Positives

[Yougra]

I think Jacob Preston looks every bit a first grader, and probably an 80 minute player as well.

His contact in defence is great and he seems to be able to poke his head through the line with his ball carries.

I definitely see him in the top 17 and pushing for a start before too long

Skelton is also looking better and would be worth the gamble on the wing, allowing us to move Kiraz to either centre or fullback

Perham will probably start as we have trained with him at fullback all pre season but he needs to show more than what he has

I'm hoping Blake Wilson plays fullback in NSW CUP for the first 3 months and is pushing for NRL selection when he becomes available after 11 rounds? He could be a smokey to come in if Perham hasn't nailed that position by then. That kid has all the tools and potential to be a success, let's see how he goes

 

[Glenn L]

I don’t know how, but Skelton has to be in the 17. Covers back row and out wide. Personally, I’d be shifting Kiraz to centre and looking to bring Skelton into the centres in time.

Averillo and Perham both just marking time at FB until Crichton comes, and mind you, I’m not sold on Crichton at FB either….

They can both mark time in Cup.

 

[Bob dog]

A loss to a top side before round one aint so bad, gives a starting point to work on and tweak.
Last weeks urgent enthusiasm was better, at least its there.
The debate making devices can piss off too, when ya watch the footy you wanna watch the footy.

 

[Jebbundy]

We played a team that knocked themselves out of the finals last yr with some poor defence, their bar is a lot higher than ours and have something to build on, we are starting from the beginning essentially, poor mistakes from a lot of pressure and hopefully we can fix that.
the biggest thing watching yesterday was fullback I’m not sure his positional play is any near up to scratch. But if we held onto the ball more we troubled sharks at the start of the game. But just heaped pressure on ourselves. Don’t know what you do with flanno, looked like he was told to run the side yesterday as burton wasn’t involved much. Hope that was the case to cam can see what he needs, trials are definitely a way to try a few things to see if they work, check where they are at, so hopefully the next 2 weeks are big

 

[Harry Oz]

Despite a trial loss against a top 4 team that looks better than last season, there were some positives...

- Nu Brown made an impact as a running forward and then later at dummy half. He scored a try and his service was solid.. He showed his utility value.

- Alamoti

- Skelton

- Preston

- Pele

- Reynolds

Good point. There were some positives and agree with all these except Nu Brown.
I feel we need a different type of player in that role.

The only other positive was the realisation that something needs to be done about Flanagan sooner rather than later.

The idea of watching Flanagan dick around for 27 games will be more than a koala can bear.

 

[2144superman]

Positive: FULL TIME SIREN
Negative: Everything that occurred between the start and finish of play

 

[Doggiezbrah]

Definitely a few positives and set the correct expectations for our upcoming season. I noticed we were defending better in the first 30, putting the sharks on their back and slowing down the play. Our errors and lack of urgency killed any momentum. Concerned with Perham at FB, Averillo's defence in centres as the game wore on, Flanghan at HB and the lack of yardage from our backline. Going to give Burton the benefit of the doubt because he is coming back from surgery, as it was his first hit out for the season. Burton was predictable and quiet.

 

[judyisapunk]

The problem is that the negatives far outweigh the positives.. the team by all accounts has had a huge off-season, and yet we just simply lack power in the middle... Sharks were outmuscling us from about the 15-20 minute mark and we just couldn't hold on defensively. Our lack of attack also means we're doing even more defending than we should be.

 

[Freakzilla]

On Preston what's peoples thoughts on him at lock ? Personally I'd like to see him there, played halves in juniors before and I think he would help Mahoney in the middle alot.

Been vocal on RFM being best suited to the bench and I'd rather Skelton get developed at the right edge backrower.

Skelton ain't going to play right edge backrower, he's never had to make many tackles in his career to just put him there. Preston should be the right edge backrower. Put Skelton on the wing to develop.

 

[D0GMATIC]

On Preston what's peoples thoughts on him at lock ? Personally I'd like to see him there, played halves in juniors before and I think he would help Mahoney in the middle alot.

Been vocal on RFM being best suited to the bench and I'd rather Skelton get developed at the right edge backrower.

I'm with ya,i think he would be good at lock

 

[SPEARTAKVIDREFS]

the positives
1. It was a trial
2. We played a top 4 team so now Ciraldo knows where we are at.
3. We dont know what Ciraldos objective was yesterday for individual players. example - maybe he wanted Flano to get his hands on the ball as much as possible to see for himself what he is capable of? Now he knows.
4. We were giving it to them defensively in the first 15 minutes, shows what we are capable of.
5. Dont think there were any injuries

 

[Cappuccino]

Positives so far from the matches besides all the pillars Gus has put in place that are yet to fruit

- We've potentially unearth another nrl player in Preston. He looks like he belongs
- Mahoney changes everything. Need cucks around him to step up though
- Nu Brown looks good at 13 and 9. Need him in the team.
- Pele, Skeleton have potential to be in the team somewhere
I can't think of much else

 

[D0GMATIC]

Skelton ain't going to play right edge backrower, he's never had to make many tackles in his career to just put him there. Preston should be the right edge backrower. Put Skelton on the wing to develop.

Skelton has to be in come round 1

 

[D.O.W.]

Despite a trial loss against a top 4 team that looks better than last season, there were some positives...

- Nu Brown made an impact as a running forward and then later at dummy half. He scored a try and his service was solid.. He showed his utility value.

- Alamoti looked more comfortable in FG and showed flashes. He has a shocking read for their first try but he recovered well and made several good reads and tackles after that, which is a good sign... He looked dangerous in attack.. He's a specimen that has a lot of ability.

- Skelton again showed his massive upside, even though it was garbage time again. The kick after breaking tackles for Reynolds try was freakish. He had a few other good runs. Surely he'll play wing or centre soon enough...

- Preston again was impressive and carried defenders, threatening to break through on most runs.. He's a big strong kid that is a handful to defend with the combo of his late footwork and size/strength..

- Pele made good impact again and should get a bench spot in week one.

- Reynolds provided a spark again. At some stage this year he'll do that in FG.. The cheers from the Belmore crowd despite being down 30-4 gave me chills and made me proud to be a Bulldog fan...

Top post! Well summed up, we all felt the same as loyal fans.

 

[T-Rocket]

One highlight not mentioned yet our 2 poms belting them in defence in the first half. Haven’t seen our defence putting on shots like that for a long time.

 

[ddt192]

Good to see a positive thread. Will be interesting to see how CC gets us up for Rd 1.

 

[NPC83]

On Preston what's peoples thoughts on him at lock ? Personally I'd like to see him there, played halves in juniors before and I think he would help Mahoney in the middle alot.

Been vocal on RFM being best suited to the bench and I'd rather Skelton get developed at the right edge backrower.

I think he’d do ok as a lock but I like him as a strike weapon on the edge. He’s a great hole runner and has good lateral movement. Kiks on one side Preston on the other.

 

[D0GMATIC]

Positives so far from the matches besides all the pillars Gus has put in place that are yet to fruit

- We've potentially unearth another nrl player in Preston. He looks like he belongs
- Mahoney changes everything. Need cucks around him to step up though
- Nu Brown looks good at 13 and 9. Need him in the team.
- Pele, Skeleton have potential to be in the team somewhere
I can't think of much else

Kiraz had some good carries, maybe him as a centre and Skelton on the wing

 

[Raysie]

Defensively we may have been better than the scoreline suggested. High temps, lucky early tries from kicks and continuous set repeats and errors really had us dying out there in tough conditions.

I thought Mahoney looked very dangerous again. He has full control of this side and everything good seems to be from his doing. He made a few errors yesterday, but I think that was him overplaying his hand mostly making up for the shit halves we have.

Flanagan looks and plays exactly the same as he did the last 2 years. If anything, he's somehow regressing. He's nothing more than a guy that gets in the way now.

Averillo I now fear just isn't up to first grade standard. I'm seeing the same poor defensive signs we've seen in previous years with him at Centre. He hasn't got the brains or size to play there sadly.

I'm willing to give Haze one more chance at the back, but it's not looking good at all. Just isn't offering anything in attack and he's not cutting it defensively either. I was expecting someone loud and commanding orders back there, and we definitely aren't getting that.

 

[D.O.W.]

Our first 5 mins were phenomenal, Kiks on the edge is definitely a positive, he looks dangerous with ball in hand and attracts defenders, we underestimate his loss early in the game and Penrith underestimated his absence even more in the World Club Challenge.

We defended 20 or so tackles in searing heat before breaking and we gave Sharks cheap possession in good field position - we tend to forget the toll that takes on players in those conditions with monsters charging 2 or 3 meters out for 3 or 4 tackles and swiftly promoting the ball to the edges - super difficult to keep out.

Mahoney, Kiks, Preston, Skelton, Pele and Nu Brown were all positives. Mahoney is showing his class as a genuine 9, Kiks is the worlds best edge player and looked the part in a cameo performance, Skelton has huge upside, Pele is an handful and Nu Brown is a top shelf replacement for Mahoney.

Adding Reynolds as a positive - I was concerned when we threw him a bone, but he’s not making up numbers and age should not hinder his capabilities - the simple fact is there is no one with his experience and skill set at 7. He’s a better option to Flanno.

We should have blooded Oluapo, beggars belief we didn’t do this.