Will the Dogs make the 8 in 2022?

[MasterP]

Top 8 no problem

 

[N4TE]

I say no they just don’t seem to care too much.

 

[Psycho Doggie]

Nothing much in sporting contests is certain (or even nearly certain), hence why I relied on this year's history to determine my vote. Undeniably 2 of the teams in the 8 currently have a losing record, also they are in the 8 having only won 8 games out of 18 so far.

You did ask what teams we might well finish ahead of in 2022, my guesses;

Donkey's - they have salary cap issues up the wazoo, still paying for multiple players at other clubs, can't be fixed in 1 year. As a bonus a lot of players that might have previously automatically gravitated to the only club in Brisbane will have options at the end of next year. + their current coach.

Sharks - lost their best player in Johnson, won several games this year solely on him. + their new coach in his first year.

Dragons - disarray in their leadership, administration & resulting Cap issues, lost their captain. + their current coach

Knights - everything, disinterested players, injury prone strike players (Ponga & Best) + their current coach.

Warriors - lost their best, by a mile, player and may still be travel affected. + their current coach

Tigers - total mess in the back office, still fractured between the West factions and Tigers factions. That's stopping them attracting decent players, not the coach.

Cowboys - they have been farked without JT and will remain so, with the other JT another year older.

Titans - still rebuilding, badly need a spine upgrade.


Always a Bulldog

Thanks for picking up on the discussion.

I think you've picked out a pretty likely group of 8. In terms of teams in your list who could make that 7th or 8th spot, I think Sharks, Titans, and Knights are better chances than we are. Even though they have some changes happening, at this stage their 2022 season is subject to a good deal less variance than ours is. I see Cowboys in a similar position to us, they have some new players coming that they are hoping will bring something, and a 2nd year coach who has now had a good look at what is happening for the team. Tigers won't make the 8, but I'm not assuming we'll beat them when we face them next season. Dragons, Warriors, Donks, are all a mess.

That is based on how things currently stand, of course. Another clutch signing or two by any of those teams changes the way things look, as does a major off field indiscretion.

In terms of who else might get worse, at the moment I'm thinking the Raiders might be another possible.

 

[bradyk]

Thanks for picking up on the discussion.

I think you've picked out a pretty likely group of 8. In terms of teams in your list who could make that 7th or 8th spot, I think Sharks, Titans, and Knights are better chances than we are. Even though they have some changes happening, at this stage their 2022 season is subject to a good deal less variance than ours is. I see Cowboys in a similar position to us, they have some new players coming that they are hoping will bring something, and a 2nd year coach who has now had a good look at what is happening for the team. Tigers won't make the 8, but I'm not assuming we'll beat them when we face them next season. Dragons, Warriors, Donks, are all a mess.

That is based on how things currently stand, of course. Another clutch signing or two by any of those teams changes the way things look, as does a major off field indiscretion.

In terms of who else might get worse, at the moment I'm thinking the Raiders might be another possible.

Broncos have shown more improvement than us recently and they've got Reynolds (and Capewell) coming who in theory will fix more than 1 of their problems. They have a more talented roster than us. If we're saying Broncos are a mess so are we. There are a lot of bad teams but we're one of them, and currently the worst of them all (JAC, Burton and TPJ are good signings but is it enough? I can't say it is).

 

[Psycho Doggie]

Broncos have shown more improvement than us recently and they've got Reynolds (and Capewell) coming who in theory will fix more than 1 of their problems. They have a more talented roster than us. If we're saying Broncos are a mess so are we. There are a lot of bad teams but we're one of them, and currently the worst of them all (JAC, Burton and TPJ are good signings but is it enough? I can't say it is).

Based on what you say, that makes sense. However, that was mostly true over the last two seasons as well, the Bonks have not been wanting for talent. If their performance has been impacted by backroom dramas, as many suspect, there is no indication that anything is changing much in that regard for 2022.

For us, we know changes have happened.

 

[bradyk]

Based on what you say, that makes sense. However, that was mostly true over the last two seasons as well, the Bonks have not been wanting for talent. If their performance has been impacted by backroom dramas, as many suspect, there is no indication that anything is changing much in that regard for 2022.

For us, we know changes have happened.

I think Ben Ikin is a massive signing for them too (they also got Dave Donaghy from the Storm). Not as good as Gould but it's up there.

 

[Psycho Doggie]

I think Ben Ikin is a massive signing for them too (they also got Dave Donaghy from the Storm). Not as good as Gould but it's up there.

Ben Ikin might work out, but I don't feel he has enough runs on the board to be a given. Donaghy is a good signing from the point of view he knows how to operate in a one team town. However, Brisbane is a very different situation from Melbourne, and in terms of leading a struggling organisation he has no experience at all. He took over at Storm in 2015... so he is an unknown for me.

 

[Jarrad El Hickey]

Probs not but if we can get to 9-12 I’ll be happy

 

[childofglossop]

On balance I’d say no.

But I’m really liking the look of our 3 recruits from Storm and Panthers today…playing in the positions they will be in for us next year.

 

[Bulldogs fan]

Burton is playing good atm

 

[Dogmonster]

No, no chance.

 

[Dogtime]

I like the look of our team for 2022. I think the players we have bought will make our existing players look better too. Yes an ace halfback and hooker would be brilliant but if nothing else I'd say our cap is mostly spent now and the balance of next years squad will need to be close to minimum wage. My fear is that our coach is a dud. Will our defence be that much better next year? Why? Will our attack be capable of scoring 30 odd points each game? Our coach is my concern. I haven't liked what I've seen this year. If our coach doesn't get a lot more out of every player next year then we hardly improve from this seasons spoon. It's up to you Trent. The squad we've assembled is a fringe 8 squad. So what will you achieve with it? I say we don't make the 8 next year.

 

[dogwhisperer]

I like the look of our team for 2022. I think the players we have bought will make our existing players look better too. Yes an ace halfback and hooker would be brilliant but if nothing else I'd say our cap is mostly spent now and the balance of next years squad will need to be close to minimum wage. My fear is that our coach is a dud. Will our defence be that much better next year? Why? Will our attack be capable of scoring 30 odd points each game? Our coach is my concern. I haven't liked what I've seen this year. If our coach doesn't get a lot more out of every player next year then we hardly improve from this seasons spoon. It's up to you Trent. The squad we've assembled is a fringe 8 squad. So what will you achieve with it? I say we don't make the 8 next year.

Yep, to me it all hinges on the coach. I think our squad is good enough to make the bottom part of the 8. It’s up to Baz. A bottom 4 finish will mean he doesn’t cut it as a first grade coach. He will have a half decent side to at least be a mid table team pushing for the 8. Even Bennett made the Dragons a powerhouse with an average spine except for Boyd. I wouldn’t call Dean Young, Hornby and Soward as great spine players, but what he did he coached them to their strengths. The ball is in Baz’s court.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

We will finish in a 8 next season.

 

[red-dog]

10-12th is realistically where we will finish. Maybe even lower.

We are bringing in good signings for next year but realistically we still don't know for certainty who our fullback and halfback is going to be. Plus lets not kid ourselves, we are coming last this year and deservedly so. Our squad is mostly filled up with reserve graders or kids. Expecting them to bounce back to top 8 next year is tough. Top 8 is 2023 is the reasonable expectation.

People make it sound like making the top 8 is easy but it really isn't, particularly when you're a club who are rebuilding from dirt like we are. Take the Knights for example, when they began their rebuild after getting 3 spoons in a row. Their rebuild began in 2018 and they have signed talent (Ponga, Pearce, Klemmer, Watson, Frizell) and developed players (Saifiti twins, Best) and since then they've made finals once (and probably won't this year) which would make it 1/4. Same thing can be said with the Titans. My point is that yes we can expect improvement but thinking that we will just waltz into becoming regular finals contenders after winning 5 games in two years is kidding themselves.

 

[diddly]

As was pointed out in another post by someone - an extra 10 metres in each set and a decent kicking game could make a lot of difference. ATM from the start of the game - the dogs receieve the ball and through poor dummy half n lack of go forward make it to about the 40 - the fifthe tackle kick, usually by Averillo is fielded by the opposition on their 30 who end up playing it on the 40. By the fifth the opposition end up with an attacking kick which results in either a line drop out or a play the ball close to the dogs line. On the back foot from the first few sets in most games.
If the dogs can consistently get to the fifth tackle kick around half way and make the opposition play the ball on one inside the 20 it would make a difference. Not saying they will win more games but at least be more competitive

 

[Dingo]

Sure we can, 7th or 8th place looks piss easy going by this year's ladder.

 

[Brendan7]

Gut feel says no, a year away. Still need more forwards.

 

[kap123]

I think we can get in the 5-8 spot and not just because I am a biased fan. If you look at a lot of the clubs not many will improve at the rate the Sharks and ourselves will. The Warriors and Broncos are a chance but still think they are in rebuilding phase when it comes to their top 30 (we have a shit load of work to do with our junior development).

Predicted 2022 ladder

1 Storm
2 Rabbitohs - really like the Milford signing and have a well balanced roster
3 Panthers
4 Manly
5 Roosters - going to go through a lot of change but have shown they will remain top competitors
6 Dogs
7 Sharks
8 Titans
9 Eels
10 Warriors
11 Raiders
12 Knights
13 Dragons
14 Broncos
15 Cowboys
16 Tigers

 

[D.O.W.]

I’m going to say scraping in but only just.. I don’t think our recruitment has finished for next season so we will only be stronger between now and 2022 kick off.