Why the Panic!

[Dennis Papaioannou]

You would have thought that the second half cornerback against the knights could have been the catalyst to really get their season back on track bnot to be.

That comeback was a direct result of the team being booed off at half time and Joel Thomson revving them up for a big improvement in the second half.
The players felt embarrassed and that's what sparked them.
The problem is McGregor - the players have lost confidence in him and no longer believe in his football philosophy - whatever that is.
Of course that's just my opinion but it could explain what's going on.

 

[Crush]

Only thing which numbs the pain of dragons fall from grace is the raiders just keep losing! Nothing makes me happier than watching the Raiders lose week in week out! I wonder when Ricky will start to make some team changes? Imagine the poor old raiders supporters, they thought they would win a comp this year! Love it.

 

[Dragons 09]

The cold hard truth is that we are still performing well above where we should be.

I thought Mickey's post was funny, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he is well intentioned but just get's a little ahead of himself at times.

But this quote of yours pretty much says it all. If this forum is "the squeaky wheel, the noisy 1%, the crazy ranting homeless guy banging on about conspiracy theories in the park", then that means the other 99% of fans are more than content with winning 3 of our last 9, heading towards missing finals footy again, going backwards not forwards with absolutely no plan, desires or goals to see us do anything to claw our way out of the quagmire. If that is what 99% of us are happy with, then this club is f**ked and the definition of mediocrity in the dictionary should be changed to read "St George Illawarra".

Can i ask you, if we are performing WELL ABOVE WHERE WE SHOULD BE, then where the f**k should we be?

 

[Objective View]

i don't understand this forum sometimes - whenever the Dragons play ordinary or suffer a loss or two - mass panic sets in.

I hope people saw Storm dismantle Broncos last night by 30 points in BRISBANE and today Sharks smash Roosters by 30 points as well - or someone even looking at the early premiership favourites CANBERRA going through paces atm - if we were beaten by the above scores by either team or were even travelling as bad as CANBERRA this forum would melt down !

What I'm saying is to look at our season in a practical sense ! We have a modest roster with a solid forward pack and at this stage the team is sitting comfortably in the top 8.. Yes the team sometimes lacks consistency but that' has more to do with injuries and a shallow roster especially in key positions such as the halves..

Everyone needs to settle down and let the team go through its paces - by making the top 8 this year will be a great achievement for a team everyone had finishing in the last 2 positions.

Have confidence in the Team that proved early on how great they could be - I would be worried if we hadn't demonstrated any sort of form but we as supporters know what the teams capabilities are and hence all the frustration..

Enjoy the rollercoaster its a free ride BUT if u can't handle it - then get off the ride!

You make it sound like we're regular semi-finalists merely going through an irregular rough patch.

Objective View

 

[Drag Queen]

Panic? I call it apathy.

 

[Gomarchin]

Only thing which numbs the pain of dragons fall from grace is the raiders just keep losing! Nothing makes me happier than watching the Raiders lose week in week out! I wonder when Ricky will start to make some team changes? Imagine the poor old raiders supporters, they thought they would win a comp this year! Love it.

The raiders will put on a score when we play them in 2 weeks and their season will kick start from there.

 

[Objective View]

Win 2 games and we are world beaters, lose 2 games and we are bums.

The cold hard truth is that we are still performing well above where we should be.

Consider one premiership in 38 years or one semi final match (for one loss) in the last 4 or 5 years.

This team performing well above? You're a f#*kwit.

Straight Shooter

 

[Old Timer]

Sorry Mickeylane, but I'm panicking!
I'm jumping off the rollercoaster! Its all downhill from here mate!

Crush
Sorry that the reality has been so confronting but at least you can now potentially see what makes others so angry because it doesn't have to be this way.
Remember next year, be a little conservative as to what occurs very early on in the season and it will possibly save you some pain as I suspect with Mc Fookknuckle and his team at the helm little will change and if it does highly doubtful it will be for the better.
I truly hope that before too long things will again correct themselves with a complete clean out and we will end up with a club including management, staff and roster that we will not only be proud of but will be a standard bearer for a generation of supporters that will hopefully follow the mighty red v and see it have some sustainable success.
Anyway by all means keep supporting the team on the paddock and for the want of a term be objective in your view.

 

[Old Timer]

Consider one premiership in 38 years or one semi final match (for one loss) in the last 4 or 5 years.

This team performing well above? You're a f#*kwit.

Straight Shooter

Back to your best champion, glad to see you can't keep a good man down.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Currently 20 pts.
Bye - 2 pts.
Raiders away ?
SeaEagles home ?
Knights away ?
Rabbits home ( SCG ) ?
Titans home ?
Broncos away ?
Panthers away ?
Bullgrubs home ?

Total points ? ?

Mickey , the Dragons shall require at the very least 3 wins to make the final eight , perhaps even 4 . Which of our remaining games do you believe that the team will win ? I am merely being realistic about the total number points that we shall accumulate in the coming weeks .

If the Bye can score more than two tries we are screwed

 

[Objective View]

Currently 20 pts.
Bye - 2 pts.
Raiders away ?
SeaEagles home ?
Knights away ?
Rabbits home ( SCG ) ?
Titans home ?
Broncos away ?
Panthers away ?
Bullgrubs home ?

Total points ? ?

Mickey , the Dragons shall require at the very least 3 wins to make the final eight , perhaps even 4 . Which of our remaining games do you believe that the team will win ? I am merely being realistic about the total number points that we shall accumulate in the coming weeks .

I actually don't see how we can miss out - 2015 all over again. It will be an early exit but hailed as a success by the club and Mary. Hell, Mary will be using it in pressers for the next 2 years.

Straight Shooter

 

[Minh]

Unless there is a miracle turnaround, we are no chance of winning the comp this year.....from contenders to pretenders, a bitter pill to swallow. I've enjoyed the highs early in the season and loathe the recent losses, injury derailed us at first and now with our full squad back we are playing like busted's and flat as a tack so no excuses. I'm doubting we can bounce back now, it sucks, but just support the team. They gave us a good sight in the first few rounds.

There is however one thing about supporting this club (the last 30 to 40 years) one would know the pain that comes with it. This is the modern game and rich clubs who can bend the rules dominate, no question about that.....Support the team through thick and thin, it is what it is ( Glory days are gone, long gone).....our time will come, we will rise again......Have faith and belief and above all be realistic....

 

[getsmarty]

Unless there is a miracle turnaround, we are no chance of winning the comp this year.....from contenders to pretenders, a bitter pill to swallow. I've enjoyed the highs early in the season and loathe the recent losses, injury derailed us at first and now with our full squad back we are playing like busted's and flat as a tack so no excuses. I'm doubting we can bounce back now, it sucks, but just support the team. They gave us a good sight in the first few rounds.

There is however one thing about supporting this club (the last 30 to 40 years) one would know the pain that comes with it. This is the modern game and rich clubs who can bend the rules dominate, no question about that.....Support the team through thick and thin, it is what it is ( Glory days are gone, long gone).....our time will come, we will rise again......Have faith and belief and above all be realistic....

With all due respect we were never contenders this year. Even with the great start we still had
1/. Same Coach 2/. McCrone at half. 3/. Compressed defence with no speed on the edges.
These elements alone were alarming. When Parra exposed us in round 2? the writing was on the wall.

The current coach ( Who has been in charge since midway through 2014 ) has yet to show that he can dig this team out of a hole.I agree with your sentiment but the glory days will not come with the current regime in charge. We are more likely to fold or go broke on the back of these piranhas.

 

[getsmarty]

Interesting comments on the Footy show from Johns/Fittler/MacDougall... Asked why have we gone back to the same set plays that didn't work in 2016 ? Running sideways/block plays etc....

Maybe now that the coach has re-signed he has gone back to what he knows...???

I am just waiting til the end of the year for..

.In 2016 I had too much on my plate ( painting Gym and Recruitment ) so I am relinquishing those tasks.

2017 I have to much on my plate so I am letting Dean Young look after defence, Ben Hornby attack and I'll concentrate on cutting and pasting the time every week..LOL

 

[Drag Queen]

Unless there is a miracle turnaround, we are no chance of winning the comp this year.....from contenders to pretenders, a bitter pill to swallow. I've enjoyed the highs early in the season and loathe the recent losses, injury derailed us at first and now with our full squad back we are playing like busted's and flat as a tack so no excuses. I'm doubting we can bounce back now, it sucks, but just support the team. They gave us a good sight in the first few rounds.

There is however one thing about supporting this club (the last 30 to 40 years) one would know the pain that comes with it. This is the modern game and rich clubs who can bend the rules dominate, no question about that.....Support the team through thick and thin, it is what it is ( Glory days are gone, long gone).....our time will come, we will rise again......Have faith and belief and above all be realistic....

I reckon the Roosters and Broncos are feeling a bit of pain too right now. Actually add the Raiders too.

 

[BankstownDragon]

There is no room for common sense on the forum so don't go expecting it to happen any time soon Mickeylane.

This forum is the squeaky wheel, the noisy 1%, the crazy ranting homeless guy banging on about conspiracy theories in the park(love your work old timer )

If I had $1 for every threat of strikes/walkouts/handing in memberships, that all come to nothing.

Win 2 games and we are world beaters, lose 2 games and we are bums. Half the squad would have their contracts torn up every 3-4 weeks if this forum was in charge.....oh and Kurt Mann would be halfback because 10 years ago he played there in u15's (wait......that already happened)

The cold hard truth is that we are still performing well above where we should be. Without a halfback this team will never be successful or consistent. And the club's strategy seems to be to not sign a halfback for 2017 to grab a good one for 2018. And it worked.

This year was always going to be a struggle and we have performed well above expectation imo. Happy to sit back and see where we run from here. The year may continue to go pear shaped but I saw enough in the early part of the season to suggest that a quality halfback will have them firing next year.

The hard truth is that we are a fu**in basketcase of a club.

The last 5 years or so, we have had promises of better days and excuses for failure galore.

I agree with you that we cant do much about it...as we have more fans that accept this bullshit than supporters that are not happy.

Im really not sure why this is the case...its one of the most difficult things to for me to understand.

I personally want the best for this great team, this great brand. But fans that continue to accept every thing the club is doing (from management to coaching) doesnt help our situation.

Ive run out of patience am sick in the stomach.

 

[Mark D]

I've said it before... don't think many of us and certainly not the media had us in the Top 8 at this stage of the year and definitely didn't have us leading the comp at stages... Yes the form has dropped off but it is easily fixed... We just need to go back to the power game up the guts , complete sets and then give Widdop and Co time to create... The bye has come at the right time although I do know that we started to go backwards after our last bye... let's get behind the team for the run home.... too many arm chair critics running around... if we make the semis to me that will be an over achievement as it is.

 

[getsmarty]

I've said it before... don't think many of us and certainly not the media had us in the Top 8 at this stage of the year and definitely didn't have us leading the comp at stages... Yes the form has dropped off but it is easily fixed... We just need to go back to the power game up the guts , complete sets and then give Widdop and Co time to create... The bye has come at the right time although I do know that we started to go backwards after our last bye... let's get behind the team for the run home.... too many arm chair critics running around... if we make the semis to me that will be an over achievement as it is.

With all due respect Mark...the reason the "Power game " isn't working is that other teams coaches have worked us out...Just look at Round 2 vs Parra...Brad Arthur nullified the "Power game" and exposed our weaknesses on the edge. Most of our tries come on the left edge, so Teams are crowding Widdop and Lafai which causes errors though pushing the pass.When the Power Game doesn't work we revert to the Block plays and sideways movement from 2016. It's not hard to figure out....

Its pretty much the same pattern from the last 3 years. Only thing that changed at the beginning of this year was the more direct attack with offloads and 2nd phase play. Once our forwards are contained, we have no PLAN B.

 

[Old Timer]

I reckon the Roosters and Broncos are feeling a bit of pain too right now. Actually add the Raiders too.

I agree but a couple thing that happen at those clubs that their fans can take some solace from

1. They at least get a glimpse at the future with juniors actually embraced in the top grade.
2. They can all score long range tries that will excite the fans.
3. Their coaches don't make piss week excuses.

I am sure we would all be a lot happier if we had those 3 things happening at St GI but alas we don't even get that.

 

[Gareth67]

The Dragons slid into the 2015 semi's on their bellies , not a nice way of putting it , however I believe most appropriate considering the form that the team displayed at that time . However they played a magnificent game of rugby league in that match , our small forward pack really took it to the much vaunted Bulldog six . In fact the Dragons got over them .

Marshall has a great game and Widdop straight out of hospital with his leg heavily bandaged took us to a whisker of beating the beggars . That game I was just so bluudy proud of the team and wait , also McGregor himself , for turning the side around in a week .

We were a shambles for the best part of 4 -5 weeks before that game but somehow our Mary did get the boys to play their best football . Now , in 2017 the side may once again just make the semis , may , however unfortunately I cannot see Mary being able to perform the same miracle that he did 2 years ago .

I believe that the overall performance of any team should improve as each season passes , when under the guidance of the same coach . But the Dragons are still a ' stop and start ' outfit , that seems to splutter into life every now and then . Just not good enough for a club that has semi final aspirations and most certainly not for one , that once had so much pride and tradition .