Recruitment and Retention for 2025

TheRev

TheRev

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We already have 4 positions to fill (more to come), we need to move away from this idea that we can only chase 1 player at a time, and in sequential order of importance.. thats not how it works..

We are chasing halfbacks, Justa even told us Atkinson was looking good for 2026 but unsure if we could get the sharks to agree on 2025 (but we r pushing hard), if that fails we are going to be forced to chase others (that meeting was coming tomorrow).. we might even chase 2 yet..

Gutho is completely unrelated to him.. as is the prop forward we need.
 
RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
TheRev said:
We already have 4 positions to fill (more to come), we need to move away from this idea that we can only chase 1 player at a time, and in sequential order of importance.. thats not how it works..

We are chasing halfbacks, Justa even told us Atkinson was looking good for 2026 but unsure if we could get the sharks to agree on 2025 (but we r pushing hard), if that fails we are going to be forced to chase others (that meeting was coming tomorrow).. we might even chase 2 yet..

Gutho is completely unrelated to him.. as is the prop forward we need.
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Need 4 sounds about right but don't you agree need a halfback more than a fullback? I think everyone understands this. It's my opinion need a good prop and a fast winger before a fullback as well. And hopefully at least a few who won't be 30 anytime soon but that might be asking too much.
 
Ryan

Ryan

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st george tragic said:
I feel flanno is taking us forward not backwards but saying we are going to be wooden spooners at this time is very negative
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Fair enough. I think the jury is still out on Flanno. As far as I remember, we just missed the top 8 in Griffins first year. Didn't really just miss it this year. Where did we end up? 10th or 11th?

Though I agree. I think he has the club slowly moving in the right direction. He was justified giving it to Hunt after that game late in the year. I think against Parramatta. Absolutely right in not giving Hunt that one more year he wanted. He was right to drop Sloan after that shocker against the Broncos. He was right to stick to his guns offering JDB only one year. If JDBs form continues like it was, I'm sure he will get another but at his age, should take it a year at a time.

But the double standards are infuriating. How did it take a suspension for Kyle not to be picked? How wasn't Eisenhuth and/or BMM and/or RFM dropped to make way for Couchmans? Or Egan for that matter. It took injuries and suspensions for the Couchmans to get picked in the end. What happened to Finau? He played on the wing for one game, against Penrith during Origin, played really well but wasn't seen again in first grade.
 
D

Dave03

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This gives you an idea of the poor communication skills during the hook era, Ben Haran named by Woods. I don't know what role Haran has right now but the communication with Woods regarding his departure from Dragons to Manly was poor.

 
TheRev

TheRev

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a few have confirmed we r good to go for tomorrows (wednesdays) Gutho announcement.. could have done without 24hrs of media torture yet again.. but rly its 1 day.

lets hope for a strong end to the week with some of the others.. 9 more days till pre-season kicks off proper.
 
RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
Clint Gutherson's talks with the Dragons are not going as smoothly as the star expected, with his camp reportedly frustrated with the pace of negotiations.

Flanno wavering?
 
RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
Brodie Croft has emerged as the firm favourite to take over Ben Hunt's Dragons halfback throne, with his management attempting to get him out of his contract with English club Leeds.
Croft, 27, is keen to return home and would be the best fit of the halves available for the Red V.

Get it done Dragons. This guy could be what we have lacked since Gareth Widdop.
 
RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
Ryan said:
But the double standards are infuriating. How did it take a suspension for Kyle not to be picked? How wasn't Eisenhuth and/or BMM and/or RFM dropped to make way for Couchmans? Or Egan for that matter. It took injuries and suspensions for the Couchmans to get picked in the end. What happened to Finau? He played on the wing for one game, against Penrith during Origin, played really well but wasn't seen again in first grade.
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Questions we all asked of our new coach in his first year. I am just giving him a pass mark. Needs to build on this by giving us some quality from this trip to the market. If we can get a prop enforcer with a modicum of ball skill, Brodie Croft or/and Lachlan Ilias, Sione Finau on one wing, I will be a happy chappy.
 
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RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
Edward said:
Trying to sign Paps first.
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Being older and more mature as a player Paps will keep Tyrell on his feet as the two will be in a race for the fullback spot. Paps is good, can be very good, but he knows how dangerous Tyrell can be, take when he showed Paps up big time last year by feining a chip for his winger, stepping to the Eel f/bs left then burning him for pace to score. It was such a classy play.
 
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jodragon40

jodragon40

SGI NSW Cup
TheRev said:
We already have 4 positions to fill (more to come), we need to move away from this idea that we can only chase 1 player at a time, and in sequential order of importance.. thats not how it works..

We are chasing halfbacks, Justa even told us Atkinson was looking good for 2026 but unsure if we could get the sharks to agree on 2025 (but we r pushing hard), if that fails we are going to be forced to chase others (that meeting was coming tomorrow).. we might even chase 2 yet..

Gutho is completely unrelated to him.. as is the prop forward we need.
Click to expand...
Hallelujah, prop and play maker are absolutely our priority for next season. In my personal experience of playing and coaching spanning 45 yrs all I can say is when I played and coached a team that had 2 big boxhead forwards in the pack who could consistently make the advantage line that gave our play makers the opportunity to not only get to our set attacking structures but also create and play eyes up footy because they simply had the time and room to do so. If your pack is making 30 - 35m a set well you can have the fastest and most skilful players in your backline but it won't matter because apart from individual brilliance you just get shut down and never obtain that field position that you must have. Everytime I watch AFB play in the Pacific Championship I cry, it's exactly the prop our pack needed but alas he went to little brother.
 
st george tragic

st george tragic

SGI Jersey Flegg
Ryan said:
Fair enough. I think the jury is still out on Flanno. As far as I remember, we just missed the top 8 in Griffins first year. Didn't really just miss it this year. Where did we end up? 10th or 11th?

Though I agree. I think he has the club slowly moving in the right direction. He was justified giving it to Hunt after that game late in the year. I think against Parramatta. Absolutely right in not giving Hunt that one more year he wanted. He was right to drop Sloan after that shocker against the Broncos. He was right to stick to his guns offering JDB only one year. If JDBs form continues like it was, I'm sure he will get another but at his age, should take it a year at a time.

But the double standards are infuriating. How did it take a suspension for Kyle not to be picked? How wasn't Eisenhuth and/or BMM and/or RFM dropped to make way for Couchmans? Or Egan for that matter. It took injuries and suspensions for the Couchmans to get picked in the end. What happened to Finau? He played on the wing for one game, against Penrith during Origin, played really well but wasn't seen again in first grade.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you said and I also don't agree with every decision flanno makes however I think he is the best coach we have had since Bennett and he is going to improve our team so I just don't agree with you on the wooden spoon theory. I am confident that we could play finals next year especially now Hunt has gone and if flanno can find a capable 7 along with a few other signings
 
RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
First we let promising half Ashton Ward go now another junior half Levi Valesini,18 has been poached by the wooden spooners.The kid has already played first grade against grown men for Albion Park in the Illawarra league and had a ground-breaking 2024 by being named Group 7 under 18 player of the year and also South Coast Laurie Daley Cup MVP.
Why nurture our juniors, both Illawarra and St George then let other clubs benefit from their talent. MAKES NO BLOODY SENSE!!!!!
 
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Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
RedVHeartbeat said:
Brodie Croft has emerged as the firm favourite to take over Ben Hunt's Dragons halfback throne, with his management attempting to get him out of his contract with English club Leeds.
Croft, 27, is keen to return home and would be the best fit of the halves available for the Red V.

Get it done Dragons. This guy could be what we have lacked since Gareth Widdop.
Click to expand...
Would prefer Atkinson. Croft has been there and done that and failed.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
RedVHeartbeat said:
First we let promising half Ashton Ward go now another junior half Levi Valesini,18 has been poached by the wooden spooners.The kid has already played first grade against grown men for Albion Park in the Illawarra league and had a ground-breaking 2024 by being named Group 7 under 18 player of the year and also South Coast Laurie Daley Cup MVP.
Why nurture our juniors, both Illawarra and St George then let other clubs benefit from their talent. MAKES NO BLOODY SENSE!!!!!
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I'd never heard of him before now but I think the club has decided Reed and LKT are the halves we are pinning our hopes on. If one or them both fail, it'll be someone below them. Probably playing U19s this year. Fitzgibbon plays in the halves, doesn't he? Been big wraps on him for a while.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
st george tragic said:
I agree with everything you said and I also don't agree with every decision flanno makes however I think he is the best coach we have had since Bennett and he is going to improve our team so I just don't agree with you on the wooden spoon theory. I am confident that we could play finals next year especially now Hunt has gone and if flanno can find a capable 7 along with a few other signings
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Best coach since Bennett is right and I'm not his biggest fan so far. Mostly I can't get my head around recruiting Kyle and playing him the whole year until he was suspended. It was 100% nepotism which shouldn't be something a coach at his level does. Apart from that, I thought he did really well the squad he inherited.
 
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