The danger of Graham

[Psycho Doggie]

The last 6 weeks or so have made something clear. The Dogs are too reliant on James Graham. He is a great player, and rightly should be part of a great team, however perhaps his personality has led him to become too dominant. I think it might be effecting his game also, he played better in 2013-2014.

Its reminding me of the last year or two we had SBW, the rest of the team started looking to him to do "it". It doesn't work. Graham wants to win so badly, and plays so strongly, we as fans absolutely love this.

But as a team we need to be able to play good footy consistently whether he is on the field or not, and that is not happening at the moment.

 

[terrylamb4lyfe]

Dud thread, sorry mate But this is just nonsense. Youre looking for something that isnt there.

Look at the actual problems in our squad that you can pinpoint without making vague assumptions.

 

[bcmf]

I agree. You can't have what is essentially your halfback going in for a million tackles again, because he will always have a higher chance of getting injured!

Its time to hand the keys to the halves, and switch to more conventional play.

 

[Polly 95]

Not too mention the loss of Mick Ennis. I believe we miss him immensely.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

the fact that a firstgrade teams structure completely falls apart with the loss of a prop is pathetic imo.

 

[LordSidious66]

Not too mention the loss of Mick Ennis. I believe we miss him immensely.

And people crucified me earlier on the year for saying this. I guess now I'm right

 

[Indiandog]

Na dont agree , our halves are not taking the charge that is what the problem.

They only lift for NSW or selection for NSW

 

[crack]

Our fullback can't catch a bomb and is slow , one winger is too small and slow but has a heart of a lion, we continuously drop the ball in our half at pivotal moments of the game, our kicking game is terrible, our plays are boring and we have a pretender called Williams who is soo disappointing , I cannot believe he is still in first grade. These are our problems , not graham..,

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Na dont agree , our halves are not taking the charge that is what the problem.

They only lift for NSW or selection for NSW

They lift for NSW selection? They don't even do that...

 

[Fruitty Pebbles]

Na dont agree , our halves are not taking the charge that is what the problem.

They only lift for NSW or selection for NSW

If that sh!t that Hokko dished out tonight is considered as him lifting for Origin selection, then My God we are FUKD

 

[Chicharito]

What a difference that 1 bloke can have on a team. We actually looked fairly strong when Graham was out there but it all went tits up after he left the field.

 

[c-b-b]

Graham is one of the only players who has pride in the jersey. It hurts him to lose a game. Atm he's carrying the pretenders. Agree it is hurting his game and he'll end up burnt out.

 

[Indiandog]

They lift for NSW selection? They don't even do that...

If that sh!t that Hokko dished out tonight is considered as him lifting for Origin selection, then My God we are FUKD

What I meant to say was that they "say" they try to lift for origin jersey.

Obviously pretty pathetic effort of lifting up.

 

[Psycho Doggie]

Dud thread, sorry mate But this is just nonsense. Youre looking for something that isnt there.

Look at the actual problems in our squad that you can pinpoint without making vague assumptions.

As evidence for the observation made, please consider the performance of the team before the Souths game, and then during the period while Graham was suspended, then have a look at tonight's game, both the period before he went off concussed, and the period after.

The main assumption I was making was that the evidence is fairly clear. But you've proved that assumption wrong, so here is a part of the evidence, in terms of data:

5 games before Graham suspension:
3 wins, 2 losses (including controversial loss to Souths)
Average of 21.6 points per game in offense
Average of 18 points per game scored against us.

4 games while Graham suspended:
1 win, 3 losses
Average of 16 points per game in offense
Average of 27 points per game scored against us.

Tonight
Before Graham's concussion:
4-0, dogs on top, and look like making a game of it.
After Graham's concussion:
6-24, went from hanging in there to no hope.

Stats only tell part of the story, however. Without Graham the team looks like it lacks energy, composure, and passion. Graham is the type of player who would happily provide enough energy and passion for 13 men, but the rest of the team can't get sucked into a mindset where they rely on him for it, and they plainly are. Without him, they are good in patches, but woeful for stretches.

Even the guy covering the game for smh could see that things changed when Graham went off the field:

"Canterbury were woeful once skipper James Graham went off late in the first half following a head knock." Source.

 

[Psycho Doggie]

Our fullback can't catch a bomb and is slow , one winger is too small and slow but has a heart of a lion, we continuously drop the ball in our half at pivotal moments of the game, our kicking game is terrible, our plays are boring and we have a pretender called Williams who is soo disappointing , I cannot believe he is still in first grade. These are our problems , not graham..,

Why do those problems become prevalent and lead to bad losses in matches when Graham is not on the field, but not when he is on the field?

 

[blueyedsamurai]

As evidence for the observation made, please consider the performance of the team before the Souths game, and then during the period while Graham was suspended, then have a look at tonight's game, both the period before he went off concussed, and the period after.

The main assumption I was making was that the evidence is fairly clear. But you've proved that assumption wrong, so here is a part of the evidence, in terms of data:

5 games before Graham suspension:
3 wins, 2 losses (including controversial loss to Souths)
Average of 21.6 points per game in offense
Average of 18 points per game scored against us.

4 games while Graham suspended:
1 win, 3 losses
Average of 16 points per game in offense
Average of 27 points per game scored against us.

Tonight
Before Graham's concussion:
4-0, dogs on top, and look like making a game of it.
After Graham's concussion:
6-24, went from hanging in there to no hope.

Stats only tell part of the story, however. Without Graham the team looks like it lacks energy, composure, and passion. Graham is the type of player who would happily provide enough energy and passion for 13 men, but the rest of the team can't get sucked into a mindset where they rely on him for it, and they plainly are. Without him, they are good in patches, but woeful for stretches.

Even the guy covering the game for smh could see that things changed when Graham went off the field:

"Canterbury were woeful once skipper James Graham went off late in the first half following a head knock." Source.

You're forgetting we lost brett as well when we lost graham, brett was killing it before he got injured.

 

[Raikkonen]

Our team seems to struggle when first pick players aren't available. Other teams seem to cope better with players out.

And yes, so many of our structures are set-up around Graham. Our other forwards can't produce what he can, and the adhesive that holds everything together falls apart.

 

[Haddaway]

Our record without Graham is awful.

 

[Raikkonen]

We lost our halfback to a concussion tonight.

Unfortunately, Hodkinson did a bad job of impersonating a replacement halfback.

 

[Haddaway]

Remember 2013? When he was suspended we went 1-6 I think lol.