The end of another dissapointing year

[jodragon40]

The stats at half-time indicated we were matching the Cowboys. The stats at full-time showed what I feared they were playing in 3rd gear with another 3 to go. The Cowboys still had a gear left at the end. 2 forwards ran for 100m + Sua and Mcguire. Lawrie would have easily run the 100m + had he not spent 41 min sitting on the bench. Now that is a head scratcher. The Cowboys showed they had contingency plans just in case plan A wasn't working. Their coach showed he could read the game and re adapt . So he targets Hunt in the defensive line standing next to Bird with his young backrowers. On the other side of the field he targets Amone with another dragons discard Leilua . Sua is there to help Amone . Sua makes 35 tackles missing 4, Amone makes 14 tackles missing 8. This eventually wears out Sua hence the hair pull. I have said this all season Amone is not 1st grade standard in defence and because he is constantly targeted his offensive game is non existent. At half time we had missed only 16 tackles so we were on target to reach an acceptable 30 odd per game but 2nd half we missed 28 tackles both Hunt and Amone missing 8 each. This is why we have a for and against record now worse than all but 4 other teams even the Bulldogs sitting below us have a better record. With defensive stats like this yes Griffin and Gentle should go. Personally I cannot see us being a competitive top 4 team until at least 2025 based on the current staff and playing group and that saddens me greatly.

 

[RedV01]

The stats at half-time indicated we were matching the Cowboys. The stats at full-time showed what I feared they were playing in 3rd gear with another 3 to go. The Cowboys still had a gear left at the end. 2 forwards ran for 100m + Sua and Mcguire. Lawrie would have easily run the 100m + had he not spent 41 min sitting on the bench. Now that is a head scratcher. The Cowboys showed they had contingency plans just in case plan A wasn't working. Their coach showed he could read the game and re adapt . So he targets Hunt in the defensive line standing next to Bird with his young backrowers. On the other side of the field he targets Amone with another dragons discard Leilua . Sua is there to help Amone . Sua makes 35 tackles missing 4, Amone makes 14 tackles missing 8. This eventually wears out Sua hence the hair pull. I have said this all season Amone is not 1st grade standard in defence and because he is constantly targeted his offensive game is non existent. At half time we had missed only 16 tackles so we were on target to reach an acceptable 30 odd per game but 2nd half we missed 28 tackles both Hunt and Amone missing 8 each. This is why we have a for and against record now worse than all but 4 other teams even the Bulldogs sitting below us have a better record. With defensive stats like this yes Griffin and Gentle should go. Personally I cannot see us being a competitive top 4 team until at least 2025 based on the current staff and playing group and that saddens me greatly.

Well, that is a cheerful summary to wake up to this morning.......

 

[Chris M]

The stats at half-time indicated we were matching the Cowboys. The stats at full-time showed what I feared they were playing in 3rd gear with another 3 to go. The Cowboys still had a gear left at the end. 2 forwards ran for 100m + Sua and Mcguire. Lawrie would have easily run the 100m + had he not spent 41 min sitting on the bench. Now that is a head scratcher. The Cowboys showed they had contingency plans just in case plan A wasn't working. Their coach showed he could read the game and re adapt . So he targets Hunt in the defensive line standing next to Bird with his young backrowers. On the other side of the field he targets Amone with another dragons discard Leilua . Sua is there to help Amone . Sua makes 35 tackles missing 4, Amone makes 14 tackles missing 8. This eventually wears out Sua hence the hair pull. I have said this all season Amone is not 1st grade standard in defence and because he is constantly targeted his offensive game is non existent. At half time we had missed only 16 tackles so we were on target to reach an acceptable 30 odd per game but 2nd half we missed 28 tackles both Hunt and Amone missing 8 each. This is why we have a for and against record now worse than all but 4 other teams even the Bulldogs sitting below us have a better record. With defensive stats like this yes Griffin and Gentle should go. Personally I cannot see us being a competitive top 4 team until at least 2025 based on the current staff and playing group and that saddens me greatly.

Amone's game has regressed. I think it has something to do with the coach. I remember when he got a chance in first grade at the end of last year, he was way better than he has been at any stage this year.

 

[jodragon40]

Amone's game has regressed. I think it has something to do with the coach. I remember when he got a chance in first grade at the end of last year, he was way better than he has been at any stage this year.

Once again my view is that he is a defensive liability and this outweighs any offensive prowess that he did have but no longer has you simply cannot compete with any good teams where you have a defensive liability on both sides of the ruck. In my view it is unsustainable. It's time for change and for gods sake don't re sign him on an upgraded contract.

 

[jodragon40]

Amone's game has regressed. I think it has something to do with the coach. I remember when he got a chance in first grade at the end of last year, he was way better than he has been at any stage this year.

Once again my view is that he is a defensive liability and this outweighs any offensive prowess that he did have but no longer has you simply cannot compete with any good teams where you have a defensive liability on both sides of the ruck. In my view it is unsustainable. It's time for change and for gods sake don't re sign him on an upgraded contract

 

[jodragon40]

Well, that is a cheerful summary to wake up to this morning.......

Sometimes the truth hurts

 

[Chris M]

Once again my view is that he is a defensive liability and this outweighs any offensive prowess that he did have but no longer has you simply cannot compete with any good teams where you have a defensive liability on both sides of the ruck. In my view it is unsustainable. It's time for change and for gods sake don't re sign him on an upgraded contract.

I agree with that but defence can be taught. It's also about commitment. A good assistant defensive coach would have worked on it with him and a good head coach would have told he'll be dropped if he doesn't do it better.

 

[GCRV]

The stats at half-time indicated we were matching the Cowboys. The stats at full-time showed what I feared they were playing in 3rd gear with another 3 to go. The Cowboys still had a gear left at the end. 2 forwards ran for 100m + Sua and Mcguire. Lawrie would have easily run the 100m + had he not spent 41 min sitting on the bench. Now that is a head scratcher. The Cowboys showed they had contingency plans just in case plan A wasn't working. Their coach showed he could read the game and re adapt . So he targets Hunt in the defensive line standing next to Bird with his young backrowers. On the other side of the field he targets Amone with another dragons discard Leilua . Sua is there to help Amone . Sua makes 35 tackles missing 4, Amone makes 14 tackles missing 8. This eventually wears out Sua hence the hair pull. I have said this all season Amone is not 1st grade standard in defence and because he is constantly targeted his offensive game is non existent. At half time we had missed only 16 tackles so we were on target to reach an acceptable 30 odd per game but 2nd half we missed 28 tackles both Hunt and Amone missing 8 each. This is why we have a for and against record now worse than all but 4 other teams even the Bulldogs sitting below us have a better record. With defensive stats like this yes Griffin and Gentle should go. Personally I cannot see us being a competitive top 4 team until at least 2025 based on the current staff and playing group and that saddens me greatly.

So the solution is a complete overhaul of the roster and coaching staff? There has already been that 2 years ago.

 

[jodragon40]

I agree with that but defence can be taught. It's also about commitment. A good assistant defensive coach would have worked on it with him and a good head coach would have told he'll be dropped if he doesn't do it better.

Look I know that it really really hurts when you see a young outstanding talent coming through the club only to fall short in 1sts but unfortunately for us he is a prime example of that. I remember many moons ago in my team I had a young 5/8 sparky was his nickname because everytime he touched the ball in attack sparks would fly. The problem was he was small and couldn't tackle to save his life. So your right defence can be taught . My asst coach gave him extra tackling sessions only using our forwards and by the next season he was no longer a liability. In the mean time it is incumbent upon the coach to place him in the defensive line next to a protector for me it was my lock and he was the C defender in the line. A good coach has to adapt you are only as strong as your weakest link unfortunately for the current dragons we have at least 3 weakest links and you just can't hide them hence we leak more points than 12 other teams in the competition.

 

[jodragon40]

So the solution is a complete overhaul of the roster and coaching staff? There has already been that 2 years ago.

I said earlier this season the hardest thing is to admit that you made a mistake as a coach and certainly you would never hear it from the front office but the results, recruitment and retention of the current squad clearly shows we got it wrong. This current crop of 30 contracted players will not be able to achieve semi final football the quicker we acknowledge this the better of we will be in my view but everyone has their views. I'm just speaking from experience and from the heart and it really hurts. So to answer your question yes

 

[Chris M]

Look I know that it really really hurts when you see a young outstanding talent coming through the club only to fall short in 1sts but unfortunately for us he is a prime example of that. I remember many moons ago in my team I had a young 5/8 sparky was his nickname because everytime he touched the ball in attack sparks would fly. The problem was he was small and couldn't tackle to save his life. So your right defence can be taught . My asst coach gave him extra tackling sessions only using our forwards and by the next season he was no longer a liability. In the mean time it is incumbent upon the coach to place him in the defensive line next to a protector for me it was my lock and he was the C defender in the line. A good coach has to adapt you are only as strong as your weakest link unfortunately for the current dragons we have at least 3 weakest links and you just can't hide them hence we leak more points than 12 other teams in the competition.

Sometimes no amount of training is going to make a small guy a good defender. Sam Walker for example is always going to be a poor defender. Amone isn't that small. A good defensive coach can fix his defensive woes, IMO.

 

[jodragon40]

Sometimes no amount of training is going to make a small guy a good defender. Sam Walker for example is always going to be a poor defender. Amone isn't that small. A good defensive coach can fix his defensive woes, IMO.

We will agree to disagree amicably on this issue

 

[GCRV]

I said earlier this season the hardest thing is to admit that you made a mistake as a coach and certainly you would never hear it from the front office but the results, recruitment and retention of the current squad clearly shows we got it wrong. This current crop of 30 contracted players will not be able to achieve semi final football the quicker we acknowledge this the better of we will be in my view but everyone has their views. I'm just speaking from experience and from the heart and it really hurts. So to answer your question yes

I'm not as pessimistic as you. Coach just needs to pick the right players. Forwards went ok yesterday. It was out wide and on the edges they tore us a new one. What kind of mental illness inspired the coach to pick Mbye at fullback, Bird centre and Moga on the wing against a team of noted speedsters? Sloan at fullback and the other Feagai at centre or wing is a no brainer! The coach is just so negative! He wanted to drag them down to Dragons level, not fight fire with fire.

Personally I would have picked Reuben in the wing for Moga, Feagai at centre for Bird and Sloan at fullback. Maybe they wouldn't have won but would have given us a chance.

 

[jodragon40]

I'm not as pessimistic as you. Coach just needs to pick the right players. Forwards went ok yesterday. It was out wide and on the edges they tore us a new one. What kind of mental illness inspired the coach to pick Mbye at fullback, Bird centre and Moga on the wing against a team of noted speedsters? Sloan at fullback and the other Feagai at centre or wing is a no brainer! The coach is just so negative! He wanted to drag them down to Dragons level, not fight fire with fire.

Personally I would have picked Reuben in the wing for Moga, Feagai at centre for Bird and Sloan at fullback. Maybe they wouldn't have won but would have given us a chance.

Forwards win games backs by how much. In my view our current pack is not up to it. We miss an enforcer that Sua may become in time. But we definitely need another prop and another edge forward. I agree Griffin left Lawrie off for far too long yesterday

 

[Eric]

Forwards win games backs by how much. In my view our current pack is not up to it. We miss an enforcer that Sua may become in time. But we definitely need another prop and another edge forward. I agree Griffin left Lawrie off for far too long yesterday

Couldn't we say, backs can lose games? Right from the first try yesterday, when I think it was Drinkwater, ran right around fat Jack Bird, I knew it was going to be long day. Even during the fightback in the 20min either side of the break, I was hoping but was never remotely confident of a win.

 

[jodragon40]

Couldn't we say, backs can lose games? Right from the first try yesterday, when I think it was Drinkwater, ran right around fat Jack Bird, I knew it was going to be long day. Even during the fightback in the 20min either side of the break, I was hoping but was never remotely confident of a win.

No because quite simply Bird is not a back. You can't change the old saying every coach I knew said religiously and has stood the test of time.

 

[Chris M]

No because quite simply Bird is not a back. You can't change the old saying every coach I knew said religiously and has stood the test of time.

Try and tell the coach that.

 

[RedV01]

No because quite simply Bird is not a back. You can't change the old saying every coach I knew said religiously and has stood the test of time.

Try and tell the coach that.

And see Jo Dragon on the receiving end of a baking. I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that. But it wouldn't go down as badly as telling him McCullough is no longer first grade standard. Or telling him his strategy of recruiting veteran forwards has failed spectacularly.

 

[jodragon40]

Try and tell the coach that.

I have given up on trying to find the reasons behind some of his recent decisions. I'm no guru top shelf coach but what I do know is what to do if things just aren't working. It costs you nothing to be honest it cost you nothing to say I was wrong and it costs you nothing to say sorry. I know that there were restrictions in regards to salary cap issues but let's be brutally honest here who would want to leave any club currently above us to join us knowing any move would mean not playing semi finals football in the next few years.

 

[jodragon40]

And see Jo Dragon on the receiving end of a baking. I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that. But it wouldn't go down as badly as telling him McCullough is no longer first grade standard. Or telling him his strategy of recruiting veteran forwards has failed spectacularly.

I've been on the end of bakings but in both my work life and sporting life I have never been let go. The basic fundamentals of any good coach is being a good communicator and listener. You don't lash out at those people assisting you and lay the blame on them unless you have clearly articulated to them that what they are doing as individuals is not mirroring your own goals or the clubs and warning them that they have to change or go.