RedV01
SGI NSW Cup
I think you are right on both counts.
Injury and Suspension Updates
- Thread starter Morgan
- Start date
Eric
Staff
St George Illawarra left seeing red over new judiciary rules
The Dragons are less than impressed with the timing of the rule change.
The St George Illawarra Dragons have been left frustrated by the timing of the NRL's new judiciary rules, with Tyrell Fuimaono copping a five-week suspension during the pre-season for an ugly hip drop tackle on Haze Dunster. While the offence charged by the NRL was a Grade 3 dangerous contact charge, it was Fuimaono's awful judiciary history which left him with such a significant length of time on the sidelines.Loading has long been a talking point amongst NRL fans, but in a new set of rules and guidelines announced by the NRL less than 24 hours before the first game of the season, it was removed. It means Fuimaono, had he made the tackle during the opening round of the season, would have only been banned for two weeks instead of five.
Fuimaono's was the heaviest suspension of the pre-season, with the second rower joining Josh McGuire in missing the first five games of the year after the veteran forward was suspended at the end of last year. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Dragons inquired with the NRL after the rules were announced about whether they could be applied to Fuimaono retrospectively, allowing him to come back in Round 3.
The NRL knocked it back flat, insisting that the rules for the trials wouldn't be changed after the fact, while also reminding the Dragons that there were always likely rule changes coming. The Rugby League Players Association, among others, were left frustrated by how late the judiciary changes were officially announced.
Anyone remember when Brett Stewart ran over the sideline to join his brother fighting a Melbourne player and was given only a 1 or 2 week suspension? It was widely reported the NRL was going easy on him due to them suspending him for the bogus claim if sexual assault.
The point is, I've heard the NRL compensated both JDB and the club for the criminal scam that was the JDB suspension. I hope that's true otherwise we are officially the NRL's b**ch!
RedV01
SGI NSW Cup
GCRV
SGI NSW Cup
No doubt all of this is true but I hope the club and Jack himself have left the affair in the rear-view mirror. Time to look to the future.
jodragon40
Staff
Unfortunately when you place yourself in such a position you take your chances. The mental scar will be with him forever. In saying this he will let his football do the talking this season and hopefully he will be another SOO forward for us
RedV01
SGI NSW Cup
Morally he screwed up badly. Cheating is one thing. Cheating when his 'partner' (wonder why they don't get married) is home, with their toddler and heavily pregnant with another is another thing entirely.
But he, the club and his teammates were heavily and unfairly penalised. With all due respect to
GCRV, I don't think anyone should forget about that.
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Morgan
SGI NSW Cup
Itâs good news for Dragons hooker Andrew McCullough who avoided serious injury.
McCullough was in agony against Penrith after appearing to dislocate his elbow but heâs been cleared and is an outside chance of returning on Thursday night against the Sharks.
McCullough was in agony against Penrith after appearing to dislocate his elbow but heâs been cleared and is an outside chance of returning on Thursday night against the Sharks.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
That will be a huge in. Considering the form of the NSW Cup team.
jodragon40
Staff
Very surprised
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
Would be a nice surprise but lets not pat ourselves on the back just yet. He's an "outside chance". At least it sounds like it'll only be one week at worst.
Morgan
SGI NSW Cup
Will be a problem for sure. I'm tipping Sullivan to come in but Mbye to play more minutes (replacing Sullivan) than usual.
âThat is definitely going to hurt us,â Hunt said. âThat is really disappointing for us. He is a real important part of our team. âHe ties us together and it is going to be really difficult to go out there without him.â
The most obvious choice would be to bring in utility Moses Mbye at No.9, with the Dragons confirming to foxsports.com.au that would be their preference to not upset the side too much. However the club has one of the best representative hookers in the game in Hunt playing halfback and a potentially brilliant No.7 Jayden Sullivan biding his time waiting for an opportunity.
Moving Hunt to hooker could potentially make the Dragons even more dangerous around the ruck where Hunt excels for the Maroons in Origin. That would allow Mbye to continue to fill the utility role and cover multiple positions, while giving Sullivan the chance to partner long-time friend Talatau Amone in the halves.
Alternatively, Sullivan got a taste of hooker at the end of last season and didnât look out of place at all. The only issue would be having three rookies in Tyrell Sloan, Amone and Sullivan in the spine, but all three are brilliant prospects and if you are good enough you are old enough.
Anthony Griffin is unlikely to move Hunt, but given what he has at his disposal, it may be an option he has to look at to bring Sullivan into the team in his preferred position.
The Dragons have two crafty hookers in their New South Wales Cup team in Bradley Deitz and Connor Muhleisen, however given both are outside of the Top 30 they would need an exemption to play in the next few weeks.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA INJURY SCARE EXPOSES HOOKING PROBLEM
St George Illawarra Dragons could face a big problem on how to replace Andrew McCullough who is expected to spend up to three weeks on the sideline with an elbow injury. In the aftermath of their 20-16 loss to the Panthers, Dragons skipper Ben Hunt admitted that McCullough would leave a huge void.âThat is definitely going to hurt us,â Hunt said. âThat is really disappointing for us. He is a real important part of our team. âHe ties us together and it is going to be really difficult to go out there without him.â
The most obvious choice would be to bring in utility Moses Mbye at No.9, with the Dragons confirming to foxsports.com.au that would be their preference to not upset the side too much. However the club has one of the best representative hookers in the game in Hunt playing halfback and a potentially brilliant No.7 Jayden Sullivan biding his time waiting for an opportunity.
Moving Hunt to hooker could potentially make the Dragons even more dangerous around the ruck where Hunt excels for the Maroons in Origin. That would allow Mbye to continue to fill the utility role and cover multiple positions, while giving Sullivan the chance to partner long-time friend Talatau Amone in the halves.
Alternatively, Sullivan got a taste of hooker at the end of last season and didnât look out of place at all. The only issue would be having three rookies in Tyrell Sloan, Amone and Sullivan in the spine, but all three are brilliant prospects and if you are good enough you are old enough.
Anthony Griffin is unlikely to move Hunt, but given what he has at his disposal, it may be an option he has to look at to bring Sullivan into the team in his preferred position.
The Dragons have two crafty hookers in their New South Wales Cup team in Bradley Deitz and Connor Muhleisen, however given both are outside of the Top 30 they would need an exemption to play in the next few weeks.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
McCullough needs to keep his elbow in ice without a break until Thursday. There is no structural damage so it should be just a question of bringing the swelling down.
Eric
Staff
It seems the best we can hope for regarding McCullough is that he is only out for one week.
Meanwhile, veteran prop Aaron Woods is racing the clock and given some chance but unlikely to play. Although he has been back running for five days, the Dragonsâ medical staff are more likely to play it safe and let Woods have another week to recover.
Mbye is the only expected change to the starting side from last round at dummy half with Jack Gosiewski expected back on the bench after dropping off last week to make way for Tariq Simsâ return.
The Dragons had some good news with scans clearing McCullough of an elbow fracture so he could even be back in round four to play Parramatta.
If Woods has been running for 5 days, surely he will be ok in another 4 days. At least that's the way I feel about it but I'm not a medical professional so I'll trust the club medical professionals know what they are doing. I just hope they aren't overly conservative. McCullough is a far bigger out anyway due to not having an obvious back up. I guess Mbye can fill in for a week but the problem with this was exposed last week. With Dragons on the attack, Mbye passed from dummy half up slightly behind and up around JDB's shoulder. It led to a knock on. I'm not sure how well people remember the nightmare of Mitch Rein. His dummy half passing was one described as not being able to hit a barn door half the time. A really good hooker in every other facet of the game but shows how important good serve out of dummy half is which is why I hope McCullough is back ASAP.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA OUT TO REPLACE McCULLOUGH
Moses Mbye is tipped to start at hooker for St George Illawarra in Thursday nightâs clash against Cronulla to replace the injured Andrew McCullough.Meanwhile, veteran prop Aaron Woods is racing the clock and given some chance but unlikely to play. Although he has been back running for five days, the Dragonsâ medical staff are more likely to play it safe and let Woods have another week to recover.
Mbye is the only expected change to the starting side from last round at dummy half with Jack Gosiewski expected back on the bench after dropping off last week to make way for Tariq Simsâ return.
The Dragons had some good news with scans clearing McCullough of an elbow fracture so he could even be back in round four to play Parramatta.
If Woods has been running for 5 days, surely he will be ok in another 4 days. At least that's the way I feel about it but I'm not a medical professional so I'll trust the club medical professionals know what they are doing. I just hope they aren't overly conservative. McCullough is a far bigger out anyway due to not having an obvious back up. I guess Mbye can fill in for a week but the problem with this was exposed last week. With Dragons on the attack, Mbye passed from dummy half up slightly behind and up around JDB's shoulder. It led to a knock on. I'm not sure how well people remember the nightmare of Mitch Rein. His dummy half passing was one described as not being able to hit a barn door half the time. A really good hooker in every other facet of the game but shows how important good serve out of dummy half is which is why I hope McCullough is back ASAP.
RedV01
SGI NSW Cup
If Mbye is going to be hooker, surely it will mean Jack Bird is going to be the bench utility. Sims and Su'a starting backrowers.
jodragon40
Staff
Sim
Sims won't be a starter unless Debelin is moved to prop, Bird will then drop back to lock in my view
Eric
Staff
Why do you think so? Don't you think Sims showed he is a better forward against Penrith? In the middle or on an edge. How many metres did Sims run for vs Bird? And if Mbye is starting at hooker, wouldn't it make sense to have a utility (Bird) on the bench? Both are good defenders but I give Sims the edge there as well. At least when defending in the forwards.
And all that aside, I think Bird being smaller but more mobile is best used after the opposition forwards start to tire.
Eric
Staff
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Andrew McCullough (elbow) - Round 3/4
Aaron Woods (hamstring) - Round 3
Josh McGuire (suspension) - Round 6
Tyrell Fuimaono (suspension) - Round 6
Max Feagai (ankle) - Round 11
Billy Burns (foot) - Round 3
Jayden Sullivan (hamstring) - Round 3
So McCullough is still a chance of being fit for this weeks game.
Andrew McCullough (elbow) - Round 3/4
Aaron Woods (hamstring) - Round 3
Josh McGuire (suspension) - Round 6
Tyrell Fuimaono (suspension) - Round 6
Max Feagai (ankle) - Round 11
Billy Burns (foot) - Round 3
Jayden Sullivan (hamstring) - Round 3
So McCullough is still a chance of being fit for this weeks game.
Morgan
SGI NSW Cup
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Jayden Sullivan (hamstring) - Round 6Tyrell Fuimaono (suspension) - Round 6
Josh McGuire (suspension) - Round 6
Max Feagai (ankle) - Round 11
Some backup on the way. Unless Kerr has an absolute blinder this weekend, surely the return of McGuire and Fuimaono will mean, without drastic improvement, Kerr's time in first grade is over.
Word is that Max Feagai will come back sooner as well.
Eric
Staff
Su'A going under the knife tomorrow. Facing 10 weeks out. I guess as we have recently got McGuire and Fuimaono back, it's not a disaster though I prefer McGuire in the middle. I wonder if Billy Burns is going to be back soon.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
SuâA set for lengthy layoff
Dragons forward Jaydn SuâA is set to miss two months after scans revealed he needs an operation to fix his ankle injury. SuâA limped off during last weekendâs victory over the Roosters and the syndesmosis injury means the Queensland second-rower will miss the State of Origin series opener and will be struggling to be back for game two in Perth on June 26.His absence is a blow to rookie Maroons coach Billy Slater but he will have the likes of Broncos veteran Kurt Capewell, Titans powerhouse David Fifita, Melbourneâs Felise Kaufusi and South Sydneyâs Jai Arrow to fill his edge roles. Former Maroons stalwart Josh McGuire has replaced SuâA in the starting line-up at St George Illawarra for Sundayâs WIN Stadium encounter with Wests.