Round 7 Dragons vs Manly (Thur)

[RedV01]

Manly have been playing bad since the whole Cherry-Evans thing started. I expect they'll be fired up for this. They are missing their best player yet again. Yet again his is injured and yet again we face a team without it's best player or players. Blake Lawrie has been awesome but his time has come. He really doesn't add much to this team. I'd like to see Latu come in for Lawrie. Tonga is still putting on weight but I think what Latu is now is almost the weight he will play at long term. Of course LKT needs a chance to see what he can do but Kyle didn't have a bad game for once so unless he is injured or bites someone, no chance for LKT this season and he won't hang around. In all seriousness, I know Kyle has probably been better than Ilias. Finau is another one who will have to go elsewhere to see first grade. Or so it seems. Klemmer has been good doing the grunt work allowing JDB and Couchman to use their skill more. This team is actually only a ball playing 1/2 or 5/8 and a good, speedy outside back from being a serious team.

 

[Dragons Chris]

DRAGONS’ RISING STAR THAT’S HERE TO STAY​

The Dragons secured their second win of the season and while a host of stars shone bright, one thing became clear — Dylan Egan is here to stay. The 20-year-old back rower was shifted into the starting side by Shane Flanagan in only his third NRL game, delivering a masterclass on the edge.

He ran for 105 metres, scored a try, broke three tackles and recorded a line break assist, all but assuring he starts for the foreseeable future ahead of Luciano Leilua. What’s more, is Leilua proved to be an attacking injection off the pine, combining with Valentine Holmes in impressive fashion. Speaking in the post-match press conference, Shane Flanagan highlighted that could be the Dragons’ formula moving forward.

“Luciano did a good job, he can ball play but he can also carry the football. We just thought today, he’s been getting 50 minutes, we mix it up,” “Give him the back end of the game and we got away with a reasonable score and we gave him a spell at the end. “But it’s probably more what Dylan Egan is doing than what ‘Luc’ is doing. Dylan is doing a really good job for us, ‘Luc’ has got that offensive class. “Dylan Egan has got the defensive work rate, so it’s a nice mix at the moment.”

Egan came close to delivering his first 80 minute performance, but he left the field in the dying stages due to an elbow injury. Speaking post-match, the gun forward said it “meant the world” to be representing the Red V, coming desperately close to shedding a tear. Egan is a Gerringong Lions junior, having come through the club’s pathways system and captaining a Steelers SG Ball side in 2023. Flanagan went on to heap further praise on both Egan and fellow rising star Hamish Stewart, signalling more young guns could come through the Dragons’ ranks in the future.

“He is just a real quality young man, not a kid a young man,” Flanagan said. “He works really hard on his game, he knows footy and can read footy really well. “We are probably just taking some time with him and Hamish (Stewart), they just really come out of SG Ball last year and the year before, they are young pups. “But you have got to be careful with them, I have got a couple more than are sticking their head out of the barn door ready to go but I have got to be patient. “These boys will need a rest at some stage and I have another three or four I can put in there to give their NRL debuts, that’s exciting.”

Flanagan could be pointing to the likes of Loko Pasifika Tonga and Finau Latu, with the latter reportedly meeting with the Knights during the week. According to Code Sports, the Australian Schoolboys rep toured Newcastle’s facilities and met with coach Adam O’Brien. However, Flanagan made it clear the Dragons want to retain another rising star.

“He is off contract and we want to keep him, yes,” Flanagan said. “Finau has a contract which goes until round six and he can then see what’s out there. His manager wants to see what the going price was.”

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

"I have got a couple more than are sticking their head out of the barn door ready to go but I have got to be patient. “These boys will need a rest at some stage and I have another three or four I can put in there to give their NRL debuts, that’s exciting.”

Rotation is what I suggested.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

He ran for 105 metres, scored a try, broke three tackles and recorded a line break assist,

In what, 70 mins. And he did not play all game on the edge went to the middle when Luch came on. 40 tackles, check out how many of those were assists and how few were first into the tackle. He is much like Eisenhuth in defense. Cook is another with misleading tackle numbers. Our only pure defenders are Jack, Liddle, Couchman, Lawrie, prob add Stewart and Gurer who is back from suspension this week.

 

[Dave03]

In what, 70 mins. And he did not play all game on the edge went to the middle when Luch came on. 40 tackles, check out how many of those were assists and how few were first into the tackle. He is much like Eisenhuth in defense. Cook is another with misleading tackle numbers. Our only pure defenders are Jack, Liddle, Couchman, Lawrie, prob add Stewart and Gurer who is back from suspension this week.

Lawrie lmao

 

[Dave03]

Not sure how I feel about this game, Manly still have plenty of strike without Tommy & we've been inconsistent within games. Should be a close match but I hope we keep the same bench. Thought our bench impact was great, if we can inject Liddle around the 30min rather than 50min that would add onto our bench impact.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

Lawrie lmao

Is often first into the tackle. Never shirks in defense like some in our pack. Watch close footage of him.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

if we can inject Liddle around the 30min rather than 50min that would add onto our bench impact.

Agree. Wont happen as Cook is one of Flannos 'boys'. Hope he also realises that he should play Finau for CT and not Feagai.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

This team is actually only a ball playing 1/2 or 5/8 and a good, speedy outside back from being a serious team.

They dont grow on trees. I have belief Ilias will be our guy. What chance us going big for Galvin, another wanting to flee the Tigers sinking ship after Stefano. Who is next, Luai? We have the coin for Galvin and are under our salary cap.

Klemmer has been good doing the grunt work

Yet Flanno is giving him so little game time. Need more grunt from him.

WE have one with Sione Finau but our coach is either too blind or stubborn to see it.

 

[RedV01]

They dont grow on trees. I have belief Ilias will be our guy. What chance us going big for Galvin, another wanting to flee the Tigers sinking ship after Stefano. Who is next, Luai? We have the coin for Galvin and are under our salary cap.

Yet Flanno is giving him so little game time. Need more grunt from him.

WE have one with Sione Finau but our coach is either too blind or stubborn to see it.

Ilias is a placeholder for Kade Reed. He might be able to play 5/8 when Reed comes into first grade. Because I have doubts over Shonkies interchange lock who apparently Flanno wants to play in the halves.

I'm so f*king sick of Flanno's sh1t. I never lost patience with a coach this fast before. Not even Price or Griffin. It was about after a season and a bit I started having serious doubts about Price. Said it in another forum and got non-stop attacked then banned for giving it right back to the morons.

These are the problems:

• Couchmans were the best forwards in 2023. Maybe only JDB was playing better. First thing Flanno does is come in and say basically, "NoT rEAdY YeT.This has become his calling card. He wants to try and present an image of "BeINg mATuRE aND CauTioUs".
  
  
• LKT is a very promising young 5/8. Flanno rejects Sullivan coming back to the club even with Tigers paying the vast majority of his salary. Not the worst move. But then doesn't promote LKT into the top 30 even with the severe lack of halves in the club. Then in the off season talks happily about how Kyle will play his 100th first grade game early in the season. Not even an iota of pressure on him to perform!
  I said about a week ago, Flanno has to be dragged, kicking and screaming to promote some players while others can f*k up constantly and not be under any pressure.
  
  
• This thing with Sione Finau not being given a chance in first grade is beyond comprehension.
  
  
• Tamale playing well in a very young Canberra team, half of who Flanno would pull the, "NoT rEAdY YeT" card on if he was the coach, should have been given a decent chance last year.
  
  
• Egan should have debuted before the last couple of weeks.
  
  
• Latu should have debuted by now.
  
  
• Ilias and Kyle should be under massive pressure.
  
  
• WTF is with his Dads Army recruitment stratergy. I'm not criticising any of the Dads Army brigade he has recruited but why so many????

I'm sure if I gave it careful thought I could think of another several things.

• One more thing. I thought Flanno said Kyle was recruited to play hooker. So WTF did he recruit Cook for?

 

[RedV01]

In what, 70 mins. And he did not play all game on the edge went to the middle when Luch came on. 40 tackles, check out how many of those were assists and how few were first into the tackle. He is much like Eisenhuth in defense. Cook is another with misleading tackle numbers. Our only pure defenders are Jack, Liddle, Couchman, Lawrie, prob add Stewart and Gurer who is back from suspension this week.

Egan is a gun defender. Up there with JDB.

 

[jodragon40]

Surprising to me Feigai ahead of Finau, the coach must be after experience. Also Leilua in the run on, again surprisingly considering he had more impact off the bench last week. The coach knows best

 

[Edward]

Ilias is a placeholder for Kade Reed. He might be able to play 5/8 when Reed comes into first grade. Because I have doubts over Shonkies interchange lock who apparently Flanno wants to play in the halves.

I'm so f*king sick of Flanno's sh1t. I never lost patience with a coach this fast before. Not even Price or Griffin. It was about after a season and a bit I started having serious doubts about Price. Said it in another forum and got non-stop attacked then banned for giving it right back to the morons.

These are the problems:

• Couchmans were the best forwards in 2023. Maybe only JDB was playing better. First thing Flanno does is come in and say basically, "NoT rEAdY YeT.This has become his calling card. He wants to try and present an image of "BeINg mATuRE aND CauTioUs".
  
  
• LKT is a very promising young 5/8. Flanno rejects Sullivan coming back to the club even with Tigers paying the vast majority of his salary. Not the worst move. But then doesn't promote LKT into the top 30 even with the severe lack of halves in the club. Then in the off season talks happily about how Kyle will play his 100th first grade game early in the season. Not even an iota of pressure on him to perform!
  I said about a week ago, Flanno has to be dragged, kicking and screaming to promote some players while others can f*k up constantly and not be under any pressure.
  
  
• This thing with Sione Finau not being given a chance in first grade is beyond comprehension.
  
  
• Tamale playing well in a very young Canberra team, half of who Flanno would pull the, "NoT rEAdY YeT" card on if he was the coach, should have been given a decent chance last year.
  
  
• Egan should have debuted before the last couple of weeks.
  
  
• Latu should have debuted by now.
  
  
• Ilias and Kyle should be under massive pressure.
  
  
• WTF is with his Dads Army recruitment stratergy. I'm not criticising any of the Dads Army brigade he has recruited but why so many????

I'm sure if I gave it careful thought I could think of another several things.

• One more thing. I thought Flanno said Kyle was recruited to play hooker. So WTF did he recruit Cook for?

Just be a bit more patient. He only has a 3 year deal. If he doesn't oversee significant improvement, he won't be extended. Simple. I agree if they are good enough, they are old enough. But even the most agreesive coaches don't play teenagers for the whole year.

 

[Dragons Chris]

Dragons team:​

1. Clinton Gutherson
2. Tyrell Sloan
3. Moses Suli
4. Valentine Holmes
5. Mathew Feagai
6. Kyle Flanagan
7. Lachlan Ilias
8. Toby Couchman
9. Damien Cook
10. David Klemmer
11. Luciano Leilua
12. Jaydn Su’A
13. Jack de Belin
14. Jacob Liddle
15. Blake Lawrie
16. Hamish Stewart
17. Dylan Egan
18. Sione Finau

 

[Dave03]

Reading the Manly team lists, I'd say both teams are fairly even. Obvs Manly have the edge with their spine but player for player there's not too much difference. I'm hoping our bench has a similar impact as last week. They truly turned the momentum in our favour. Loved it.

 

[Mailroomsgi]

I said the exact same thing last year when we played them at brooky, they ended up having 3 giys injured and played the second half with 1 man on the bench and the scores were close, they ended up blowing us out massively with a DCE masterclass.

They’re a different beast at Home, can’t give them field position because they have too much strike to hold them out like we did the titans.

Just a decent performance that keeps us in the game is all we want, don’t get blown out.

 

[Eric]

Ilias is a placeholder for Kade Reed. He might be able to play 5/8 when Reed comes into first grade. Because I have doubts over Shonkies interchange lock who apparently Flanno wants to play in the halves.

I'm so f*king sick of Flanno's sh1t. I never lost patience with a coach this fast before. Not even Price or Griffin. It was about after a season and a bit I started having serious doubts about Price. Said it in another forum and got non-stop attacked then banned for giving it right back to the morons.

These are the problems:

• Couchmans were the best forwards in 2023. Maybe only JDB was playing better. First thing Flanno does is come in and say basically, "NoT rEAdY YeT.This has become his calling card. He wants to try and present an image of "BeINg mATuRE aND CauTioUs".
  
  
• LKT is a very promising young 5/8. Flanno rejects Sullivan coming back to the club even with Tigers paying the vast majority of his salary. Not the worst move. But then doesn't promote LKT into the top 30 even with the severe lack of halves in the club. Then in the off season talks happily about how Kyle will play his 100th first grade game early in the season. Not even an iota of pressure on him to perform!
  I said about a week ago, Flanno has to be dragged, kicking and screaming to promote some players while others can f*k up constantly and not be under any pressure.
  
  
• This thing with Sione Finau not being given a chance in first grade is beyond comprehension.
  
  
• Tamale playing well in a very young Canberra team, half of who Flanno would pull the, "NoT rEAdY YeT" card on if he was the coach, should have been given a decent chance last year.
  
  
• Egan should have debuted before the last couple of weeks.
  
  
• Latu should have debuted by now.
  
  
• Ilias and Kyle should be under massive pressure.
  
  
• WTF is with his Dads Army recruitment stratergy. I'm not criticising any of the Dads Army brigade he has recruited but why so many????

I'm sure if I gave it careful thought I could think of another several things.

• One more thing. I thought Flanno said Kyle was recruited to play hooker. So WTF did he recruit Cook for?

TBF, call it what you will, passionate or whatever but sometimes you need to calm down.

 

[Eric]

In what, 70 mins. And he did not play all game on the edge went to the middle when Luch came on. 40 tackles, check out how many of those were assists and how few were first into the tackle. He is much like Eisenhuth in defense. Cook is another with misleading tackle numbers. Our only pure defenders are Jack, Liddle, Couchman, Lawrie, prob add Stewart and Gurer who is back from suspension this week.

Is this about Egan? I'd say he might even be a better defender than JDB. Doesn't hit as hard, few do, but does a lot of just a bit less effective tackles and misses very few.

 

[RedVictory]

In what, 70 mins. And he did not play all game on the edge went to the middle when Luch came on. 40 tackles, check out how many of those were assists and how few were first into the tackle. He is much like Eisenhuth in defense. Cook is another with misleading tackle numbers. Our only pure defenders are Jack, Liddle, Couchman, Lawrie, prob add Stewart and Gurer who is back from suspension this week.

Dear oh dear

 

[Ryan]

TBF, call it what you will, passionate or whatever but sometimes you need to calm down.

Some points come across as overly emotional and what Egan might have done sooner, what Tamale could have done, what Finau and Latu could do is hypothetical but for the most part, the points made are factual.