Round 10: St. George Illawarra v Newcastle

Justadragon

SGI NSW Cup
Good listen from Ben Gardiner this morning, best part is from 9m33s till 15m37s talks about what the successful clubs are doing, what's changed with the defence.. the role of the big guy etc:

Well that explains a lot, especially for the Dragons that due to Flanno's arrogance and ignorance, we neither had the players nor the tactics to compete in todays world. My question is we still have the same players and will DY just be a Flanno V2
 

Dave03

SGI NSW Cup
Lkt and Egan had a good combo imo. Egan is a hard straight line ball runner which compliments lkt ball playing.

Stewart is a man mountain and great 1v1 defender who should help Reed. He's also athletic which is needed when defending against speedy and powerful edge players. He might be forced to run more and ball play less which would suit our team atm.
 

Mailroomsgi

SGI NSW Cup
Newy a team with so many great ball runners, I could see this being a bit of a pointfest. They’re on a 6 day turnaround. Us off the bye Saturday arvo in the gong and getting players back

Not saying it’ll be 42-38 but could definitely see a season high points total for us

Can’t cop cop couchmans playing edge it’s just not their go. Great middles just leave em there IMO
 

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
Im expecting us to come out of the blocks hard.. and if we can hold the ball I reckon we will have maybe a 2 try lead..

We aint winning any games 42-38 though, we will have to actually complete high.. defend brilliantly.. and keep them to a modest score.

Ultimately I think it will come down to errors, penalties, sinbins.. we're very clunky because frankly almost none of the squad is in the same position they trained in for the pre-season or even 2 weeks ago.. so that leads to their runs being badly timed.. passes being knocked on.. hard to see us doing enough against Newcastle who have offensive threats everywhere.. but... if we can shock them early.. maybe we can go on with it.. hope so..
 

Dragons Chris

SGI NSW Cup

Team Tips:​

Clint Gutherson is due back from a shoulder injury in Round 10 and has been spotted at Dragons HQ training at fullback. Tyrell Sloan could be dropped or shifted to the wing, with Mat Feagai’s spot under a cloud. Kade Reed will hold the No.7 jersey, but Daniel Atkinson faces pressure from Kyle Flanagan for the No.6. Luciano Leilua and Jaydn Su’A are suspended until Round 11 and 12 respectively. Jacob Liddle and David Fale are bidding to return from hamstring injuries.

Every time I start to think Feagai is worth re-signing or sticking with in first grade, he has an absolute clanger. Last game was one of his worst yet. Has to be dropped. Buchanan centre and Holmes on the wing is a better option.
 

RufusRex

SGI Jersey Flegg

Team Tips:​

Clint Gutherson is due back from a shoulder injury in Round 10 and has been spotted at Dragons HQ training at fullback. Tyrell Sloan could be dropped or shifted to the wing, with Mat Feagai’s spot under a cloud. Kade Reed will hold the No.7 jersey, but Daniel Atkinson faces pressure from Kyle Flanagan for the No.6. Luciano Leilua and Jaydn Su’A are suspended until Round 11 and 12 respectively. Jacob Liddle and David Fale are bidding to return from hamstring injuries.

Every time I start to think Feagai is worth re-signing or sticking with in first grade, he has an absolute clanger. Last game was one of his worst yet. Has to be dropped. Buchanan centre and Holmes on the wing is a better option.

Yea - that anzac game was so much like Burton vs Feagai in Round 1 last year.
 
I've selected us to win our 1st game of the season. The Knights were very good in their win against the Rabbits but that was a very tough physical game. A 6 day turnaround and we coming off a bye should mean physically we won't be at a disadvantage.

It will come down to our ability to execute, our completion rate and being able to shut down their sweeping plays utilising Ponga he will be their point of attack. Dragons in a close one.
 

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
I've selected us to win our 1st game of the season. The Knights were very good in their win against the Rabbits but that was a very tough physical game. A 6 day turnaround and we coming off a bye should mean physically we won't be at a disadvantage.

It will come down to our ability to execute, our completion rate and being able to shut down their sweeping plays utilising Ponga he will be their point of attack. Dragons in a close one.
I wish I could tip the Dragons but I just can't. That backline with Holmes playing the way he is and Gutho declining at an even faster rate than I thought. One option to score tries might be Reed halfback and LKT 5/8 but defence will be a worry and Atkinson deserves a few games with Reed to see what he can bring.
 

RufusRex

SGI Jersey Flegg
well conceding less than your opponent mindset has shifted to score more ...
LKT/Reed in the halves should create more points than our current season high 20 ... will we concede less than 60 though ...

Doubt t happens though ... Fully expecting Flano to be stinking the team up again before Young pulls that trigger.

Unless he is like f*ck the present, play for the future and just picks juniors
 

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
well conceding less than your opponent mindset has shifted to score more ...
LKT/Reed in the halves should create more points than our current season high 20 ... will we concede less than 60 though ...

Doubt t happens though ... Fully expecting Flano to be stinking the team up again before Young pulls that trigger.

Unless he is like f*ck the present, play for the future and just picks juniors
Agree.
 

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
well conceding less than your opponent mindset has shifted to score more ...
LKT/Reed in the halves should create more points than our current season high 20 ... will we concede less than 60 though ...

Doubt t happens though ... Fully expecting Flano to be stinking the team up again before Young pulls that trigger.

There are so many things we could do with Gutho, Atko, Val, LKT.. even changes with a hooker into lock which is a thing now.. already we have Kade switching to the right and changes to 2nd rowers (mostly forced thru injury/suspension + Egan returning).

There is a lot going down... but a heap more Young 'could' play with.. Atko @1, Gutho @6 whatever.. but I dont think we're remotely there yet.. I also tbh dont want him to keep changing things every week or 2nd week.... I rly want the spine and the edges to actually spend some time together...
 

Dave03

SGI NSW Cup
There are so many things we could do with Gutho, Atko, Val, LKT.. even changes with a hooker into lock which is a thing now.. already we have Kade switching to the right and changes to 2nd rowers (mostly forced thru injury/suspension + Egan returning).

There is a lot going down... but a heap more Young 'could' play with.. Atko @1, Gutho @6 whatever.. but I dont think we're remotely there yet.. I also tbh dont want him to keep changing things every week or 2nd week.... I rly want the spine and the edges to actually spend some time together...

Who knows anymore with this team, I just want to enjoy footy again. Even if we lose but play with some flair & attack. Players enjoy playing attacking footy, look at the knights & even manly. Throw the ball around, play instinctively, support each other. Keep it simple but fun.

I have no expectations of winning this game or showing defensive fortitude but surely we can play with a bit more freedom.
 

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
Who knows anymore with this team, I just want to enjoy footy again. Even if we lose but play with some flair & attack. Players enjoy playing attacking footy, look at the knights & even manly. Throw the ball around, play instinctively, support each other. Keep it simple but fun.

I have no expectations of winning this game or showing defensive fortitude but surely we can play with a bit more freedom.
I agree, but thats why im hoping during this bye he has established the spine he wants to run with for the next month or so... they had some time to train and make some adjustments to suit the new game.. but those combinations take time...there is microseconds between a flat pass for a 6pts or yet another knock-on or intercept.. I mean the difference between being competitive or being flogged are those moments... as it was last week tbh, that 12pt turn around at the start of the game.. maybe we would stayed in it for a lot longer.

Glad Newcastle can leak points.. we need early tries to get our confidence back up.. tbf I thought the Cowboys game would be similar.. but we didnt score that early try and tbf I think we were miserable under flanno @ the time.
 

Dave03

SGI NSW Cup
I agree, but thats why im hoping during this bye he has established the spine he wants to run with for the next month or so... they had some time to train and make some adjustments to suit the new game.. but those combinations take time...there is microseconds between a flat pass for a 6pts or yet another knock-on or intercept.. I mean the difference between being competitive or being flogged are those moments... as it was last week tbh, that 12pt turn around at the start of the game.. maybe we would stayed in it for a lot longer.

Glad Newcastle can leak points.. we need early tries to get our confidence back up.. tbf I thought the Cowboys game would be similar.. but we didnt score that early try and tbf I think we were miserable under flanno @ the time.

Hope so mate, we need some enjoyment from our team.
 
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