rbury-bulldogs-boardroom-candidate-paul-dunn/

No thnx to Chris Leivoll mark II

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Aitken is definitely not a utility player.

SGI used to have a brace of adequate players who could have filled in (contingency value only) but both McGregor and Millward have foolishly let them leave at the end of of last year.

 

[Eatons Hill Dragon]

Can someone please get Matt Prior back to cover Centre if required.

 

[BennyV]

Where is this " forward to play centre " idea coming from, is it a leftover from the Bennett days ? There's a lot of very speedy backs around these days in case you haven't noticed. A lot of Islanders coming in and things are speeding up. If you think we got hammered out wide last year then see how you go with a forward playing centre. Thompson was the only forward we had that I'd put anywhere near center and he's gone.

I agree totally that Mann should be in the team, 100%, right centre would be smart.

How about this idea then - considering you have Mann in the run on team ( can be moved to cover any spot ) - a bench of 3 forwards and 1 young back like Lomax , Field or Herbert to give him a run and ease them into 1sts.
3 forwards to use in rotation is enough with the 8 interchanges and the 80 minute guys. What use is a 4th who probably won't get much time if any.
I see no-one's had a shot at a rotation plan, not that easy eh.
If you're worried about particular forwards suffering burn out then give them a week off here and there and give someone else a run.

Ideally we have 2 props, 1 backrower and one hooker/utility, the props rotate at the 20 and 60 minute mark, the backrower subs on/off for JDB at the 25 and 50 minute mark, and the hooker subs on around 50mins and off again within the last 10, leaving our last interchange until late in the game.

That’s the simple side of it, but it likely changes every week as the team changes. The only guys in the forward pack who should be playing 80 mins each week are the edge backrowers, Friz and Host/Sims (whoever takes the left edge) and that’s due to the high workload of the lock and hooker taking a toll over the course of the season as we saw last year.

Becomes a lot simpler if we had someone like Havili who can sub for both McInness and JDB, only using 2 interchanges to give these guys a rest (ask RufusRex for the full rundown!!!) and allowing for an impact strategy from someone like Leilua.

Having a ‘just in case’ interchange like Mann (or a young back) means that JDB and/or McInnes are expected to play 80 minutes each week and as we saw in 2017, that leads to pretty obvious burnout at back end of the year.

 

[Gareth67]

Can someone please get Matt Prior back to cover Centre if required.

He was one player that the Dragons should never had let go . He done so much in defence , very similar story to Luke Priddle when he retired. Missed his defence badly in the middle and his dummy half running . Will we ever learn ?

 

[Old Timer]

Where is this " forward to play centre " idea coming from, is it a leftover from the Bennett days ? There's a lot of very speedy backs around these days in case you haven't noticed. A lot of Islanders coming in and things are speeding up. If you think we got hammered out wide last year then see how you go with a forward playing centre. Thompson was the only forward we had that I'd put anywhere near center and he's gone.

I agree totally that Mann should be in the team, 100%, right centre would be smart.

How about this idea then - considering you have Mann in the run on team ( can be moved to cover any spot ) - a bench of 3 forwards and 1 young back like Lomax , Field or Herbert to give him a run and ease them into 1sts.
3 forwards to use in rotation is enough with the 8 interchanges and the 80 minute guys. What use is a 4th who probably won't get much time if any.
I see no-one's had a shot at a rotation plan, not that easy eh.
If you're worried about particular forwards suffering burn out then give them a week off here and there and give someone else a run.

Most people and Mc Fookknuckle have a pre conceived idea about the rotation and that IMO is where it falls down.
What we need is the quality on the bench to be so strong that you don't lose very much when they hit the paddock and if all is going ok then the starting player might in fact on occasions be subbed out.
The issue comes when the rotation is always 1 for 1 ( I replace you then you replace me) and we have to think outside that formulae whenever possible.
If you are prepared to sub certain players out because that player shares with a high quality bench player i.e. both play 40 minutes or there about it gives you a lot more flexibility and if you have a changes up your sleeve you can use it late if required.
After all we are having the hardest pre season training ever (even harder than boot camp) so fitness / recovery time shouldn't be an issue.

 

[SaintPauli]

OSD
Agree with you .
If Mary is going to play the same style as last year.( the power games).then 4 forwards on the bench is what they have to play.
But if they are playing a different style then a utility is what they need.
Imo

The problem with the power game of last season is that as the season went on the teams success wiltered as the players cannot simply sustain that intensity resulting in players playing busted. Mary cannot do the same this year. We now have 2 new additions (Hunt and Graham) who can run and ball play. Mix it up I say and get another strong quality BIG! outside back like a Konrad Hurrell or Latrel Mitchell with remaining funds. We are full house on forwards.

 

[dragonssamy61]

The problem with the power game of last season is that as the season went on the teams success wiltered as the players cannot simply sustain that intensity resulting in players playing busted. Mary cannot do the same this year. We now have 2 new additions (Hunt and Graham) who can run and ball play. Mix it up I say and get another strong quality BIG! outside back like a Konrad Hurrell or Latrel Mitchell with remaining funds. We are full house on forwards.

Agree Pauli.
Hopefully they have more than one plan only.
That is what killed them.
We need a different styles depending on the team we are playing.

 

[getsmarty]

Agree Pauli.
Hopefully they have more than one plan only.
That is what killed them.
We need a different styles depending on the team we are playing.

!00 % ....but is the coach up to it ? Not from what I have seen over the last 4 years

 

[dragonssamy61]

.

 

[denis preston]

Anyhow.... Back to Walmsley. I only saw him in one game. Can some of the better judges who watched him in the world cup consider what he is worth ? Is he all hype and slow to get up to play the ball as some are saying ? Worth 600k , 400k ? Whilst I think we really don't have a big bopper that's proven ( Kerr, Laurie ) would this guy be worth 500k and improve the side ??