Yesterday at the end of that game I was a very proud Dragon supporter.
They gave that game everything they had, nothing left in the tank, and that's all you can ask for.
We all know the limitations in skillsets by some of our key players, in particular McCrone, and Dugan, but they all still competed right up to the 84th minute.
How good was McInnes, Frizzel, Vaughn, JBD. In fact they all performed to their peak, but the fact remains that we still struggle with second phase play from the forwards when they engage with the defence.
Defence, and a low error rate, and let Widdop run the plays still seems to be the mantra. That works as long as the ref keeps the whistle in his pocket, but we got caught with quite a few 50/50 calls yesterday that went against us. The so called knock on from Nighty, that resulted in Thompson crossing the line was one of the worst.
Yes, the next two weeks are going to be tough for the boys, without Widdop, our chances of picking up a win in the next two weeks is going to be very difficult.
As long as they don't capitulate and allow a flood of points against them I will be more than happy that bye will be a chance to rest, recover from niggling injuries, and regroup as we head into the second half of the comp.
I'm not sure if Nona's time has come to make a claim for an NRL spot, but at the very least he has the skillset we need, as in a good passing and kicking game, and is an excellent goal kicker.
Field is still too inexperienced and still developing, and their is nobody else.
Will be interesting to see what McGregor does on Thursday but on yesterday's performance I doubt that Mann is man. Apparently he trained in the halves during the off season, you wouldn't have thought so on his time at 5/8 yesterday. Moving JBD into the halves was the right option at the time.
Win, lose or draw as long as they play with the same commitment going forward that will be enough to keep me happy. Go the MIGHTYS.