Have We Turned the Corner?

[blueyedsamurai]

Teams start spiralling up or down after origin. We definitely are one of the teams that pick up pace

2015 was the only year we had a good run after origin, 13,14 and 16 we were very average at the back end of the season.

 

[Alan79]

Hasler in the past has tried to get our defense right in the first half of the season. This year I think we worked on it but tried to focus more on attack. The first few games of the season saw us cross the line 5 times, though 2-3 tries were disallowed. Our goal kicking has also been ordinary this year where in some games we've scored more tries than the opposition and still lost on the weakness in our goal kicking.

I really don't know if you can say we've turned THE corner because we've been up and down. But if between Reynolds, Frawley and Mbye we can manufacture some tries while keeping oppositions to under twelve points I think we're going to be in good shape come finals time.

It's an uphill battle to get back into the eight though. We're going to have to compete in both attack and defense to win enough games. I'm sure some if the top eight will fade out while some of the bottom eight will find form and compete with us even if we're in the mathematical fight to make the finals.

Our big losses this year might come back to bite is at the end of the day.

 

[bantam rooster]

I hope we have but I think far too early too tell one game at a time for me . still going to support team if we win or loose

 

[Oatley Dog]

Hasler in the past has tried to get our defense right in the first half of the season. This year I think we worked on it but tried to focus more on attack. The first few games of the season saw us cross the line 5 times, though 2-3 tries were disallowed. Our goal kicking has also been ordinary this year where in some games we've scored more tries than the opposition and still lost on the weakness in our goal kicking.

I really don't know if you can say we've turned THE corner because we've been up and down. But if between Reynolds, Frawley and Mbye we can manufacture some tries while keeping oppositions to under twelve points I think we're going to be in good shape come finals time.

It's an uphill battle to get back into the eight though. We're going to have to compete in both attack and defense to win enough games. I'm sure some if the top eight will fade out while some of the bottom eight will find form and compete with us even if we're in the mathematical fight to make the finals.

Our big losses this year might come back to bite is at the end of the day.

I'm with you. I suspect that had Reynolds not been injured we may well have had a couple more wins on the board. He does drive a lot of our attack so with him coming back I'm hopeful we will put an attacking display on like we did against the chooks early in the season. I think if we can do that and maintain a strong defence then we should win at least 8 of our last 10 games. I think injuries will kill off parra, the dragons are heading south for the winter and Canberra have lost their mojo so there is plenty of opportunity to get up there.

 

[mr j]

This old chestnut. Don't be fooled, beating a Dragons team who's been out of form the last few weeks doesn't change my opinion of where we are at. We just don't have the cattle supported by a game plan that could get us more wins than losses. Right now, we are an average team at best and that won't be changing any time soon.

 

[Oatley Dog]

This old chestnut. Don't be fooled, beating a Dragons team who's been out of form the last few weeks doesn't change my opinion of where we are at. We just don't have the cattle supported by a game plan that could get us more wins than losses. Right now, we are an average team at best and that won't be changing any time soon.

My post wasn't directly about the dragons game, more about a combination of Des' and Tolmans attitude to defence at the forum and the fact that we played a more attacking style of footy against the Dragons, combined with the Reynolds factor, being injured at a point when we seemed to be starting to get a bit better in attack. If it was just about beating the Dragons I would agree with you because we have their number most years, but there just seemed to be something they implied rather than said at the Forum that made me think attack is going to be a focus from here on and with Reynolds coming back a bit of unpredictability comes as well.

 

[mr j]

My post wasn't directly about the dragons game, more about a combination of Des' and Tolmans attitude to defence at the forum and the fact that we played a more attacking style of footy against the Dragons, combined with the Reynolds factor, being injured at a point when we seemed to be starting to get a bit better in attack. If it was just about beating the Dragons I would agree with you because we have their number most years, but there just seemed to be something they implied rather than said at the Forum that made me think attack is going to be a focus from here on and with Reynolds coming back a bit of unpredictability comes as well.

I'm a little sceptical. For too long all the club does is come out and make statements which is not replicated on the field consistently. Perfect example is how every year it's mentioned how Kasiano has lost so much weight and that he's as fit as he's ever been. But in terms of his performance, he's gone backwards - just like our ladder position. I recommend you have very low expectations for the next couple of years that way you won't be too disappointed. Whilst the club may now realise there has to be a focus on attack, we just don't have the calibre in players required to do that. We lack any X-Factor whatsoever.

 

[racin jason]

Short answer....NO!

 

[Dogzof95]

We've turned a corner, we just don't know what's around it!

 

[SweetFA]

My post wasn't directly about the dragons game, more about a combination of Des' and Tolmans attitude to defence at the forum and the fact that we played a more attacking style of footy against the Dragons, combined with the Reynolds factor, being injured at a point when we seemed to be starting to get a bit better in attack. If it was just about beating the Dragons I would agree with you because we have their number most years, but there just seemed to be something they implied rather than said at the Forum that made me think attack is going to be a focus from here on and with Reynolds coming back a bit of unpredictability comes as well.

Let's not get carried away with the Dragons game- Parra made them look like a bottom 4 side

 

[GoTheDoggies]

Have we turned a corner?

A big fat NO. It's groundhog Des, we need new signings in here asap to re structure our attack and game management.

 

[Minion]

Probably not, for us it's not a corner but more likely a roundabout.

 

[Trafford10]

This old chestnut. Don't be fooled, beating a Dragons team who's been out of form the last few weeks doesn't change my opinion of where we are at. We just don't have the cattle supported by a game plan that could get us more wins than losses. Right now, we are an average team at best and that won't be changing any time soon.

I agree.

Looking at our team list these days I think average.
And with unquestionably the worst kicking game in the nrl, takes it to below average.

 

[cntrbry bnkstwn]

Probably not, for us it's not a corner but more likely a roundabout.

 

[Dawgfather]

My biggest issue with this thread is that it's not actually based on anything except a 'wonderment' as to whether or not we have turned the corner.

There has been no significant sign of change or improvement in our overall performances for at least 2 years now.

Yes, sometimes we win 2 - 3 in a row, but this is almost always follows by another 2 - 3 losses in a row.

Either that or we go WLWLW without any consistency.

The fact remains, out of 16 teams in the NRL competition, our structures, strategies, player recruitment and coaching have lead to a situation where our club has score the FEWEST points in the entire competition.

We should also keep in mind that sides like Newcastle and the Tigers have absolutely shit house rosters with the Tigers being torn apart mid season and the knights being abysmal for a while now. Yet we are still scoring less.

So no, we have not turned a corner, nor do I think we will turn a corner until Hasler is sacked.

 

[_G-Dog_]

The only corner the players have turned is the one on their way to the kebab shop

 

[Oatley Dog]

My biggest issue with this thread is that it's not actually based on anything except a 'wonderment' as to whether or not we have turned the corner.

There has been no significant sign of change or improvement in our overall performances for at least 2 years now.

Yes, sometimes we win 2 - 3 in a row, but this is almost always follows by another 2 - 3 losses in a row.

Either that or we go WLWLW without any consistency.

The fact remains, out of 16 teams in the NRL competition, our structures, strategies, player recruitment and coaching have lead to a situation where our club has score the FEWEST points in the entire competition.

We should also keep in mind that sides like Newcastle and the Tigers have absolutely shit house rosters with the Tigers being torn apart mid season and the knights being abysmal for a while now. Yet we are still scoring less.

So no, we have not turned a corner, nor do I think we will turn a corner until Hasler is sacked.

Well Hasler is never going to be sacked so you are already on a hiding to nothing, but the point of the thread was that the focus so far has been on defence rather than attack and apart from 2 games where they didn't have their heads screwed on the defence has been pretty good. The other issue is that our attack is based significantly around Reynolds and he has been missing for the past 6 weeks. I was not suggesting there was some switch that was going to be flicked and suddenly we will score 40 points a game, but I got a sense from the demeanour of Des and Tolman the other night that they have been strongly focused on defence and that the Dragons game was an indicator that they were looking to be more expansive with the ball for the remainder of the season. Maybe I'm dreaming, but there seemed to be a very strong sense of resilience and optimism from the 2 of them which given our performances over the entire season I was a little surprised by. We shall see I guess, but at this stage my glass is still half full.

 

[Shire Dog]

I think our defence seems organised and committed.
Des has put in hours on this part of our structure,but it is not winning games.
The 12-16 points per game scored is way too low for us.
Surely the coaching staff are now 100% committed in attacking plays.
There has been glimpses during the season,with Reynolds back on the field no more excuses.
Have we turned the corner,time will tell.
Luv to see ball thrown around a bit.

 

[Dawgfather]

Well Hasler is never going to be sacked so you are already on a hiding to nothing, but the point of the thread was that the focus so far has been on defence rather than attack and apart from 2 games where they didn't have their heads screwed on the defence has been pretty good. The other issue is that our attack is based significantly around Reynolds and he has been missing for the past 6 weeks. I was not suggesting there was some switch that was going to be flicked and suddenly we will score 40 points a game, but I got a sense from the demeanour of Des and Tolman the other night that they have been strongly focused on defence and that the Dragons game was an indicator that they were looking to be more expansive with the ball for the remainder of the season. Maybe I'm dreaming, but there seemed to be a very strong sense of resilience and optimism from the 2 of them which given our performances over the entire season I was a little surprised by. We shall see I guess, but at this stage my glass is still half full.

It's good to hope for the best, and as much as I do as well - I know how many times over the past 3 - 4 years that I've hoped for the best and/or thought that things were about to change, only for the team to fall back into their awful ways.

I remember first game last year we belted Manly and people suddenly said Hasler was a genius. But as the season went on, fans and media worked out that nothing in fact had changed - we were still the inconsistent side of the past 3 -4 years.

 

[Bad Billy]

Hahahahahahaha !
Baaaaaaahahahahahahaha !
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahah !
Yep. Definitely turned a corner.