Is it the right strategy

[Kaito]

Kaito we have changed the halves, we have changed the three quarters, there has been one constant.
The fullback sets the tone of every teams attack, wraps around the halves to make the extra man or at least create a bit of uncertainty in the opposing defence.
The fullback should also be capable of filling in at first receiver and have some sort of kicking game when required.
Our fullback has absolutely no idea how to do any of this. I’m 99.9% certain Benji & Farah are not instructing him to refrain from doing anything I’ve mentioned above.
He seems like a very respectful and dedicated young man, but our teams attack will never be any good while he plays 1, mark my words.

You want me to agree with you so bad about Bula
not being a fullback, but I won't budge darn it. He
just needs to run more than he slides & passes. I'm
ok with how he's going, he's improving in other areas,
on the field & probably off it. Jahream will be fine

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Kaito we have changed the halves, we have changed the three quarters, there has been one constant.
The fullback sets the tone of every teams attack, wraps around the halves to make the extra man or at least create a bit of uncertainty in the opposing defence.
The fullback should also be capable of filling in at first receiver and have some sort of kicking game when required.
Our fullback has absolutely no idea how to do any of this. I’m 99.9% certain Benji & Farah are not instructing him to refrain from doing anything I’ve mentioned above.
He seems like a very respectful and dedicated young man, but our teams attack will never be any good while he plays 1, mark my words.

I put this down to the coaching & Api.

Api is trying hard but I actually think he over plays & over controls the middle of the park.

We clearly aren’t spending hours on attacking formations or setup plays for our backs.

You only have to look at Sezar, Bud and Galvin who most games look lost. Heck Galvin is putting his hands in the air multiple times a game now in frustration. Bula plays outside of them all. Our centers/wingers/back rowers catch colds most days with lack of getting the ball. Heck Papa often moved infield to get the ball this year as does Bateman.

Am I convinced on Bula being that awesome fullback like a teddy - nope, his work rate is meh but when the ball shifts on limited chances he is in the right spots which he wasn’t last year - especially beside Galvin.

 

[twentyforty]

We’ve always been a mediocre focused club. Elias tried to change that by getting Sheens in, but the problem with Sheens was ..well he wanted to win.
Winning clubs have a distinct advantage with well thought out pathways/succession planning. This scattershot approach we use doesn’t work.
In a winning team when a legend is retiring or moving on there is another legend who’s been eagerly waiting for his opportunity.
Grant >

 

[weststigerman]

Kaito we have changed the halves, we have changed the three quarters, there has been one constant.
The fullback sets the tone of every teams attack, wraps around the halves to make the extra man or at least create a bit of uncertainty in the opposing defence.
The fullback should also be capable of filling in at first receiver and have some sort of kicking game when required.
Our fullback has absolutely no idea how to do any of this. I’m 99.9% certain Benji & Farah are not instructing him to refrain from doing anything I’ve mentioned above.
He seems like a very respectful and dedicated young man, but our teams attack will never be any good while he plays 1, mark my words.

How did you think our attack was in the first 6 rounds of 2023? No Bula then.

 

[Telltails]

Maintain Bulldogs recruited well to get a team off the bottom of the ladder. They are not going to win it but the improvement will serve them well in attracting and retaining players and gives their fans some hope
They targeted players in good systems that were stuck behind others and added one marquee. The Warriors did something similar the year before and Ivan tried to do that when he was here but the contracts were over inflated and the players well past their best. It's a long tough comp and transitioning juniors in a bottom placed team is not going to result in success. And there is nothing to suggest that our juniors are superior to other clubs. It was a very poor recruitment drive for a wooden spoon team and we have reached the point now where it's beginning to really hurt.

 

[Tucker]

Well. What happened to all those crap players we had that smashed Cronulla?

Exactly.
This squad has enough decent players to win games.
It all comes down to attitude, discipline and preparation.
Even the Bulldogs game could have been won had we not lost the plot

 

[twentyforty]

Sometimes I wonder if we're just looking in the wrong places? Surely we have a profile of the exact player we want for each position?

 

[Vicious]

How did you think our attack was in the first 6 rounds of 2023? No Bula then.

No good as we had another dud fullback.
You don’t think the fullback is one of the main attacking weapons in every NRL team ?
If the fullback sucks, the teams attack sucks, plain and simple.

 

[Flippedy]

Maintain Bulldogs recruited well to get a team off the bottom of the ladder. They are not going to win it but the improvement will serve them well in attracting and retaining players and gives their fans some hope
They targeted players in good systems that were stuck behind others and added one marquee. The Warriors did something similar the year before and Ivan tried to do that when he was here but the contracts were over inflated and the players well past their best. It's a long tough comp and transitioning juniors in a bottom placed team is not going to result in success. And there is nothing to suggest that our juniors are superior to other clubs. It was a very poor recruitment drive for a wooden spoon team and we have reached the point now where it's beginning to really hurt.

Yes they certainly did recruit well, but it has even taken them a little while to begin to rise. It’s only really happening now, the addition of Crichton was huge. Their halves have been a weak link for a while.

I must admit I thought our forward recruitment a couple of years ago was good, I expected a lot more from Klemmer, Papalii and Bateman. Along with Stef, I thought those guys with their experience, leadership skills and talent would be able to lay a platform for some solid wins last year and this season. It’s hugely disappointing and inexplicable how formerly good players turn to crap when they come into this system. We blamed the halves (mainly Brooks) for not being able to capitalise on the platform laid by the new pack, but in reality nothing has changed and those guys, imo, are regressing.

 

[weststigerman]

No good as we had another dud fullback.
You don’t think the fullback is one of the main attacking weapons in every NRL team ?
If the fullback sucks, the teams attack sucks, plain and simple.

I think there are about 4 or 5 fullbacks that can make a difference to our attack and they are all on over $1M at successful clubs.

Bula doesn’t “suck” he’s just below the elite fullbacks. I can assure you, there are no elite fullbacks running around in NSW cup.

 

[Dr_Ice]

Kaito we have changed the halves, we have changed the three quarters, there has been one constant.
The fullback sets the tone of every teams attack, wraps around the halves to make the extra man or at least create a bit of uncertainty in the opposing defence.
The fullback should also be capable of filling in at first receiver and have some sort of kicking game when required.
Our fullback has absolutely no idea how to do any of this. I’m 99.9% certain Benji & Farah are not instructing him to refrain from doing anything I’ve mentioned above.
He seems like a very respectful and dedicated young man, but our teams attack will never be any good while he plays 1, mark my words.

Bula certainly has areas of improvement. However maybe part of the problem is in your first sentence, the players around him have constantly changed.

 

[Vicious]

Bula certainly has areas of improvement. However maybe part of the problem is in your first sentence, the players around him have constantly changed.

I keep hearing plenty of excuses of why he can’t ignite our attack, good players find solutions not look for excuses.

 

[gregjm87]

Yes they certainly did recruit well, but it has even taken them a little while to begin to rise. It’s only really happening now, the addition of Crichton was huge. Their halves have been a weak link for a while.

I must admit I thought our forward recruitment a couple of years ago was good, I expected a lot more from Klemmer, Papalii and Bateman. Along with Stef, I thought those guys with their experience, leadership skills and talent would be able to lay a platform for some solid wins last year and this season. It’s hugely disappointing and inexplicable how formerly good players turn to crap when they come into this system. We blamed the halves (mainly Brooks) for not being able to capitalise on the platform laid by the new pack, but in reality nothing has changed and those guys, imo, are regressing.

IMO The 4 you mentioned are good enough to hold their own against any pack with a few additional pieces around them. I think one position that we have been lacking for so long is a genuine lock. By taking the ball to the line and good selective short passing they make the job of the front rowers so much easier. It results in them hitting the line between defenders or one on one rather than taking on multiple defenders front on. That in turn gives the rest of the side something to play off.
Add in that our bench forwards and baseline are mostly trash and it is little wonder that those forwards were not enough.

 

[Flippedy]

I keep hearing plenty of excuses of why he can’t ignite our attack, good players find solutions not look for excuses.

Sadly GI’s mentorship hasn’t done much for Bula playing wise.

 

[Flippedy]

IMO The 4 you mentioned are good enough to hold their own against any pack with a few additional pieces around them. I think one position that we have been lacking for so long is a genuine lock. By taking the ball to the line and good selective short passing they make the job of the front rowers so much easier. It results in them hitting the line between defenders or one on one rather than taking on multiple defenders front on. That in turn gives the rest of the side something to play off.
Add in that our bench forwards and baseline are mostly trash and it is little wonder that those forwards were not enough.

Yeah I thought Joe O was a pretty good lock. Bad move we didn’t keep him when we added the others, imo. Be nice if we had someone like Cameron Murray or Isaiah Yeo, but alas no.

 

[weststigerman]

Bula certainly has areas of improvement. However maybe part of the problem is in your first sentence, the players around him have constantly changed.

I think that’s a big reason why Edwards come so far since 2019 when he was playing a lot of NSW Cup.

 

[crazycat]

Kaito we have changed the halves, we have changed the three quarters, there has been one constant.
The fullback sets the tone of every teams attack, wraps around the halves to make the extra man or at least create a bit of uncertainty in the opposing defence.
The fullback should also be capable of filling in at first receiver and have some sort of kicking game when required.
Our fullback has absolutely no idea how to do any of this. I’m 99.9% certain Benji & Farah are not instructing him to refrain from doing anything I’ve mentioned above.
He seems like a very respectful and dedicated young man, but our teams attack will never be any good while he plays 1, mark my words.

So how do we build a Junior into a key position?

With Centers, there "should be" an older center the younger one can learn off. LIkewise Wingers, someone who people can peer off and get ideas from. I think that's where JAC is an asset at the dogs, their next backs will learn from him.

But Fullback, Fullback is a lot about position, defense and helping the team move. Teddy benefitted a lot from Minichello as painful as that is to say. We need similar guidance for Bula.

 

[Vicious]

So how do we build a Junior into a key position?

With Centers, there "should be" an older center the younger one can learn off. LIkewise Wingers, someone who people can peer off and get ideas from. I think that's where JAC is an asset at the dogs, their next backs will learn from him.

But Fullback, Fullback is a lot about position, defense and helping the team move. Teddy benefitted a lot from Minichello as painful as that is to say. We need similar guidance for Bula.

Let’s sign Blaize Talagi to replace him, I get the impression Blaize is a much quicker learner.

 

[tigerjoe 0]

Let’s sign Blaize Talagi to replace him, I get the impression Blaize is a much quicker learner.

I don't know guys is it just me or do players we bring in always fall to the lowest common denominator. I just constantly see good players playing like they don't care and are going through the motions ?

 

[BrendonWT]

interesting how our club used to be known as the retirement home paying overs for has beens now we are the complete opposite we are one of if not one of the LEAST experienced sides!