and what?, 100 % of them bought not bred !!
The King and the Fool
- Thread starter Kevinward777
- Start date
manlyfan76
There is no A.I. Just better computers
Biondo ODI should be their nine.
Smokin Joe
Bencher
Top 13 for both sides
Trbojevic-Meaney
Garrick-Cotric
Parker-Hopoate
Harper-Allan
Saab-Okunbor
Foran-Flanagan
DCE-Averillo
Paseka-Thompson
Croker(Fainu when available)-JMK
Taupau-Seumanufagai
Olakau'atu-Waddell
Schuster-Hetherington
Jake-Jackson
Can't see one Dogs player I would swap for one of ours(maybe Cotric...),overpaying for average players like Cotric and Allan means jack as they are just average wingers and nothing else,Hopoate has no speed and is just a tackler.Most people do not rate Flanangan and have said he only got a job because of his dad,Allan as a quality player is a myth,he is a solid winger who is a poor fullback(he got a SOO berth because Qld had minimal options,I suppose Brenko Lee is quality too).
The rule changes means guys who can play what they see and have some vision are crucial(particularly in the spine),having solid middle men and decent wingers mean nothing in the modern game,we have done well all year with continual injuries to our front row and having to scramble to put a front row together all year shows this...
Would Des have done any better than Barrett?It is just anyones' guess or opinion,nothing else.
I am not defending Trent(maybe his nickname should be changed to "rent-free" seeing as he seems to spend so much time for free in peoples' heads...)
I just don't believe anyone would have got that Dogs side playing well with such a **** spine,I think they have the highest set completion of all sides during the year and they have turned up and not given up the fight all year,so maybe that says something.They lack anyone with ability to pull the trigger when they get into attacking position.
I am not saying that Trent does not have a lot to answer for,but I seriously hope they don't pants us next year with some serious talent on the way(not the bog average players brought in this year in a panic that people want to try to make out are serious talents)
Once again I will state that I am not a fan or defending him,I am defending the myth that he has a talented roster to work with,obviously many disagree....
A Cat has 9 lives and Barrett has a few more pretentious potential head coaching seasons left before all his journo mates give up on his failures
I have no confidence for any head coach that takes a Tom Turbo charged team with the likes of , DCE , Jake , Walker , AFB , Paseka , Kappow , Fainu , Api to second last on the ladder .
Snake
Snake's Alive!
Like I said earlier, not a great roster, but certainly a roster that is more than capable of winning 2 matches and breaking all kinds of records for 'worst ever'. It's amazing how a roster can start looking good when the players start performing. It's a trick of the mind. Look at us after 4-5 rounds. People wanted a clean out. Then we started performing well and all of the sudden these guys that looked like they needed to be let go, are quality first graders.
That's where I disagree with notions about cattle. There is great cattle and good cattle. Rarely is there bad cattle. Look at how Mark Nichols plays under Bennett. Barrett could make some of these average guys improve a bit and we wouldn't scoff at their roster so much. Perceptions of quality are based on performance; a performance the coach has a large say in.
Peter C
Bencher
There is a lot of mongrel there no doubt, however I would say they've put all their eggs in the one basket to get a very good 13, they will fall of the cliff if they're hit with injuries.
The Royal Soup
First Grader
pt73
Bencher
I think the Roosters have more local juniors than that.
Smokin Joe
Bencher
As I said,it is where the talent is,the spine is crucial,getting a journeyman prop to play solidly is hardly a ringing endorsement....we won games with DeLuis and Sironen in the prop rotation and I would not credit Des' with that,it is the spine that matters(chuck in the lock too)
If you look at the ladder from 1-16 it is remarkable how the quality of the spines is almost in descending order too,it tails off a fair bit around the end of the top 8.
There are exceptions,the Roosters had some injuries but went ok,the Raiders spine is ok but struggled without Williams(G).
Bring in Dufty,Burton,(possibly Pearce at 7) and young J.Cook at 9 who is a pretty good player,chuck in Pangai and Mariner on the edges to wreak a bit of havoc and they are a lot more threatening in attack,if he fails with what he has next year,then I will admit he is gone and deservedly so.(I have no interest in him coming back here)
I don't think they will be top 4 next year but there will be improvement.As to our roster I have always believed that a good coach can get a side playing well,I have never thought our roster was poor any year,however I will make an exception with a side that has a spine of Meaney/Flanagan.Averillo and JMK......
Snake
Snake's Alive!
Agree with the spine assessment. Spot on. I still think he should have been able to jag a few more wins and give the impression that something is building though. But hey, like you said, we'll judge him more on what he does next year. He had Tommy and DCE in his spine at Manly and came up with nothing so the jury is certainly out.
Smokin Joe
Bencher
Without a doubt they should have won more,there are times when they don't look like they have been given any training as what to do when they are on the oppo line attacking.
He has already made baffling decisions with personal and the constant shuffling of players in and out and in and out of the side makes him look like he is bereft of ideas already.
If they have any success next year people will be crediting Gus anyway,but it will probably buy him more time....
Don't forget Des got caught out with the rule changes last year as well and no Tom hurt us too,this year we have a fit Tom,Foran at 6,and Olakau'atu and Schuster providing spark on the edges.....
The spine is crucial as Joe has said and In 2018 Trent had Tom ,DCE ,fainu and Api in his spine but he ended riding Manly in a Wheelchair to season ending second last position avoiding the spoon by 2 points.
Smokin Joe
Bencher
And as Joe said,the rule changes have made the spine more crucial than ever,it has changed the value and impact more than ever as opposed to previous years.
Des had Tom/DCE/Fainu/Olakau'atu/Schuster/Walker on the roster last year but struggled to adapt to the changes and where did we finish?
I admit that there were injuries to Tom and Fainu not available but as you say excuses are for losers.....
If they don't improve out of sight next year with that squad then we can put to bed once and for all the myth that Trent Barrett is a First Grade coach.
poor old bay forgot to mention that his players were off a bit because someone allegedly, allegedly, allegedly, allegedly(that should cover it) tried to steal & sell their boombox!
When your leader keeps making excuses, his team will always accept losing and look for the soft way out.
I actually thought Dogs had a dig against a flat Manly team, but still fell way short.
If Barrett wanted respect after the game, honesty would have been a priority and his players would recognise where they fell short and could maybe try improve these area's
After that interview, his players are of the belief they were picked on by the ref and mediocrity is good enough to be part of this Dogs team.
It's 1 thing as a coach to support and have your players back, but to sit back everyone week in a disillusional state, sprouting BS will continue getting the results he got at Manly and now at Dogs....accountability is key, the players will struggle to battle for someone they don't trust or believe in and this just be Barrett's biggest problem
MadMarcus
Toovey for NRL CEO
A Silvertails YART is the only place you’d ever see a whole team of Bulldogs without a hooker
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