Des under fire

[immortalbulldog]

Des under fire?

The Bulldogs went into their clash with the Cowboys with a chance to sew up a top-four berth. They've been at the right end of the ladder for the whole season, yet their style of play has faced criticism. It seems odd that a coach who has taken his side to two grand finals and the finals series every year would be questioned. But rugby league fans can be fickle.

It was only the Storm hell-bent on redemption and the Rabbitohs on a historic premiership charge that stopped the Bulldogs claiming the Provan Summons Trophy. They are well in the mix to go deep into September again. But some fans are hard to please.

Whether the Bulldogs trouble the other top eight sides or not, Hasler's results have been ultra consistent at Belmore. He's the only coach to make two grand finals since 2012. Nine teams haven't been there at all.
http://m.nrl.com/monday-morning-halfback-round-25/tabid/10874/newsid/100737/default.aspx

How anyone can call our fans fickle is beyond me. Some people just have NFI and don't realise that some fans just expect more. After all the drama with salary caps, player walkouts, wooden spoons, Coffs Harbour etc it really says something that it's the direction we are heading in now that has us so worried.
Des isn't immune from criticism. His ego is out of control as it is.

 

[The DoggFather]

Fickle? Shit **** has no idea.

 

[Interestingg]

How dare we demand a premiership. It's not like we spend money on the club or anything

 

[M4cca]

Wish we didn't even make the 2014 GF because now it just serves as a cover. To be honest we only just scraped through by beating injury depleted manly and penrith sides

 

[Papa Emeritus]

Why would any NRL fan be happy with just making the finals? What is the difference in making the finals and not actually ever having a chance to win the GF to not making the finals at all? Only one teams fans are happy every year, and if another teams fans are happy with not winning then ... good for them I guess.

 

[bcmf]

Doggies fans have a reputation for being uneducated (when understanding the game) and overly emotional. I am not sure if this is deserved/warranted.

 

[south of heaven]

. But some fans are hard to please.
No not the case just sick of average fucking bullshit we had our chances and fucked them.
Its not just dogs fans its everyone that can see through us.
If by some fucking miracle (lol im still half delusional)we do win a grandfinal it will be great but there still lies a fucking problem of our playing style

 

[finchie]

So 6 hit ups and a 5 metre loss 10 metres out from ur opposition try line is acceptable is it lol???

 

[Spoonman84]

We really need to miss a finals series for any action to be taken unfortunately. The finals are a pass mark for the Bulldogs now. Which isn't right.

 

[EXPLORER]

Why would any NRL fan be happy with just making the finals? What is the difference in making the finals and not actually ever having a chance to win the GF to not making the finals at all? Only one teams fans are happy every year, and if another teams fans are happy with not winning then ... good for them I guess.

This

We are the Bulldogs
Not the eels
Not the Sharks
Not the dragons
Not the rabbits

We expect to win at least 1 premiership every decade

We have currently won one in over 20 years

Not good enough for us Bulldogs
I don't give a fuck what other fans are content with.

Our club is better than the rest

We as fans are frustrated cause our club has just become just another club making up the numbers every year

We still remember the days when we don't just make up the numbers
We win premierships

And we are due for another premiership

 

[Bad Billy]

This guys obviously not a fan.
If he was forced to watch a hasler coached team go round every week, he wouldn't be stroking haslers balls.

 

[jamesb]

This

We are the Bulldogs
Not the eels
Not the Sharks
Not the dragons
Not the rabbits

We expect to win at least 1 premiership every decade

We have currently won one in over 20 years

Not good enough for us Bulldogs
I don't give a fuck what other fans are content with.

Our club is better than the rest

We as fans are frustrated cause our club has just become just another club making up the numbers every year

We still remember the days when we don't just make up the numbers
We win premierships

And we are due for another premiership

2004

 

[GoTheDoggies]

We've blown the top 4 over the past two seasons because of our F/A = our attack is poor.

Attack hasn't been good enough for years and when we win we have to do it the hard way. We cannot put teams to the sword, or apply any pressure in attack.

A major concern is our inability to swing momentum, I think it comes down to two main points:

1. When the opposition kicks for repeat sets, we have no one who can return the ball out of the in goal. Hoppa is poorly positioned to retrieve kicks and is not fast enough to get out. When I watched the Manly vs Canberra game, DCE looked to have them pinned in their in goal on about 3 occasions with grubbers however, Wighton was perfectly positioned and got out of the in goal. We do not have the ability to swing momentum in this area, we often have to defend 2,3,4 or 5 sets back to back and hope for a mistake from the opposition. Good teams exploit this and tire us out.
2. Kicking game/game management - Reynolds and Mbye have no idea on this. An example from our game at Belmore. We defended 4 sets back to back we escape with out points scored against us. We get to half way and Reynolds kicks it straight to the fullback. No game awareness, our forwards were busted and needed the ball in touch. Repeat sets the one time we did kick for one, Reynolds kicks in dead cowboys get a 20m 7 tackle set. Mbye always kicks straight down the throat of the fullback, very poor. Our team just gets too fatigued due to our mediocre spine.

This forward style papers over the cracks of how bad our spine actually is and has been since Des arrived at the club. To sum up SIGN A FULLBACK AND HALFBACK DES. We have had no one in the spine of exceptional quality other than Ennis and Barba for one year he was top class.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Heh. Bulldogs fans are the most fickle fans alive. Last year every win flooded these forums with "Give Des another 10 years" and each loss flooded the forums with "Sack Des and the whole team"

That said, the response is no longer fans being fickle. The response is the fans seeing obvious problems and wondering why the coach can't fix these obvious problems.

 

[Dogzof95]

Fickle??? We know what we're talking about, if the team showed and played with heart and left everything on the field we wouldn't complain an iota! This just proves us fans are getting our message across... F#@¥ the rest, Dogs fans are the best! Hahaha.... Go doggies!

 

[EXPLORER]

2004

Read my post again
Gone in on the bit I
Say
One premiership in over 20 years

That covers 2004

 

[Indiandog]

"It seems odd that a coach who has taken his side to two grand finals and the finals series every year would be questioned. But rugby league fans can be fickle."

yeah when you pay a premium price for a Ferrari you expect a fucken premium car and performance.

we didnt pay 1 million dollars for Kia Serato!

 

[justdogs]

How dare we demand a premiership. It's not like we spend money on the club or anything

that's because the club is there to make money, no to win premierships, according to our CEO

 

[Buffalo]

Des has the most staff and most resources available than any other club. FACT.
The Dogs have more money at their disposal than most other clubs. FACT.
We spend/invest our money poorly. FACT.
We do not play rugby league, we play Des ball. FACT

Des is a myth, Mybe as a halfback is a myth, Our front row is a myth, the tough Bulldogs is sadly a myth. FACT.

Time for the board to manage the club and not their egos. How successful would they really be if the leagues club did not put in millions each year???

 

[no1bulldog]

Des is a money sucking leech. FACT