It’s frustrating as a fan. There is a new crackdown every season. And normally another leading into finals. All media biased. 

Yes. Very happy with Ciro in the press conference. Clearly pointing out the hip drop wasn’t a penalty. But taking ownership of the poor performance and if we played better we could have won. We need that mentality. 

One change I would make is.

7. Oloapu
14. Flanno.

While I like Grub, I think that we went backwards when he came on, and he was probably the worst performer.

Allamotti made a complete hash of defending on the wing. The difference is that he is young and very good when playing his natural position.

I though Edwards was good and we lost authority in the middle when he went off.
Skelton or Casey both good replacements for Fox, Burns also decent.

I think it is 50/50 that Preston will suspened for a week due to the hip drop BS. Topine or Davey could replace him.

We need to get back to defending like the 2023 Bulldogs.

It wasn't even close to a hip drop. Preston was on the ground and was pulling the Souths' player down when his ankle got caught up. It didn't look like one then and it doesn't look like one now. Accidents can happen as Declan McManus told us. The second Good Friday game under Sutton where we have been robbed. Admittedly it was not his call but if Butthead is in charge...Butthead must take the blame. It takes away focus from a mighty effort. I doubt if we could have won the game but anything is possible when the team is on a roll and that chance was taken away by that decision. Reed Mahoney is doing a fantastic job which even extended to placating Josh Reynolds when Preston was binned. The decision sapped the dogs and with the extra man most teams could have finished us off. I'd say Okunbur would take the wing spot at least for the first week. 

My concern is the NRL won't look at it on its merits as they want to keep the description black and white.

Basically, if a player hangs off a ball runner and drags him to the ground, irrespective of whether he lands on him or not, they want to penalise the action. It's easier for them to do that than adjudicate one from another.

Sad but true

I'd actually prefer JOK on the bench rotation for second row. He shows enthusiasm in that role and straightens the attack.

I'd like CC to review his decision to throw topine at centre and push Alamoti to wing. Especially against a team like Souths who are very strong in their backline, he was probably better to put a faster winger out of Kiraz and Avo there.

I know alot of teams push one of their mobile back rowers into the centre spot and move the centre to the wing, but I think against the faster wing teams and given Alamoti couldn't defend the wing position very well, he may to reconsider if we are in the same position. 

Again, we were short of players going into the game and had a very restricted and inexperienced bench. To cop that blow to JAC was just another devastating blow.

The other position I'm starting to question is fullback. Perham does well to organise our defence and takes bombs well. But there seems to be this constant breakdown when he chimes in for sweep plays. It's almost like we run out of room or he fails to pass and is then forced to run behind his centre or lead runner and submit to the tackle. Happens at least once in every single game. 

The lack of creativity in the halves put more onus on the fullback to be that second 5/8th and Perham unfortunately does not have those ball playing skills. 

I'm afraid the predictions of us being a team around 7th - 12th are correct. Given we have played with heart in all but the Manly game, we should be better but still lack polish even when we have ball in opposition 20m. 

I was at the game and although the muppet with the whistle wasn't the only cause for the loss, he was responsible for the blowout score and yes he was once again very biased against us. The sin binning of Preston,  the 11 - 3 penalty count, the blind eye to forward passes and ruck indiscretions were quite obvious as to where his intent was, but as a Bulldogs fan and like most of us, this has become the norm for a Good Friday game. On a more Bulldogs oriented level, we were definately outplayed and the Bunnies would have won even without Suttons help and once JAC went off, they exploited that side and we couldn't stop the hemorrhaging. We were taking poor options and gifting souffs possession with our poor discipline when in possession. Josh Reynolds did not add much value when he came on and the biggest disappointment was Kyle Flanagan. He didn't step up, he didn't show any signs of being capable of steering the team. Unfortunately his days are well and truly numbered and the quicker Oloapu graduates the better. Enough of my rant I am just over the Good Friday farce.

They may want to keep Okunbor in the bench role, bad luck that the one game when he could have come in handy, we didn't have him.

From the highlights Skelton is very impressive in reserve grade.

The lost the game in 2 patches, when JAC went off we initially handled it well, but Souths executed well for their first try which had a line ball pass. After that we were well out of the game for 10 minutes, and most of the first half damage was done. 

Posession stats started to mount and we didn't throw much at them in attack after the first 15 mins.

Second half was similar when we had energy and executed for the first 15 mins Souths didn't look threatening.

When Preston was binned we lost momentum the toll of posession told and the side ran out of gas. Still our defence was well short of the standard we would like to see.

Lack of size is probably contributing to some of the so called "hip drops" when a guy pokes through the line and the defender is behind him, if the defender falls, ending up on the attackers legs is fairly likely.

The short turn around team changes and limited preparation are factors. But I am glad that we will have a bit more size next game.

Seems to me that the team is greatly improved this season, even in this bad loss there were 2 x 15 mins of good attack and defence. We need to work on what happened the other 50 mins, the loss of JAC was 50% of that. Even Edwards going off HIA was a factor.

All will be forgotten if we win next game. The players deserve a good rest over the weekend, there has been no lack of effort 80 mins every week. The draw leading into this game was the type of cock-up that the NRL is good at. 

If you saw reserve grade, how did Skelton, Casey, Davey and Oloapu go?

These are the guys most likely to be in contention next week.

I am also interested in opinions on the young reserve grade fullback, Perham is solid, but he is no Latrell, he is below average for an NRL fullback in attack. Defence and positional play are good.

Critter is coming next season, but we need to try and find improvement this season. I would not move Averillo.

Apparently no judiciary charges from yesterday's game. So we should expect an announcement that someone from the bunker has been sacked for next week? If only the system was fair dinkum...

Funny that!
Did you see the tall tees at Augusta National (Masters) that fell near the gallery of golf patrons overnight? Surprisingly they managed to get out of the way in time with no injuries!

26-12 down with all the momentum and 18 minutes left...but any chance deprived by an incorrect decision by the so called experts,

The first one started to break with an almighty crack so thankfully that warning enabled the crowd to spread...lucky

You are very right about the hip drop assessment in paragraph 7. 

Basically what the NRL is asking for by saying they want to eliminate that sort of tackle, is that if the opposition punches through your defence and you're hanging off him, you must let go and not drag him down or go through with the tackle.

Basically you had your chance, you blew it by not getting him down "conventionally" and now you are just a risk.

Stupid mentality. 

Other than the storm, and Dale in particular I don't think there are many players that intentionally try to drop on the player. Most are trying to just drop to the ground and get the player down with them. 

It's really not that hard to tell the difference between an intentional one and an accidental one. So just judge it on thrle day and otherwise let the MRC deal with it later if on field call is blatantly wrong.

I think they had our measure over the 80mins as the damage was done in the first half, but I was looking to win that second half or stay competitive, to boost confidence in the team that they can swing momentum from misfortune.

The blow out did nothing for that confidence and not much to gain from that game now other than the fact you should take advantage of a 13 on 12 and pile on points.

Storm did it to Roosters and Souths did it to us.
We need to be able to score at least 1 try if not 2 while opposition has a man down

Lucky indeed.
It might sound easy, but with so many trees around, just hearing it isn't enough to figure out which ones cracked and which way they would fall.

You had to wait for significant movement to figure out and then scurry away without tripping over others in the gallery.

One of my pet hates in rugby league is when the attacker starts to chop down on the tacklers arms with such force that it should be deemed striking and clear send off.

I see it so many times. The tackler is holding on to the attackers jersey or body and the attacker whilst trying to break free for a quick PTB, strikes at the forearm of the tackler with enough force to result in a breakage.

How it hasn't happened yet is beyond me. It looks horrific to watch and I'm surprised the NRL don't see the risk in it. In my opinion it is 10 times worse than any hip drop tackle and blatantly intentional, careless and reckless at the same time.

Yes, damage to confidence is my major concern.

We struggled when our confidence dropped and that has been a problem for several years.

The good part is Marhoney and Burton kept playing and put on 2 good trys in the second half. 

One of my gripes against Grub is that he ran a lazy line and that resulted in another Burto try being chalked off.
IMO decoys need to use footwork or anything else in their skill set to avoid a colision, if it looks like an effort has been made more chance that the refs will consider that the defender caused the collision.

Kicks and TPJ coming back should boost our confidence, the lack of Fox is a bummer, but I think we have reasonable replacements available.

Beyond confidence, we need to look at the mistakes of all kinds made in that game, the numbers were too high.

They’re bloody good aren’t they…

Manly making us look good.

THE HIP DROP 

Surely some of the onus has to be on the bloke continuing to strive forward in the tackle with 2 or 3 men on him.. there has to be an element of self care the entire premise of tackling is to stop go forward and it becomes instinctual..

My main gripe is with the over use of the bunker. Sutton saw Preston's tackle and let it go. The bunker comes in and they apparently have the final say and are never over ruled. In a case like this the bunker should stayed out of it and if there is a problem, that's what the MRC is for.

Another thing every time the ball goes into the in goal the ref goes to the bunker. It should only be used for contentious decisions, not as a prop for the ref. These delays often advantage one team or the other. It prevents a quick restart of play.

To match it with the top teams we need a halfback, fullback and maybe a prop.

Critter is coming next season, and we have 2-3 good young halves and a good young fullback in the lower grades.

To make a good impression this season we need a good run with injuries from here, and we need to give Olo a shot at halfback.

There is no such thing as a hip drop tackle. That’s the truth. Players have been hurt for the last hundred years because they kept pushing forward and a player fell on their legs. It’s the latest bullshit by the NRL to add some extra media attention to the game. 

We are playing good footy. But I do hope it’s time to throw in a few young blokes. Oloapu and Skelton 

IMO a hip drop is where a player deliberately falls  / throws themselves off their feet.

Most players would not fo it, but players do cannon-ball tackles which are just as dangerous.

The Souths coach needs to get his eyesight checked, he said Edwards do a hip drop early in the game, it was nothing like a hip drop, I think Edwards was holding the players legs and his upper body twisted.

Out of the tackles that are being called hip drop, 85% of them aren't. The Preston one was nothing like a hip drop.

The binning of Preston didn't have a big impact on that Souths game, but the suspension of Okunbor did. Ok was the ideal player to come on where Fox was injured.

Ok and Preston should not have been 10 in the bin. At worst Ok should have copped a fine. Accidental hip drop like tackles  (Ok) should be on report and a fine for the first offence 

Why have a fashionable crackdown with severe penalties, with no prior notice. Why not phase it in slowly and give players time to adapt?

The Preston sin binning may not have changed the result of the game BUT it certainly did change the game. We had momentum and it was taken away. Yes, Souths probably would still have won but the score would have been a hell of a lot different. Demetriu deserves a fine for bringing the game into disrepute. There must be an increased onus (as in NRL instructions) for the referee to call held sooner. The incidence of  ACTUAL hip drop tackles is usually a result of the attacking player struggling too long and a third playre coming in. If the ball is locked up the ref has to call held sooner.

There's certainly some truth to this (player continuously trying to advance in the tackle).

It's funny how when a player dives on a ball near the sideline or tryline and the defenders just have to initiate contact for it to be considered a tackle, yet in the middle of field, the ref let's them fight through tackles until he feels it's time to call held

The game would definitely have been closer if we had Okunbor on the bench.

I see the Okunbor tackle as similar to bouncing up off up off the ball and hitting a guy in the head. Accidental but slightly careless. Should have been no more than a fine.
.
Preston incident similar to an accidental head clash, until it happened, Preston had no idea that it would happen. He had no chance of avoiding the outcome, there was not the slightest chance that it was reckless. It was unfortunate, but not even a penalty.

Whoever was in the bunker revealed that they don't know much about the game and should not be officiating.

Demetriu has revealed his true character, total lack of class and objective vision. We play Souths again this season, I hope that we beat them and put them out of the 8. That is what Demetriu deserves.

The result stands, the game is a learning opportunity for us.

2 forced offloads resulting in turnovers, failing to find touch after a penalty. Some poor passing decisions. Offside on a kick unnecessarily. Sloppy decoy run ruling out a try. Some bad organisation in defence. A few good intercept opportunities not taken.

Next time we play Souths, we need to be better, and the team can watch the Demetriu press conference as part of our preparation.