Round 16: Dragons vs Newcastle Knights

[No Surrender]

Definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result.

It can only mean that Young doesn’t rate the KOE Cup squad.

Halangahu/Webster/Hutchinson/LKT must be wondering why they haven’t been called up.

 

[RufusRex]

The issues in the team are 1/2/3/4/5/7 ....
None of the players mentioned above are genuine 1/2/3/4/5/7 ... they can wonder why they haven't been called up but also they wouldn't change things at all ... we would still suck, we would still be disorganised we would still leak points out wide.

On top of that the players we may want to call on out of cup who do play 1/2/3/4/5/7 are essentially injured/unfit or just coming back from injury.
Fale (who i think is a centre) would have easily been given a run
Heidke/Buchanan our best rated junior centres again no chance of a run
Reed busted
Tsougrannis - has played 40 minutes in the last month or so
Oneill - has been busted but also plays one decent game a month
Williams may have developed but he missed a large slice of the off season and is only just coming back into teams

We simply don't have a solution available for the problems we face

Flano clearing the decks of halfbacks and fast outside backs was a massive problem as was his blocking of Anderson's attempts to resolve that issue. This has been resolved but not in time to actually have a positive impact on the squad for this year.

 

[GCRV]

The issues in the team are 1/2/3/4/5/7 ....
None of the players mentioned above are genuine 1/2/3/4/5/7 ... they can wonder why they haven't been called up but also they wouldn't change things at all ... we would still suck, we would still be disorganised we would still leak points out wide.

On top of that the players we may want to call on out of cup who do play 1/2/3/4/5/7 are essentially injured/unfit or just coming back from injury.
Fale (who i think is a centre) would have easily been given a run
Heidke/Buchanan our best rated junior centres again no chance of a run
Reed busted
Tsougrannis - has played 40 minutes in the last month or so
Oneill - has been busted but also plays one decent game a month
Williams may have developed but he missed a large slice of the off season and is only just coming back into teams

We simply don't have a solution available for the problems we face

Flano clearing the decks of halfbacks and fast outside backs was a massive problem as was his blocking of Anderson's attempts to resolve that issue. This has been resolved but not in time to actually have a positive impact on the squad for this year.

Holmes has had a bad year so far but he's shown he still has the talent. I agree about the rest but can add 6 as well. Not saying he isn't good enough. Just that he should be in his prime now and like Holmes, he's shown some glimpses of talent but has been bad overall.

 

[RufusRex]

Holmes defensively has been a massive problem for us .. a very bad year
Atkinson is a passenger in the mess around him - he is suffering for the lack of quality in halfback/centre and kick chase.

you could have potentially given Atkinson a run at 1 with LKT at 6 but it feels like a deck shuffle as where would you be using Gutho.

 

[GCRV]

Holmes defensively has been a massive problem for us .. a very bad year
Atkinson is a passenger in the mess around him - he is suffering for the lack of quality in halfback/centre and kick chase.

you could have potentially given Atkinson a run at 1 with LKT at 6 but it feels like a deck shuffle as where would you be using Gutho.

Could also drop Atkinson and give LKT a chance though I'd go with Atkinson 7, LKT 6.

 

[TheRev]

If Gutho's injury gets the better of him, then all bets are off.. but at the moment I cant see any reshuffling.

I would actually love to see Atkinson @1 or @Ctr just for my own curiosity.. but I dont think its in Deanos interests to play around like that currently... esp when hes trying to help Atkinson grow into our longterm 6.

 

[RufusRex]

LKT is not a 7 and needs one - even in cup his best performances have been on the back of high level performances from Glover/Reed at that level.
Pair him with a less than adequate 7 and his output plummets. We have seen that when he has been given a chance in 1sts ...

Atkinson is also not a 7 ...

The options for LKT all set him up to fail.

Play him at 7 with Atkinson (or someone else 6) - LKT fails
Play him at 6 with Flano 7 - LKT fails
Play him at 7 with Atkinson 7 - LKT fails

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

His release request was denied.

Triggered by Young dropping him to the bench and then to Ressies I suspect. Luch has made it clear he wants to remain in the RedV where he began his career.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

Play him at 7 with Atkinson (or someone else 6) - LKT fails
Play him at 6 with Flano 7 - LKT fails
Play him at 7 with Atkinson 7 - LKT fails

Switching the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

[Dragons Chris]

CT in jersey 22 will probably come in for TU

Improvement but I would go with Sloan. He's fast and can catch and pass on a regular basis.

 

[Mug Fan]

Anyone who thinks LKT should be in NRL hasn't been watching him closely.

He can lay on a try but he never pushes up and is lazy in defence.
These are the things that get him caught out in FG.

As for Webste playing NRL his contract defence is good but he gets caught out in the line and would be a massive target in FG.

He and Hutcho are a work in progress.
Luch Hame and Jake who all played Cup last game are in front of them.

 

[The Word]

Still can’t work out why Sele is below Lawrie and Kerr in the pecking order.