**live game feed** vs the Dragons

[crazycat]

I’m glad Simpkin is locked up, however nothing he has shown so far has me believing he’s better than Liddle. There was one point where he got a quick play the ball, 20 out, with a retreating defensive line. I got on the edge of my seat to see what would happen, and he just took the tackle. That was disappointing.

I thought the same. I have been expecting more dynamic running from him but he seems to want to play safe. We need him to be more dynamic from DH to get us on the front foot as it creates space with the defense.
What was clear to me though was that we do not like to run into space within our forward pack and we lack a ball playing forward. Big Joe cannot pass a ball to save his life although he did have a good game today.

I actually think Big Joe should move to the second row.
I thought this with Momo, I am thinking this now with Cini. Move big joe to the second row or bench rotation.

The other thing, Dummy half is a very KEY position. I noticed that Harry Grant had a bumper season with us but at the cost of Luke Brooks game. Players read players. If you have a Hooker that runs all the time then the defense will know not to expect the pass. It would not surprise me if often there is left a slightly larger gap between two good defenders to get the attack to pick the wrong spot to try.

Either way Simpkin seems to be passing the ball better and letting Brooks do his job.

 

[innsaneink]

Haven't enjoyed a win.like that for a lonnnng time... Yeah the first 40 was very ugly and yeah the stains lived up to their name.... but that 2nd 40 min was great!

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Wow you'd be disappointed if you expected anything from Dufty today. The invisible man.

Dufty made two try saving tackles. Remember the Dragons suffered significant injury to players in the game. We won't be so lucky against the Titans.

 

[yeti]

I’ve never won a game and been so deflated. We were shocking (diabolical) is the first half. The dragons were awful! Our attack was disgusting. We will be lucky to beat any other team as I don’t think any other team can possibly play worse than us, other than us, or St George today. I’m still embarrassed by our attack. We look awful. It is a win that we didn’t need. Bet we get lapped by the Titans in their comeback game next week.

You'd be fun at a party!

 

[Speed2burn]

It’s hard to comment on individual performances live at the game. The only real player that stood out for me was Laurie, Cini had a very promising debut and our forwards actually aimed up. Will have to watch a replay but it was a very scrappy game

Either way, with where we are at in the season I’m just glad to get the W

 

[Furious1]

Has anyone pointed out Doueihi's crafty play? I loved the way he ran at the line almost the entire first half and then turned that into a real threat in the second half by bringing in the short ball to great effect. Had the Dragons uncertain and on the back foot. Really like the way he worked that and shows he's a really smart player who knows how to build during a game. Rarely takes the worng option in attack and looks like a leader. People say he's not a 5/8, but that was classic 5/8 play. On the other side, I find Brooks' play really hard to decipher and so do the players outside him (and I'm not a Brooks basher, just huge difference in the way each player works with the outside backs).

I still think we need someone to run a crash line like Lawrence use to ...can really stop teams sliding and create space outside the crash line ....then you'll find Laurie / BJ and Jet become far more effective in attack

Apply for attack coach!! We are running across field way too much, somebody needs to run that line whether they get the ball or not to try to square up the defence. If we start doing that i'm sure we will be much more threatening.

 

[tony soprano]

Anyone think talau is in any trouble for the shoulder charge and will miss some games?

 

[mike]

Anyone think talau is in any trouble for the shoulder charge and will miss some games?

Didn’t even notice, hope not.

 

[Furious1]

Anyone think talau is in any trouble for the shoulder charge and will miss some games?

Didnt watch a replay but thought nothing of it at the time. I don't think Talau did either.

 

[jadtiger]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

 

[Guest]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

I think Talau may have a problem. He did drop his shoulder.

 

[old_man_tiger]

The best thing about the game was the 8 points conceded.

Very nice to win. I'm concerned about our starting pack, 18 months of Tamou is going to feel like a long time at this rate.

 

[JC99]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

I think Talau may have a problem. He did drop his shoulder.

And we don't have a centre to bring in. That would be real bad if he gets suspended

 

[facepalmer]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

I think Talau may have a problem. He did drop his shoulder.

And we don't have a centre to bring in. That would be real bad if he gets suspended

We could get an exemption I guess.

 

[851]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

I think Talau may have a problem. He did drop his shoulder.

And we don't have a centre to bring in. That would be real bad if he gets suspended

Roberts, is he going to be fit or MBye

 

[tony soprano]

Anyone think talau is in any trouble for the shoulder charge and will miss some games?

Didn’t even notice, hope not.

Yeah mate the try they let in he dropped his shoulder to protect himself

 

[Guest]

Best option would be Cini in the centres with Hoffman on the wing.

Roberts may be back from his mysterious "pec injury".

Putting Mbye in the centres should never be on the table again. Dismal failure that doesn't need to be revisited.

 

[JC99]

There were 2 reported players yesterday who shouldnt be charged with anything(sutton is a dope) Talau and the dragons bloke at the end of the game.

I think Talau may have a problem. He did drop his shoulder.

And we don't have a centre to bring in. That would be real bad if he gets suspended


Roberts, is he going to be fit or MBye

Doubt Roberts is fit, Mbye seems the easiest option. Could get an exemption for Hoffman but he's not stood out in reserve grade to me. If Mbye is centre Liddle can come into the bench

 

[PJ_]

Wow you'd be disappointed if you expected anything from Dufty today. The invisible man.

Yeah, real quiet

 

[TigerSJ]

Gritty effort in general against a fairly poor St George team. Probably would have been a lot tougher if Lomax played.
Special mentions: Solid efforts from our halves and better effort from Laurie and Noffa this week. Joeys best game for us this season and Cini did well on debut.
In the forwards, our props were just OK with Mikaele the only one who looked dangerous. Backrowers were solid with some good moments. Simpkins was unfortunately pretty poor today and needs to lift his service quality or Liddle will need to be returned. We surprisingly looked better with Mbye on than we did with Simpkins, which in itself highlights how his game went.
Overall we were riddled with dumb errors, mostly in the first half, and will hopefully improve on that next week.