Round 18 vs Wests Tigers

[RufusRex]

Young will never play that bench - unsure anyone would ... a hooker and three edge forwards hoping two will transition to middles

Would make more sense to actually start Luc, and play a bench of Liddle/Jake/Tsougrannis/Ryan

Still, it is not a bench where Nick would see minutes outside maybe the last 10-15

 

[redv13]

Young will never play that bench - unsure anyone would ... a hooker and three edge forwards hoping two will transition to middles

Would make more sense to actually start Luc, and play a bench of Liddle/Jake/Tsougrannis/Ryan

Still, it is not a bench where Nick would see minutes outside maybe the last 10-15

Maybe I should have explained it slightly better. My point was Jacob and Nick in, Emre and Josh out.

Bit of youth and enthusiasm from those 2 wouldn’t go astray, look at the rest of the pack, doing well every week. The 2 big lumps are useless nearly every game and getting embarrassed by the young pups week after week.

Emre and Josh should be ashamed of themselves, getting shown up by kids aged 20-22 each week

 

[Dave03]

Halangahu has been playing middle in cup. Stewart shifts into the middle once luch comes on. Liddle and cook are direct replacements for each other. Legit merit in that bench with proper middle coverage. Especially since Guler & Kerr aren't quality middles anyway.

I personally would either play luch for 50mins or not pick him at all. Use his spot and 30ish mins on someone like sele through the middle and have Nick T covering some of Stewart's 2rf mins.

 

[Dragons Chris]

Young will never play that bench - unsure anyone would ... a hooker and three edge forwards hoping two will transition to middles

Would make more sense to actually start Luc, and play a bench of Liddle/Jake/Tsougrannis/Ryan

Still, it is not a bench where Nick would see minutes outside maybe the last 10-15

There is that theory about picking the best players and then fitting them all in. In that case, Leilua, Nick T and Halangahu are in the 17. But more important than anything else is Kyle not being in the 17. He's gotten even worse. I know Flanno set it up so Kade Reed who probably needs another year in the weights room and tackling practice is the only real halfback replacement but DY needs to find a way with someone else.

 

[RufusRex]

Picking your best 17 and trying to mould them into a side is why NSW have been dominated at origin for so often ... picking 5 fullbacks in a backline because they are our "best players" killed us because believe it or not there is subtely and skillset to every position in a team. Fullbacks are not centres.

If you need middles then Nick is no-where near best 17. Guler still offers more in that role than trying to force others into non-ideal positions to simply get Nick a run. He has 120 minutes in the last few months and the 2nd game in that whilst showing a good running game also showed an absolute lack of game awareness. Kid runs with aggression and is a St George junior doesnt instanly make him one of our best.

Now Guler shouldnt be taking minutes from Jake now - Jake has the minutes in cup and is showing ability in the middle, absolutely deserves a run over Lawrie/Kerr/Guler.

Nick and LKT are your bench 18/19 and thats about it now - the new bench rules are hurting their game time.


Flano assembled a squad that simply cannot compete .. it is horrible and all this desired tinkering (esp in the pack) does nothing to address the issues we have in winning games, that is the game play of our 6/7 and myopic game plans of the coach. Utterly terrible.

 

[Dragons Chris]

Picking your best 17 and trying to mould them into a side is why NSW have been dominated at origin for so often ... picking 5 fullbacks in a backline because they are our "best players" killed us because believe it or not there is subtely and skillset to every position in a team. Fullbacks are not centres.

If you need middles then Nick is no-where near best 17. Guler still offers more in that role than trying to force others into non-ideal positions to simply get Nick a run. He has 120 minutes in the last few months and the 2nd game in that whilst showing a good running game also showed an absolute lack of game awareness. Kid runs with aggression and is a St George junior doesnt instanly make him one of our best.

Now Guler shouldnt be taking minutes from Jake now - Jake has the minutes in cup and is showing ability in the middle, absolutely deserves a run over Lawrie/Kerr/Guler.

Nick and LKT are your bench 18/19 and thats about it now - the new bench rules are hurting their game time.


Flano assembled a squad that simply cannot compete .. it is horrible and all this desired tinkering (esp in the pack) does nothing to address the issues we have in winning games, that is the game play of our 6/7 and myopic game plans of the coach. Utterly terrible.

Ok. Just saying there is that theory which I personally think would work on a case by case basis and in this case, I think it would be better than what we have had.

 

[BekB]

Would love DY to use the bench of Liddle, Leilua, Halangahu and Tsougranis this week.

What’s the problem with Jacob he won’t use him on the bench he prefers guler and Kerr like WHATTTTTTT they are leaving anyway why are we not using him

 

[BekB]

Picking your best 17 and trying to mould them into a side is why NSW have been dominated at origin for so often ... picking 5 fullbacks in a backline because they are our "best players" killed us because believe it or not there is subtely and skillset to every position in a team. Fullbacks are not centres.

If you need middles then Nick is no-where near best 17. Guler still offers more in that role than trying to force others into non-ideal positions to simply get Nick a run. He has 120 minutes in the last few months and the 2nd game in that whilst showing a good running game also showed an absolute lack of game awareness. Kid runs with aggression and is a St George junior doesnt instanly make him one of our best.

Now Guler shouldnt be taking minutes from Jake now - Jake has the minutes in cup and is showing ability in the middle, absolutely deserves a run over Lawrie/Kerr/Guler.

Nick and LKT are your bench 18/19 and thats about it now - the new bench rules are hurting their game time.


Flano assembled a squad that simply cannot compete .. it is horrible and all this desired tinkering (esp in the pack) does nothing to address the issues we have in winning games, that is the game play of our 6/7 and myopic game plans of the coach. Utterly terrible.

Flanno side is the worst oldest shittest side ever it’s that embarrassing

 

[RufusRex]

Jacob should be getting time in 1st grade ...

Played games last year including 80 minute efforts
Was asked to develop into a middle
Has led the cup team well as a middle pumping out big minutes and decent performances.

Absolutely has earned minutes in first grade

 

[Dave03]

Picking your best 17 and trying to mould them into a side is why NSW have been dominated at origin for so often ... picking 5 fullbacks in a backline because they are our "best players" killed us because believe it or not there is subtely and skillset to every position in a team. Fullbacks are not centres.

If you need middles then Nick is no-where near best 17. Guler still offers more in that role than trying to force others into non-ideal positions to simply get Nick a run. He has 120 minutes in the last few months and the 2nd game in that whilst showing a good running game also showed an absolute lack of game awareness. Kid runs with aggression and is a St George junior doesnt instanly make him one of our best.

Now Guler shouldnt be taking minutes from Jake now - Jake has the minutes in cup and is showing ability in the middle, absolutely deserves a run over Lawrie/Kerr/Guler.

Nick and LKT are your bench 18/19 and thats about it now - the new bench rules are hurting their game time.


Flano assembled a squad that simply cannot compete .. it is horrible and all this desired tinkering (esp in the pack) does nothing to address the issues we have in winning games, that is the game play of our 6/7 and myopic game plans of the coach. Utterly terrible.

You're confusing roles and pretty much doing a flanno by being narrow minded about players. Guler and Kerr have both shown very little in their opportunities with the dragons. Again on the weekend they were average and played low mins.

Nick T has proved himself over countless games in nsw cup, dominating that level even after being played in a secondary position. There's a big difference between gaining 1st grade experience which other players like Egan, Stewart's etc have done and simply giving someone a run.

Nick T & LKT can still get mins in nsw cup, they don't have to be 18th & 19th man. It's a choice the coaches have made. Picking them as non playing reserves is the worst option.

Take your way and stick with plodders.

Btw qld had a few players playing out of position in origin.

 

[redv13]

Picking your best 17 and trying to mould them into a side is why NSW have been dominated at origin for so often ... picking 5 fullbacks in a backline because they are our "best players" killed us because believe it or not there is subtely and skillset to every position in a team. Fullbacks are not centres.

If you need middles then Nick is no-where near best 17. Guler still offers more in that role than trying to force others into non-ideal positions to simply get Nick a run. He has 120 minutes in the last few months and the 2nd game in that whilst showing a good running game also showed an absolute lack of game awareness. Kid runs with aggression and is a St George junior doesnt instanly make him one of our best.

Now Guler shouldnt be taking minutes from Jake now - Jake has the minutes in cup and is showing ability in the middle, absolutely deserves a run over Lawrie/Kerr/Guler.

Nick and LKT are your bench 18/19 and thats about it now - the new bench rules are hurting their game time.


Flano assembled a squad that simply cannot compete .. it is horrible and all this desired tinkering (esp in the pack) does nothing to address the issues we have in winning games, that is the game play of our 6/7 and myopic game plans of the coach. Utterly terrible.

Guler has been shown the door, that’s how good he’s going. Kerr, I’d say has been as bad as he was when he was with us in his 1st stint. Lawrie, unsigned and no other nrl team would pick him up, see ya bud, ESL is calling.

Sele?? Who knows what’s going on there but he should be in the 17 in front of the 3 amigos. Continues to be overlooked which is honestly baffling to me.

Why continue to pick them?? Our future is the current pack plus Jacob and Nick. Jacob is probably hanging on by a thread by the continual non picking/playing of him. Don’t screw Nick over, he should be getting a taste as he’s in the plans for 2027 and probably further.

 

[Justadragon]

Just how fast is Tyrell? Even with ball in hand it looked like the noted speedstar Xaviar Savage wasn't making up any ground when Tyrell ran away for that try.

Ive said it for years Morgs he is an enigma. In virtually any other team we could afford to keep him but not the Dragons. We haven’t got the firepower to make up for his mistakes in defence. He’s had multiple chances in positions we just can’t hang onto him unless something changes mainly in his defense and I’m afraid not likely to happen.

 

[RufusRex]

Cooks been shown the door too ... drop him?

Guler is not a game breaker, he is unfashionable but does his role ... makes his tackles in the middle, makes his metres and is not a negative influence on the team. Not a great player but plays that middle bench role well enough. Low errors, low penalties, good discipline also does a lot of the little things like decoy runs etc. Provides value that doesn't surprise me that others cant see. Kerr has been underwhelming and if Jacob had his minutes then i wouldn't complain. That would be the change i would make. Bench of Lids/Jacob/Guler and Ryan is plenty good enough for what we need. Obviously KK takes Gulers spot next year and that improves us.

Nick may/may not be in our future, i expect Cyrus jumps him reasonably quickly, a better footballer who can also cover that centre role if required but has a lot more in his game than Nick. Nick has 1.5 games since round 3 ... had done nothing in months that demands a pick me in firsts mindset.

Sele is on the outer for good reasons that i wont go into here but wont be with us next year either.

 

[RedV01]

Cooks been shown the door too ... drop him?

Guler is not a game breaker, he is unfashionable but does his role ... makes his tackles in the middle, makes his metres and is not a negative influence on the team. Not a great player but plays that middle bench role well enough. Low errors, low penalties, good discipline also does a lot of the little things like decoy runs etc. Provides value that doesn't surprise me that others cant see. Kerr has been underwhelming and if Jacob had his minutes then i wouldn't complain. That would be the change i would make. Bench of Lids/Jacob/Guler and Ryan is plenty good enough for what we need. Obviously KK takes Gulers spot next year and that improves us.

Nick may/may not be in our future, i expect Cyrus jumps him reasonably quickly, a better footballer who can also cover that centre role if required but has a lot more in his game than Nick. Nick has 1.5 games since round 3 ... had done nothing in months that demands a pick me in firsts mindset.

Sele is on the outer for good reasons that i wont go into here but wont be with us next year either.

Good point about Cook. If he was just an honest toiler, as you basically called Gular, and was keeping promising young hookers out of first grade, I'd favour him being dropped.

Gular is ok. As you say. Kerr, not so much. But don't think Young should give Halangahu and Nick T a chance? Because what he's doing now clearly isn't working.

 

[redv13]

Cooks been shown the door too ... drop him?

Guler is not a game breaker, he is unfashionable but does his role ... makes his tackles in the middle, makes his metres and is not a negative influence on the team. Not a great player but plays that middle bench role well enough. Low errors, low penalties, good discipline also does a lot of the little things like decoy runs etc. Provides value that doesn't surprise me that others cant see. Kerr has been underwhelming and if Jacob had his minutes then i wouldn't complain. That would be the change i would make. Bench of Lids/Jacob/Guler and Ryan is plenty good enough for what we need. Obviously KK takes Gulers spot next year and that improves us.

Nick may/may not be in our future, i expect Cyrus jumps him reasonably quickly, a better footballer who can also cover that centre role if required but has a lot more in his game than Nick. Nick has 1.5 games since round 3 ... had done nothing in months that demands a pick me in firsts mindset.

Sele is on the outer for good reasons that i wont go into here but wont be with us next year either.

Guess we’ll leave it at that. We have different views which is fine.

 

[RufusRex]

Good point about Cook. If he was just an honest toiler, as you basically called Gular, and was keeping promising young hookers out of first grade, I'd favour him being dropped.

Gular is ok. As you say. Kerr, not so much. But don't think Young should give Halangahu and Nick T a chance? Because what he's doing now clearly isn't working.

What he is doing with the forwards is working though, the pack is doing everything needed to win a game of footy ... You can add in Jake (which we should) for kerrs 20 odd minutes and the pack will still be working and doing more than enough to win a game of footy if the rest of the team pulled their weight.

What is happening with 1-7 though, that is where we are losing. Nick could come in and play centre for Feagai but again wont win us games due to what his happenning with 1/6/7 .. it is a god awful mess there and 100% why we are failing.

We have no other fullback to call on, no other halfback and a 2nd tier 5/8 who has been god awful as well in every game except the Parra almost miracle.
Atkinson has nothing to work with and Gutho/Kyle are dragging him down to their level.

Next year can not come quick enough.

 

[RedV01]

What he is doing with the forwards is working though, the pack is doing everything needed to win a game of footy ... You can add in Jake (which we should) for kerrs 20 odd minutes and the pack will still be working and doing more than enough to win a game of footy if the rest of the team pulled their weight.

What is happening with 1-7 though, that is where we are losing. Nick could come in and play centre for Feagai but again wont win us games due to what his happenning with 1/6/7 .. it is a god awful mess there and 100% why we are failing.

We have no other fullback to call on, no other halfback and a 2nd tier 5/8 who has been god awful as well in every game except the Parra almost miracle.
Atkinson has nothing to work with and Gutho/Kyle are dragging him down to their level.

Next year can not come quick enough.

That's true. But I'd still be dropping Gular and Kerr for Halangahu and Nick T because it's working but not working enough to get us wins given how bad 1~7 is.

 

[RufusRex]

Again, what has Nick done in the last 3 months that demands a 2nd NRL game? Fale would be a better option for the team than Nick

 

[redv13]

Again, what has Nick done in the last 3 months that demands a 2nd NRL game? Fale would be a better option for the team than Nick

You’re clearly not a Nick fan. Nick outplayed Fale in the cup game vs Newcastle and he is a 2nd rower pushed to play centre. What does that say about Fale?

Aren’t we comparing Nick and Jacob vs Kerr and Guler??

 

[RufusRex]

I am comparing Jacob with the props .. i am comparing Nick to any option in the team that gets him into first grade without decent demonstrated form and cant find any ...

I do like him .. but you are pumping his tyres way beyond what his season form deserves.