Dragons show the way ...

Rafferty said:
It’s more than just the results or the teams they have beaten, there displaying upside, improvement and they are building on it, time will tell if they can continue the journey, this weekend should give a little insight. They are playing with a lot more effort and purpose than us, they have the advantage of building on it as opposed to us who have yet to dig our selves out of the mess we’re in, would a new coach, fresh approach have anything to do with it? Anyway I couldn‘t care less about the red V, but I do care about us and would like to see us employ some fresh approaches.
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Yep ... I don't give a toss about the Dragons either ... but I wish we were drinking from the same raspberry cordial bottle they are ...
 
To me, its just typical early season Dragons - win a few early and extend the contracts of the coach and their old players desperate to get another deal, then fall away again at the end of the year.

It's a woefully weak year outside the top 3 or 4. Dragons are just solid, that's enough at the moment to win a few games. The May Premiers here we go again.
 
Woodsie said:
Does anybody want to change their opinion ?

Incredible the difference desire makes ... whatever the hook is saying to them or showing them at training is working ....
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Before the season began I thought they'd come last.
But Nah, I won't change my opinion!
Not just yet anyway, but I agree with you that they have turned things around impressively so far. The players look interested in the game, which is a good first step. And I agree it shows things can change, quite quickly.
As for Saints, let's see how they are going in June.
 
SeaEagleRock8 said:
Before the season began I thought they'd come last.
But Nah, I won't change my opinion!
Not just yet anyway, but I agree with you that they have turned things around impressively so far. The players look interested in the game, which is a good first step. And I agree it shows things can change, quite quickly.
As for Saints, let's see how they are going in June.
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Agree .. still don't think they are contenders ... but wow ... wouldn't mind their current attitude .. Desire is King!
 
Zac Lomax is my idea of the perfect centre. Fast, skilful, can jump, committed in defence, and adds the bonus of being a crack goal kicker. It will be interesting come SOO if NSW actually picks players in their chosen positions, or will he be omitted for 'manufactured' centres such as Latrine, Turbo and Weighton?
My above endorsements of Lomax shows up why Suli and Parker are not centres: Suli has bulk but little else while Parker is committed and a good defender but that is only part of the weapons a centre needs.
 
The Who said:
Zac Lomax is my idea of the perfect centre. Fast, skilful, can jump, committed in defence, and adds the bonus of being a crack goal kicker. It will be interesting come SOO if NSW actually picks players in their chosen positions, or will he be omitted for 'manufactured' centres such as Latrine, Turbo and Weighton?
My above endorsements of Lomax shows up why Suli and Parker are not centres: Suli has bulk but little else while Parker is committed and a good defender but that is only part of the weapons a centre needs.
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While that may seem obvious now.
Remember Dragons tried to sign Suli for 2020 and had no real interest in Lomax.

Interesting what 12 months has done. Saints dodged a bullet and we are stuck with laziboi Suli.
 
peterh said:
Didn't they sack the coach before the turn-around?
I'm all for following their lead.

Tell me the last time any coach in the NRL who has led a team to seasons like Hasler has had in 2020 and 2021 has ever been the one to turn it around.

A turn around always needs anew coach.
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Off the top of my head: Brad Arthur, Trent Robinson, Des Hasler, Shane Flanagan and Ivan Cleary.

Arthur has won spoons and taken the Eels to top 4 finishes. Robinson finished 15th with Chooks in 2016 and won comps in 2018 and 2019. Hasler struggled with us before winning two comps. Flanagan won spoons and then went on to win a premiership. Cleary was sacked at Penrith and had the Tigers missing the finals before taking the Panthers to a GF.

there are so many variables that you cannot simply sack a coach every time the team struggles.
 
XV-1 said:
While that may seem obvious now.
Remember Dragons tried to sign Suli for 2020 and had no real interest in Lomax.

Interesting what 12 months has done. Saints dodged a bullet and we are stuck with laziboi Suli.
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Not true. They tried to signed Suli to replace Aitken. They’ve always rated Lomax and even tried to manufacture him into a fullback, such was their opinion of him.
 
Parramatta are pretty easy to read tho spread it to sivo or fergo and put the bomb up on the 5th tackle. There is nothing wrong with a grubber into the in goal or chips or wingers kicking back in field for the full back/ center when they run out of room. Most of the time the dragons had numbers trying to push the wingers out creating space back on the inside.
 
McCullough has really stabilized their attack. They are no longer playing
a half back (Hunt) at hooker. They are playing with a lot of confidence and intent.
A long way to go but Griffin must be happy with where they are at.
 
Woodsie said:
Agree ... you don't think Croker is slowly improving ? ... or has any improvement in him ?
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I’m worried about him. Every now and then he does something good...the few times he has kicked out of dummy half have been helpful and there are occasions where he skips out and beats markers (e.g. the no-try where he was held up and lost the ball) but there were so many times where he stood up slowly and threw a lollipop to a forward or half and completely ran them out of time. The impact that has on our go forward and attack is crushing.

I think he can get better but he will bloody well have to, or we are toast.
 
manly al said:
Also have Matty Elliot as an assistant coach who should be able to provide some worthwhile input . . Noticed that the Dragons in round 2 or so when i watched them for a while seemed to be playing with a a lot of purpose and discipline and with a really well drilled defence . Just doing the basic stuff right to give themselves every chance to be in the contest . Also really can "t go along with the notion that Manly players are mentally exhausted , every side has to deal with pressure and the requirement to stay in an arm wrestle at the N R L professional level . Unforced errors , unacceptable rate of missed tackles and often clueless attack seems to be what is really crueling Manly . is the coaching accountable for this , no doubt partly , tend to think however that it would mainly be down to the player 's or some individual players to be held more to account .
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Matt Elliot is a goose but that’s beside the point...

Personally, I think Manly are mentally exhausted. Hasler is very demanding and it works for a little while but you can only go to the well so often before it runs dry. Hearing Daly say that he has been trying too hard and thinking about game plans and structure is a dead give away. You can try too hard sometimes and I think the entire organisation is a little guilty of that. Another dead giveaway for trying too hard is completion rates...ours have been terrible. That’s usually the result of playing with a clouded head. Too much going on, too much to think about.
 
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You will certainly be better connected to the goings on at the club then i or others will ever be but you would think that very experienced and seasoned players in particular would be able to and unhindered in playing what was essentially in front of them and having the necessary application to do it reasonably well regardless of outside factors or general game day pressures . Foz has been doing it within his limitations on quite a few occasions this season , as for the unforced error rate , this was occurring for a good part of last season as well and could be just a confidence thing but we are talking about i st grade level footy players here . Anyway D C E was certainly better against the Warriors , Tom "s return can only help and maybe , just maybe , the defence can show some further improvement as well . Thought just the fact Elliott has been in the i st grade coaching scene for quite some time could bring at least some benefits in an assistant coaching role .
 
Croker played the full 80 i think and did a heap of defence so maybe to be cut a bit of slack for getting a bit jaded at times . Still think that Cust can offer a lot more and is not that shabby in his defensive efforts so maybe them both operating in tandem for a while yet
 
Snake said:
Not true. They tried to signed Suli to replace Aitken. They’ve always rated Lomax and even tried to manufacture him into a fullback, such was their opinion of him.
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I remember hearing Gould talking about some youth squad that he was involved in and how Lomax was smasbing records for every metric they had...

Not sure on detail as i was not paying a lot of attention with him being a dragqueen but i got the impression that everyone has been well aware of Zacs abilities from the get go...
 
Woodsie said:
Does anybody want to change their opinion ?

Incredible the difference desire makes ... whatever the hook is saying to them or showing them at training is working ....
Click to expand...
Not yet... they were good yesterday but, like garrick, i need more evidence at this point...
 
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