Where do you see us in 5 years

[Crush]

All we’ve talked about in the forum for the past year or so is these 3 gun kids we have at our club. We have sweated on their re-signing and celebrated when they were extended.
So far this year we have seen Sullivan train with the team all week only to get dropped back out of the 17 in both Indigenous round and Origin round, and Sloan given 2 chances in horrible conditions and circumstances only to be dropped with talks now that he wants out next year and can’t get along with the coach.
If their aren’t some changes to the team tomorrow at 4pm then I will be switching off, over and out, I will be focusing on something else, maybe study a foreign language or something.

 

[Inisai Toga]

All we’ve talked about in the forum for the past year or so is these 3 gun kids we have at our club. We have sweated on their re-signing and celebrated when they were extended.
So far this year we have seen Sullivan train with the team all week only to get dropped back out of the 17 in both Indigenous round and Origin round, and Sloan given 2 chances in horrible conditions and circumstances only to be dropped with talks now that he wants out next year and can’t get along with the coach.
If their aren’t some changes to the team tomorrow at 4pm then I will be switching off, over and out, I will be focusing on something else, maybe study a foreign language or something.

wise…. could help in translating NRL coaches press conferences!

 

[Illusion]

This thread just sets up very negative responses and doesn’t achieve. Anything.

Ok denis all Im asking is where do you see us in 5 years ..... So can you see us on the rise if you can give me some hope that what you see I may be missing ....... What Im trying to see, have we wasted more years with the wrong coach, players give me something to keep me interested and hopeful , give me your opinion ......

 

[Dragons 09]

I am going for the glass half full scenario, surely there has to be some method in this current madness.

We've signed a heap of rejects in recent times on what i would hope to be for minimum dollars (Burgess, Woods, Mbye, Moga, Faamausili, Gosiewski, McCullough and no doubt others) and this has me wondering whether Phil Gould knew more than he let on with his "Clayton's Review". Gould made mention that our problem was deep rooted and it didn't matter who the coach was, it was going to be a slow fix. At the time (and largely i still do) i assumed he was talking about our dysfunctional Board, but i'm now wondering if our salary cap was in such a mess that we needed to go through this minimum dollar reject recruitment drive to balance the books and get us back on the front foot.

Glass half full prediction is Top 4 in 2024 and premiership in 2026.

 

[Crush]

I am going for the glass half full scenario, surely there has to be some method in this current madness.

We've signed a heap of rejects in recent times on what i would hope to be for minimum dollars (Burgess, Woods, Mbye, Moga, Faamausili, Gosiewski, McCullough and no doubt others) and this has me wondering whether Phil Gould knew more than he let on with his "Clayton's Review". Gould made mention that our problem was deep rooted and it didn't matter who the coach was, it was going to be a slow fix. At the time (and largely i still do) i assumed he was talking about our dysfunctional Board, but i'm now wondering if our salary cap was in such a mess that we needed to go through this minimum dollar reject recruitment drive to balance the books and get us back on the front foot.

Glass half full prediction is Top 4 in 2024 and premiership in 2026.

Admirable outlook mate but flawed. How can we be playing with minimum dollar rejects in 2022, 2023 then miraculously be top 4 in 2024? It takes time and planning to achieve this.
Mbye, Woods, McCulloch are all signed next year aren’t they? If so, they’ll be in the 17 and whilst they are playing in starting 17 we are truly nowhere.

 

[Dragons 09]

Admirable outlook mate but flawed. How can we be playing with minimum dollar rejects in 2022, 2023 then miraculously be top 4 in 2024? It takes time and planning to achieve this.
Mbye, Woods, McCulloch are all signed next year aren’t they? If so, they’ll be in the 17 and whilst they are playing in starting 17 we are truly nowhere.

I guess i might be glass 3/4 full after all
I'm hoping Macca might bow out gracefully at years end and Woods has a players option for next year which i'm hoping he doesn't exercise and calls it a day. Mbye will still be here but i can live with that for a year for some utility depth. I know, i'm desperate!.....but dreaming stops me from losing my shiz.

 

[Gourley's Socks]

If there are issues with the cap then there's a certain gentleman pulling down the kind of money reserved for the top 5 in his position despite being having been treated very well by the club during his forced absence and playing like a shadow of himself since his return.

That has to be one of the most bone-headed negotiations from the club in recent memory.

 

[possm]

We should be in great shape cap wise given who is in our spine and what their salary should be. Ramsey, Amone, Hunt and McCullough is not a break the bank spine.

Then we have players like Matt Feagai and Ravalawa who would not be on low dollars.

I think De Belin was reported to be on 600k Su'A on 600k and Sims on 800k but he leaves for Melbourne at the end of this season. I'm sure I read that F Molo was singed for 600k.

So you see, we should be in a great position cap-wise given the people we have in our top 17.

 

[Old Timer]

Probably exactly where we are right now.
1. Lamenting our lot in life and our useless BOD.
2. Overestimating the ability of our team.
3. Waxing lyrical about all the promising juniors who will amount to nothing despite our fervent belief they somehow will.
4. Thinking that "1" Ben Hunt type signing will fix the problems.
5. Seeing rainbows instead of hailstorms.
6. Trying to believe that our coach can get something out of our roster of journeymen and discards despite the fact that the best in the coaching business showed them all the door.
7. Agonising over the fact that Dufy had speed to burn and we let him go to England while forgetting what a flop he was at the Dogs.
8. Wondering when will it all end.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I'm going to chip in here and say "Where do you see us in 2yrs" (or 1yr 1/2 actually)

Our squad as it stands for those signed past the end of 2023:
Bird, JDB (PO), Matt and Max Feagai, Jaiyden Hunt, Lomax, Francis Molo, Ramsey, Ravalawa (PO), Sloan, Sua, Suli & Sullivan.
Breaking that down further: 8 backs & 5 forwards. Of those backs - Ramsey is our current fullback, Rava & Matt Feagai (he was sick on the weekend hence Rueben got a run) are our current wingers, Suli and Lomax are our current centres.

That's 13 players atm. I'm gathering that Michael Molo will be added, and I believe @George Dragon has indicated we are in talks with extending Burns. There's also Josh Coric and O'Ofou, but I don't know what's happened to Shalom, he's like disappeared.

For those only signed 'till the end of 2023:
Amone, Burgess, Fuimaono, Ben Hunt, Kerr, Lawrie, Macca, Mbye, Woods.

Of that list:
Hunt will be 33yrs old and 34 if re-signed past 2023
Macca will also be 33yrs old and 34 if re-signed past 2023
Woods will be 32yrs old and 33 if re-signed past 2023

On that list you'd probably re-sign Amone and possibly Fui.

Towards the end of this year and early next, we have a lot of retention and recruitment decisions to make. There are a number of juniors coming through, but will they be ready is the big question.

the 2024 season will be interesting on a number of fronts with Hook's contract expiring at the end of 2023, which will add some importance to who will coach us. A new coach will want 'his' team, whereas Hook is supposedly developing his already. The next 18 months are going to be a watch on with trepidation.

 

[Old Timer]

I say fui Fui because he ain’t no Moimoi

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

In 5 years time, Sharon, McCullough and Mbye will still be playing for the dragons.

 

[Dragon David]

Let's go backwards to 2017 which is 5 years ago. What would have been our vision for the 5 years ahead? If we had a crystal ball we would have seen us making the final 8 in 2018 finishing 7th with our worst year being 2019 in which we came 15th. So looking ahead then for the next 5 years, we could make the top 8 in 2023 but instead of hurtling back down the ladder in years 24,25,26 and 27 we could be top 4 all of those years.

I'm banking on a massive change to how our operations will be running in the years ahead - for the better.

 

[FlameThrower]

After 234 days of consecutive rain, captain Aaron Woods celebrates his 500th NRL game captaining the mighty St George Perth Dragons to 10th place. Missing 4 players to Covid 25 astro strain, and having to walk to the ground due to the ongoing petrol crisis, the Dragons lost on the buzzer due to a baffling error by 600 game veteran Andrew McCulloch. The paltry crowd celebrating first weekend of freedom after lockdown #345 due to high levels of radiation from the European nuclear cloud were buoyed by the arrival of Prime Minister Kyle Sandilands in a rare public appearance. Only bright spot for the Dragons was a spirited 5 minute spell from Jayden Sullivan from the bench.

Armageddon …

 

[BBTB]

Without significant change at the Board level, not much will change.

Exactly..

 

[justadragon]

This thread just sets up very negative responses and doesn’t achieve. Anything.

DP I think its a good question to ask, its just the timing of it after the Cows game, I think we are all feeling very negative, if you would have asked it after the Roosters game im sure you would have got different responses. For my 2 cents for what its worth, there needs to be coaching and management changes that happen soon and then maybe we can ask the same question after seeing some change.

 

[Illusion]

DP I think its a good question to ask, its just the timing of it after the Cows game, I think we are all feeling very negative, if you would have asked it after the Roosters game im sure you would have got different responses. For my 2 cents for what its worth, there needs to be coaching and management changes that happen soon and then maybe we can ask the same question after seeing some change.

justadragon , its not just after the loss to Cowboys , I have been feeling this since the days of Price , Mary , its nothing to do with yesterdays loss ...... Denis has come out and said it sets up negative responses , nothing to do with that , its just I haven't seen anything over the last 6 years or so to show that we are heading out of the black hole we are in ...... If people are happy to win a game here and there , then good for them and all respect ...... What frightens me most for this once Mighty Club is that the CEO , Board , Coaching staff have no idea how to get out of this ..... Hook has not worked out , and I was hopeful for us when he had taken over ..... Somebody give me some hope that we will or are heading in the right direction , because I cant see it ......

 

[Dragon David]

justadragon , its not just after the loss to Cowboys , I have been feeling this since the days of Price , Mary , its nothing to do with yesterdays loss ...... Denis has come out and said it sets up negative responses , nothing to do with that , its just I haven't seen anything over the last 6 years or so to show that we are heading out of the black hole we are in ...... If people are happy to win a game here and there , then good for them and all respect ...... What frightens me most for this once Mighty Club is that the CEO , Board , Coaching staff have no idea how to get out of this ..... Hook has not worked out , and I was hopeful for us when he had taken over ..... Somebody give me some hope that we will or are heading in the right direction , because I cant see it ......

To me Illusion, the only way that most of us can sense any hope for the future is if we can win more games in a row and win by good margins and beating "better" teams more consistently.

Until that can happen and we just win a game here and lose the next couple is not heaping much positivity in us.

Massive changes are needed and our board does not like that type of change - it is too hard for them to sort things out, that's why they wanted to extend Hook so that they didn't have to have the head coaching dramas on their agendas every month and delaying this til next year gives them a period in which they can just put their feet up.

 

[justadragon]

justadragon , its not just after the loss to Cowboys , I have been feeling this since the days of Price , Mary , its nothing to do with yesterdays loss ...... Denis has come out and said it sets up negative responses , nothing to do with that , its just I haven't seen anything over the last 6 years or so to show that we are heading out of the black hole we are in ...... If people are happy to win a game here and there , then good for them and all respect ...... What frightens me most for this once Mighty Club is that the CEO , Board , Coaching staff have no idea how to get out of this ..... Hook has not worked out , and I was hopeful for us when he had taken over ..... Somebody give me some hope that we will or are heading in the right direction , because I cant see it ......

100% Illusion, I posted on another thread that the problem just wasnt over the last 2-3 years, Covid, no junior grade football etc, its been bad since Bennett left and every year we say its a rebuild look forward to a new coach new players etc, we just cannot seem to get the basics right, even now with this rumour of Cam Ciraldo, what facts do we have behind this, what happens to us 2023 if we continue to spiral down 2022, we just cant have CC coming in and winning us a comp, he will have to have his team, not Hook's, theoretically it should start at the beginning of 2023 ready for the new coach and his players, but once again, its not fact its something that came out of Webster's mouth, when I see Ciraldo at the table signing the contract I'll believe it , until then situation normal at the dragons.

 

[Dragon David]

100% Illusion, I posted on another thread that the problem just wasnt over the last 2-3 years, Covid, no junior grade football etc, its been bad since Bennett left and every year we say its a rebuild look forward to a new coach new players etc, we just cannot seem to get the basics right, even now with this rumour of Cam Ciraldo, what facts do we have behind this, what happens to us 2023 if we continue to spiral down 2022, we just cant have CC coming in and winning us a comp, he will have to have his team, not Hook's, theoretically it should start at the beginning of 2023 ready for the new coach and his players, but once again, its not fact its something that came out of Webster's mouth, when I see Ciraldo at the table signing the contract I'll believe it , until then situation normal at the dragons.

The current coaching merry-go-round involving the Bulldogs, Tigers and Warriors will be over in the next month or so and then we can look at the next probable coaches that will be bulleted out - like maybe Holbrook and O'Brien and even Hook and see who would be available to take over the clubs they represent. If Flanagan is still available and not nabbed by one of the first 3 clubs then our club would be out of their minds not to offer him a good deal after 2023.

Something drastically has to happen. If Ciraldo doesn't take any of the Tigers/Bulldogs offers then he definitely should be approached as well.