What if we have another bad start to the season?

[CaptainJackson]

I don't usually post in this forum as it's your guys inner sanctum, but wouldn't a better question be "would a bad start to the season be acceptable as long as the squad is genuinely putting in and you're seeing improvement?"

From all I've read about Pay and his comments, defence is going to be a focus for your squad in 2020 so if you're losing games 8-6 or 14-10 against the better teams, would many see that as improvement?

Our first 10 rounds aren't filled with the better teams

 

[Tassie Devil]

The same old question, who?

People seem to forget that we had an open invitation for any coach to come and join us, with a decent budget to pay them. The result, 3 were interested, 1 looked at the books and walked away and we selected from the other 2.

Go Dogs

Agree completely. There's no one out there. But that still doesn't mean he's the right person for us ... at this stage. I personally hope he has a stella year and really kicks on.

 

[Tassie Devil]

I don't usually post in this forum as it's your guys inner sanctum, but wouldn't a better question be "would a bad start to the season be acceptable as long as the squad is genuinely putting in and you're seeing improvement?"

From all I've read about Pay and his comments, defence is going to be a focus for your squad in 2020 so if you're losing games 8-6 or 14-10 against the better teams, would many see that as improvement?

Good post this and agree. If I see the team is commited, has the right attitude, playing for each other, is competitive and most importantly improving then .... I'll be happier

 

[TwinTurbo]

I don't really care who tbh.

So you would be OK with Paul McGregor then?
Trent Barrett?
Nathan Brown?
Anthony Griffen?
Jason Taylor?
Someone else with NRL credentials?

It wouldn't matter if it was another rookie coach .. all the great coaches were once a rookie. All I know is, persisting with incompetence is far worse then taking a gamble on a rookie

As everyone knows 2021 is the year we escape the Salary Cap trap and I'm not sure I want to trust a "rookie" coach in our first year for some time with a chance to make something of it. Plus will the calibre of players we need next year be attracted to a first year coach? At least with Pay they know what they are getting, a rookie coach just raises a whole lot of question marks for any potential player.

Go Dogs

 

[Alan79]

if we have a poor start to the season, I think the pressure will be more on the board than dean pay, its in the board's hands to make the call, lyn and the board will have everything directed at them

I just hope that this board doesn't make rash decisions if they face pressure. They've implemented some changes already in an effort to get our production line working again. The previous board failed in that and didn't even recognise that an issue existed. Their final acts from head office seemed extremely panicked. They recruited poorly, gambling their future on the wrong players. And they tried to pander to the calls for DNA by recruiting a rookie coach with a playing history at the club. Recruiting Hasler was a good decision at the time, but giving him ultimately more power than was good for him backfired.

I'll support whoever is in the coaching role. I won't complain if we get a change there either. But I want to know that any changes are made based on the availability of someone better rather than a panicked decision that is made to preserve the boards jobs.

I personally think the board have recruited well given the financial constraints and the limited amount of talent available. We have a number of players that are on the rise. But we still need a bit of luck to go our way to get amongst the premiership contenders. But the motivation is there for everyone from the players up to perform.

 

[TwinTurbo]

I don't usually post in this forum as it's your guys inner sanctum, but wouldn't a better question be "would a bad start to the season be acceptable as long as the squad is genuinely putting in and you're seeing improvement?"

From all I've read about Pay and his comments, defence is going to be a focus for your squad in 2020 so if you're losing games 8-6 or 14-10 against the better teams, would many see that as improvement?

It depends on what the starting point is that the improvement is measured against. In simple terms, if we measure against how we started last year, then almost anything would be an improvement. On the other hand if we measure against how we finished (say, the last 10 rounds) last year then even a little improvement on that would see us winning ~8 of the first 10 games. Unfortunately "improvement" is relative to whoever is measuring it. There are some on here who would be happy if Pay just picked their favourite players, it wouldn't matter if we won games or not. Conversely there are some on here who would be happy if Pay just didn't pick their hated players, again it wouldn't matter if we won games or not. There are number on here who would say an "improvement" has been achieved simply by not picking Elliott or Lewis, who cares what the games' results are.

Go Dogs

 

[GDR]

So you would be OK with Paul McGregor then?
Trent Barrett?
Nathan Brown?
Anthony Griffen?
Jason Taylor?
Someone else with NRL credentials?


As everyone knows 2021 is the year we escape the Salary Cap trap and I'm not sure I want to trust a "rookie" coach in our first year for some time with a chance to make something of it. Plus will the calibre of players we need next year be attracted to a first year coach? At least with Pay they know what they are getting, a rookie coach just raises a whole lot of question marks for any potential player.

Go Dogs

I didn't mean tried and tested failures..

I meant moving on and giving someone else that has promise a go.

IF the coach turns out to be a dud, I see it being more detrimental to future recruitment then an unknown new coach.

 

[Squash the Berries!]

Pay sees out the season, hopefully younger players are then given a go in first grade and we hunt for the best coach willing to come to the Dogs.

 

[KambahOne]

Our first 10 rounds aren't filled with the better teams

That's true, your 10-20 rounds may well give you a better indication how well the side is travelling.

 

[KambahOne]

It depends on what the starting point is that the improvement is measured against. In simple terms, if we measure against how we started last year, then almost anything would be an improvement. On the other hand if we measure against how we finished (say, the last 10 rounds) last year then even a little improvement on that would see us winning ~8 of the first 10 games. Unfortunately "improvement" is relative to whoever is measuring it. There are some on here who would be happy if Pay just picked their favourite players, it wouldn't matter if we won games or not. Conversely there are some on here who would be happy if Pay just didn't pick their hated players, again it wouldn't matter if we won games or not. There are number on here who would say an "improvement" has been achieved simply by not picking Elliott or Lewis, who cares what the games' results are.

Go Dogs

Yeah after looking at your draw, rounds 10-20 may well paint a clearer picture, but I hear you, fans can be stubbornly fickle.

 

[doggieaaron]

I actually think pays actual coaching and how he brings the squad together is very good imo his biggest and most worrisome issues is his team selections he really takes along time to select the right guys and takes along time to pick the right guys when hes picked the wrong blokes ,last year blind freddy knew that rfm/elliott werent starters but would be great off the bench which proved to be the case ,hopefully he has learnt from last year,wakeham and elliott selections will be very telling.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Really you would like to see the club come out fighting. Not like last year where we were getting pumped straight away by teams not likely to be contenders. We can't look underdone.

 

[Haddaway]

If we start bad and look like another finals failure then we need a new coach so he doesn't have to start from scratch.

Unless Pay is completely safe.

A new coach doesn't mean some failed flop, it could be like how the Knights have hired that one obrien bloke. There has to be other young up and coming coaches out there.

 

[Dogs Of War]

If we start bad and look like another finals failure then we need a new coach so he doesn't have to start from scratch.

Unless Pay is completely safe.

A new coach doesn't mean some failed flop, it could be like how the Knights have hired that one obrien bloke. There has to be other young up and coming coaches out there.

Marc Brentnall who is Greg Brentnall's son. So the Bulldogs connection is there. Currently the Storm attack coach. He has been around the Storm for ages and I'm sure he would have learnt lots. Just depends if he thinks Bellamy will leave the club in the next few years and prefers that opporunity.

I'm sure there are plenty of others doing the rounds who have coached at Superleague/QLD/NSW club level and are currently assistant coaches.

 

[Scoooby]

Fuck this lol.. this bloody season just needs to start already, and it will be a good start, 1st game we will walk away with our first win !!

 

[Dognacious]

What if we have a bad start to the season?

Answer, we will have a lot of angry threads at the kennel, including sack pay threads.

 

[Berries]

It’s going to happen, we don’t have the fitness or ability to match the top teams. Parra could steam roll us round 1

 

[Bad Billy]

This place will meltdown.
The board will take the necessary action.

 

[Spoonman84]

The first 10 games are actually much harder then I thought when I first looked at the draw months ago.

We will all need some luck to get wins against Eels x2, Cowboys x2, Raiders and Eagles even the Rabbitohs game will be very tough.

The Tigers and Sharks game are 50/50 and we should beat the Warriors but even then it is in NZ.

Anything above 4 out 10 is exceeded my expectations.

 

[bradyk]

The first 10 games are actually much harder then I thought when I first looked at the draw months ago.

We will all need some luck to get wins against Eels x2, Cowboys x2, Raiders and Eagles even the Rabbitohs game will be very tough.

The Tigers and Sharks game are 50/50 and we should beat the Warriors but even then it is in NZ.

Anything above 4 out 10 is exceeded my expectations.

Tigers and Sharks really aren't 50/50's. Not sure what you're using to get that % split. Warriors is a 50/50 or close enough at least. We'll be doing really well to get 4/10 wins.