I'm hoping Barrett doesn't gift Hoppa a free ride this week.
He has been particularly poor in all 3 games and needs a spell in reserve grade to understand that we cannot accept that kind of performance.

That allows few changes like what you stated. Avo to centre, Lewis to 5/8th and someone needs to come into 9 for JMK which i suggest is either Dietz or maybe Wakeham.
Im also slightly disappointed in Allen's involvements and execution and wouldnt mind him on wing with Meaney at fullback. Meaney is probably the best bomb taker in the team.

This is rare, but I agree on all points.

It seems like a spell in reserve grade has improved Lewis, it might improve Hoppa.

In previous years I noticed his lack of pace and the fact that he didn't always run hard, but he was a skillful player and a good defender.

This season not only is he not having much impact in attack, all aspects of his defence seem poor.
Things are almost at the point where it is hard to explain how things could have got so bad so quick.

Reserve grade is a reality check, most players respond and try to force their way back into the NRL.
My other suggestion is that he might want to try playing 2nd row in reserve grade, he has the size to be a forward and I think the work ethic. It would be a fresh start and a new challenge that might prolong his career.
Ultimately he could still be running around at prop in 5 years time, if he wants to keep playing, with a bit of bulking up, he has the size.

Ours happened so fast even the TV cameras missed them, the scorers had no hope.

A couple of years ago the NRL reported an increase in RL participation   when broken down it was due to a 29% increase in female participation.  Greenberg said participation had dropped in 13 to 18yo boys.  

Just maybe we have two good reserve grade teams.  It's happened before, Newtown a classic example.  No matter what changes you make the players are still reserve graders

Oz yah was probably included (read hidden)  in the vital stats for the commission report...

Ava being included in the 30, might be a hit that he is in the team this week.

If the move is Ava starting at prop and Napa moving back to lock, it is worth a try.

Oz tag*

Seems there’s been some fiddling to our 30, and it is now 30.

And we only have one coaches.

And going by the photos, Dietz and Avo Seafood could be twins

And sanity prevails.....

Makes sense but even with Harding goung, ....

Hmmm serns like Doorey might have replaced Chris Smith...

Opps sorry Smith is there... puzzling.

I am not sure that  I trust the website.

Was Roumanos in the 30 before? I thought he was development?

I think Roumanos was in but Doorey was definately in the development squad.

Actually Ava S was already in.

My guess is that it was wrong before but may be right now? 

Or maybe not?

Ok maybe Doorey is still in the development squad and Dietz is in a squad of 29?

Or maybe Dietz is out and they are teasing Dr Marki?

The press release says 29.

I've worked it out, Des is maintaining the dogs website.

Seafood Salad hopefully might surprise us all if he gets a chance in 1st grade... I’ll be cheering for him!!

I think we should tap Hoppa and Des and ask for a  mid season player swap. Des values players that have his back and would be stupid enough to chase Hoppa.

Let's ask for Rueben Garrick or George Tafua in return. 

If Jacko is out I reckon Lewis, Flanagan or Elliott should be captain. 

Hoppa should be dropped, not promoted.

The bulldogs website is one of the more useless things in the universe

I hope seafood does surprise us. He was only a plodder last time in the NRL

What we want from Seafood is - play like a prop.

He doesn't need to play long minutes, just make sure everyone notices he is on the field.

This is where our problem is. There aren’t many in our top 30 that are quality first graders. Especially our forwards. Not one of our forwards made over a hundred meters. We desperately need a hard running prop that’s Why Baz bought in big Ava. 

We have been shopping on a budget the last few years, even then some signings were questionable.

Prior to that we made some very poor over priced signings, T-Rex, Woods,  Napa, Lichaa, etc.

Lichaa probably was a gamble worth taking.

But really we paid the price for not many quality young lower grade players.

For our recent signings, Hetherington and Flanagan are worth the punt.
Allan is a solid dependable player.
Cotric, Burton and the Fox are topshelf quality.

We have some good young players coming through, Topine, Doorey, etc.

Seafood and the Deitz are sensible pragmatic signings.

We are still paying the price for past mistakes, but we are getting close to the end of the tunnel.

I personally think we have made a meal of this tunnel.....even with the mess Des left us in.
It is taking an extraordinary amount of time to get us back into top 8 contention and i always thought we were one of those clubs that bounces back quicker than most.
The last 4 or 5 years has proved to me we are no better than any other club in the NRL on that front.

How quickly Barrett can turn this mess around will heavily depend on him either getting rid of ALL dead wood at years end or getting them to play to his desired gamestyle as well as getting a good return on the recruitments he makes.

I cant help but think that although Dean Pay was stuck with a poor roster, he didnt even get us playing to 2020 type football.
I feel we have lost 2 or 3 years on that front - irrespective of roster strength.
It now seems only wholesale changes to the roster can get us playing a different style. We cant afford to make slow progress on this.

I  hope we see Seafood starting with Hethro at prop.
Napa at lock.

Lewis at 6, possibly later moving to lock and Avo on the bench or in the backs.

I think Odgen and Atoni are keepers, but like young halves, many young props need a few seasons to reach their potential.

We need to match the Rabbits in thr forwards for the first 20 and execute a good kick chase.
Give them a contest and see if they want to earn a win.

We can't have silly dropped balls, poor passes, lack of direction in attack, sioppy 6-agains and penalties, bad reads and missed tackles defending our line.

The list above is so familiar and common, that fixing our game is a big challenge.
Regardless we have to start with the intention of getting everything right and with the intention of competing.

Old man Bennett has probably seen us coming, he will be warning his players to expect a contest and reminding them. He is very good a warning and reminding. But equally footballers are very good at ignoring the coach and mentally not expecting a contest, when they get a contest it sometimes takes a while to switch on.

Unfortunately, I think the old Codger will have them primed. That is all the more reason why we must compete.

We have never had scouting and player development in a mess like the Des era.

Clubs that bounce back quickly or are always on top always have the next crop of quality players coming through.

It has been slim pickings for us the last 8-10 years.

Averillo, Doorey and co are the first group of quality since Ben Barba.
2009-2018 not many quality young players produced.
Ideally we want to promote 4-5 good young players to reserve grade every year or 2.

Unfortunately the Hasler, Castle, Dib era pushed us back a decade. No use blaming Pay he was on a hiding to nothing with both hands tied behind his back and there are still remnants of this team as well as the stench of Desball still hanging across Belmore Oval. There is also no use of bagging out Barrett as he is three games in and still trying to work out what cards to play with the hand he was dealt. This may not be even possible this season so dont get your titties in a tangle just yet. If the Bazman hasnt got it sorted by round 10 2022 then he will never get it done.

What the coach can do is limited by the roster.

I  remember our squad was a mess in 2008, but we had some good kids in the flegg side.
By 2012 we had rebuilt to almost be a contender, with the benefit of hindsight we needed to replace Moore to go to the next level, but Des was the wrong choice.

Anyway Lewis named in this weeks team, will check that out.