Last year similar hysteria forced Des' hand, weakening the cards he could play. Trust him to do his job.
Are you seriuos? Dunley's sh!t defense was not anyone elses fault.Fair dinkum. You guys ought to go and give yourselves a huge uppercut.
Can any of you guys think for yourself or do you all just jump on whichever bandwagon is passing,
Dunners missed two tackles associated with opposition breaks - but under what circumstances?
The first resulted from a HUGE gap in centre field which the player on the left hand side (Watmough I think) failed to make any effort to fill. Everyone noticed Dunley slip off the tackle because he was the one that made the effort to cover.
The second was open play and again Dunley was left by himself and was pushed off with a good fend by a talented attacking player.
Tackling is a team effort and there wasn't a team commitment in either of these instances.
A bit of perspective here. If it was up to you guys Benji wouldn't even make premier league and neither would Lockyer.
Then there's the whinges about him being sin-binned. Again the opposition had made a clean line-break and Dunley filled the hole making the try-saving tackle. Because the rest of the side was so slow getting reorganised Dunley was forced to hang on until the defence reset. The sin-binning was in the context of Manly pushing the referee's patience to the limit and a try being likely if he didn't hang on.
What is totally discounted is the cheap metres and fast play the balls he got.
He's the second best hooker in the club, and adds options to our attack that no-one else offers. I want Monners to have more game time too, but the comments here are over the top.
Last year similar hysteria forced Des' hand, weakening the cards he could play. Trust him to do his job.
Some excellent comments here Rexx and great to see someone not jumping on the 'Congaline'. What you say may have some substance. However a few seasons have convinced me that Dunners is an inconsistent defender, that he gives away too many penalties and that he doesn't link enough when running the ball. The Beaver try against the Sharks is a great example of his effectiveness and he is not without his merits. I don't think his form warrants 50 minutes versus 30 for Monas.\"Yes, Dunley does have some impact in attack. \"
At last a little bit of balance.
He does have an impact - especially on tiring defences. Have a look at the tackle after his run. Very often its a quick play the ball with the opposition on the back foot because he's elusive and fast. That's how the tigers won the premiership last year - by having a series of fast elusive players run up the centre of the ruck, with quick play the balls because the defence was grasping. That's how the cowboys do it too. Babies, bathwater. You may make the semis, but you won't win this premiership with a bunch of solid, reliable clones with good stats (of the Willow mould) and no variety and spark.
And you're not seriously placing all responsibility for those two breaks on Dunley - or are you? I'd be stunned - no devastated - if Des solely spoke to Dunners about those two breaks. e.g. I saw Travis pushed off several times in dangerous situations, but his supporting defenders covered for him - and rightly so. That's what should have happened to Dunners, too. That's what the best defences do - they cover for each other. Have a look at who didn't cover in those two instances -not just at the misses.
That's what the Tigers and NQ do with their smaller, faster men - they help them out.
Not saying Dunners is at the top of his game now, but the incessant pasting he's got here is ridiculous.
Des is not as dumb as you think. Time for group-think to stop, and an opposing view to be considered. Just maybe there's some truth to what I'm saying. Eh?
As much as the argument against Dunley being in the team is strong, I suppose Rexx makes some good points. However I think the most frustrating thing is for one Dunley is 30 now, while one of what seems to be an extremely highly talented youngster sits in PL in Ballin, and in that case Cuthbo. So every penalty Dunley gives away, or tackle he misses, as much as people on this site won't admit it, comes under scrutiny as the likes of Burns, Ballin, Cuthbo have become favourites on here.
That being said, I really don't like Dunley and believe either Monaghan should be playing 80 minutes, or Cuthbo/Ballin/Rose should be getting a shot on the bench. IMO, as much as Dunley may have an impact, while Willow doesn't, guys like Rose and Cuthbo will have a more consistent impact.
Our team isn't like the Tigers, OR Cowboys, that doesn't mean we can't give the comp a shake. Much more of a traditional side, maybe in the mould if you want to make comparisons, of the Roosters in the early 2000's.
Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |