Sub Sub left Saab out of his 17.... he’d be spewing 

Why does the farking NRL feel the need to fark with the rules between rounds?

I think Baz might have a good idea on how to play footy these days. But I don’t think he has the ability to coach the players to do so. That might change over the next couple of years but I have my doubts. 

Can’t stand it either. Just stick with the rules fir the season at least. Preferably don’t change any rules fir the next ten years. Even better forever

That Manly v Broncos game has sealed it for me. 

The game of rugby league is too physically demanding for one team to overcomes the six again rule.

retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
retreating 10 metres, then moving up quickly, tackle someone weighing 100kg
and potentially repeating this another 12 times via two 6 again calls.

As a result the side that is infringing side becomes the most exhausted and then the exhausted side start to infringe even more and the score blowouts become the norm.

So the questions this raises are:

Are the infringements consistently refereed?
Are the successful teams now the most skilful teams OR just the less infringing teams OR  just the fittest teams?
How much do we want to exhaust the infringing side ie. out of the game out for the next 2 minutes, 5 minutes ,10 minutes.

In the past a team may lose the penalty count but still win the game with negative tactics. This needed fixing as it seemed unfair to the attacking side.

Now that the six again has essentially replace the penalty ( and in particular for ruck and offside infringements ) if you lose the six again count you WILL lose the game and by heaps. Now this seems unfair to the defending side.

Now, almost by definition, the side conceding the most 6 agains , will have less than 40% procession , will be fatigued out of the game by the 60 minute mark and end up losing by at least 30. 

Now, given that these 6 agains are somewhat arbitrary or at best inconstant, the game is now determined by this .

Boring. 

I'm over PVL.  Game getting less and less watchable

You nailed it.
It's a huge problem.
NRL should reverse this rule alone or heavily tweak it towards what we had before. Scrums must also return. Not because they are a contest, but because they give teams a breather.

If the NRL wants close scores, they need to keep fatigue and territorial gain in check. 

The footy is no doubt better, but at what expense?

Mtich Moses was a turnstile in defence at the Tigers with occasional flashes of brilliance.
He had improved a lot in the last 2 seadons.
Averillo is already better than Moses was at the Tigers.

Cronk always had a good kicking game, a calm head and good defence.
Matty Johns described a young Cronk as more of a backrower and doubted that he would make the transition to half.
Cronk improved heaps over the years, a lot of that was hard work.

Flano is like a young Cronk with a worse kicking game and a bit less ability in defence.
Flano has to do a lot of work on his kicking game and I expect that to happen.

I wish Wakeham had Flano's drive energy and competiveness, and I wish Flano had Wakeham's natural talent.
Too early to write either off, like Cronk both need to put in the work.

Burton is like an improved version of a young Cronk, better in every way, but still needing work on his passing.

Our young halfs are not lacking talent they are needing time and patience and they all deserve an opportunity.

Usually I pick 1st try scorer without much luck....

so let’s go with with who’ll be our players off to the sin bin today:-

S Katoa for sure

On the game itself, the key is to watch the contest and forget the scoreline.

Players and coaches will adapt.

This game was a better effort from the Broncos than most games last year.
Des is doing a good job with the talent available at Manly.
Des at our club was a disaster like a bad marriage, it didn't work.

Turning our club around requires the right group of players, that is a work in progress.

Any win this season will be a bonus, I am more interested in how players perform and which ones are improving.
Averillo, Meaney and Atoni have shown a lot of improvement.

If Napa plays he is my pick, in the first 3 minutes.

One key is the refs are looking for force, players need to aim lower, aiming for the ball is the best target.
If it is going wrong, try to pull out or go slower. But I doubt that they have time to adjust.
A missed tackle is a better outcome than 10 in the bin.

Aim for the ball, not many players carry it in their mouth.

First try scorer for the Dogs a late ring in - "I'm not the Fox".

So what are the chances of our guys getting through the game without a sin bin?

Cronks greatest attribute is his footy brain.
He is one of the smartest players I have ever heard. More so than A Johns. 
He just played to his strengths and picked his moments. Reacting to what was happening around him and playing on those weaknesses made it easy for him to take advantage and ultimately make the right decisions. 
Having 2 other smart players in Smith and Slater certainly helped.

See, I reckon Burton has 10 times the footy brain than Flano. 
There's 2 attributes you can never substitute in rugby league - especially these days.
Speed and Footy brains

It's a real concern in a rebuild when we can only name 3 players to have improved...

But unfortunately its the truth. Our new recruits all came from stronger clubs with better players around them. They were always going to look worse but my concern is that they have regressed individually. 

We will know in '22 and '23 if it's just the transition of style or if it's the coach....

Lol. 

There should be a leniency rule applied. 
If a player is making a standard height tackle and ball carrier slips or ducks, all sin bins are off.

AFL had or maybe still has this rule. And I think it's fair. There must be some sort of responsibility on the attacker to not duck his head into someone's tackling arm.

I dont see Olympic hurdlers duck into the hurdle bar when they approach it. Ok I have seen some, but they are bloody hilarious. They dont sin bin the hurdle. 

You reckon Simminson a play against us today???...

I’ve got him In my 17

im expecting either 20pts or 80

nothing in between for him

I was just reading through these last few posts and there was mention of Cronk. I hadn't scrolled up to see who had written it but fair comments re Cronks abilities. As soon as two other names were referred to I knew exactly who penned it. Only Marki would praise up the two biggest tools to play in the modern era. For all the talent they possessed their p!ss poor attitude, whinging, moaning and foul actions far outweighed their talent. These two sh!t stains should never be mentioned on a Bulldogs debate page.

100% if u post these words ‘all our players will be sin binned today’...

We need a critical mass of talent in the squad to be competitive.
We haven't had that since 2015, perhaps earlier.
Our problem has been squad assembly not coaching.
Although both Des and Pay struggled to improve players.

I am more and more convinced that we need a lot of new faces in the NRL team.
Can we achieve that for 22?
We should see progress but I don't think that is the end of the rebuild.
By late 23 or early 24 the rebuild should be complete, it takes longer than we would like but I can't see an easy shortcut.
In fact a "false dawn" early in 22 might be a bad thing, we may think the rebuild is over and extend players who should not be extended. All players should have to earn an extension.

Who’d a thunk playing Saab, Staines, and Simmo in the 17 was going to be a possibility....

Would love to know what viewing numbers are like in the second half of games this year....
If I was paying for an ad on commercial TV I’d want half price for a slot in a second half...  

Omen bet for the day Syd R4 #4 Newsreader...

Is this what Suncorp looks like in the day....

So disappointing watching Wakeham.
He's been 18th man all this time and should have been jumping out of his boots to start, and he looks like just doesnt care.

Such a poor attitude.

I'm starting to think our halves should be Katoa and Avo with Dietz at hooker......

Looks like the refs have spoken to about destroying the game and have put their whistle and 6 agains away - good.

Game is in the balance. Raiders look far more dangerous inside our 10m than we do. In fact we are still wasting 4 hit ups on settler runs with our only intention of doing something on 5th tackle. This must change.

The only time you should ever need to do a settler run is to stack one side of the field and attack it on the next play or otherwise it must take 3 defenders out in the tackle. Do it for any other reason and you may as well handover the ball.