Round 25 - DRAGONS vs Bulldogs at SFS (Sat 7:35pm)

[Morgan]

Well that was a poor loss but the Dogs wanted it more and that was ultimately reflected in the final score.

I would like to make just one point in regards to Atkinson. He has copped scathing criticism on various social media outlets for his performances this season.

Does anyone on this forum have 1sts grade playing experience? Not trying to minimise or ridicule members comments here.

Atkinson is an easy scapegoat here. In all his football career spanning now 5 years I can find only 4 instances where he has played fullback in lower grades with Newtown Jets and once with the Sharks in a trial game.

Last night he was caught out of position on numerous occasions in defence which ultimately led to tries. He consistently dropped the high kicks and gave numerous restarts to the Dogs in our 20m zone.

In my limited experience as a ressies coach back in the late 90s I can safely say that moving a player from 6/7 position to play 1 in 1st grade is very very rare. In fact I can't recall one, if anyone else knows please inform me.

There are a plethora of reasons for this, one being the basic skillset required and any previous experience in playing in that position coming through your junior years to seniors.

Atkinson is not a fullback that was clear to see last night and the Dogs knew that and targeted him.

Now we had 2 players on the park last night with far more experience in that position, Sloan and Holmes.

Now Sloan most definitely has poor defensive reads in that position. But can I point out here although many years ago Holmes played in that position in the SOO.

I have no idea why you would play Atkinson at fb in front of Holmes. There may be reasons that the coach has, but as a coach I am left speechless and dumbfounded to offer a reason why Atkinson is currently wearing the no.1 jersey.

Not defending his poor performances since we have signed him but handing him that role is a very poor decision by our new coach. Especially when that player is playing poorly and with no confidence or experience in that role.

Just my views.

The first order of business has to be to drop Kyle.

 

[Illusion]

Well that was a poor loss but the Dogs wanted it more and that was ultimately reflected in the final score.

I would like to make just one point in regards to Atkinson. He has copped scathing criticism on various social media outlets for his performances this season.

Does anyone on this forum have 1sts grade playing experience? Not trying to minimise or ridicule members comments here.

Atkinson is an easy scapegoat here. In all his football career spanning now 5 years I can find only 4 instances where he has played fullback in lower grades with Newtown Jets and once with the Sharks in a trial game.

Last night he was caught out of position on numerous occasions in defence which ultimately led to tries. He consistently dropped the high kicks and gave numerous restarts to the Dogs in our 20m zone.

In my limited experience as a ressies coach back in the late 90s I can safely say that moving a player from 6/7 position to play 1 in 1st grade is very very rare. In fact I can't recall one, if anyone else knows please inform me.

There are a plethora of reasons for this, one being the basic skillset required and any previous experience in playing in that position coming through your junior years to seniors.

Atkinson is not a fullback that was clear to see last night and the Dogs knew that and targeted him.

Now we had 2 players on the park last night with far more experience in that position, Sloan and Holmes.

Now Sloan most definitely has poor defensive reads in that position. But can I point out here although many years ago Holmes played in that position in the SOO.

I have no idea why you would play Atkinson at fb in front of Holmes. There may be reasons that the coach has, but as a coach I am left speechless and dumbfounded to offer a reason why Atkinson is currently wearing the no.1 jersey.

Not defending his poor performances since we have signed him but handing him that role is a very poor decision by our new coach. Especially when that player is playing poorly and with no confidence or experience in that role.

Just my views.

And it's the right view , I said before kick off Holmes to fullback and Atichinson to centre would have been better .......

 

[Dave03]

Well that was a poor loss but the Dogs wanted it more and that was ultimately reflected in the final score.

I would like to make just one point in regards to Atkinson. He has copped scathing criticism on various social media outlets for his performances this season.

Does anyone on this forum have 1sts grade playing experience? Not trying to minimise or ridicule members comments here.

Atkinson is an easy scapegoat here. In all his football career spanning now 5 years I can find only 4 instances where he has played fullback in lower grades with Newtown Jets and once with the Sharks in a trial game.

Last night he was caught out of position on numerous occasions in defence which ultimately led to tries. He consistently dropped the high kicks and gave numerous restarts to the Dogs in our 20m zone.

In my limited experience as a ressies coach back in the late 90s I can safely say that moving a player from 6/7 position to play 1 in 1st grade is very very rare. In fact I can't recall one, if anyone else knows please inform me.

There are a plethora of reasons for this, one being the basic skillset required and any previous experience in playing in that position coming through your junior years to seniors.

Atkinson is not a fullback that was clear to see last night and the Dogs knew that and targeted him.

Now we had 2 players on the park last night with far more experience in that position, Sloan and Holmes.

Now Sloan most definitely has poor defensive reads in that position. But can I point out here although many years ago Holmes played in that position in the SOO.

I have no idea why you would play Atkinson at fb in front of Holmes. There may be reasons that the coach has, but as a coach I am left speechless and dumbfounded to offer a reason why Atkinson is currently wearing the no.1 jersey.

Not defending his poor performances since we have signed him but handing him that role is a very poor decision by our new coach. Especially when that player is playing poorly and with no confidence or experience in that role.

Just my views.

Holmes is injured. It's clear as day his shoulders are cooked. He can't make defensive attempts nor decisions at ctr. How will he do it at fb?

Everyone wants atko to be perfect from the get go. No one has patience. Ditto when he played in the halves. People wanted him to run, kick, organise, ball play. Everything in one go. He was kicking well but that wasn't enough. Patience is key. It's his first season in the halves. Need some understanding.

Atko positioning was average but didn't get help from wingers who were out of position & teammates who didn't provide a block.

 

[Dave03]

Kyle has to go. Watching live, he slows our attack and is soo fkn predictable. He also has late decision making when organising the attack. Apart from defence he offers nothing. We've got Manly & Eels to play, pick someone else apart from Kyle. Ditto with Holmes & Kerr.

 

[Morgan]

Kyle has to go. Watching live, he slows our attack and is soo fkn predictable. He also has late decision making when organising the attack. Apart from defence he offers nothing. We've got Manly & Eels to play, pick someone else apart from Kyle. Ditto with Holmes & Kerr.

His defence is massively overrated. Just because it isn't as bad as other parts of his game doesn't make it good.

 

[jodragon40]

Holmes is injured. It's clear as day his shoulders are cooked. He can't make defensive attempts nor decisions at ctr. How will he do it at fb?

Everyone wants atko to be perfect from the get go. No one has patience. Ditto when he played in the halves. People wanted him to run, kick, organise, ball play. Everything in one go. He was kicking well but that wasn't enough. Patience is key. It's his first season in the halves. Need some understanding.

Atko positioning was average but didn't get help from wingers who were out of position & teammates who didn't provide a block.

Agree I was just saying we have some very harsh armchair coaches in the social media world. In regards to his shoulder I would think defending from fb would not be as harsh on him. Just my views

 

[Dave03]

Agree I was just saying we have some very harsh armchair coaches in the social media world. In regards to his shoulder I would think defending from fb would not be as harsh on him. Just my views

Even I said it. It's hard not too in the heat of the moment. He has aspects which should translate well but needs to be given time. The practice can't be in 1st grade either.

 

[dragonheart]

Mistakes ........Reality Check!

 

[jodragon40]

Mistakes ........Reality Check!

Too many errors last night even from our best

 

[Dragon David]

The goal next year is to win the premiership.

Sorry, Morgan - that as well, please. But a win against the Dogs will be so gratifying and if by any chance the grand final is between us and the Dogs - that would be fantastic for us to turn it around from our loss in 1985 by 7-6 to those bully Dogs.

 

[Dragon David]

And it's the right view , I said before kick off Holmes to fullback and Atichinson to centre would have been better .......

I have big doubts that Atko would cut it in the centres. Burton would have killed him.

 

[RedV01]

I have big doubts that Atko would cut it in the centres. Burton would have killed him.

Time to face the fact: Atko is a standard reserve grader.

 

[Justadragon]

Well that was a poor loss but the Dogs wanted it more and that was ultimately reflected in the final score.

I would like to make just one point in regards to Atkinson. He has copped scathing criticism on various social media outlets for his performances this season.

Does anyone on this forum have 1sts grade playing experience? Not trying to minimise or ridicule members comments here.

Atkinson is an easy scapegoat here. In all his football career spanning now 5 years I can find only 4 instances where he has played fullback in lower grades with Newtown Jets and once with the Sharks in a trial game.

Last night he was caught out of position on numerous occasions in defence which ultimately led to tries. He consistently dropped the high kicks and gave numerous restarts to the Dogs in our 20m zone.

In my limited experience as a ressies coach back in the late 90s I can safely say that moving a player from 6/7 position to play 1 in 1st grade is very very rare. In fact I can't recall one, if anyone else knows please inform me.

There are a plethora of reasons for this, one being the basic skillset required and any previous experience in playing in that position coming through your junior years to seniors.

Atkinson is not a fullback that was clear to see last night and the Dogs knew that and targeted him.

Now we had 2 players on the park last night with far more experience in that position, Sloan and Holmes.

Now Sloan most definitely has poor defensive reads in that position. But can I point out here although many years ago Holmes played in that position in the SOO.

I have no idea why you would play Atkinson at fb in front of Holmes. There may be reasons that the coach has, but as a coach I am left speechless and dumbfounded to offer a reason why Atkinson is currently wearing the no.1 jersey.

Not defending his poor performances since we have signed him but handing him that role is a very poor decision by our new coach. Especially when that player is playing poorly and with no confidence or experience in that role.

Just my views.

Agree with your thoughts Jo. but we can only criticize on what is actually happening. As far as I'm concerned as soon as you put on that jumper and you are getting paid $500k per year, then you are open slather, just like every other player in the team. And if the coach is too stupid to realize the facts behind putting players into certain positions, he should be called out to. Some of the knowledgeable people on here commented on his performance last week was against WT and we shouldn;t get carried away with it, and how right they were.
I actually punished myself by watching parts of the replay, 3 mistakes by Atkinson led to trys, one to Suli and one by RC, all led to trys. FFS we played them for 20 min with 12 men, we should have dominated, instead it was just an all round poor and diabolical performance. You can be touted as being a great pack and so on, but you must deliver, especially in big games, and lets all remember no matter how good we think our forwards are they are yet to achieve anything and we are wooden spooners. Yesterdays performance is owned by the whole team, especially the 1 and 7, they had an insipid display and should never play 1st grade again.

 

[Justadragon]

Well that was a poor loss but the Dogs wanted it more and that was ultimately reflected in the final score.

I would like to make just one point in regards to Atkinson. He has copped scathing criticism on various social media outlets for his performances this season.

Does anyone on this forum have 1sts grade playing experience? Not trying to minimise or ridicule members comments here.

Atkinson is an easy scapegoat here. In all his football career spanning now 5 years I can find only 4 instances where he has played fullback in lower grades with Newtown Jets and once with the Sharks in a trial game.

Last night he was caught out of position on numerous occasions in defence which ultimately led to tries. He consistently dropped the high kicks and gave numerous restarts to the Dogs in our 20m zone.

In my limited experience as a ressies coach back in the late 90s I can safely say that moving a player from 6/7 position to play 1 in 1st grade is very very rare. In fact I can't recall one, if anyone else knows please inform me.

There are a plethora of reasons for this, one being the basic skillset required and any previous experience in playing in that position coming through your junior years to seniors.

Atkinson is not a fullback that was clear to see last night and the Dogs knew that and targeted him.

Now we had 2 players on the park last night with far more experience in that position, Sloan and Holmes.

Now Sloan most definitely has poor defensive reads in that position. But can I point out here although many years ago Holmes played in that position in the SOO.

I have no idea why you would play Atkinson at fb in front of Holmes. There may be reasons that the coach has, but as a coach I am left speechless and dumbfounded to offer a reason why Atkinson is currently wearing the no.1 jersey.

Not defending his poor performances since we have signed him but handing him that role is a very poor decision by our new coach. Especially when that player is playing poorly and with no confidence or experience in that role.

Just my views.

Ponga

 

[Justadragon]

Holmes is injured. It's clear as day his shoulders are cooked. He can't make defensive attempts nor decisions at ctr. How will he do it at fb?

Everyone wants atko to be perfect from the get go. No one has patience. Ditto when he played in the halves. People wanted him to run, kick, organise, ball play. Everything in one go. He was kicking well but that wasn't enough. Patience is key. It's his first season in the halves. Need some understanding.

Atko positioning was average but didn't get help from wingers who were out of position & teammates who didn't provide a block.

Sorry mate have to disagree, Atkinson has got nothing of what we want at 1 6 or 7, there is just no evidence of him doing anything when he has had chances. Lets face it he was just one of Flanno's pie in the sky recruits like Lawson.

 

[dragonheart]

Unfortunately Jo, Atko should really have played cup games at fullback first. ......yes Sloan is playing much better on the wing but he knows fullback position well and Setu could have come in on wing.

Anyway most of our defensive errors were through the forwards. Not a good day at the office for the team.

 

[RedV01]

Unfortunately Jo, Atko should really have played cup games at fullback first. ......yes Sloan is playing much better on the wing but he knows fullback position well and Setu could have come in on wing.

Anyway most of our defensive errors were through the forwards. Not a good day at the office for the team.

Seemed to be jumping off the tackled player very fast. Not giving away 6 agains is good but got the balance a bit off last night. Though Atko put the whole team under a lot of pressure and KF has done nothing but put the rest of the team under pressure for the last 3 years!

 

[jodragon40]

I have big doubts that Atko would cut it in the centres. Burton would have killed him.

He wouldn't, Im just saying to me based on my own personal experiences it is ludicrous for a coach to believe that you can have a bloke who had very little 1sts football in 24/25 to firstly become a 7 when all his career he was a 6 then decide being a 1. To me it makes no sense alas Im not on the big $$$$

 

[Dragon David]

He wouldn't, Im just saying to me based on my own personal experiences it is ludicrous for a coach to believe that you can have a bloke who had very little 1sts football in 24/25 to firstly become a 7 when all his career he was a 6 then decide being a 1. To me it makes no sense alas Im not on the big $$$$

Yes, get what you say Joe. Thanks.

 

[jodragon40]

Unfortunately Jo, Atko should really have played cup games at fullback first. ......yes Sloan is playing much better on the wing but he knows fullback position well and Setu could have come in on wing.

Anyway most of our defensive errors were through the forwards. Not a good day at the office for the team.

A very long season is starting to show on some of our young forwards who were bettered yesterday by the Dogs. Very rare mistakes by the Couchman's but still good signs being shown by LPT especially even Egan try saver was a highlight