And… forget Dufty, even for $400k.

Today demonstrated why Saints want rid of him. Marki did say he could score a lot of points for us, well today I counted 12, maybe 18 if you were really critical.
That JMK try his eyes may as well have been painted on. About the worst single defensive lapse I’ve seen this year. Speechless.

We were always going to win that match.
Great performance. Well done to all.

You wont always win games playing conservative football only, but every once in a while it will surprise you.

Soooo… what you’re saying Doc is T Baz got it right benching for the full game S Katoa was a master stroke move?

YES.

Topine went really well in Reggies today playing in the back row. So there’s no reason to see Katoa or Dietz in NRL ever again, at least not at The Dogs.

JMK starts, Topine on bench. #9 is covered for ‘21.

In case Dman is on the fence our policy is free beer for all Dogs supporters.

I think you fail to recognize that Dufty was already a Bulldog before today's game.....

I think Zef just wants to see Dufty make a tackle.

Wakeham still needs to improve his game, but the shot on Dufty was a classic.

Averillo surrounded by 3 Dragons throws a dummy, Dufty drifted out to tackle the invisible man.
In fact Dufty sat the invisible man on his backside regularly, Zef is hard to please.

I think Dman is enjoying the fruits of his multi...
He needed a Dogs win in his last leg.
I think he lost consciousness after Elliott waltzed over....

We won and did well. JMK was great. All the boys were awesome but Thomo and Jacko our two best. Once again forwards win games. 

Brandon Smith to the Dogs Nick Meaney to the Storm. 

Is that a rumor or confirmed?

I assume for 22?

It’s a wish.

The puzzle is forming....

1. Dufty
2. JAC
3. Schoup
4. Naden
5. Cotric
6. Avo
7. Burton
8. Hetherington
9. B Smith
10. Thompson
11. Elliott
12. Doorey
13. Atoni

If the Dogs play like they did today with all 17… well all 16 putting in the same effort/intensity each week, win/lose/draw I’ll be content & proud

Thats all I ask

We should had got the Raiders and the Tits would had us in top 8 contention. 

The next game v Parra will be great.
Our team will be up for it, we are finally close to full strenght, in form and confident.

I sense a chance to take Parra on with speed up the middle and an up tempo game.

A win would make me very happy.

Waiting for the article linking us to Corey Norman... 

As much as it was a great win, we have to remain level headed and acknowledge that the Dragons were also poor and played into our hands.

Eels are a real title contender and whilst I'd love to beat them, they simply have too much firepower, play a million times faster, will have home crowd advantage and we will be murdered with 6 agains or penalties. I'm not confident at all

All I hope for, is that we keep trying different things every week particularly in attack. I'd like to see more tries like the one from Averillo and Meaney, where we make a break and finish it off.

The try from Elliott and JMK, although good individual efforts, dont happen every week. More constructed team tries are a better indicator of where the team is at.

On the flip side, yesterday's defence was really good. Meaney is one of our safer fullbacks and is now confident enough to bark at players and position them in our defence line. We managed to stop Dragons build any territorial advantage and keep their 5th tackle kicks to half way, making it easy for Meaney to diffuse. This is important but again, it was dependent on Dragons forwards being poor as well as us being tight in the middle.

Against Parra, I see alot of these variables possibly changing and before you know it, we could be on the other end of that scoreline and look like wooden spooners again.

It doesnt take much to lose the 1% plays and cop a hiding in the modern game. We need to be up for the game from the get go.

FMD Marki, why are you always in deathrider mode. Can't you for once take an optimistic view and enjoy the win. I do and I don't give a flying fvck about Pawwamatta or any other team. We savour this week and worry about the next game at kickoff next week.

You’d really still go down that road after what you seen yesterday? 

Sure it is a step up and a much tougher proposition.

But it is an easier game coming off a win.

Few teams in this comp have real grit composure and resilience when posession and momentum go against them.

The 2-4 that do are contenders, I think everyone else is beatable, especially coming off a win.

It is odvious that the side is much more competive with Thompson, Hetherington, Jackson, Doorey and JMK in the side, that is  where we have been falling down badly most of the season particularly at hooker.

Averillo is getting better each week, I hope Wakeham finds the on switch becuase he has footy in him and Meaney is our best fullback option this year.

Topine and Atoni should also be in the side.

If we ran out with this team each week this season, I think we have 3-4 more wins.

Injuries, suspensions and team selection have cost us..

If Parra are a genuine top 4 contender we can't go with them.
We have a habit of bursting their bubble like we do for the Dragons, we rarely do that to the Roosters or the Storm.

Let's apply the blow-touch, and see what they have got.

Marki thinks conceeding 50-60 points and scoring 16-20 is a formula for winning games... his maths teacher was a dud.

You have to weigh his yesterday game with last weeks game if you want to judge him fairly.
Then you weigh up his 13 games this season and last season and work out his pros and cons.

You then figure out if his positive attributes can work for your team and whether you can accommodate his cons, or better still, feel you can work on them to fix them.
That is what Craig Bellamy does and he does it well.

You then sit his manager down and tell them where he "fits" in the market - not the other way around. And you put to him what is a reasonable and fair offer.
If the manager rubbishes it, you send them on their way and give them a sarcastic Good Luck.

He is without doubt not in the top echelon of fullbacks. But when you look at what is out there in the 15 other clubs, you would be a hard judge if you didnt have him just below the top for try assists and attacking capabilities. The top being Tedesco, Tommy Turbo, Papenhuyzen, CNK, Gutho and possibly Latrell and Ponga. On an overall level, i would put him in the group that contains Edwards, Holmes, AJ Brimson etc. On attacking prowess alone, he's in that top group. But overall, he drops to middle level.

You then have the bottom group which contains rookies or solid players that arent exceptional but can fill your void. Simmonson, Meany, Kennedy and any other makeshift fullbacks

Given we still lack attacking options, i believe he (or someone like him) is a must in this team. If we are losing Meaney as has been reported, it is a bigger must.

Not deathriding mate, just keeping my expectations to a reasonable level. And trust me, i enjoyed and celebrated the win yesterday.
But at the same time one good win doesn't indicate where you are at and i certainly dont "take 1 game at a time". That is shortsighted cliche garbage.

I always look at the bigger picture. 

Yesterday merely proved to me that statistically you can play the conservative game to near 100% efficiency and it will only yield you 1 win in 10 games.
That's not a good return in football, but its certainly some pressure relieved and hope the coaching staff and players can play more freely in the weeks to come.

On the contrary.... Marki thinks scoring 30-40 points per game will win you the lion's share of games no matter what your defence can do.
Its all about playing the most effective of style of football within the rules and your playing stocks. 
In the modern game, there is no point having players that can play with grit and adversity to keep scores down to under 14 or 20. Its not effective style of football.
If we are planning to revive the 80's we may as well fold and let a NSW cup team have a go.

Yesterday we defended well and attacked fairly well.

If you don't defend well you spend all game kicking off and trying to tackle.

Dominate a team with defence, with the possession and field posession battle, then the attack has a chance.

The 2 Averillo tries, particularly the 2nd one were top class.
The JMK and Elliott tries were soft.

Our attack needs more punch Wakeham needs to step up and we need Atoni im the side.
Topine will add to the attack and defence.

I think Atoni was dropped becuase of defence, but I think he has got the message.

Next season we will have more attacking options, that increases the ways we can win, but doesn't change the formula.

90% of games are won by the team that makes it difficult for the opposition to score, and wins the yardage battle.

Only one change to the team this week. The coach has taken advice from someone on a forum somewhere & replaced the entire first grade squad with the reggies squad...

We played well when we held the ball. We could have won a few more games this year if we completed at that rate. Jackson certainly helps. We need more like him though. 

Micko, I agree with pretty much all of this post.
There will definitely be improvement in the attack next year as the extra speed will add a dimension to our attack that we have lacked for afew years now. All of a sudden a split ball in our 20m zone could be a long range try through JAC or Naden or even Burton. 

Thompson and Hethro offer good line speed in attack. Our edge forwards have been guilty of been slow last few years which needs to change. You expect them more than the props to be the ones hitting the line with speed. 

As I've said, once we lift from scoring 1-3 tries to a level where we can routinely score 4-7 tries a game, we will be in every game and we can get away with pushing a pass here or there, dropped ball here or there and bad ref call here or there.

There is more to it than that.

This is the best intensity and execution I remember seeing from our team for a while.

We were building towards this in the Penrith game, the difference is that the Panthers matched us and the Dragons didn't.

What I mean by that is running harder, winning the collisions, faster play the balls, playing over the add line, halves who know how to play up tempo and what passes to throw.

Players in moition, good decoys, good support play, some purpose and intent on most plays at the attacking end.

In defense, good line speed, good contact, the best wrestle for years, good organisation and scramble, but most of all calm decision making and no soft misses or dumb decisions.

I was surprised by how well JMK went and the fact that he lasted 80 mins.
I also rate Daley in reserve grade very highly.
Topine can fill in at hooker.
Dietz is a real long shot but if Baz thinks an off season will improve him, I am happy to roll with that.
But most of all p*ss of Katoa.

I still think we need a hooker, JMK, Daley and Topine would be great depth.
But this game showed it is not as critical as I thought.