GCRV
SGI NSW Cup
Notice when Lomax did really well to hold Dearden up and drag him out? Lomax was only able to do that because Dearden ran past Bird like he wasn't even there.
Round 3 vs North Queensland Cowboys
- Thread starter Chris M
- Start date
jodragon40
Staff
Game over I'm afraid. Defensively we just aren't in the same ball park as these good teams. This could get embarrassing unless we dig in and show some pride and character.
Eric
Staff
Have a nice night everyone. I've had enough.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
Eisenhuth, apart from the healthy beard, is like a boy out there. Runs after everything, seems to have so much energy but his tackles and runs look so weak compared to typical first grade forwards.
RedV01
SGI NSW Cup
Chad Townsend barges past Eisenhuth and BMM to score. Good call promoting BMM Flanno, you idiot!
GCRV
SGI NSW Cup
Can't believe he didn't hook at least BMM after that.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
Surely that will be the last we see of BMM in first grade. Surely. Not even by our standards is that acceptable.
Just a Mug Fan
SGI NSW Cup
We make far to many stupid mistakes and decisions we are mentally unfit.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
I think by far our biggest issue is the weak defence of the forwards. In attack, they did ok today. Made reasonable metres and Luch in particular troubled them with a few strong carries. JDB did what JDB does. Ran hard, tackled hard, passed at the right times. But seriously Eisenhuth and BMM have to go after that. That Townsend try was mostly BMM but a strong defender would have still cut him down rather than jump on his back and get carried to the line as Eisenhuth did. And in attack, he doesn't even look like bending the line let alone breaking it.
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Edward
SGI Jersey Flegg
After that, I can only say well done to Benji Marshall. Wasn't happy with our old boy Sullivan and hooked him and then put him on the bench but stuck with the 18 year-old 5/8.
Flanno didn't make any changes except a couple of forced changes. Our very promising young players, over 18, aren't ready for at least another 5 years. So we have to go with veterans like BMM for a while yet.
Good one Flanno! Off to a very promising start.
Flanno didn't make any changes except a couple of forced changes. Our very promising young players, over 18, aren't ready for at least another 5 years. So we have to go with veterans like BMM for a while yet.
Good one Flanno! Off to a very promising start.
jodragon40
Staff
I know that my coaching days are long gone and I'm definitely not 1st grade but I am a student, albeit very old student of the game. At the end of my coaching career it became apparent that having a player physically fit was only say 70% of the battle, you had to make them mentally fit as well. Mentally fit for the rigours, the upside/down nature of the game. Nowadays it's 50/50 to me. Some are just not up to it when things aren't going well.
GCRV
SGI NSW Cup
I can only say that as a minimum BMM, Eisenhuth and Bird have to go.
- BMM is just a joke of a first grader these days. Can't believe Flanno picked him ahead of Toby Couchman.
- Eisenhuth tries his guts out but lacks speed and power. If he was a 5/8 or centre, his defence would be more than acceptable but in the forwards you have to hit hard so they stay hit more often than not. Not allow them to drag you 5 metres before help arrives. Like what happened with Chad Townsends barge over try last night. Also in attack a good second rower at least bends the line on a regular basis. Eisenhuth doesn't do that.
- Bird's lack of attack is well known but last night, around the middle of the second half, commentators were talking about how good it was for Lomax to hit Dearden, hold him up off the ground and drag him out. What they didn't mention is the fact Dearden ran straight through Bird's attempted tackle in order for Lomax to have to make that tackle. This is very far from an isolated incident.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
Team I want to see next Saturday depending on Sua's injury:
- Sloan
- Finau
- Suli
- Lomax
- Rava
- Flanagan
- Hunt
- F. Molo
- Liddle
- Lawrie
- Su'a
- RFM
- JDB
- Luch
- Bird
- Toby Couchman
- Fifita
- Ryan Couchman
jodragon40
Staff
Same issue with the 8 and 10 until we see new names in those spots we will struggle.
jodragon40
Staff
That try scored by Townsend was embarrassing and should be played over and over and over, it should never have happened.
Chris M
SGI NSW Cup
I'm not against Lawrie going back to the bench and Frank Molo being dropped. But I disagree with you a little. I think last night the forwards ran the ball ok. Made metres and set the platform to score 24 points. Only one of those was a long range try. It was the defence! Every set they were making 60, 70 or even 80m just running hard and getting a few offloads.
We need forwards who move up fast, hit hard to stop PCM and offloads and continue to do it for most of the 80 minutes.
jodragon40
Staff
Well facts are facts and stat's are stat's. Last night 3 forwards ran for my required 100m, Lawrie 146m , JDB 111m and Leilua 104m. Cowboys 4 forwards, Neame 178m. Dragons ran for 1,371m the Cowboys 1,888, 500m more. Last week the Dolphins ran for 400m more.
I do agree that in our defensive line we have no speed off the line, that is mainly due to the fact that the opposition are rolling through the middle of the park and then quick play the balls. We are still getting behind the ref then move forwards by that time the ball carrier has run 8- 10m.
It is not possible to have line speed off your defensive line for great periods of time, you just get tanked. So it's important to have the ability to apply pressure to the ball carrier at certain times in a game. The first 10 - 15 mins of any game is important that lays the platform but that in itself doesn't mean the game will continue to flow in that vein.
Last night the writing was on the wall after we restarted after they scored a try. We defended poorly and our next play in possession was a drop out from under our own posts. That should never happen and the alarm bells should have been louder that the half time siren.
I do agree that in our defensive line we have no speed off the line, that is mainly due to the fact that the opposition are rolling through the middle of the park and then quick play the balls. We are still getting behind the ref then move forwards by that time the ball carrier has run 8- 10m.
It is not possible to have line speed off your defensive line for great periods of time, you just get tanked. So it's important to have the ability to apply pressure to the ball carrier at certain times in a game. The first 10 - 15 mins of any game is important that lays the platform but that in itself doesn't mean the game will continue to flow in that vein.
Last night the writing was on the wall after we restarted after they scored a try. We defended poorly and our next play in possession was a drop out from under our own posts. That should never happen and the alarm bells should have been louder that the half time siren.
Morgan
SGI NSW Cup
That must be it for Big Ben. He had a pretty good career but we can see why no other club wanted him even with the Dragons willing to pay a significant % of his salary. What should happen is for Flanno to put his hand up and explain why he picked him ahead of both Couchman's or even Russell, Coric, Tuitavake, Egan.
RedVHeartbeat
SGI NSW Cup
Plus throwing a shocker to Sloan with the try line open. Bird is a waste of space, sooner Flanagan realizes this the better for the team.
Was away for the weekend but did catch some of the match live. Boy did we play brilliantly...for 20 minutes. You cant win games of footy when you BOMB 3 tries. How close were we to one or two others, such as Lomax failing to gather a bomb. Two massive boo boos by the sook, failing to drop out 10 metres then tackling a bloke without the ball, cost us when we holding our own. Only two of our pack reached 100m, Luc Leilua and 'mr reliable' Blake Lawrie. Poor metres again by Eisenhuth and BMM.
RedVHeartbeat
SGI NSW Cup
That Cowboy back rower we were targeting is only 20. I say when new 'three amigos' Jake, Loko and Latu reach 20 they should be Firsts ready. Adding Ackers to that list.