OUR NEXT HEAD COACH

[jodragon40]

There is only so much a head coach can do to control players off the field but Hasler would definitely instill better discipline.

Players show disregard for the coach and club one reason being is that they can get away with it and another that there is insufficient depth for him to lose his starting spot

 

[RedV01]

Des Hasler in the news about wanting to become a head coach again. Talk of him talking over early in the season at Dragons, Newcastle or Gold Coast if those teams have a bad start to the season. Dragons play GC for the second time in only round 6. I wonder if either team loses those two games, that will be the end.

I like the idea of Hasler coming in provided he is under strict salary cap supervision. No back-ended deals but for exceptional circumstances.

Getting Hasler would be a coup but I think the front office won't hire a coach they can't push around.

 

[Ryan]

Wanna know what would be worse than losing the first 6 games? Something that would be very typical of the Dragons over the last 10 years. The team starts reasonably well by not playing well compared to the best teams but scraping together a few victories. And that is enough for the club to throw a 2 or 3 year extension at him despite no other club wanting anything to do with him.

 

[jodragon40]

Well let's analyse that
R1 - bye - 2 pts
R2 - V Titans (home) possible win 2 pts
R3 - V Broncos (away) loss
R4 - V Sharks (home) loss
R5 - V Dolphins (home) win - 2 pts
R6 - V Titans (away) loss

So realistically perhaps 6 pts. Will that be enough to keep the wolves at bay? I mentioned elsewhere by R12 we would have a good idea whether he stays or not
R7 - Raiders - loss
R8 - Roosters - loss
R9 - Bulldogs?
R10 - Tigers - win
R11 - Cowboys - loss
R12 - Roosters - loss

So I envisage we will have between 8 or 10 points by the start of R13 which is the halfway mark in the competition and we should be out of contention. Then someone in the boardroom should say we'll that didn't quite work out. Time will tell and who is going to replace him.

 

[Chris M]

Well let's analyse that
R1 - bye - 2 pts
R2 - V Titans (home) possible win 2 pts
R3 - V Broncos (away) loss
R4 - V Sharks (home) loss
R5 - V Dolphins (home) win - 2 pts
R6 - V Titans (away) loss

So realistically perhaps 6 pts. Will that be enough to keep the wolves at bay? I mentioned elsewhere by R12 we would have a good idea whether he stays or not
R7 - Raiders - loss
R8 - Roosters - loss
R9 - Bulldogs?
R10 - Tigers - win
R11 - Cowboys - loss
R12 - Roosters - loss

So I envisage we will have between 8 or 10 points by the start of R13 which is the halfway mark in the competition and we should be out of contention. Then someone in the boardroom should say we'll that didn't quite work out. Time will tell and who is going to replace him.

I watched GC v Dolphins trial . Based on that, they might give the Dragons a touch up.

 

[Morgan]

I watched GC v Dolphins trial . Based on that, they might give the Dragons a touch up.

I saw it too. They play an exciting brand of football. Lots of offloads, lots of sweeping backline movements, speed all over the park. A prime candidate for Hook to drag down into the gutter and finally beat by 2 points.

 

[jodragon40]

I watched GC v Dolphins trial . Based on that, they might give the Dragons a touch up.

I agree

 

[Morgan]

I watched GC v Dolphins trial . Based on that, they might give the Dragons a touch up.

I agree

To be brutally honest, might not that be the best result? Imagine if after al the noise last year and during the off season, the team opens with a 40 point thrashing from the Titans? The board still sack him but another loss the following week, even if only by a point, will surely see Hook given the flick.

 

[jodragon40]

My Predicted starting 13 V Titans Rd 2

1. Sloan
2. Rav
3. Lomax
4. Suli
5. Feigai
6. Sullivan
7. Hunt (c)
8. Lawrie
9. Liddle
10. JDB
11. Sua
12. Murdoch - Masila
13. Bird
Reserves
14. Musgrave
15. Woods
16. Mbye
17. Burns

Let's see how close I am.

 

[jodragon40]

To be brutally honest, might not that be the best result? Imagine if after al the noise last year and during the off season, the team opens with a 40 point thrashing from the Titans? The board still sack him but another loss the following week, even if only by a point, will surely see Hook given the flick.

Anyone heard from the board?

 

[RedV01]

1. Sloan
2. Rav
3. Lomax
4. Suli
5. Feigai
6. Sullivan
7. Hunt (c)
8. Lawrie
9. Liddle
10. JDB
11. Sua
12. Murdoch - Masila
13. Bird
    Reserves
14. Musgrave
15. Woods
16. Mbye
17. Burns

This isn't the team I would pick but I think it is the team that will be picked. I can only say, thankfully Sully seems to have won out the "battle" for starting 5/8. I can't even believe it was "a battle". It should have been a no-brainer but maybe this coach doesn't have a brain anymore so we can be thankful for it.

 

[Morgan]

1. Sloan
2. Rava
3. Lomax
4. Suli
5. Feigai
6. Sullivan
7. Hunt (c)
8. Lawrie
9. Liddle
10. JDB
11. Sua
12. Murdoch - Masila
13. Bird
    Reserves
14. Musgrave
15. Woods
16. Mbye
17. Burns

This isn't the team I would pick but I think it is the team that will be picked. I can only say, thankfully Sully seems to have won out the "battle" for starting 5/8. I can't even believe it was "a battle". It should have been a no-brainer but maybe this coach doesn't have a brain anymore so we can be thankful for it.

As for 1~5, what other options are there? Replace one Feagai with the other is the only possibility. I read someone said Suli would be a good backrower with both Feagai's in the starting 13. Not a bad idea but Suli would need to be training in the forwards for a couple of months first and then get eased in. It won't happen in round 1 and doubtful ever will if Hook has a say in it.

As for the forwards, a few options but none of them any good. I'd start JDB at lock, Musgrove at prop, Bird on the bench.

 

[jodragon40]

As for 1~5, what other options are there? Replace one Feagai with the other is the only possibility. I read someone said Suli would be a good backrower with both Feagai's in the starting 13. Not a bad idea but Suli would need to be training in the forwards for a couple of months first and then get eased in. It won't happen in round 1 and doubtful ever will if Hook has a say in it.

As for the forwards, a few options but none of them any good. I'd start JDB at lock, Musgrove at prop, Bird on the bench.

So would I but there is no chance in hell that Griffin won't start with his favourite's in the 17 and at the expense of others

 

[Chris M]

So would I but there is no chance in hell that Griffin won't start with his favourite's in the 17 and at the expense of others

See Bennett dropped Milford for round 1? No hope in hell of Griffin making big calls like that. He sticks with his old favourites no matter what.

 

[Edward]

See Bennett dropped Milford for round 1? No hope in hell of Griffin making big calls like that. He sticks with his old favourites no matter what.

If Benny was still the coach, there is no way Aaron Woods would even be under consideration for the first grade this year unless for an an injury or rep game crisis. He would never have allowed the roster to get in such a condition that Woods was even being considered. That goes for McGuire and McCullough last year. Liddle would never have been considered an option. If he didn't think the Dragons young players were an option, he'd have ran through the juniors of every other team and picked the best 18~21 year-old option stuck behind an already an established first grader. As it seems he has done with Katoa > Cleary.

 

[Ryan]

If Benny was still the coach, there is no way Aaron Woods would even be under consideration for the first grade this year unless for an an injury or rep game crisis. He would never have allowed the roster to get in such a condition that Woods was even being considered. That goes for McGuire and McCullough last year. Liddle would never have been considered an option. If he didn't think the Dragons young players were an option, he'd have ran through the juniors of every other team and picked the best 18~21 year-old option stuck behind an already an established first grader. As it seems he has done with Katoa > Cleary.

I think you hit the nail right on the head! This is 100% the team Griffin built.

 

[Eric]

UNDER PRESSURE: ANTHONY GRIFFIN ​

Who said a round one bye was a bad thing? St. George Illawarra fans awoke on Monday morning to see two competition points in the bank and the Dragons sitting just outside the eight. Given they’re $4.25 fancies — behind Newcastle ($3.75) and the Dolphins ($4) — for the wooden spoon, it's a leg-up needed by everyone at the Dragons, no one more so than under siege coach Anthony Griffin. After an off-season of off-field scandals and a dismal showing in the trials, only a win against the Gold Coast will ease the pressure off Griffin. It won’t be an easy task, they’ll be coming up against a well-drilled Justin Holbrook-coached side that showed clear improvements in round 1 than the Titans of last year.

 

[Chris M]

It all adds up to a very tough task for a coach who actually has the full support of the board, let alone someone on their last legs as Griffin appears to be. Then the choice becomes who should take over – with three favourite sons in Jason Ryles, Dean Young and Ben Hornby cutting their coaching teeth elsewhere and looking like they’re ready for an NRL head coaching gig, the Dragons have options.

There will inevitably be a push for an older coach like Des Hasler or Shane Flanagan to come in and clean up the joint. They tried that last time and it didn’t work. They need a fresh start with a coach who can unite the club and transform the team’s reputation with a modern approach like Todd Payten has done at the Cowboys and Craig Fitzgibbon at Cronulla.

Griffin door about to close: Why Dragons will be slithering back down ladder

St George Illawarra look like they'll be having another coaching change, perhaps as early as mid-season.

www.theroar.com.au

For me:

1. Hasler
2. Flanagan
3. Ryles
4. Young
5. Hornby

Nothing against Young or Hornby but they are still too green in regard to their coaching careers. Ryles has been assistant at Melbourne and the Rorters and is apparently highly regarded but so was the guy at Canterbury. I know it's early days yet but he didn't get off to a good start. A reminder some of the best assistants just can't cut it as head coaches.

 

[jodragon40]

Griffin door about to close: Why Dragons will be slithering back down ladder

St George Illawarra look like they'll be having another coaching change, perhaps as early as mid-season.

www.theroar.com.au

For me:

1. Hasler
2. Flanagan
3. Ryles
4. Young
5. Hornby

Nothing against Young or Hornby but they are still too green in regard to their coaching careers. Ryles has been assistant at Melbourne and the Rorters and is apparently highly regarded but so was the guy at Canterbury. I know it's early days yet but he didn't get off to a good start. A reminder some of the best assistants just can't cut it as head coaches.

Said from day 1 on here ex players shouldn't be head coach at our club. So Hasler and or Flanagan there is also McGuire but at a last resort. So if these rumours are to be believed what can we expect from the players

 

[Chris M]

Said from day 1 on here ex players shouldn't be head coach at our club. So Hasler and or Flanagan there is also McGuire but at a last resort. So if these rumours are to be believed what can we expect from the players

I agree with that but it's been a long time since Ryles was playing for the Dragons. So long ago and he's been playing and then coaching at other clubs for so long now, I wouldn't be against him becoming head coach though I'd prefer Hasler or Flanagan.