Probable team to face the Roosters in Round 5

[dawso047]

They should wait until the Knights game for mass changes, the Roosters and Storm are probably already lost causes.
This week VS Roosters then VS Storm: 1.Taffe 2.Tracey 3.Crighton 4. Kiraz 5. Wilson 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali 11. Kikau 12. Salmon 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Kautoga 16. Hughes 17. Knight (Addo Carr to return for Storm game)
VS Newcastle
1. Taffe 2. Addo Carr 3. Crighton 4. Xerri 5. Kiraz 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali
11. Kikau 12. Kautoga 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Morrin 16. Hughes 17. Patolo
I think Sexton will be let go at the end of the year. He is not great in attack and his defence makes him a target for the opposition. Hutchinson will probably remain at 7 for a while yet. O'Niell next year? Hopefully Xerri can come in against weaker opposition and Patalo cannot be worse then Knight and will have had 6 weeks of NSW Cup before a return to NRL; Salmon drops out for Kautoga to start, Morrin a lock to go back on the bench. Papali'i cannot play until round 10 or 11 I think. Sutton and Fifita to make there way back from injury. I would like to see Skelton get a run of games at some time.
And No they will not make the 8 this year, they are building to make the 8 next year.

 

[LordSidious66]

There’s a night and day difference the only concern I have is heads dropping this draw is made to break us.

That will annoy me if they drop off!! Ciraldo is already on thin ice with me. If the same nonsense happens, I want him gone.

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[LordSidious66]

They should wait until the Knights game for mass changes, the Roosters and Storm are probably already lost causes.
This week VS Roosters then VS Storm: 1.Taffe 2.Tracey 3.Crighton 4. Kiraz 5. Wilson 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali 11. Kikau 12. Salmon 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Kautoga 16. Hughes 17. Knight (Addo Carr to return for Storm game)
VS Newcastle
1. Taffe 2. Addo Carr 3. Crighton 4. Xerri 5. Kiraz 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali
11. Kikau 12. Kautoga 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Morrin 16. Hughes 17. Patolo
I think Sexton will be let go at the end of the year. He is not great in attack and his defence makes him a target for the opposition. Hutchinson will probably remain at 7 for a while yet. O'Niell next year? Hopefully Xerri can come in against weaker opposition and Patalo cannot be worse then Knight and will have had 6 weeks of NSW Cup before a return to NRL; Salmon drops out for Kautoga to start, Morrin a lock to go back on the bench. Papali'i cannot play until round 10 or 11 I think. Sutton and Fifita to make there way back from injury. I would like to see Skelton get a run of games at some time.
And No they will not make the 8 this year, they are building to make the 8 next year.

Why not make the 8 this year and give credibility back to the club?

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[BULLDOGGSFAN]

If he plays Hughes for any less minutes he might as well retire. Put him in the starting side he can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen so fat.

Agreed!

 

[BULLDOGGSFAN]

Come on man......
Better than Munster?
Really?

Why? Coz he showed a purple patch for 5 mins of a game?

Munster has been good since his first game in the top league. Has hardly played a bad game.

Burton has played at least 4 years and we are still waiting for a full game performance.

Yep I totally get that and I agree with you.

The point I'm trying to make is if you put Munsters confidence/willingness to take the game by the scruff of the neck into Matt Burton he has all the skills and physical attributes to be in the top 5 five eighths in the game.

Imagine if he played and had a personality/tenacity like Josh Reynolds?!

There's a decent player in there some where for sure but this soft spoken, relaxed personality isn't Bulldog culture.

Sometimes I wonder if he even gives a F#2K if we win or lose...

 

[dawso047]

Why not make the 8 this year and give credibility back to the club?

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I don't think they have the talent to make the 8. Still need another prop, Hutchinson and Sexton are not a solution to the sides woes in attack. Xerri is making his way back after being away for four years.
Next year Papali'i ready for fullback, Xerri will be used to playing again to start the year, O'Niell could be tried at 7, they sign another prop. Todd, Morrin, Samrani, Hughes, Kautoga, Hopoi all a year older and should be ready for NRL Fifita and Sutton still in the squad.

 

[Marki]

Why not make the 8 this year and give credibility back to the club?

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Thats not how a 10 year plan works!
Lol.

 

[Marki]

Yep I totally get that and I agree with you.

The point I'm trying to make is if you put Munsters confidence/willingness to take the game by the scruff of the neck into Matt Burton he has all the skills and physical attributes to be in the top 5 five eighths in the game.

Imagine if he played and had a personality/tenacity like Josh Reynolds?!

There's a decent player in there some where for sure but this soft spoken, relaxed personality isn't Bulldog culture.

Sometimes I wonder if he even gives a F#2K if we win or lose...

Thats the thing.....i look at the full package.
And what i see is the same lackadaisical performance which doesnt look like changing. It just won't.

 

[BULLDOGGSFAN]

Thats the thing.....i look at the full package.
And what i see is the same lackadaisical performance which doesnt look like changing. It just won't.

Yeah unfortunately I think you might be right.

 

[Scoooby]

we need Xerri in, even for his strength and attack, it’s bloody time to give him a go !!

 

[LordSidious66]

we need Xerri in, even for his strength and attack, it’s bloody time to give him a go !!

Yes i agree.

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[Rumdogmillionaire]

He looks like a back up at best. Middles pecking order goes like this from best to worst: King, Curran, Hughes, Faamusili (when fit), Knight, Patolo and finally Zane Tetavano. Personally I reckon by mid season it'll be King and Hughes as our starting props moving forward. They seem to be just easing Hughes into the role slowly.

Totally agree
King, Hughes, Faamausuli, Knight, ....... Patolo still a way off .....and Tetevano - well - he's gotta lift his game even to to make reggies

 

[Rumdogmillionaire]

They should wait until the Knights game for mass changes, the Roosters and Storm are probably already lost causes.
This week VS Roosters then VS Storm: 1.Taffe 2.Tracey 3.Crighton 4. Kiraz 5. Wilson 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali 11. Kikau 12. Salmon 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Kautoga 16. Hughes 17. Knight (Addo Carr to return for Storm game)
VS Newcastle
1. Taffe 2. Addo Carr 3. Crighton 4. Xerri 5. Kiraz 6. Burton 7. Hutchinson 8. King 9. Mahoney 10. Faamasuali
11. Kikau 12. Kautoga 13. Curran
14. Mann 15. Morrin 16. Hughes 17. Patolo
I think Sexton will be let go at the end of the year. He is not great in attack and his defence makes him a target for the opposition. Hutchinson will probably remain at 7 for a while yet. O'Niell next year? Hopefully Xerri can come in against weaker opposition and Patalo cannot be worse then Knight and will have had 6 weeks of NSW Cup before a return to NRL; Salmon drops out for Kautoga to start, Morrin a lock to go back on the bench. Papali'i cannot play until round 10 or 11 I think. Sutton and Fifita to make there way back from injury. I would like to see Skelton get a run of games at some time.
And No they will not make the 8 this year, they are building to make the 8 next year.

C,mon Doggies - show some balls!!!
As a Queenslander, it always irks me to concede.
We hate that shit!!
Yep - the opposition is better on paper. No arguments there.
But wtf are YOU gonna DO about it???!! Give up straight away??
WE (Qld) got fucked up the arse by NSW for sooooo long - all our best players had to play for NSW (like Artie Beetson et al)
Until Origin came along. And at that sweet moment, I was there at Lang Park.

Point is as far as 2024 Dogs are concerned - "Cede Nullis" must be our motto - that's " Yield to None" (for the uninitiated - Latin Translation).
No doubt we are up against it - but HARDEN UP you guys!!

 

[88]

I will probably be proven wrong but I have a feeling Ciraldo is ready to make some changes in terms of our attack, he sounded really frustrated in the presser and I think Hutchison butchering a certain try and shutting down our momentum a bunch of times might be the catalyst for a few changes.

I’m not sure he’s brave enough to do this, but:
- Taaffe to halfback. He has the skills, has played there before and offers something different. I don’t think Sexton has done anywhere near enough in NSW Cup.
- Tracey to fullback. Will make better metres on kick returns and can be pretty lethal in the red zone.
- Kiraz to wing, Xerri to centre and Wilson in for JAC. Xerri has been underwhelming in NSW Cup but give him a shot in FG and I reckon he’ll kill it.
- Forwards will be forced changes only, whichever way we go we’ll have a bunch of utilities and plodders but they have outperformed so far so they deserve to keep getting picked. Salmon should be dropped altogether but will get a reprieve due to injuries.

Hey Pottz ..... If I was the Fonz I would say that you are "CORRECTAMUNDO"!!!

 

[Alan79]

Making changes won’t help..spine needs time to gel. Our attack looks a lot more dangerous than last year and we get good momentum. I think in time we will convert more opportunities and grow in confidence

I was far from impressed with Hutchison's one out runs when were 6 behind with 15 to go, but it was the whole team doing it at that point. But I'm of the same opinion with giving them another few runs together. That was one of Burtons better games IMO. That might largely be down to Hutch doing more/most of the organising.

But our attack looks sharp when we spread the ball. And I liked how Taaffe chimed in to backline plays. That first little kick to Tracey was Sherwin like. Overall we have a backline that'll get better at finishing tries as they learn each other's games.

Support play has improved, but not nearly enough. Burton's break should have had a couple of support runners close, but Burton was tackled and up ready to play the ball before Taaffe got there. And at times our edge forwards crowded the backs, especially later in the game. We know the refs will give us nothing if there's anything looking like a chance to call obstructions when we score. So I don't think it's ideal for there to be too much traffic out wide.

If we can ice more of the chances in the 20, we'll be dangerous.

 

[Philmus]

Those naming Xerri, have you watched him in NSW,Cup?

they clearly haven’t

 

[Philmus]

Like to see xerri on the left wing with chrichton n kikau on his inside - who better to learn how to defend on an edge with. Needs some power running from the backfield

dom young will finish with 22 tries if xerri is on that wing

 

[cookieman909]

I was far from impressed with Hutchison's one out runs when were 6 behind with 15 to go, but it was the whole team doing it at that point. But I'm of the same opinion with giving them another few runs together. That was one of Burtons better games IMO. That might largely be down to Hutch doing more/most of the organising.

But our attack looks sharp when we spread the ball. And I liked how Taaffe chimed in to backline plays. That first little kick to Tracey was Sherwin like. Overall we have a backline that'll get better at finishing tries as they learn each other's games.

Support play has improved, but not nearly enough. Burton's break should have had a couple of support runners close, but Burton was tackled and up ready to play the ball before Taaffe got there. And at times our edge forwards crowded the backs, especially later in the game. We know the refs will give us nothing if there's anything looking like a chance to call obstructions when we score. So I don't think it's ideal for there to be too much traffic out wide.

If we can ice more of the chances in the 20, we'll be dangerous.

We need Taafe to be running of forwards hips. Few times on Friday Curran and King were hitting gaps in the defensive line and had an arm free to pop an offload. No one was there. Hutch did it with Morrin and we nearly scored if he had hit Tracey on the chest with the pass.

People say our attack is bad. On Friday I thought we left 3 tries on the field in that first half. We’re creating the opportunities and we look dangerous. Just need some luck and better execution.

 

[S.B.W_Jnr]

01. Connor Tracey
02. Blake Wilson
03. Jacob Kiraz
04. Stephen Crichton
05. Jeral Skelton (xerri ain't ready yet)
06. Matt Burton
07. Toby Sexton/Taffe
08. Max King
09. Reed Mahoney
10. Poasa Faamausili
11. Viliame Kikau
12. Kitione Kautoga
13. Jaeman Salmon

14. Kurt Mann
15. Samuel Hughes
16. Josh Curran
17. Liam Knight

 

[Bulldog wazza]

That will annoy me if they drop off!! Ciraldo is already on thin ice with me. If the same nonsense happens, I want him gone.

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I honestly don't this group dropping like previously seen in 2023. These guys have shown they will fight till the last minute.
Next 2 weeks don't be surprised if we jag a well deserved grinding win over either storm or chooks.. upsets do occur every week