jodragon40
SGI NSW Cup
HOOPS: Dragons star recruit fast becoming the NRL’s next genuine enforcer
HOOPS: Dragons star recruit fast becoming the NRL’s next genuine enforcer
www.foxsports.com.au
It does with him, De Belin and McCullough in the starting team, plenty of defensive firepower. McCullough to tackle everything that moves, De Belin to not miss any and Su'a with the big hits. Seems like a pretty good mix. Sims and Lawrie are hardly turnstiles either.HOOPS: Dragons star recruit fast becoming the NRL’s next genuine enforcer
HOOPS: Dragons star recruit fast becoming the NRL’s next genuine enforcerwww.foxsports.com.au
Agree Sua is getting a name as a big hitter, Debelin well he has beautiful tackling technique averages 38 tackles a game and McCullough he was in the top 2 tacklers last season, agree with Sims also he was our 2nd top tackler last season even though it was about 300 less than McCullough. I cant see many teams making easy metres this year injuries and suspensions aside all we need are our props to come to the party non are particularly strong defendersIt does with him, De Belin and McCullough in the starting team, plenty of defensive firepower. McCullough to tackle everything that moves, De Belin to not miss any and Su'a with the big hits. Seems like a pretty good mix. Sims and Lawrie are hardly turnstiles either.
Even in case of injuries or suspensions, it'd have to be an horrific run to greatly affect the overall efficiency. Like the run we had last year. Because we have so much depth.Agree Sua is getting a name as a big hitter, Debelin well he has beautiful tackling technique averages 38 tackles a game and McCullough he was in the top 2 tacklers last season, agree with Sims also he was our 2nd top tackler last season even though it was about 300 less than McCullough. I cant see many teams making easy metres this year injuries and suspensions aside all we need are our props to come to the party non are particularly strong defenders
When you put it like that, it's a pretty solid defensive machine indeed. Hunt is a good defender. Amone is unknown in the NRL but in the juniors, to say the least, there was no problem with his defence. Lomax and Rava are both excellent defenders. Reading the play and one-on-one defence. Suli and Ramsey are the big unknown at this point. We know no one is going to run over the top of Suli or run around Ramsey.Agree Sua is getting a name as a big hitter, Debelin well he has beautiful tackling technique averages 38 tackles a game and McCullough he was in the top 2 tacklers last season, agree with Sims also he was our 2nd top tackler last season even though it was about 300 less than McCullough. I cant see many teams making easy metres this year injuries and suspensions aside all we need are our props to come to the party non are particularly strong defenders
You should change your username to something like, "The Encyclopedia of SGI".Agree Sua is getting a name as a big hitter, Debelin well he has beautiful tackling technique averages 38 tackles a game and McCullough he was in the top 2 tacklers last season, agree with Sims also he was our 2nd top tackler last season even though it was about 300 less than McCullough. I cant see many teams making easy metres this year injuries and suspensions aside all we need are our props to come to the party non are particularly strong defenders
Love my dragons I live in Qld but always manage to see them back in Sydney, our annual pilgrimage is the Anzac Day games against the rorters, watch them up here Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville gamesYou should change your username to something like, "The Encyclopedia of SGI".
Poor Duff. He cops it from everyone but no one blames a forward pack which was hardly going forward most of the time.We just want to see you give your all: Supporting the St George Illawarra Dragons
The St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers. Two proud clubs full of history and legends, forced to become one. As expected, not everyone was happy with this. They wanted to stand on their own, and not join forces with a rival. But both clubs wore the same colours, so it was going to be aesthetically pleasing. And that’s what was important right?
Firstly, if "not everyone" was happy with it, too bad for those who aren't. It's a match made in heaven. South Coast to provide the junior base, St George to provide the money and both teams get to keep their colors. Now the financial problems have been sorted out, all we need is a competent head office to appoint a competent coaching staff in order to become a NRL superpower.
Over the years, many fans have come to terms with the merge. They have put aside their differences, even embraced and cried tears of joy together during their 2010 premiership victory. But others still hold a grudge. I would have suggested they all come together for a BBQ and talk it out, but that’s probably not a good idea.
I spoke with two very passionate fans about all things red and white, John and Tony. John’s mum has been Dragons fan her whole life, so he became one too.
“I remember the games being on TV around the house occasionally growing up. But I didn’t become a big fan myself until high school. Growing up in the area and having mates to go to the games with all contributed.”
High school???? And this is the guy they choose to interview? Weird.
Tony was a Steelers fan from day one. “From their first game back on Feb 28th, 1982. They represented the local area. We finally had our own team.”
That's more like what we want to hear.
For John, the best and worst part about supporting his team all comes down to how they go on the field. “Like all fans, you get emotionally invested and ride every play, every weekend. It definitely all depends on how they’re performing. Getting to know people at games that share that same level of passion is a great thing as well.”
“The best part is having Illawarra juniors in the system,” Tony added, “The worst is having fans, commentators, press etc. refer to the team simply as St. George. The fans chanting ‘St. George’ at WIN Stadium, Wollongong makes me refuse to pay money to go to the game. Can totally understand the dislike for Dragons fans.”
Well, we can see the bitterness exists in the few at both ends of the spectrum. Does he expect fans to chant "Illawarra"? With the long and glorious history of Illawarra to the way it rolls off the tongue?
On that note, I decided to address the elephant in the room – the merge.
“Technically it’s a joint venture,” Tony quipped. “At first was I happy, then realised that the Steelers had been almost erased. As mentioned previously, the team being referred to as simply St. George is an insult to every player from the Illawarra region. Not just who have played for the Steelers, but all the great players that have come from here such as Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Michael Cronin, Steve Morris, Keith Barnes etc.
“It would be nice to have the Illawarra side of the joint venture represented more in the playing strip. I would even accept the team donning an alternate strip like they did in 2005 for home games in the ‘Gong'. I have no issue with it,’ added John. “I’m proud to support a club that has such a rich junior nursery down in the Illawarra. The area’s produced some amazing talent over the years.”
Another contentious issue for the club was last year’s BBQ-Gate involving the now infamous Covid-13. How did the fans feel about that whole debacle?
“It was honestly embarrassing,” admitted John. “How anyone thought that was a good idea in the middle of a lockdown during a pandemic still bewilders me. Becoming a laughingstock to the rest of the NRL never feels good as a fan. It was clearly the end of our season from that point, and I feel sorry for the rest of the club who had to deal with it.”
“Seriously what a bunch of meatheads,” added Tony. “Glad to see the back of Paul Vaughan and hoping this sets a benchmark for player behaviour in the future. Once that happened you knew the season was over.”
It was incredibly stupid but the rules themselves were utterly illogical. They are playing in and training for a contract sport together but they can't have a BBQ together? Utterly ridiculous but those were the rules and they were explicitly warned to follow them that very day.
Vaughan was sacked by the club after the scandal and was eventually signed by the Canterbury Bulldogs. Another Dragon who will wear the Blue and White this year is Matt Dufty, after the club publicly said he was not part of their future.
John agreed with that decision.
“Dufty’s a great attacking player and no one’s denying that, but you could see defensive lapses often in his game. I still remember Jake Averillo running right past him last year. He made his NRL debut in 2017 so he’s had time to develop, but if the club didn’t think he had done enough to retain his spot, then I can understand the decision. Given Dufty was involved in such a large chunk of our tries last year does make me nervous going forward, but Tyrell Sloan is an exciting prospect.”
“The club had its reasons,” added Tony. “When he was on, he was exciting to watch every time he had the ball in his hands but that was far too rare. I would say there was more to the story than the ‘poor defence’ excuse given, though I really hope he has a great year for Canterbury.”
Personally I agree with this completely.
One of the main decision makers in letting Matt Dufty go was Anthony Griffin. There has been a lot of speculation whether he is the right coach for the team. Tony is happy to have him.
“The club needed change, and the best part is it looks like there is a pathway for the juniors into first grade now. He won me over by helping sign up the entire crop of exciting juniors we have coming through.”
“I like Griffin’s hard-nosed edge,” added John. “He’s begun to shape the roster into one I personally feel excited about so I’m willing to see how he goes over the coming year. He’s off contract at the end of the season so he doesn’t have much time, so it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out.”
I almost completely agree with this too. I'm still not sure why he signed so many senior forwards bordering on being veterans but the only young forwards he has recruited are Burns and Su'A and it seems Burns in on the outer. We need to lose one or two of those senior forwards in favour of one or two young forwards yet to play NRL.
Yes and no. Better forwards would have helped his defencive play but not so much. I'd agree his attacking play would have been even better if he was behind better forwards.Poor Duff. He cops it from everyone but no one blames a forward pack which was hardly going forward most of the time.
Where do you get all this info from????Poor Dufty in attack in 17 games he played ran for average 220m measure that against Rav 16 games average 252m Ramsay 19 games average 165m so attacking prowess was good. But defensively he made 58 tackles but missed 19 so he missed every 3rd tackle . Mind you in saying this compare him to Rav who everyone believes is a tackling monster with his big hits he made 60 tackles but missed 27 so higher rate of missed tackles. Agree our pack in the last few seasons have been doing the M.J. Moonwalk in attack and in defence the 4 top players with the highest rate of missed tackles were forwards Burns, Kerr, Fuiamono and Alvaro hence the recruitment of Sua. In regards to the merge my view it should have made us a super power but failed to deliver but that's more to do with boardroom politics and failure at the grassroots but things are changing with the new crop but what I saw of our NSW Cup team last 2 seasons we have a forwards issue
That's interesting about Ravalawa. I had no idea that or anything close to that was true.Poor Dufty in attack in 17 games he played ran for average 220m measure that against Rav 16 games average 252m Ramsay 19 games average 165m so attacking prowess was good. But defensively he made 58 tackles but missed 19 so he missed every 3rd tackle . Mind you in saying this compare him to Rav who everyone believes is a tackling monster with his big hits he made 60 tackles but missed 27 so higher rate of missed tackles. Agree our pack in the last few seasons have been doing the M.J. Moonwalk in attack and in defence the 4 top players with the highest rate of missed tackles were forwards Burns, Kerr, Fuiamono and Alvaro hence the recruitment of Sua. In regards to the merge my view it should have made us a super power but failed to deliver but that's more to do with boardroom politics and failure at the grassroots but things are changing with the new crop but what I saw of our NSW Cup team last 2 seasons we have a forwards issue
Unfortunately it is you wouldn't think soThat's interesting about Ravalawa. I had no idea that or anything close to that was true.
The most important thing is to destroy Shonkies. We have them surrounded on three sides with the ocean on the other. Time to push them into the ocean so we control the entire south east of Sydney and the South Coast. That is the making of a superpower if ever there was one.We just want to see you give your all: Supporting the St George Illawarra Dragons
The St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers. Two proud clubs full of history and legends, forced to become one. As expected, not everyone was happy with this. They wanted to stand on their own, and not join forces with a rival. But both clubs wore the same colours, so it was going to be aesthetically pleasing. And that’s what was important right?
Firstly, if "not everyone" was happy with it, too bad for those who aren't. It's a match made in heaven. South Coast to provide the junior base, St George to provide the money and both teams get to keep their colors. Now the financial problems have been sorted out, all we need is a competent head office to appoint a competent coaching staff in order to become a NRL superpower.
Over the years, many fans have come to terms with the merge. They have put aside their differences, even embraced and cried tears of joy together during their 2010 premiership victory. But others still hold a grudge. I would have suggested they all come together for a BBQ and talk it out, but that’s probably not a good idea.
I spoke with two very passionate fans about all things red and white, John and Tony. John’s mum has been Dragons fan her whole life, so he became one too.
“I remember the games being on TV around the house occasionally growing up. But I didn’t become a big fan myself until high school. Growing up in the area and having mates to go to the games with all contributed.”
High school???? And this is the guy they choose to interview? Weird.
Tony was a Steelers fan from day one. “From their first game back on Feb 28th, 1982. They represented the local area. We finally had our own team.”
That's more like what we want to hear.
For John, the best and worst part about supporting his team all comes down to how they go on the field. “Like all fans, you get emotionally invested and ride every play, every weekend. It definitely all depends on how they’re performing. Getting to know people at games that share that same level of passion is a great thing as well.”
“The best part is having Illawarra juniors in the system,” Tony added, “The worst is having fans, commentators, press etc. refer to the team simply as St. George. The fans chanting ‘St. George’ at WIN Stadium, Wollongong makes me refuse to pay money to go to the game. Can totally understand the dislike for Dragons fans.”
Well, we can see the bitterness exists in the few at both ends of the spectrum. Does he expect fans to chant "Illawarra"? With the long and glorious history of Illawarra to the way it rolls off the tongue?
On that note, I decided to address the elephant in the room – the merge.
“Technically it’s a joint venture,” Tony quipped. “At first was I happy, then realised that the Steelers had been almost erased. As mentioned previously, the team being referred to as simply St. George is an insult to every player from the Illawarra region. Not just who have played for the Steelers, but all the great players that have come from here such as Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Michael Cronin, Steve Morris, Keith Barnes etc.
“It would be nice to have the Illawarra side of the joint venture represented more in the playing strip. I would even accept the team donning an alternate strip like they did in 2005 for home games in the ‘Gong'. I have no issue with it,’ added John. “I’m proud to support a club that has such a rich junior nursery down in the Illawarra. The area’s produced some amazing talent over the years.”
Another contentious issue for the club was last year’s BBQ-Gate involving the now infamous Covid-13. How did the fans feel about that whole debacle?
“It was honestly embarrassing,” admitted John. “How anyone thought that was a good idea in the middle of a lockdown during a pandemic still bewilders me. Becoming a laughingstock to the rest of the NRL never feels good as a fan. It was clearly the end of our season from that point, and I feel sorry for the rest of the club who had to deal with it.”
“Seriously what a bunch of meatheads,” added Tony. “Glad to see the back of Paul Vaughan and hoping this sets a benchmark for player behaviour in the future. Once that happened you knew the season was over.”
It was incredibly stupid but the rules themselves were utterly illogical. They are playing in and training for a contract sport together but they can't have a BBQ together? Utterly ridiculous but those were the rules and they were explicitly warned to follow them that very day.
Vaughan was sacked by the club after the scandal and was eventually signed by the Canterbury Bulldogs. Another Dragon who will wear the Blue and White this year is Matt Dufty, after the club publicly said he was not part of their future.
John agreed with that decision.
“Dufty’s a great attacking player and no one’s denying that, but you could see defensive lapses often in his game. I still remember Jake Averillo running right past him last year. He made his NRL debut in 2017 so he’s had time to develop, but if the club didn’t think he had done enough to retain his spot, then I can understand the decision. Given Dufty was involved in such a large chunk of our tries last year does make me nervous going forward, but Tyrell Sloan is an exciting prospect.”
“The club had its reasons,” added Tony. “When he was on, he was exciting to watch every time he had the ball in his hands. I would say there was more to the story than the ‘poor defence’ excuse given, though I really hope he has a great year for Canterbury.”
Personally I agree with this completely.
One of the main decision makers in letting Dufty go was Anthony Griffin. There has been a lot of speculation whether he is the right coach for the team. Tony is happy to have him.
“The club needed change, and the best part is it looks like there is a pathway for the juniors into first grade now. He won me over by helping sign up the entire crop of exciting juniors we have coming through.”
“I like Griffin’s hard-nosed edge,” added John. “He’s begun to shape the roster into one I personally feel excited about so I’m willing to see how he goes over the coming year. He’s off contract at the end of the season so he doesn’t have much time, so it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out.”
I almost completely agree with this too. I'm still not sure why he signed so many senior forwards bordering on being veterans but the only young forwards he has recruited are Burns and Su'A and it seems Burns in on the outer. We need to lose one or two of those senior forwards in favour of one or two young forwards yet to play NRL.
That would explain the recruitment of so many forwards. But if they don't start bringing some younger forwards in, in a year or two we are going to have the same problem. That in turn would explain pushing out Sims.Poor Dufty in attack in 17 games he played ran for average 220m measure that against Rav 16 games average 252m Ramsay 19 games average 165m so attacking prowess was good. But defensively he made 58 tackles but missed 19 so he missed every 3rd tackle . Mind you in saying this compare him to Rav who everyone believes is a tackling monster with his big hits he made 60 tackles but missed 27 so higher rate of missed tackles. Agree our pack in the last few seasons have been doing the M.J. Moonwalk in attack and in defence the 4 top players with the highest rate of missed tackles were forwards Burns, Kerr, Fuiamono and Alvaro hence the recruitment of Sua. In regards to the merge my view it should have made us a super power but failed to deliver but that's more to do with boardroom politics and failure at the grassroots but things are changing with the new crop but what I saw of our NSW Cup team last 2 seasons we have a forwards issue
AgreeThat would explain the recruitment of so many forwards. But if they don't start bringing some younger forwards in, in a year or two we are going to have the same problem. That in turn would explain pushing out Sims.
I have an opinion. Let them go for their lives with gambling and send them all to the James Graham school of head knocks until it negatively affects performance. At that time, cut them loose in favour of the next gen.Does jodragon40 have any opinion on the delayed effects of concussion, gambling and idiotic nonsense like nudie runs and Mad Monday dress up parties?