So what are the linesmen there for?.... to cheer on their bet.

I dont disagree there. Compared to soccer, they are the most useless pair of eyes in any sport. 

But once again, i blame the NRL here. They need to make it OK for linesmen to raise their flag once the play is completed. Sometimes, in that split second you hesitate from making the call and when you watch the replay you realise your instincts and first look was correct. 

But since he have a bunker, its not that hard or time consuming to check every try. Especially trys off kicks. 

If the bunker could rule on that forward pass, i doubt they miss it. 

The other poor decision that cost us 2 points + 70m in field position was when Burton was taken out chasing a Sexton grubber. 

But ultimately i still think we should have overcome those decisions. Needed to not concede a long range try when we had Manly on last tackle on their 30m line. And still had time to score something with 7mins left, but couldn't.

Game should have been wrapped up and put to bed earlier. That is our lesson for the future. 

Marki, I don't disagree with you. We should have iced that game earlier but inexperience let us down, having players in positions they would not have normally been except for unfortunate circumstances played a hand.
I'm proud of the team, so much went against us and I'm not just talking game day. Things like injuries to Mann and Wilson, JAC's absence from the game, these are all pieces that were missing from our successful formula.
 I hope we get the bodies needed to go further next year because I believe Ciraldo has the right coaching system to build our new DNA.

I will not be surprised if the Roosters thrash Manly and then the Storm thrash the Roosters. 

Other side of the draw Cows are a smokey. They didn't actually play that well against the Knights, but they have a good blend of X-Factor and work rate.

There is more than one reason why we lost the game. Mostly our attack and end of sets in the opposition 20 need to be better.

Skelton will not be there next season and appart from a few lapses from him our defence was solid.

We lacked impact off the bench, dropped balls and penalties cost us, rhe bounce of the ball and a few ref decisions didn't go our way. 

Overall a great season,  plenty to build on and we know where we need to improve. 

Like ODF I think our coaching is right, unavailable players, inexperience and a lack of depth and quality size cost us. In the heat of the battle inexperienced players can play too conservatively or too aggressive. The team needs a catalogue of well rehersed set plays for the opposition end, including some scrum plays.

I hope that we shift the training balance to do a bit more work on attack.

Yep. Put simply, i am more hopeful for next year than i was leading into this season.

Need to build on this season. Players should make it their task to improve thenselves in their respective positions. If they do this, we will improve collectively as a team also.

Coaches need to review the season as a whole and see how they can tweak certain elements or introduce some x-factor so that we can expand our gamestyle. 

I think the key difference between the better teams (Storm, Penrith, Roosters) is that they can play different styles. Thats our next frontier. Thats what can make us a top 4 team. 

Hopefully we get there in the next couple of years.

Best part of this season is that we managed to get to within 3 weeks of the end. Previously, we were out of contention with 5 weeks if regular season plus 4 weeks of finals.

Well at least the KC Chiefs did the job...
Was a disaster weekend with Hawks eliminated in their final on Friday, Giants sane fate on Sat, Dogs yesterday. QPR drew.

Im starting to run out of teams to follow....

What is this ice hockey and baseball you talk about? Is it worth following HD?

Even Trump was nearly eliminated in the political race.....

All my teams are being picked off!

Talking conspiracies is dangerous... But calling a dude Hitler every day for years is ok and has no consequences...

I am optimistic about the Chicago Bears in the NFL... tough game this week..

I know nothing about ice hockey and baseball.

Some sports are great to play but not great to watch.

NRL offseason it is NFL,  EPL and cricket....

Out of all of my teams Australian cricket win more than they lose, Bears are the only possible title chance, but young players may need a season to adapt to top level comp.

Yep Hitler's decendents must be offended.

One play summed up what is wrong with the Dogs attack.

5 metres out from the Manly line, Marhoney passed to a forward standing still who seemed surprised to get the ball and was slow to get moving.

Just standing a bit deeper and walking a few steps forward will do more to engage the defence. 

A smaller prop standing still, the defence knows that guy is no threat even if he gets the ball.

Perhaps Ennis should do some coaching of Marhoney and our props.

You rarely see Penrith props get the ball standing still close to the opposition tryline. Run on to the ball with intent and stuff will happens even when you don't get it.

Yes, we seem inept close to the line and still have the "5 hitups for the kick and hope" play in us. 

I still want to see more assertiveness from our halves in attacking positions. Both Sexton and Burton are too passive and unless chooses to find them, he wont. 

When you watch most other teams the dummy half is looking for his halves before he bends down to pick up the ball. Mahoney looks for forwards first and halves second.

Maybe this is part of the CC gameplan to have the lock as first receiver.... Its ok maybe in middle if field oe your own half, but i believe in the attacking zone, it should be the halves with hands on the ball first and foremost. 

Is it mad monday yet?

All of the spine and some of our forwards are to blame...

This season the main focus was on defence.

It starts with Marhoney,  if we have some hard running forwards running off him, then we can establish momentum get a quick play the ball and go from there. 

Slow play gives the defence a rest and time to reset. When in doubt Run hard and try to get a quick ptb.

I dont agree.
Its not a size issue. Never was. 
What we need is abit of variation instead of one out runs all the time. For some reason, Mahoney use to run the ball yet this year he barely ran from dummy half. You cant have a hooker that doesnt run the ball. Its vitally important that the dummy half keeps the markers and A defenders guessing. Mahoney has gone downhill in the pecking order and is bordering on Ennis levels.

Once again, we cant have another spine player who is not in the top 5 of their position. We will not get anywhere like that. 

It's always mad Monday at my place... Smart phones are banned... 

Yeah, but it's all to do with supply and demand. 
Every team is in demand for top shelf spine players but their supply is very limited, so when the tailor mades aren't available you just have to roll your own.

All of the spine are good at something, Marhoney makes a lot of tackles and generally throws a good pass.i agree that he could run a bit more from dummy half. Sexton,  Burton and Tracey generally create a lot and are dangerous when they run.

Preston and Kiks are dangerous especially Kiks our wingers and centres are generally dangerous. 

Props and lock, not so much, Karl O will add some much needed X-Factor at lock. Toups has good legspeed and knows how to find the try line we need to slot him in somewhere.  I think one or two big props who can make yards then offload will help.

If we don't change the squad we need to add variety and purpose at the opponent's end.  Move the ball faster and have a play in mind. Also run harder.

If we can somehow add a bit more attack winning games will be easier,  including semis.

Have to remember this is a newly put team compared to the other top 8 sides who have been together longer . The boys will benefit from that game . Could had gone either way kicks gets a good bounce from the charge down we in game over . Skelton first attempt at a try goods effort but a top winger would probably had scored .  Burto missed a kick  could had been golden point . Dogs are masters at winning those . Two just missed 2 point field goals . Gods were on Manly side . 

I agree, part of the process is this group of players improving. Most of them are young and we will be adding more young guys from our lower grades over the next few years.

Part of it is simply the team getting more experience, forming combinations and rehearsing plays. I think that we also need to sign /develop some players with a cutting edge.

Salmon, Curran,  Hayes and Morrin are too similar, when Curran mainly plays in the middle. Good defenders who offer a bit in attack but not enough.  Curran,  Toops and I think Hayes can play well on an edge, so when Kiks or Preston get injured we have options, especially if we have a few more specialist props. We can add depth and quality at the same time, either by signing Or developing players. 

The team played very well the only difference between our squad and Manly was Turbo and Cherry, Newcastle have Ponga and better forwards. Overall fairly even with Newcastle and Manly, we possibly have better depth in some positions. 

Compared to the Cows, Sharks,  Roosters  Sorm and Panthers we don't have the squad at present.  With more experience we can close the gap.

If we want to try to take a shortcut to the next premiership, a prop like RCG might do it for us. Hypothetically, if we had RCG,  Amone, and Hughes all fit, I would play 2, possibly 3 in the 17. That is a completely different challenge for our opposition. 

Well thats smart....

We should get the early wins in 2025.

Aside from Critter and perhaps Kiks and Kiraz, I don't think that we will have many players playing internationals after the end of season..

The team should be the side that played the semis plus Toups and Armone. Less Skelton 

Clark and Sua promoted.

Todd and Underhill possibly promoted. Hopoi better after a full off season.

Mann, Wilson, Sutton, Fifita and if he stays Patolo back from injury. Karl O also back and could add plenty.

Fox might be going, but he didn't play in the semi and hasn't played that many games in the last 2-3 years.

If Fox goes, I definitely expect more quality signings.

All that could go wrong is were are less fit and motivated than previous seasons. 

Some of our players in the semi might need minor surgery,  but for most it seems like rest and rehab will be sufficient. 

Yep, we might have bad luck with players getting injured playing internationals, but our risk level is fairly low compared to other clubs, because we don't have  any players involved.

We should come out of the blocks at the start of 2025.

Other sides will also improve especially Canberra and Tigers, others have some player turnover or their best players getting one season older.

I think I read something about Underhill getting a top thirty spot for next year. Very good middle. Exactly what we need. Hits like a steam train. 

Apologies for asking this again, but is Top 30 a year to year selection thing or do the incumbents stay in it?

Whos spots will Sitili, Amone etc take? Or is it a clean slate and the coach decides in the pre-season?

Also, can you still field players outside the top 30 after round 10?

Generally you can only field players outside the top 30, after round 10.

Development squad players ( up to 4) might be OK, making it 34?

Clubs can apply to the NRL for exceptions due to injuries etc.

The top 30 seems to change during the season.

If a guy at the club in 2024 has a contract for 2025, he is top 30 both years.

IMO definitely leaving, Knight,  Tetavano,  Topine, Skelton,.
Probably leaving - Perham,  Farmer
Possibly leaving - Patolo,  O'Neill (O'Neill isn't top 30 )
Unlikely to leave - Wilson.
Under contract but might leave - Hello Kitty, JAC, Hutchinson,  Sutton,  Turpin...

Unlikely but Sutton might decide to retire for medical reasons or return to England,  I hope that he stays.
Other players might get a contract for more years elsewhere, these are guys off contract in 2025 who I don't think we will extend.

There are always a few players who look for a better deal elsewhere. 

So free slots is somewhere between 4 and 14, but probably will be around 4-10.

This season guys like Knight, Tetavano and Topine were taking up slots in the top 30 but appart from the odd game from Knight were unlikely to play.
Aside from a few reserve grade games - Sutton, Patolo and Fifita out all season.
Cirro seemed resultant to pick Farmer- if he stays it is because he is a long term project player.
Mostly that is why we didn't have big forwards this season out injured and/or not good enough. 
We also had Karl O out injured all of the season.

Estimated games lost to injury.
4. Dogs- 135
5. Cows - 129

Out of the sides that made the 8 we had the highest injury toll. A lot of that was Sutton and Karl O,  but it still counts as both guys would have made a difference. 

My hunch is 8-9 players leaving,

4-5;young players promoted. 1-2 more signings,  probably a forward and a centre/winger if Fox goes. 

Some whispers about Talley-ho again...The big goal kicking prop who used to play for the Roosters. Story on the Kennel podcast cast was that Talley-ho at the Warriors returned from a broken leg and won a fitness drill on his first day of training. 

We also have a gun fullback with footwork aged 18-19. I think that I know his first name - but I am not 100% sure. He will probably feature in junior reps in 2025.

Thanks HD. Very insightful.
I had hoped for Knight to have played a role off the bench for us this year, but sadly he wasnt great in the few games he played. Sutton i never liked and would be happy if we could ship him off.

I don't buy into the "games lost to injury" figure.
It counts players who probably arent in the top 17. We realistically had few injuries to our starting 17 compared to other teams. In fact other than JAC and Mann, i struggle to think of any. Kikau maybe? Kiraz?

Karl O is one of the players id like to see make a good return to the team. 

On another note, i see that Jason Ryles has hinted Gutherson might have to move to a different role within the team.

Gutho is the type of FB i think our club needs to move forward. I know he is losing some speed, but his positional play is second to none. His 1 on 1 tackles far superior to Tracey, his defensive "talk" is also superior and he can ball play equal or better than Tracey.

I know we have Papallii in lower grades but Gutho on a 2 year deal would not be a bad move IMO aa a transition. 

We can go into next season and make finals again with Tracey as our FB but come finals time, you can defensive lapses like he had in the last few weeks. The good halves in the comp can spot a poorly positioned FB and take advantage. 

If they had been fit guys like Sutton and Karl O make the team each week. We might not have seen Hayes and Hayward. 

If Sutton and Karl O play the semi then perhaps we win. Sutton has never played a game for us injury free, even playing injured he was a handy player.

Tracey is actually a pretty good fullback,  even Gus mentioned that.  I would like to see Papalii or Wilson get a shot at some stage in case they are better. The young guy might be 2-3 years away, he is impressing everyone playing in the Bulldogs juniors, but that is a few steep steps away from NRL. 

If we are going to replace Tracey,  I want a X-Factor player who can be our fullback for 10 years. 

Gutho is a great competitor,  but snails sprint straight past him.

The thing with Tracey is that in all my years of watching rugby league, i don't remember a FB that has managed to correct a positional play issue....

They either have it or they dont. 

If we dont go for someone like Gutho or bring through Papalii quickly, we need to keep our eyes open for a top line FB that hits the market.

Pappy or Drinkwater are my other choices. 
Pappy for his excellent positioning and footy smarts, and Drinkwater for his pure X-factor.

Yes they'll cost 800-1M. But you need it if your other spine players aren't in the top 5 of their positions.

Latest for Gus is we are keeping our power dry on signings.

If we sack Fox, I can see us signing 1-2 players. From the comments Gus has made so far sacking Fox seems more likely than not.

Hypothically, if we sacked Fox and didn't sign a replacement, our specialist wingers would be Kiraz, Wilson, Sua and Mazzone.  I am happy with that because I would like to keep Wilson,  Sua and Mazzone.

Aside from the names we know there are 2-3 good young middles in Flegg.  A couple might get development contacts, Marshall being promoted straight to NRL would not surprise me. 

Gus says that we are mostly promoting locally developed talent,  I think that we can guess some of the names.

The young fullback is playing under 19's so perhaps aged 16-18 so a bit further away. The kid and his family moved from NZ to Australia to pursue the dream of playing NRL and the dogs hooked them up with a junior club. Great to see parents doing everything to give their son a shot

You can sign for top thrift a few seasons in advance. Underhill for example is signed to our top thirty squad for the next three years. The first and I think second he will be in the development squad though.