Recruitment and Retention for 2026

J

Justadragon

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
I was there
Click to expand...
I was at the Souths game a week later and realised that the only thing making Hunt look good was Widdop !!! After that game all my pre conceived ideas about buying Hunt were made evident by all his efforts in wanting to get paid and dismantling the club in the process. Selfish little prick he was, should have had a lap of honor just so he could take in what the fans really thought of him.
 
Dragons Chris

Dragons Chris

SGI NSW Cup
  • Zac Lomax
  • Luke Bailey (a the time, club had salary cap issues. Bull agreed to stay for unders until going to the new team. Was really good for them as well.)
  • Trent Barrett
  • Mark Gasnier (He wasn't paid what he was promised. A slap in the face. Just glad he came back.)
  • Gareth Widdop (not sure what happened. I thought he still had one or two good years in him.)
  • Brett Kite (Club tried so hard to keep him but salary cap pressure made it impossible.)
  • Craig Smith (He was well past his best when he left. Didn't he leave to clear the way for Bull Bailley and Ryles)
  • Jack Bird (Should have kept him but not signed him years later.)
  • Finau Latu (Remains to be seen if he's a loss at all.)
  • Alex McKinnon (Honestly, he was never good. If not for his accident, no one would remember him today.)
  • Cam McInnes (Overrated and overpaid.)
  • Reese Robson (Big loss but apparently he wanted out.)
  • Justin Poore (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Beau Scott (Still had a couple of good years.)
  • Ashton Simms (Should've let him go sooner.)
  • Tariq Simms (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Brett Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Glenn Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Savelio Tamale (Big loss.)
  • Josh Dugan (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Damien Cook (Big loss.)
  • Anthony Mundine (Big loss. Was way better than Barrett.)
  • Darius Boyd (Good riddence.)
  • Ben Hunt (Good riddence.)
  • Francis Molo (Good riddence.)
  • Matt Prior (Should've kept. Thanks supercoach Price.)
  • Luke Patten (Not a big loss.)
  • Jason Ryles (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Jason Saab (He wanted out.)
  • Jackson Hastings (No loss.)
  • Brett Morris (He wanted out.)
  • Josh Morris (Which one of his brother, Gaz, Coops, Nighty would you have let go to keep him?)
  • Craig Fitzgibbon (Big loss.)
  • Trent Merrin (No loss.)
  • Wayne Bennett (Big loss.)
 
J

Justadragon

SGI NSW Cup
Dragons Chris said:
  • Zac Lomax
  • Luke Bailey (a the time, club had salary cap issues. Bull agreed to stay for unders until going to the new team. Was really good for them as well.)
  • Trent Barrett
  • Mark Gasnier (He wasn't paid what he was promised. A slap in the face. Just glad he came back.)
  • Gareth Widdop (not sure what happened. I thought he still had one or two good years in him.)
  • Brett Kite (Club tried so hard to keep him but salary cap pressure made it impossible.)
  • Craig Smith (He was well past his best when he left. Didn't he leave to clear the way for Bull Bailley and Ryles)
  • Jack Bird (Should have kept him but not signed him years later.)
  • Finau Latu (Remains to be seen if he's a loss at all.)
  • Alex McKinnon (Honestly, he was never good. If not for his accident, no one would remember him today.)
  • Cam McInnes (Overrated and overpaid.)
  • Reese Robson (Big loss but apparently he wanted out.)
  • Justin Poore (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Beau Scott (Still had a couple of good years.)
  • Ashton Simms (Should've let him go sooner.)
  • Tariq Simms (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Brett Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Glenn Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Savelio Tamale (Big loss.)
  • Josh Dugan (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Damien Cook (Big loss.)
  • Anthony Mundine (Big loss. Was way better than Barrett.)
  • Darius Boyd (Good riddence.)
  • Ben Hunt (Good riddence.)
  • Francis Molo (Good riddence.)
  • Matt Prior (Should've kept. Thanks supercoach Price.)
  • Luke Patten (Not a big loss.)
  • Jason Ryles (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Jason Saab (He wanted out.)
  • Jackson Hastings (No loss.)
  • Brett Morris (He wanted out.)
  • Josh Morris (Which one of his brother, Gaz, Coops, Nighty would you have let go to keep him?)
  • Craig Fitzgibbon (Big loss.)
  • Trent Merrin (No loss.)
  • Wayne Bennett (Big loss.)
Click to expand...
Widdop had done his shoulder Chris, he was no good after that.
 
D

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
Mug Fan said:
www.nrl.com

Match Highlights: Broncos v Dragons - Week 1 Finals, 2018

St George Illawarra Dragons have beaten the Brisbane Broncos 48-18 at Suncorp Stadium.
www.nrl.com www.nrl.com
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Yeah. Great game with some great players leading the way for our great win. Hunt and Widdop `were good and of course Tariq and JDB. We were unfortunate not to have had Widdop playing in the semi against Souths that year. I reckon we would have won if he played.
 
D

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
jodragon40 said:
My wife and I were seated in the area next to the chookpen. At ht she was pretty quiet and they were giving it to us, perhaps next year, or the coach won't be scoring a try tonight.

Well with 20 to go they started leaving and my wife stands up and starts singing and waving them goodbye. I thought I'm going to get into some fisticuffs here but a few middle fingers later they left in peace.

I have my 2010 GF T shirt and tank top still. In fact I wear the tank top to bed in the summer time. I wear my t shirt when I travel overseas. It reads 32 - 10 , Dragons forever.
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Hey Jo
I think you might have to turf your T shirt that you wear when you travel overseas. The final score of that grand final win against the Roosters in 2010 was Dragons 32, Roosters 8. Maybe the shirt does have 32-8 and you might have posted the wrong number above. Haha! If that's the case sorry!
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
Dragon David said:
Hey Jo
I think you might have to turf your T shirt that you wear when you travel overseas. The final score of that grand final win against the Roosters in 2010 was Dragons 32, Roosters 8. Maybe the shirt does have 32-8 and you might have posted the wrong number above. Haha! If that's the case sorry!
Click to expand...
Yes mate as soon as I said it I went to bed and looked at my tank top and sure enough I have given the rorters 2 extra points. I've always been known as a giving type of guy 😆. PS I most certainly won't be turfing either. Cheers
 
D

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
jodragon40 said:
Yes mate as soon as I said it I went to bed and looked at my tank top and sure enough I have given the rorters 2 extra points. I've always been known as a giving type of guy 😆. PS I most certainly won't be turfing either. Cheers
Click to expand...
Lets hope we play the Roosters and beat them again in a grand final and you can then update the T shirt and put the 2010 one in a picture frame in your "man shed" as a memento.:love:
 
D

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
Dragon David said:
Lets hope we play the Roosters and beat them again in a grand final and you can then update the T shirt and put the 2010 one in a picture frame in your "man shed" as a memento.:love:
Click to expand...
Sorry, your tank top and not your T shirt.
"Yes mate as soon as I said it I went to bed and looked at my tank top and sure enough I have given the rorters 2 extra points"
 
Frank Facer

Frank Facer

SGI Jersey Flegg
Dragons Chris said:
  • Zac Lomax
  • Luke Bailey (a the time, club had salary cap issues. Bull agreed to stay for unders until going to the new team. Was really good for them as well.)
  • Trent Barrett
  • Mark Gasnier (He wasn't paid what he was promised. A slap in the face. Just glad he came back.)
  • Gareth Widdop (not sure what happened. I thought he still had one or two good years in him.)
  • Brett Kite (Club tried so hard to keep him but salary cap pressure made it impossible.)
  • Craig Smith (He was well past his best when he left. Didn't he leave to clear the way for Bull Bailley and Ryles)
  • Jack Bird (Should have kept him but not signed him years later.)
  • Finau Latu (Remains to be seen if he's a loss at all.)
  • Alex McKinnon (Honestly, he was never good. If not for his accident, no one would remember him today.)
  • Cam McInnes (Overrated and overpaid.)
  • Reese Robson (Big loss but apparently he wanted out.)
  • Justin Poore (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Beau Scott (Still had a couple of good years.)
  • Ashton Simms (Should've let him go sooner.)
  • Tariq Simms (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Brett Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Glenn Stewart (Big loss.)
  • Savelio Tamale (Big loss.)
  • Josh Dugan (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Damien Cook (Big loss.)
  • Anthony Mundine (Big loss. Was way better than Barrett.)
  • Darius Boyd (Good riddence.)
  • Ben Hunt (Good riddence.)
  • Francis Molo (Good riddence.)
  • Matt Prior (Should've kept. Thanks supercoach Price.)
  • Luke Patten (Not a big loss.)
  • Jason Ryles (Let him go at the right time.)
  • Jason Saab (He wanted out.)
  • Jackson Hastings (No loss.)
  • Brett Morris (He wanted out.)
  • Josh Morris (Which one of his brother, Gaz, Coops, Nighty would you have let go to keep him?)
  • Craig Fitzgibbon (Big loss.)
  • Trent Merrin (No loss.)
  • Wayne Bennett (Big loss.)
Click to expand...
*Zac Lomax. He had big wraps on him a a junior. After seeing his highlights reel, I said he would be the best outside back we had produced since Mark Gasnier. I said he would play origin. He did make it on the wing in his last year. Big lose, but on too big money for wing. I would love for him to return to play for us on the wing, but not for 850K or more that he was on. He had wanted out before Flanno got here. He didn't want to play wing and left us to play for a reported 200K or so less per season
*Luke Bailey Top player. Major lose. Was very disappointed to see him leave. Gold Coast offered him marquee money when they were re admitted to the comp again
*Trent Barrett was captain. I rate him our best 5/8 we have had since following us since 1980. Had a lot of injuries. I was extremely disappointed to see him leave to play in England and then disappointed to see him come back to Aust and play for Cronulla.
*Mark Gasnier was captain and went to French Union and then came back for a season and half. He left because of 3rd party deals were not paid.(but 3rd party deals are not supposed to have anything to do with club contracts, yeah right) When he came back he was pretty quite, due to playing outside the guy is said I wouldn't talk about again who wouldn't go to the line and create any space for him. When he got the ball he the defence was all over him like a cheap suit. The first time I saw him play, I said he would play reps and would be our best center, since O'Conner
* Gareth Widdop Was captain and wanted out while still under contract, went to England. He was very good for us
*Brett Kite Went to Manly, played reps and won Clive Churchill medal in 2008. Big lose, but we did have a great team at the time and couldn't fit him under the salary cap. It would have been good to have kept him as we always had injuries the next 2 or 3 years after he left
*Craig Smith Great prop. Tough and forward leader. Had a knee lifting issue. Went to Wigan and played there for 3 years and then came back and played another 2 for Newy
*Jack Bird Went to Cronulla and won rookie of the year the next year. Big lose at the time.
*Finau Latu. I think he will be very good and be a massive lose.
*Alex McKinnon. He had big wraps on him. Followed Bennett to Newcastle. We all know how his career finished. I think he was originally from Newy.
*Cam McInnes captain who couldn't wait to get out and went to Cronulla to play out of his position. We should have held onto Robson
*Reece Robson. As a rookie and after hardly playing any games at hooker for us, mostly coming off the bench and playing lock, I predicted he would play for NSW. I said we should have held onto him over McInnes
*Justin Poore. Was playing great for us and went to Parra for big money, then didn't live up to his price tag
*Beau Scott. Was very good for us. Was tough and good defender. Big lose.
*Ashton Simms Prop who debuted at 18. I thought he would play reps
*Tariq Simms Illawarra junior who debuted for Nth Qld. He had massive wraps on him playing under 20's.
*Brett Stewart. Never played grade for us, but was an Illawarra junior and exceptional fullback. Massive lose
*Glenn Stewart. Never played grade for us, but was an Illawarra junior. Was a very good player, big lose, but we had a pretty good pack at the time
*Savelio Tamale. Had wraps on him. Left for a chance to play first grade. I think we should have kept him.
*Josh Dugan. Was always on big money for us. He Wanted "fullback and marquee" money from us. He signed with Cronulla for overs. For a fullback he had a very poor passing game. He was a better centre. Injury prone. Didn't mind us losing him at the time.
*Damien Cook. The first time I saw him play hooker for Souths in a charity shield, I said, I would pick him for NSW. It took a few years for that prediction to come true. He was playing fullback for us in lower grades, maybe in the halves too. He went to Canterbury before going to Souths and becoming NSW hooker.
*Anthony Mundine. I was his biggest fan until he came back from Brissy and wanted to overshadow Barrett and cut him out even get into dummy half. Great player, but disruptive to team cohesion, was all about himself and great motivator for opposition teams. I wanted him and Barrett to be our version of Sterling and Kenny. He wanted to be Sterling and Kenny in one. When he was at Brissy and said he wanted to return to NSW and then came out with the "Show me the money", my mate said to me, he might not come back to Saints. I replied. "At Brisbane, he was just another player amongst their star studded line up, but at Saints he is The Man. He will come back to us and be the best 5/8 in the comp/game". The next day, he signed with Saints and said. At Brisbane they didn't treat me like royalty, but at Saints I am The Man. He then said words to the effect Laure Daley is running on old legs and that he would be either the best player in the game or best 5/8. I called him The Man before he made that quote. I had also heard about him at 15 or so. When I first saw him debut, I said he was going to be very good and play reps
*Darius Boyd, I always thought he was over rated. Followed Bennett to Newy
*Ben Hunt. Captain. Wanted out long before Flanno arrived. Toxic, would take wrong options, not team player. selfish player. Not a leader or captain. Not an organising general. Didn't like his antics of wanting our during origin. Didn't want to play hooker. Now fine playing hooker for Brissy. Was playing very good with Widdop in 2018. Was over paid. Took a massive pay cut to leave us.
*Francis Molo, I thought he was over paid and never rated him.
*Matt Prior, Went to Cronulla and played well and won a comp there. Was playing well under Bennett
*Luke Patten. We had Amos Roberts, who in his debut season looked like a future star and we chose to let Patten go
*Jason Ryles, Bennett didn't want him. He was very good early on, but fell away as he got older. I was at a game at Brookie in the 90's. We had just scored a try and he was running back while we took the goal kick. I was in the stand at the Pittwater road end. I stood up and yelled "RYLES", he looked up at me, then I yelled RUN HARD.
*Jason Saab., We didn't want to let him go, but he wanted out, said travel to Wollongong was too long. No lose in my opinion.
*Craig Fitzgibbon. I wasn't too concerned about he going to Easts, but he was a good player
*Jackson Hastings. Had massive warps on him coming as a junior. We wanted to keep him, but Easts wanted him and as usual, they got their man. His dad was an Easts legend. He never lived up to the wraps he had on him
*Josh Morris I was very disappointed to see him go to Canterbury. Bennett didn't rate him. Massive loss *Brett Morris Great winger. Left us to play fullback on fullback money, big lose. Another one Bennett didn't rate when he got here. He started off in reserve grade when Bennett got here, with Wendel Sailor and Nightingale picked on the wing ahead of him. Brown was going to play him fullback in his second season which was 2007 but injury in gace 2 of the season early that year, meant he only played 2 games that year. Was one of our best wingers ever.
*Trent Merrin, was probably our best forward at the time. Left us to play for Penrith on big money. Then he didn't live up to price tag
*Brett Steward. Illawarra junior, who slipped through our fingers. Debuted for Manly at 19. Exceptional player and massive loss.
*Glenn Stewart Illawarra junior, who slipped though our fingers. Great player and big lose, but had good forwards at the time
*Jack Debelin. Before he debuted for us, I said he would be the best forward we had produced since Gordon Tallis. He should have played first grade a year or 2 earlier. Great player. Was disappointed to see him go, while we still have the likes of Lawrie on our books.
 
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Frank Facer

Frank Facer

SGI Jersey Flegg
I forgot about
* Bostock. He has proven to be a lose and would be great on one of our wings. Lets see if he gets "homesick" and wants to return
*Garrick. Went to Manly and has been a regular first grader, signed with East for 2027. We probably should have held onto him.


*Wayne Bennett. Could have stayed, but didn't want to. We offered him big money to stay. Could have came back, but didn't want to. He didn't have our future interests at heart. The only players I remember coming through the juniors and debuting while he was here were Merrin and Kyle Stanley, who had massive wraps on him, I said was going to be a rep player. I got that one wrong, but injuries stopped him and he also didn't get to play many games at his natural 5/8 position, due to the player I don't mention. Bennett recommended Steve Price be our next coach. He had us playing "Wazzaball", something I think he said he would never coach teams to do. Wazzaball, is a reference to the Warren Ryan coached Canterbury teams of the mid 80's who were very defence orientated and scored little points, but won 2 comps. I think he overachieved with us. He didn't win another comp since leaving. Obviously a very good coach. He was said to be the brains behind Canberra making the Grand Final in 1987, who were coached by Don Furner who coached Australia.


6 captains in that list. 3 left to play in England, 2 of them came back and played for other clubs. Gasnier went to France to play Union and returned to us. McInnes signed for Cronulla with a year to go on his contract, then got injured and never played for us for the next year. Hunt wanted out the year before Flanno arrived. Flanno got him to stay another year.
 
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Dragons Chris

Dragons Chris

SGI NSW Cup
Frank Facer said:
*Zac Lomax. He had big wraps on him a a junior. After seeing his highlights reel, I said he would be the best outside back we had produced since Mark Gasnier. I said he would play origin. He did make it on the wing in his last year. Big lose, but on too big money for wing. I would love for him to return to play for us on the wing, but not for 850K or more that he was on. He had wanted out before Flanno got here. He didn't want to play wing and left us to play for a reported 200K or so less per season
*Luke Bailey Top player. Major lose. Was very disappointed to see him leave. Gold Coast offered him marquee money when they were re admitted to the comp again
*Trent Barrett was captain. I rate him our best 5/8 we have had since following us since 1980. Had a lot of injuries. I was extremely disappointed to see him leave to play in England and then disappointed to see him come back to Aust and play for Cronulla.
*Mark Gasnier was captain and went to French Union and then came back for a season and half. He left because of 3rd party deals were not paid.(but 3rd party deals are not supposed to have anything to do with club contracts, yeah right) When he came back he was pretty quite, due to playing outside the guy is said I wouldn't talk about again who wouldn't go to the line and create any space for him. When he got the ball he the defence was all over him like a cheap suit. The first time I saw him play, I said he would play reps and would be our best center, since O'Conner
* Gareth Widdop Was captain and wanted out while still under contract, went to England. He was very good for us
*Brett Kite Went to Manly, played reps and won Clive Churchill medal in 2008. Big lose, but we did have a great team at the time and couldn't fit him under the salary cap. It would have been good to have kept him as we always had injuries the next 2 or 3 years after he left
*Craig Smith Great prop. Tough and forward leader. Had a knee lifting issue. Went to Wigan and played there for 3 years and then came back and played another 2 for Newy
*Jack Bird Went to Cronulla and won rookie of the year the next year. Big lose at the time.
*Finau Latu. I think he will be very good and be a massive lose.
*Alex McKinnon. He had big wraps on him. Followed Bennett to Newcastle. We all know how his career finished. I think he was originally from Newy.
*Cam McInnes captain who couldn't wait to get out and went to Cronulla to play out of his position. We should have held onto Robson
*Reece Robson. As a rookie and after hardly playing any games at hooker for us, mostly coming off the bench and playing lock, I predicted he would play for NSW. I said we should have held onto him over McInnes
*Justin Poore. Was playing great for us and went to Parra for big money, then didn't live up to his price tag
*Beau Scott. Was very good for us. Was tough and good defender. Big lose.
*Ashton Simms Prop who debuted at 18. I thought he would play reps
*Tariq Simms Illawarra junior who debuted for Nth Qld. He had massive wraps on him playing under 20's.
*Brett Stewart. Never played grade for us, but was an Illawarra junior and exceptional fullback. Massive lose
*Glenn Stewart. Never played grade for us, but was an Illawarra junior. Was a very good player, big lose, but we had a pretty good pack at the time
*Savelio Tamale. Had wraps on him. Left for a chance to play first grade. I think we should have kept him.
*Josh Dugan. Was always on big money for us. He Wanted "fullback and marquee" money from us. He signed with Cronulla for overs. For a fullback he had a very poor passing game. He was a better centre. Injury prone. Didn't mind us losing him at the time.
*Damien Cook. The first time I saw him play hooker for Souths in a charity shield, I said, I would pick him for NSW. It took a few years for that prediction to come true. He was playing fullback for us in lower grades, maybe in the halves too. He went to Canterbury before going to Souths and becoming NSW hooker.
*Anthony Mundine. I was his biggest fan until he came back from Brissy and wanted to overshadow Barrett and cut him out even get into dummy half. Great player, but disruptive to team cohesion, was all about himself and great motivator for opposition teams. I wanted him and Barrett to be our version of Sterling and Kenny. He wanted to be Sterling and Kenny in one. When he was at Brissy and said he wanted to return to NSW and then came out with the "Show me the money", my mate said to me, he might not come back to Saints. I replied. "At Brisbane, he was just another player amongst their star studded line up, but at Saints he is The Man. He will come back to us and be the best 5/8 in the comp/game". The next day, he signed with Saints and said. At Brisbane they didn't treat me like royalty, but at Saints I am The Man. He then said words to the effect Laure Daley is running on old legs and that he would be either the best player in the game or best 5/8. I called him The Man before he made that quote. I had also heard about him at 15 or so. When I first saw him debut, I said he was going to be very good and play reps
*Darius Boyd, I always thought he was over rated. Followed Bennett to Newy
*Ben Hunt. Captain. Wanted out long before Flanno arrived. Toxic, would take wrong options, not team player. selfish player. Not a leader or captain. Not an organising general. Didn't like his antics of wanting our during origin. Didn't want to play hooker. Now fine playing hooker for Brissy. Was playing very good with Widdop in 2018. Was over paid. Took a massive pay cut to leave us.
*Francis Molo, I thought he was over paid and never rated him.
*Matt Prior, Went to Cronulla and played well and won a comp there. Was playing well under Bennett
*Luke Patten. We had Amos Roberts, who in his debut season looked like a future star and we chose to let Patten go
*Jason Ryles, Bennett didn't want him. He was very good early on, but fell away as he got older. I was at a game at Brookie in the 90's. We had just scored a try and he was running back while we took the goal kick. I was in the stand at the Pittwater road end. I stood up and yelled "RYLES", he looked up at me, then I yelled RUN HARD.
*Jason Saab., We didn't want to let him go, but he wanted out, said travel to Wollongong was too long. No lose in my opinion.
*Craig Fitzgibbon. I wasn't too concerned about he going to Easts, but he was a good player
*Jackson Hastings. Had massive warps on him coming as a junior. We wanted to keep him, but Easts wanted him and as usual, they got their man. His dad was an Easts legend. He never lived up to the wraps he had on him
*Josh Morris I was very disappointed to see him go to Canterbury. Bennett didn't rate him. Massive loss *Brett Morris Great winger. Left us to play fullback on fullback money, big lose. Another one Bennett didn't rate when he got here. He started off in reserve grade when Bennett got here, with Wendel Sailor and Nightingale picked on the wing ahead of him. Brown was going to play him fullback in his second season which was 2007 but early that year, meant he only played 2 games that year. Was one of our best wingers ever.
*Trent Merrin, was probably our best forward at the time. Left us to play for Penrith on big money. Then he didn't live up to price tag
*Brett Steward. Illawarra junior, who slipped through our fingers. Debuted for Manly at 19. Exceptional player and massive loss.
*Glenn Stewart Illawarra junior, who slipped though our fingers. Great player and big lose, but had good forwards at the time
*Jack Debelin. Before he debuted for us, I said he would be the best forward we had produced since Gordon Tallis. He should have played first grade a year or 2 earlier. Great player. Was disappointed to see him go, while we still have the likes of Lawrie on our books.
Click to expand...
And your point is what?
 
R

Red T

SGI Jersey Flegg
Last playoff win 2018 against Brisbane. Then should have beaten Souths the next week but lost 13-12. Rorters ended up winning the comp. After that Mary was hopeless as a coach. It did not help having the quisling Ben Hunt in the team. Let’s hope KK is better than the ‘Sook’…..
 
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