I would take any starting prop today over any of ours from yesterday. It’s really sad thinking that ashen you’re a dogs supporter

Lindsay Collins.... runs hard, tackles hard.... but he also pushes up in attack and today, has a pass on him too to set up the debutant and Morris for tries!

Now like I asked yesterday about Brian To’o.... why can’t any of our forwards even attempt to do that?

Didn't really help the Tigers.
Hard to believe we are 3rd last and the 2 teams above us aren't going much better.
The 2 forward passes from Katoa were partially due our havles playing on the front foot, so the right idea, just bad timing.

We need more go forward, that was why I looked at players  who can break tackles.
This year we need to run with what we have, we do need to recruit for next year.

One name worth considering is Bunty Afoa off contract at the Warriors.

I don’t think they have the speed or skill to do that. Plus it doesn’t help when you’re back peddling all game. 

Lindsay Collins wasn't a big name when the Roosters signed him.

Sure a real fowards leader is worth the money.

Otherwise sign 1 or 2 good young props with potential.

The Morris brothers look much better playing for the Roosters, a well organised confident team always goes well, Halfback, fullback and hooker in that order are the players that make a differnce.

Next in importance are the 2 starting props. With the right partner Hetherington is ok.

Thompson won't add size.  It's more about the fight in the dog than the size of the dog in the fight.

Fight in the Dog, energy, fitness and execution are all important.

Smaller teams need to run harder, execute better, move the ball and have good line speed and execution in defence.

They need to move the bigger pack around with ball movement, tempo, execution and a good kicking game.

It is tough but we have a few fighters Thompson, Jackson, Elliott and Hetherington.

I also like Flanagan's attitude, he is trying to win games, not make friends.

Players in the team making dumb mistakes or lacking fight are what we need to address.

Lindsay Collins has been a favourite of mine for the last 2 years. He was good in Origin last year too. No nonsense forward who is getting better with every game. 

No way.
We get him, and I stop supporting the Dogs.
Rubbish attitude and very average player. Too easy to get under his skin.

Our players are what they are for this year. We cant chanted that now.

But we must try to change the way they play or wish them well in their futures.

Teaching them to play with abit more speed and a focus on getting on a roll should take about 6 weeks, which is around the time all players should have full match fitness. 

Correct.
What Thompson does and does well is that he runs with speed and intent and he knows how to fall to the ground in tackles or keep legs pumping. He is one of our best forwards but would be even better in most other teams that play with speed at retreating defence lines.
We need more guys like him.

Naturally he's a favourite of yours...he's a fekking Rorter

Even more reason to sign him. I’ll throw in $50

Haas is good, but good for the odd brain fade.

The Broncos had a massive pack last year, but the coach preached a complicated game plan and we know the result.

But beyond that there was a pattern, get the majority of the ball the Broncos win easily.
The opposition has the majority of posession the Broncs fall appart.

You need a mix, Thompson, Jackson and Elliott are a great start, throw in a Paine Hass a Collins or another genuine NRL prop with Hetherington Atoni and Odgen we would have a competitive pack.

I would prefer to sign a quality hooker and a prop as compared to 2 quality props.
We also need to recruit some good young forwards and keep our better players.

With Burton and the Fox coming, we need to spend the rest of the budget wisely.

The back 5 making yards is slso an important part of the game.
We were mostly ok in that area last year, but  this is an area we can improve. 

Just saw the Barrett presser....

I hope he was lying through his teeth coz we were no where better than the patchy effort last week. He made it sound like we improved. We didnt.

I dont expect him to single out any players in the press conference but he certainly shouldn't sugar coat that diabolical performance either.

No it was pretty realistic.

I don't think we played 40 mins of good footy, but we hung in most of the first half so 30 mins.

Fewer dumb errors, but more lame options in attack.

Panthers also better than the Knights, in completions, kicks, attack and defence.

We played better, but the better quaility opponent more than negated that.

Already we look like a bottom 5 side, i am not expecting to make the 8.
Not happy with the performance, but the coach summed up what needs to be fixed.

What is different this year is I am happy with the new recruits, particularly, Cotric, Flanagan and Allen.
We finally have a proper halfback and fullback, now we need an even share of posession and fewer poor mistakes.

Haas and BSmith might work well for us. Just bring through some more young props and we should be good. Spend the money we have 

It's the possession thing that worries me.
We dont create extra possession for ourselves.
If it's not gifted to us, we simply dont get it.

And if we dont have it, we lose and lose easily.

The only way to get extra posession (other than gifted by the refs in penalties or 6 agains) is if the opposition has a poorer completion rate than you or if you get repeat sets from attacking plays in the opposite ingoal. You can also get it if you keep scoring.

I'd like to see us mount pressure when attacking inside the opposition 20, and either score or get repeat sets.

Ryan James..... so far the buy of the season. Played very well again last night for the Raiders. 

Marki...typical reaction. The Dogs were VERY unlucky not to be ahead 6-4 on Saturday but to be 10 nil down at half time was a poor result for a very even IMO half of football even though Penrith did have a slight possession advantage. It was a couple of small things that killed it. A terrible forward pass from Katoa and an incorrect play the ball by Waddell. Momentum killers. There was plenty of heart and a couple of dodgy Penrith tries killed it in the end....if they had only been given the same amount of review diligence as our non try was given....but these are the breaks. Two losses from two is not a good start but both were in pouring rain and defending in such conditions for extended periods is difficult. I thought a tactical error was made by not running at Kikau who truly bludged most of the game except when scoring tries. You need some platform to start from. It is obvious we need someone with size and a bit of toe. Haas may not be a bad idea even if he ain't the brightest. But I am not going to write us off totally as yet. Some teams get the breaks and Rorters, Knights and Panthers are probably the three most "lucky" (read ref favoured) teams.

I think we need to be patient this year and look for improvement and a strategic plan.

Venting after a loss is understandable, we all fo it.

With the new rules scorlines tend to emphasise the difference between teams.
The score can very easily blow out when a good team gets on top, with a majoity of posession and the result is inevitable.

What we want to see is the team keeps fighting and doesn't wave the white flag.

So during challenging times like this a critical aim is staying united and positive.

I also don't think we have selected our best 17, 3-4 changes to the side might make a big difference.
IMO we will play our best footy when we have close to the right 17, some confidence and momentum and a sequence of easier to beat opponents.

Teams that don't stay united and positive will be easier to beat.

We also have a lot of young players, they should improve with more experience, but that can take time and consistency can be an issue.

I hope Baz finds the right 17, the right style, and builds the team.
Like the team, he has to stay in the fight and stay positive.
Sometimes we are going to find good NRL players by accident or persistence.

DWZ may be out injured or suspended this week, I expect Schoupp to come into the side and do well.
If that happens it gives the coach another option.

I think there are 4-5 players in reserve grade who may be strong contenders for NRL selection and we have Thompson and Okunbor to come back in.

I will be surpised if Baz persists with poorly performing players week after week and doesn't give anyone else a shot.
We need to see what players have to offer for retention purposes.
I also think that some in the current 17 are overdue for a stint in reserve grade and may come back better players.

It only needs a bit of tinkering, 1-2 changes each week, until the team starts playing better.

Steve i dont disagree with some decisions going against us, but we still didnt fire a shot when given the chance (few chances im afraid).
What worries me is that we were traditionally a very good wet weather team. The wet suited our gamestyle which was to win the battle in the middle and play smart.
This was yesteryear with players like Mortimer, Lamb, Polly, Sherwin, Anasta, Kimmorley who could manage the game under the conditions.

We were outsmarted badly on both games which means to say we are no longer a good wet weather team and certainly couldnt match with the panthers on a dry track either.

I am hoping we get to see what we can do on a dry track this week against another struggling team in the Broncos.

Our halves need to lift. I think Avo at 5/8th is putting too much pressure on Flanagan and we look very one dimensional. He either needs to inject himself and become a playmaker or move elsewhere and allow Lewis or Wakeham to fill that spot. Fowards need a reality check.

Well, after Barretts press conference i would be interested to know how he intends to wrestle back the weight of possession and field position.
Its easy to say you cant win with only 40% ball against the top teams, but the real question is why are you only getting 40% ball and 10% field position in the opposite 20m?

You can blame the refs all you want. That excuse has its limits.

I want to see a strategic plan in us getting a minimum 50% possession and getting a good percentage of ball in opposite 20m.
If the plan is to win penalties, then we are in trouble. 

We either need to make breaks that result in tries or get us into the 20m with a couple of tackles up our sleeve or force dropouts. Wont happen every set of 6 but we need to get at least 3 or 4 of these per game. We otherwise need to kick well into the in-goal or tryline and rush in defence so they kick from their own 20m and we can go into attack straight away. Sustained pressure will yield additional benefits later in the game such as fatigue.

....guess you had to be there..

Cutting out the dumb errors where we gift posession to the opposition is a start.

Then reduce the 6 agains and silly penalties where possible.

We can improve our set up for kicks and kicking in general.

In terms of winning the yardage battle we can do a lot in attack and defence, some team changes might be needed.

In terms of stopping opposition tries, that is the one area that is very disappointing this year. Some team changes and changes to the way we defend are probably needed.

I don't think Baz can flip a switch and fix all these problems instantly but some players are repeat offenders in the last 3 games.

Some players need to contribute more. For example Meaney is doing a great job hrlping Cotric look good in defence, that is surpising, but very welcome. But Meaney isn't taking enough yardage carries.
On the other hand Hoppa is doing lots of yardage carries, but his defence is shambolic and that is unexpected.

Flanagan is putting in lots of effort in all areas, but he needs to better organise his defensive edge.

Get some or all of this right and results will improve.

If I was coach, which I'm not, I would move Meaney to FB, Allen to wing, Averillo to inside centre, Cotric outside centre, Wakeham to 5/8 and bring Lewis in at lock forward. Unfortunately Napa, DWZ and Hoppa have been very pedestrian and a stint in reserves will do them the world of good. Add Katoa to that last list.

HD, while I agree improvement in the areas noted can only result in improved performances, you are getting close to asking for perfection and it's going down the path of Des mentality.

We cant expect our players to make zero errors or zero dropped balls or zero miss tackles. 

We need to get to a level or gamestyle that can defend an error. That can only be done if you win the field territory and hopefully the errors are made only far away from your tryline that they dont cost you points. 

In other words, win the field territory and you are half way to winning the game. 

I've got the same list of suspects, just different replacements.

Replace Napa with Ava S (or possibly Britt)
Replace Hoppa with Schoupp.
Replace DWZ with Heleta.
Replace Katoa with Deitz, Wakeham, Davies or Topine. (Or an extra bench forward)
Either way Topine and Doorey in the mix for promotion.

Baz  doesn't need to make all of these changes at once, but players on our hit list need to improve to keep their spot.

This week DWZ is likely to be out Schoupp should come in with Hoppa possibly moving to wing.

While the forward passes were not 100% his fault Katoa has an unfortunate knack of making a dumb error at the wrong time and I don't rate his attack or defence.

Sooner or later the opposition will have the ball at our end, we need to be able to defend it.

When we get down their end we need to score, or work for a repeat set.

Posession is a matter of percentages and doing a lot of little things right, they need to work on it.

But in particular, good teams absorb pressure stop the oppostition scoring, and then counter-attack. You can't counter-attack, if you don't stop them scoring.

I would probably try Wakeham as a replacement for Katoa as he is already in the 30.
I want to know the injury issue with Davies, because maybe he is a better player than Dietz.
If it is necessary to drop Katoa we eventually need to add Dietz or Davies to the 30.
Perhaps Dietz has already been added, if not look at both alternatives.