St George Illawarra in 2023

Eric

Eric

Staff
Morgan said:
It can only be a good thing if there is more than one member who hasn't destroyed too many brain cells via excessive alcohol consumption. More importantly, the post makes a lot of sense. I'm just not sure about Bird starting. There is a lot of competition for the backrow. Su'a and Sims are current Origin backrowers!! That alone shouldn't be enough to stop Bird taking their place but underlines the level of competition for those spots.

As for the 17 the reporter nominated, Josh Kerr may well become the new Corey Norman. i.e. a whipping boy for every loss.
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Other than me, who else?
 
Eric

Eric

Staff
Morgan said:
Just as long as getting smashed is in fact in the best interests of teammates. See Dufty last season as an example.
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Dufty never got smashed. He dove onto the ground when faced with a straight line of defenders. At least when he was returning kicks.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
Eric said:
Dufty never got smashed. He dove onto the ground when faced with a straight line of defenders. At least when he was returning kicks.
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Sometimes it was a smart move given how he used to get thrown around, over the sideline and etc when defenders got their hands on him.
 
RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
Morgan said:
It can only be a good thing if there is more than one member who hasn't destroyed too many brain cells via excessive alcohol consumption. More importantly, the post makes a lot of sense. I'm just not sure about Bird starting. There is a lot of competition for the backrow. Su'a and Sims are current Origin backrowers!! That alone shouldn't be enough to stop Bird taking their place but underlines the level of competition for those spots.

As for the 17 the reporter nominated, Josh Kerr may well become the new Corey Norman. i.e. a whipping boy for every loss.
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Morgan said:
You and RedV01 RedV01
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Don't worry, I have plenty left. Anyway back on topic, I think he'll go with 4 props in the 17. Because still plenty of room for smaller, faster forwards in the run on team and on the bench.
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
Morgan said:
Dufty or Lawrie? Lawrie did but I didn't see him "get smashed" much but I didn't see him present many problems for the defenders so much either.
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Lawrie, poor Dufty he was given a bad wrap because every man and his dog knew that's where the points were going to come from or the line break and he got smashed. Personally I would have kept him and played him off the bench because he has 1 thing that coaches love speed, speed and more speed. I had vision's of him coming off the bench with 15 to go in each half and straight into dummy half, can you imagine what carnage he could have caused with big tired forwards clutching at fresh air as he whizzed past, but alas it wasn't to be
 
Eric

Eric

Staff
jodragon40 said:
Lawrie, poor Dufty he was given a bad wrap because every man and his dog knew that's where the points were going to come from or the line break and he got smashed. Personally I would have kept him and played him off the bench because he has 1 thing that coaches love speed, speed and more speed. I had vision's of him coming off the bench with 15 to go in each half and straight into dummy half, can you imagine what carnage he could have caused with big tired forwards clutching at fresh air as he whizzed past, but alas it wasn't to be
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It's a nice idea but couldn't you equally envision opposition forwards, not only the big ones, running straight over the top of him to score in the last 15 minutes of each half? And we know Griffin has been talking a lot about defence.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
Lawrie, poor Dufty he was given a bad wrap because every man and his dog knew that's where the points were going to come from or the line break and he got smashed. Personally I would have kept him and played him off the bench because he has 1 thing that coaches love speed, speed and more speed. I had vision's of him coming off the bench with 15 to go in each half and straight into dummy half, can you imagine what carnage he could have caused with big tired forwards clutching at fresh air as he whizzed past, but alas it wasn't to be
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Eric said:
It's a nice idea but couldn't you equally envision opposition forwards, not only the big ones, running straight over the top of him to score in the last 15 minutes of each half? And we know Griffin has been talking a lot about defence.
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Agree with Eric Eric If defence wins games, unfortunately the front line is no place for one Matthew Dufty. Though in attack, he would certainly have been a very dangerous dummy half. There is also the question of his passing from dummy half. We all remember Mitchell Rein.
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
Chris M said:
Agree with Eric Eric If defence wins games, unfortunately the front line is no place for one Matthew Dufty. Though in attack, he would certainly have been a very dangerous dummy half. There is also the question of his passing from dummy half. We all remember Mitchell Rein.
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It was a fantasy probably not reality, and yes its all talk about defence this year especially in the middle of the park. I know before he signed Woods he told him only if he lifted his defensive game, obviously he agreed he is not a sure starter so he has to fight for his spot against the other 3. Last year we missed 820 tackles the which placed us 11th on that list but believe it or not that was actually less than the premiers the Panthers. It was a very very sad story attacking wise with the team finishing 15th in run metres, 14th in tackle breaks, 13th in offloads hence no 2nd phase attacking plays, 14th in completion rates so no momentum in attack, last in 1 pass only hit ups which is just bread and butter for any defence and very easily defended, 15th in penalties conceded, so although Griffin appears to be placing a lot of weight on defence this year as you can see by those stats we were to predictable when we had the ball and turned it over too many times and gave away too many penalties so discipline whilst in possession as well as defensive line speed will be extremely vital to our chances.
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
RedV01 said:
I see. A 27 year-old, 95kg backrower may not be a tackle busting machine.

WhyTF can't we find a good, young backrower yet to play NRL??!!

Maybe they are recruiting these journeymen and veterans because they think very highly of the young forwards coming through but judge they are at still a year or two away from NRL.

I hope that's the case. Otherwise this recruitment strategy looks like a disaster.
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Last year's NSW Cup squad lacked any forwards im afraid
 
RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
It was a fantasy probably not reality, and yes its all talk about defence this year especially in the middle of the park. I know before he signed Woods he told him only if he lifted his defensive game, obviously he agreed he is not a sure starter so he has to fight for his spot against the other 3. Last year we missed 820 tackles the which placed us 11th on that list but believe it or not that was actually less than the premiers the Panthers. It was a very very sad story attacking wise with the team finishing 15th in run metres, 14th in tackle breaks, 13th in offloads hence no 2nd phase attacking plays, 14th in completion rates so no momentum in attack, last in 1 pass only hit ups which is just bread and butter for any defence and very easily defended, 15th in penalties conceded, so although Griffin appears to be placing a lot of weight on defence this year as you can see by those stats we were to predictable when we had the ball and turned it over too many times and gave away too many penalties so discipline whilst in possession as well as defensive line speed will be extremely vital to our chances.
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Woods and/or Burgess will help fix the run metres. Along with Rav not being suspended half the year and Sloan taking more metres in kick returns. Not really his job but Amone will also make more metres than Norman.

Suli and a fit/not suspended Lomax will hopefully break more tackles.

A full season of De Belin will help with effective tackling and hopefully Su'a as well.

De Belin and Woods will provide offloads for second phase play. Dufty was actually pretty good with second phase play but Sloan just as good and Amone much better than Norman.

So I think we are a chance to do very well.
 
GCRV

GCRV

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
It was a fantasy probably not reality, and yes its all talk about defence this year especially in the middle of the park. I know before he signed Woods he told him only if he lifted his defensive game, obviously he agreed he is not a sure starter so he has to fight for his spot against the other 3. Last year we missed 820 tackles the which placed us 11th on that list but believe it or not that was actually less than the premiers the Panthers. It was a very very sad story attacking wise with the team finishing 15th in run metres, 14th in tackle breaks, 13th in offloads hence no 2nd phase attacking plays, 14th in completion rates so no momentum in attack, last in 1 pass only hit ups which is just bread and butter for any defence and very easily defended, 15th in penalties conceded, so although Griffin appears to be placing a lot of weight on defence this year as you can see by those stats we were to predictable when we had the ball and turned it over too many times and gave away too many penalties so discipline whilst in possession as well as defensive line speed will be extremely vital to our chances.
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That's an amazing analysis even if you disagree with the conclusions. (Which I don't.)
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
RedV01 said:
Woods and/or Burgess will help fix the run metres. Along with Rav not being suspended half the year and Sloan taking more metres in kick returns. Not really his job but Amone will also make more metres than Norman.

Suli and a fit/not suspended Lomax will hopefully break more tackles.

A full season of De Belin will help with effective tackling and hopefully Su'a as well.

De Belin and Woods will provide offloads for second phase play. Dufty was actually pretty good with second phase play but Sloan just as good and Amone much better than Norman.

So I think we are a chance to do very well.
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Agree
 
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