Wingers wave the white flag

[RedVDave]

JP had a great game tonight he is super solid
That being said we still have the worst wingers in the NRL.

 

[Crush]

12 metres from non intercepts?

Our wingers wouldn't have scored from those intercepts, they'd have caught the ball and looked around for Dufty.

 

[matPORTS]

JP & Rava have both shown improvement in recent times, and were solid last night. But still lack genuine speed, instinct and the game breaking ability that the modern game commands of it's wingers.

Made comment on this during the 2018/2019 off season.

Once Nightingale decided to retire, we needed to find an experienced winger to replace him. Almost two years on, we still have not done that. You can't just replace that 200+ games of experience with rookies. Sure, it's also possible to get lucky with a Radradra / Sivo type Fijian flyer (and that's an experiment we've possibly tried with Ravalawa) but we don't have the coach or the systems in place to nurture this in the correct manner.

An Alex Johnston (or equivalent) is a must signing for 2021.

The writing must be on the wall in terms of Saab leaving, because he should still be the one out there instead of JP imo.

 

[hazzbeen]

We lost again tonight because we lost the play the ball yet again.

Our forwards are soft. Blaming our wingers, who were both good tonight, is an interesting tactic, Cotton

Our forwards are soft , lacking aggression and intimidation , with a 16 point lead , our forwards should have dominated , instead soon as Souths put it on them they went into their shell ..... The backs tried hard and were even doing the forwards job taking the ball up .....

 

[Coffs dragon]

We lack speed and aggression. The Sharks under Flanno as coach, were a tough gritty team that were tough & consistent.
This current Dragons team can only seem to absorb 20-30 mins maximum then simply drop off. Clean out can’t come quick enough to rebuild with a new Head Coach.

Our wingers play like props as battering rams with a power game that lacks speed.

 

[BennyV]

There is a decent winger in Ravalawa and he is worth persisting with. JP is aserviceable and good as a back up, but not a long term prospect. I imagine that in the next few years the left wing will belong to Saab or the lesser Feagai twin.

*deep, dramatic breath*

Gitano, much like a broken clock at certain times of the day, is right. Our forwards are soft, particularly in the middle. In defence, they dont make good enough first contact and thus lose the ruck (hence all the 6 again we cop). In attack, they run 1 out, very little footwork at the line and no halves/fullbacks running through in case of an offload. They are easy pickings. It's amplified further when McInnes plays hooker because he doesnt give quick/deceptive enough service to get the forwards over the advantage line. For the last 3 weeks, we have turned to water when Vaughan has left the field. We are running with 2-3 edge players on the bench and giving them 15-20 minutes each while our middles struggles. Its ridiculous and its a result of shitty selection and coaching.

Get Friz and/or Sims off the edge (where they are less effective anyway) and give Ford/Host/Fui longer minutes in their natural positions. Use Friz/Sims to shore up the middle when Vaughan is off. Keep Hunt or Brittain at dummy half exclusively. Get rid of Norman. Work on Dufty's decision making (his passing game has come along in leaps and bounds, but now that opposition see's it coming he'll need to change it up).

Then maybe we can focus on the wingers.

 

[possm]

JP had a great game tonight he is super solid
That being said we still have the worst wingers in the NRL.

JP is the slowest player in our back 5.

 

[possm]

There is a decent winger in Ravalawa and he is worth persisting with. JP is aserviceable and good as a back up, but not a long term prospect. I imagine that in the next few years the left wing will belong to Saab or the lesser Feagai twin.

*deep, dramatic breath*

Gitano, much like a broken clock at certain times of the day, is right. Our forwards are soft, particularly in the middle. In defence, they dont make good enough first contact and thus lose the ruck (hence all the 6 again we cop). In attack, they run 1 out, very little footwork at the line and no halves/fullbacks running through in case of an offload. They are easy pickings. It's amplified further when McInnes plays hooker because he doesnt give quick/deceptive enough service to get the forwards over the advantage line. For the last 3 weeks, we have turned to water when Vaughan has left the field. We are running with 2-3 edge players on the bench and giving them 15-20 minutes each while our middles struggles. Its ridiculous and its a result of shitty selection and coaching.

Get Friz and/or Sims off the edge (where they are less effective anyway) and give Ford/Host/Fui longer minutes in their natural positions. Use Friz/Sims to shore up the middle when Vaughan is off. Keep Hunt or Brittain at dummy half exclusively. Get rid of Norman. Work on Dufty's decision making (his passing game has come along in leaps and bounds, but now that opposition see's it coming he'll need to change it up).

Then maybe we can focus on the wingers.

My soon to be 13-year-old son says to me after the game last night, dad, why do our forwards just run straight into opposition players rather then find a hole to through or run to the line and off-load the ball to someone who can break the line?

 

[st.phil]

Rava is busted but is a keeper IMO. He should not play if not fit though - moronic and classic dragons. JP = placeholder. Bring in Ramsey right now

 

[Spazer]

Ramsey is probably our quickest winger whenever he is fit to come back. He seems competitive and is always chasing the ball and will provide some good kick chase and returns.

 

[getsmarty]

My soon to be 13-year-old son says to me after the game last night, dad, why do our forwards just run straight into opposition players rather then find a hole to through or run to the line and off-load the ball to someone who can break the line?

The beginning of wisdom.

 

[boardlumps62]

What's the go with Alex Johnston why don't we chase him. He just showed us he is still fast and better than anything we have at the present.
Can play Fullback or Wing and probably Centre he would be my first draft pick.

 

[blacksafake]

What's the go with Alex Johnston why don't we chase him. He just showed us he is still fast and better than anything we have at the present.
Can play Fullback or Wing and probably Centre he would be my first draft pick.

Apparently we’re not interested

 

[blacksafake]

I like Rav 4 & am prepared to persevere. I don’t recall him dropping a ball the last few weeks but he’s definitely running on one leg at the moment.
As most of us have been saying for years we are poorly coached with a one dimensional dumb game plan hence the type of recruitment we have seen under L plate. We sign forwards who are only there to play mistake free(hopefully) footy relying on the opposition beating themselves, not us winning. Under L plates tenure any player who has a mistake in their game is quickly discarded, not coached.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Just need to look around at the prototype of winger/centre to see what is successful in other clubs.

I'm a fan of JP, however, he's not the mold of winger we need.

Looking at youngsters like Coates or Staines or even Chrichton, these are the type moving forward. Do we have players that fit this bill. Yes, we do. Just take a look at some of our player profiles to get the answer. Unfortunately, they are just making up the numbers atm. They need their opportunity sooner rather than later.