Knights & Tigers Showing Whats Possible

[CaptainJackson]

3 members of the 3/4 line who have played for Australia, NSW. Sure that was in the past but they are still very good players.

Yeh I don't accept this.

Morris boys are done, finished, no mobility/agility what so ever.

Hoppa is fucking slow and absolutely zero agility .

Montoya is not doing to well at the moment.

Compare our backline players to

Penrith
Storm
Raiders
Warriors
Manly
Dragons
Broncos
Roosters
Sharks


And we're well down the pecking order as far as your main try scorers are concerned

We're shit with pace, agility, scoring off kicks

It's not good enough our backline more than anything needs an injection of power, agility and youth .

 

[rainman]

Lucky they are playing well as they are keeping us in touch by winning games they would normally lose

 

[Oatley Dog]

Yeh I don't accept this.

Morris boys are done, finished, no mobility/agility what so ever.

Hoppa is fucking slow and absolutely zero agility .

Montoya is not doing to well at the moment.

Compare our backline players to

Penrith
Storm
Raiders
Warriors
Manly
Dragons
Broncos
Roosters
Sharks


And we're well down the pecking order as far as your main try scorers are concerned

We're shit with pace, agility, scoring off kicks

It's not good enough our backline more than anything needs an injection of power, agility and youth .

We are just at that point where we have good players in the backs but they are either at the end of their career or just lacking a yard in pace to make the difference we need. If it was just one player we could cover for it but the fact is our left side although the Mozzes are good just don't break the line like they used to and on the other side Hoppa and Montoya for different reasons are the same. We could even cover for it if we had big fast second rowers but neither of ours are in the Hess, Harris, Kikau, Whitehead etc category. The best we have is a promising kid. Can have the best tactics in the world but if you don't have speed, acceleration or step out wide you can only rely on kicks and an occasional defensive lapse and that won't get you many points.

 

[Chris Harding]

People make a lot of Foz knocking us back but it is a furphy. He didn't want to play against his mates so didn't follow Hasler to us. Then when things went south at Manly we didn't have the money to pay him so he went to the Eels who (kind of) did. Then his world collapses and he is busted and not interested in playing footy, ends up signing a 1 year contract with the Warriors to get away from the media and then finally we (thought) had the money to bring him home and he came.

As for all the players we could have signed and didn't, every club has that issue. Now all the talk is that Teddy is unhappy at the chooks. so even when you get the prize you don't know what you have until you take the paper off it.....

Wise words. I have written off this year as the first of a hard rebuild for the Dogs under Pay. Wouldn't mind seeing some new talent from the lower grades given a go; but reckon Pay knows what he's got and will make the best of it until he can have some say in recruiting. I wonder how they'd perform if they were told all contracts are now void, and they have to play to win them back.

 

[CaptainJackson]

We are just at that point where we have good players in the backs but they are either at the end of their career or just lacking a yard in pace to make the difference we need. If it was just one player we could cover for it but the fact is our left side although the Mozzes are good just don't break the line like they used to and on the other side Hoppa and Montoya for different reasons are the same. We could even cover for it if we had big fast second rowers but neither of ours are in the Hess, Harris, Kikau, Whitehead etc category. The best we have is a promising kid. Can have the best tactics in the world but if you don't have speed, acceleration or step out wide you can only rely on kicks and an occasional defensive lapse and that won't get you many points.

Yep we just don't have the cattle.

And as you say with the back rowers

Jackson can't run lines

Rfm was so severely hampered by des the fuckwit that RFM is still learning his trade at 24, hopefully he clicks soon with foran and picks up quickly line running

But our backline is plain lacking. Morris brothers were good years ago, They just don't have the tools anymore

 

[Oatley Dog]

Wise words. I have written off this year as the first of a hard rebuild for the Dogs under Pay. Wouldn't mind seeing some new talent from the lower grades given a go; but reckon Pay knows what he's got and will make the best of it until he can have some say in recruiting. I wonder how they'd perform if they were told all contracts are now void, and they have to play to win them back.

I agree mate. I'm not suggesting wholesale change in one hit but bringing in say Martin or To'omaga to the bench, giving them a taste and seeing how they go can't hurt. If they step up then they will get their starting shot and then the next couple can get a go. If nothing else it gives Pay the chance to see if they are up for the challenge and gives us a bit of experience for depth. JJ is out this week. Who replaces him? For mine we need Eastwood off the bench so maybe one of the other two get a shot. We need a quick little man on the bench as well. So that's either Brown, Cleeland or Lewis.

 

[bulldogfan1]

Seriously, the more you think about the game on Thursday night, the worrying it is.

They lost there half back and another 2 players to HIA. They only had 1 interchange left with 20 to go and none left with 10 to go.

We also had an absolute mountain of possession. It is inconceivable to have 66% ball and zero points scored. Absolute inconceivable.

Even under Des when we had that much ball we would put some points on.

Its not as if we were playing the Storm, we were against the fucking Raiders.

 

[doggieaaron]

People here pretty saying our squad is a NSW cup squad.

Seriously, we have the current Australian front row.
NSW 2nd rower who was being touted as a Blues captain.
An international half who would be playing for the Blues if he could.
3 members of the 3/4 line who have played for Australia, NSW. Sure that was in the past but they are still very good players.
We also have a FB who has hit a real purple patch.

TBH, when i look at the team, it just looks poorly coached. There is no togerthness, purpose or plan. Just something is wrong.

As a general rule of thumb, when a new coach arrives to a decent/average team, there is usually a jolt in there performance. There is no such thing with this team which is not a good sign.

Spot on and thats what worries me as well

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Both Knights and tigers have better benches than us and arguably better halves / balanced spines... 3 players could make a huge difference for example, put Pearce, Saifiti and Twal in our side at the expense of JMK (to utility) and 2 of our shitty forwards (elliot and fualalo) and we would be a completely different outfit imo.

 

[Born&BredABulldog]

The problem is our recruitment,for a long time we have never been able to attract that perfect player for the right position..it’s always been a stop gap situation.
Look how many times foz knocked us back before finally signing! And all the players that may have signed but came to nothing. That’s the area we struggled in an have never been able to build a team we want when other coaches have Been more successful in getting their man.

Once we have a clean out an pick the right players for the club that buy into the doggs plan then like these other clubs we will be as competitive. Just the matter of how long! Also most clubs have a lot of depth to cover positions! Another thing we lack.

100% agree. Hit the nail on the head with that, I would add that we are letting go of our best players and young potential superstars to competitive clubs rather than letting go of the deadwood and building a team around these good players.

 

[Bulldogz82]

As much as I hate Hasler and half the duds in this team, he managed to pull off a few backs against the wall wins like 10-7 Broncs after losing 36-0 week earlier and a couple against the dragons where we were given no hope. I hope pay can really push these boys to pull off a few victorys like this as the next 2 weeks we are expected to lose both by 20+. I will be over the moon if we can get one of the next 2 games just for confidence sake. Come on Deano get that real bulldog spirit into em this next fortnight, the whole season basically comes down to the next fortnight

 

[Fully Sik Drop kick]

As long the Eels keep losing and lower than us on the ladder, I'll be happy with this re building season

 

[Hacky McAxe]

I don't know if we could put it down to the lack of troops. It definitely seems to be a big part of it but the Tigers and Knights don't exactly have great squads either.

Stats wise we're also outplaying the Knight and Tigers except for the one stat that counts the most. Points scored.

I put it down to psychology. When Tigers and Knights are behind they don't break. They keep doing what they do and they end up winning. When we have a bit of pressure we break.

The other week we had 1 error in the first half and many penalties against us. We came out in the second half psychologically broken. We racked up 8 errors in less than 20 minutes.

The thing that worries me most about that is why it happened. I get that the players were exhausted but they came out 10 times worse than they were in the first half and this was after a decent rest. What could Pay have said at half time that made them turn to jelly.

 

[BlackDawg]

Hasler was gifted 4 seasons where the writing was clearly on the wall about our steady decline as a force in the NRL.... to be judging Pay after 5 games seems a little harsh given the roster he has at his disposal. At NRL level opposition teams really expose weaknesses. Elliott, Fualalo, Montoya, Holland & Tualau are players that you throw in for injury or suspension ,,, they are just not full time NRL players. No other teams will recruit them for anything other than that once they leave us. I do see effort but clearly you cant carry the sheer numbers of players that we carry who are not NRL standard and expect to be competitive. Sadly nothing will improve until 2020 because the clowns who were previously in charge signed these duds until 2020. It going to be a long road back to a competitive squad and some of the quality players we currently have will be past it by the time we start showing promise. All in all a fairly hefty roster change is required to bring us back to the good old days when teams feared us.

 

[SweetFA]

The equation is very simple.
Forwards playing like shit = 1 from 5

Totally agree there is no excuse for the way the forwards are playing.
Canberra made huge meters up the middle.
Our guys just can't dominate the middle of the park.

We have good players in the squad.
Pay needs to work with them to get their best football out of them.
And quickly.
Given all the positive comments about training the house down pre-season I was suckered in to expecting a much better start to the season.

We’re a team with good players, not a team playing good football

 

[SweetFA]

People here pretty saying our squad is a NSW cup squad.

Seriously, we have the current Australian front row.
NSW 2nd rower who was being touted as a Blues captain.
An international half who would be playing for the Blues if he could.
3 members of the 3/4 line who have played for Australia, NSW. Sure that was in the past but they are still very good players.
We also have a FB who has hit a real purple patch.

TBH, when i look at the team, it just looks poorly coached. There is no togerthness, purpose or plan. Just something is wrong.

As a general rule of thumb, when a new coach arrives to a decent/average team, there is usually a jolt in there performance. There is no such thing with this team which is not a good sign.

Pay signed with at season’s end, he is inherited this roster, the similar roster that finished 13th last season. I agree the coaching staff needs an overhaul, I think it’s time Grimaldi was tapped on the shoulder for starters , Harry Harris probably needs to go as well. We don’t look fit , fast & sharp. I would also look at bringing in Sherwin as our halves coach- he’s doing a brilliant job with our juniors, Flegg, HM & SG ball.
That’s for starters-so far I’m not a fanciful Antonelli & can’t work out why Penna is still with us.
Trust in Pay & keep your powder dry.
Give him the season at least!

 

[Trafford10]

We’re a team with good players, not a team playing good football

That is down to coaching staff though isn't it?
The sum of our parts is more than what the team is putting on the field.
Very disappointing.

 

[Bob dog]

Yeah we don't have anyone close to Ponga. One thing I do think they have and what we can do is belief. If our team had some in eachother than we would be do a lot better.

We won't be drawing inspiration from the Knights, we have Mbye who is fast over the hundred meters, Ponga is a human being just like Mbye and the whole 17.
We should be getting inspiration from former Doggy teams, anything is possible if we run out with a ruthless attitude knowing we will win, expecting a turn around against the Cowboys.

 

[Wolfmother]

Seriously, the more you think about the game on Thursday night, the worrying it is.

They lost there half back and another 2 players to HIA. They only had 1 interchange left with 20 to go and none left with 10 to go.

We also had an absolute mountain of possession. It is inconceivable to have 66% ball and zero points scored. Absolute inconceivable.

Even under Des when we had that much ball we would put some points on.

Its not as if we were playing the Storm, we were against the fucking Raiders.

You make out like the raiders are a shit team.. for a team that's only won 1 game out of 5 and still has a point difference in the positives shows that they are a pretty competetive lot..

Yes we couldve/shouldve scored more under those statistical circumstances but when another team puts in more effort they're going to get it. (unless the fucking referee sticks his greedy corrupt nose into things) anyhow..
I think the amount of injuries from the raiders team is actually indicative of how much effort as a team they put in to win that game.
You have to understand that their first 3 losses have all been lost by only 1 or 2 points ,couple that with a public shaming of their manhood and you get a defensive and aggressive game.

Any team would've lost against them on Thursday

 

[Wolfmother]

I don't know if we could put it down to the lack of troops. It definitely seems to be a big part of it but the Tigers and Knights don't exactly have great squads either.

Stats wise we're also outplaying the Knight and Tigers except for the one stat that counts the most. Points scored.

I put it down to psychology. When Tigers and Knights are behind they don't break. They keep doing what they do and they end up winning. When we have a bit of pressure we break.

The other week we had 1 error in the first half and many penalties against us. We came out in the second half psychologically broken. We racked up 8 errors in less than 20 minutes.

The thing that worries me most about that is why it happened. I get that the players were exhausted but they came out 10 times worse than they were in the first half and this was after a decent rest. What could Pay have said at half time that made them turn to jelly.

Totally agree with this!

I recall 2013 Annus horriblus when barba and Kasiano had issues and Morris had the shits, total mayhem on and off the field then in 2014 off-season the main focus wasn't football it was team bonding.

Worked a treat when the chips were down we nearly always found a way to get up.. How many tight 1 point games did we win?? The sledging, the aggressive defence.. Was a great year to watch desball.