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What is Gus' agenda with Saints

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,950
Gould is all about Gould in his effort to make himself out to be the most knowledgeable voice ever in rugby league.

He is trying to erase the memory of Gibson & Ryan and furthermore nullify the voices of Bennett and Bellamy all in pursuit of his own ego.

It is a tragedy that the bloated toad fish has been elevated to the ridiculous level of so called "mentor" and "defining voice" of rugby league.

The only thing potentially worse is the incessant referral to that less than immortal Andrew Johns as "the eighth"
 

Illusion

Bench
Messages
2,823
Gould is all about Gould in his effort to make himself out to be the most knowledgeable voice ever in rugby league.

He is trying to erase the memory of Gibson & Ryan and furthermore nullify the voices of Bennett and Bellamy all in pursuit of his own ego.

It is a tragedy that the bloated toad fish has been elevated to the ridiculous level of so called "mentor" and "defining voice" of rugby league.

The only thing potentially worse is the incessant referral to that less than immortal Andrew Johns as "the eighth"
x2
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,471
If Hunt leaves it is because he was promised the 7 jersey at a club. What is the difference with that and a team tapping up a player and offering them more to leave a club? I am sure that will be what he springs up on the new coach. Pick me at 7 or I will go to another club that promised me they will play me at 7. NRL need to step in. If Hunt does ask for a release allow it but not to any of the teams that tapped him up.

Also if Hunt does leave I really hope it is to join the Titans or Dolphins and return back to Qld. That would be the smart thing to do as they have more chance of winning a comp that the Dogs.
 

twinkletoes

Juniors
Messages
924
I'm going to take another view of Gould just to stir the pot. I think he has a soft spot for Dragons stemming from his younger days. He said from the outset that Dragons should get an experienced coach to replace Griffin because he bleieves that is what they need at the moment...maybe he's working in the background indirectly to ensure that happens and secretly he'd like to see the Dragons do well again and maybe that's why he steered Ryles away to help that scenario to eventuate...
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,471
Gould must see the Dragons as a threat or a sleeping giant to be honest and want to try and weaken them by getting their best players to walk out. If the Dogs are so desperate for a half go for Brooks. They did the same trick to the young Bronco half and it looks like they are ready to throw him out and replace him with a 33 y.o.

This should further endorse Flanno to be the HC as he will put a stop to all this rubbish, same with Des. They won't take this crap and I can see them not releasing their best player, where as Young and Hornby will buckle and get bullied by the media, Gould and Hunt and release him. I don't ever remember Flanno or Des letting go of their best players in their past that is for sure.
 

Jim Dragons

Juniors
Messages
76
Interesting comments by Tallis Slippery. Whilst appreciate the logic, I personally dont agree with the assessment at all! Hunt is a fine hooker at rep level playing a supporting role in Qld’s Harry Grant rotation model , but don’t believe for one minute he’s the best Hooker in the NRL, possibly number 5. Also, the comparison of Cameron Smith playing hooker till 37 is a bit week; totally different playing staff, coaching, structures, refereeing etc. As you point out in another post even he and others might struggle to show their best under our system…..
Couldn’t agree more however, with your comments of hearing ex- players opinions or even knowledge Rugby League people opinions …get rid of all the gossip rubbish….
A few people have hit on this "get rid of journalists and have more ex-players" line... but making generic statements like that rarely ends up with the desired results... many journalists speak with logic. You may not agree with everything that a Kent; Riccio; or Webster say - but the bulk of it makes sense. On the other hand if you start quoting what a Hooper; Buzz; or Crawley say - then you really need to take a good look at yourself. There is good and bad - obviously keep the good and cast aside the rest. And Danny Weidler is just a grub.

On the player front I get a lot out of what a Brandy; Slater; Cronk; Jammer or Matty Johns bring to the table... but could do with a lot less of Blocker; BA; Tallis or Locky. And whoever thought it was a good idea to ask Spud his opinion... thanks for nothing !!! Again there is good and bad.

I think one of the funniest things l have seen recently was when Hooper quoted Buzz's headline that the Dragons have given Hook the first 6 weeks at the start of the season to prove his worth or he will be sacked. Of course no one was quoted in the article and it was clear it was Buzz's opinion and nothing more... (need to write newspaper article - let's question which coach should be sacked and quote that you have it "on good authority" to give said article grunt). Hooper was quoting this as an example of poor management by the Dragons in missing a commitment - until Kent told him live on air... "really that was just Buzz's thoughts in that article you know". My point is the good journalists know the facts and use them to make a point. But there are examples of journalists who just live in a dream world (probably surprised that people even listen to their point of view). Maybe we on social media we should create focus forums on which journalist will be stricken from the game for poor performance and put pressure on their organisations.

The game thrives on gossip and innuendo. Its when you start quoting the gossip as fact that the mistakes are made.
 

Parko1310

Juniors
Messages
1,142
How I'd be dealing with this Gus situation is this. Most would agree if we're letting Hunt go we want a player swap involved as well, but not necessarily a big money swap so that we can go out and use Hunt's money to sign another quality player elsewhere. For example, from the Titans we could demand Khan-Pereira, Verrills, Sexton, even Klese Haas on a 2-year deal with one of the other mentioned players to see if we can lure Payne away from Brisbane the following year. From Raiders maybe Starling to work in the hooker rotation with Liddle. From the Bulldogs who is under contract next year that would be worthwhile going for that doesn't take up a massive chunk of the money Hunt would free up? No one. So, tell Gus that he can go and get f**ked. Tell him you tried to attract one of our best young talents away from the club whilst he was under contract and caught up with our club captain "to talk footy" whilst under contract and therefore we won't be dealing with you. Tell Hunt if it does eventuate he really wants to leave (which I'm skeptical about) that, sure you can go, but you won't be going to the bulldogs. Simple as that, what's Gus going to do then?
 

Exsilium

First Grade
Messages
9,568
He's trying to dig in to any Sydney club that isn't he one he governs. He's always been like that.

You're a good coach and a couple signings away from being back into the top eight consistently. Given how dense the top 8 is now, anything to destabilise or create doubt is on Gould's daily to do list.
 

Jim Dragons

Juniors
Messages
76
If Hunt leaves it is because he was promised the 7 jersey at a club. What is the difference with that and a team tapping up a player and offering them more to leave a club? I am sure that will be what he springs up on the new coach. Pick me at 7 or I will go to another club that promised me they will play me at 7. NRL need to step in. If Hunt does ask for a release allow it but not to any of the teams that tapped him up.

Also if Hunt does leave I really hope it is to join the Titans or Dolphins and return back to Qld. That would be the smart thing to do as they have more chance of winning a comp that the Dogs.
We all do remember Hunt has a signed contract with the Dragons - don't we?

And that the contract has no clauses for the contract to be revoked if there is a change of coach which was finally agreed by both parties. Therefore on what grounds is talk that Hunt wants to leave even news?

Hunt has been quoted and interviewed often about this. The underlying tone on the whole thing seems to be that while he is frustrated by our performances; that he knows has a contract and wants to come out the other side with the club doing well. He actually always appears to accept his role and responsibility to rite the ship.

If Hunt were to push to exit his Dragons contract; our club don't need to find anyone to take him off our hands. We have a commodity that others may want. Hunt would need to request a release... he would probably be told only if it was to the betterment of the Dragons we would may reassess. He would be given a short moment to explore and we should/would then screw blood out of the salary cap of say a Bulldogs or Gold Coast if they are desperate to buy him. But he goes no where unless the Dragons see benefit to agree.

We have slots moving forward for Hunt (at 7); Sullivan (6); Liddle (9); Sloan (1) and Amone (14). Hopefully Ramsey may need to be squeased into that next year and Mbye's contract ends at the end of year. I think Amone has dropped the ball (understandably in his current circumstances); and he has been given a request to pick up his game to be included in First Grade. On his day Amone is way better than just a NRL player (but to this moment that is potentially).

In MHO - that is a pretty good spine for our next coach to provide a positive game plan for us to prosper as a club.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,411
Forget Gus, what's the dragons board agenda against us? that's the real question...
They have no agenda against the supporters .

Unfortunately it is a case of they are clueless as to how to make and agree upon the correct decisions as to the advancement of the club itself .

And the Dragon rugby league team , comes a poor second as a result of the board’s shortcomings .
 
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Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,600
They have no agenda against the supporters .

Unfortunately it is a case of they are clueless as to how to make and agree upon the correct decisions as to the advancement of the club itself .

And the Dragons team , comes a poor second .
If I was 60 years younger (making me 16), a Dragons supporter and seeing this troubled club going through all this drama and waiting with bated breath to find out what is going on at the club with coaches, support staff and player recruitment and retention for the future years, knowing this club's way of procrastinating on getting things done would turn me off and I would give up.

The following is a shit story but I like writing shit.

Price was an easy solution for the club to sign up to replace Bennett because Bennett endorsed him and they did not have to worry on who was going to be the coach. When they realised that Bennett gave them the bum steer, they sacked Price and rather than look at the best option back then using the principles of what Bennett did for the club, they also took the easy way out by signing up Mr McGregor.

Mary was their pin up boy and even though he had ups and downs over a few years and giving in to his bullshit reasons why he wasn't getting the results, saying things like the players weren't his and that he needs to select his players to get us playing finals footy and all the rest of his excuses, they let him carry on to be the longest head coach in the history for the Dragons because it was easy for them and they did not want the worry. Then the Board finally woke up with massive yawns and realised after so long that Mary wasn't doing all that good and sacked him and decided to seek his replacement.

We had Flanagan and DYoung hanging around helping out the best they could. Hornby was there but he pissed off a little earlier to join up at Souths. DYoung was the interim. He wasn't who they wanted then nor was Flanagan so enter Mr Griffin, the Griff. He had all of the answers to give to the Board and rather than wait just that bit longer to see who else was around, there was no-one as they did not want to come, so Griff got the job. Griff had his problems with recruitment because of salary cap issues and signed up plenty of has beens and rejects and even one or two come out of retirement. He had troubles with someone organising a BBQ during COVID Lockdown orders amongst other troubles. The Board had their reasons to keep him on and even extended his tenure before the start of the new competition because it was easy for them to do it and they did not want to worry about coaching matters.

The Griff got the sack and now we are are back to square one like it was so many years ago and the Board is still deliberating and whatever solution they come up with will be one that will be the easiest and least worry for them just as it was with the other unsuccessful coaches.

That young 16 year old fella best to follow a different sport methinks.
 

Gardenia

Juniors
Messages
2,172
I think Gus just has better mail then others certainly journalists, has a decent footy brain and is very confident and charismatic and is a good business man looking after his current club. I wish we were that good at chasing talent. Its what they have hired him to do - get the club in shape.
 
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