"The Marvelous Mrs Maizel"...has anyone seen it? Set in NY in early 60s and featuring iconic cafes such as the Gaslight with authentic actors playing the likes of Lenny Bruce. Great witty script with lots of Jewish humour. Brilliant cast...setting....etc. won Emmy for best actress in a comedy and deservedly so. Only 3 episodes into season 1 but hooked hooked hooked!!

Happy Easter to all Dogs fans....

Tony there are positives if you look hard enough, I am happy with Meaney, Lewis, Cogger and JMK... and I know they will be better in 2020 and better still in 2021.

At this stage we do look like the weakest team in the comp, but the way forward is to set some standards in defence, given of 50% share of the ball, we have enough attack. We haven't had much luck so far with bounce of the ball, refs calls etc,,,, But the big problem has been some soft defence, and very poor organisation at times.

I think up to the Souths game we were allowing quicker play the balls than most sides, I hate the wrestle myself, but if everyone is doing it we need to join in. 

We are short a good 9/14 a centre and winger, and starting prop and an impact prop.. fill most of those holes for 2020 and we have a very good side.
We will have money to spend and we are mostly not talking big dollars.... in  particular I don't think we need to chase an elite 1, 7,6 at this stage.

Ofa Ogden, Renouf T are a must off the bench in 2020

Hopefully the Dogs recruit a starting front row menace to partner Napa. 

I agree rethinking things, we are best to sign 2-3 top quality players, prop, hooker/utility, centre.

I would go Ryan James, Billy Brittian, Katoni Staggs. (assuming they were available)

RCG is another option instead of James or some one similar, requirements, big, fit, hits hard, has an offload, regular NRL experience as a starting prop.

Drop Tolman back to lock, start Jacko in the 2nd row, it is only 3 changes but the squad looks much stronger to me.

Happy Easter heathens.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show!  Everything about it is brilliant.  The best show I have seen for years.  Watched the first two series and can't wait for season 3.  As you said Steve the cast is just brilliant, what a talent Rachel Brosnahan is.  

I see Knights lost again and are next to us at the tail end of the ladder....

Brown has about 4 weeks.....

Never rated him to be honest...

Surely Seibold will have to drop Milford.
He cant possibly keep a defensive liability like that.

He is better off swapping him with Boyd at fullback.

When can we play the Broncos?
We can do with a win.....

I love it and have yet to get fully into it. Yes Rachel Brosnahan is great...can't wait to see where it is going. Her father played by "MonK"...Tony Shalhoub is just one of the great supporting cast members. And of course I picked her husband was ripping off Bob Newhart!! 

The phase Brown is in is tricky ,,,, he needs results, they have taken a few short-cuts lot of pressure on the coach.

I think he is an OK coach,but Mitch Pearce was the wrong call.. moving Ponga to the halves also too early....

On Milford I would never have moved him from fullback....

Pay is 1-2 seasons away from being where Brown is, expectation will build, any wrong call ultimately counts against the coach.

Even this season, not every fan is happy to cut Pay some slack, this year my expectations are more progress than results.

Starting next year, I want results and I expect to make the 8 in 2021, and most seasons after that.... Pay has to lay the ground work this season.

This year I think the Roosters and Storm are a level above everyone else, most other teams are on about the same level if they play to their full potential, we are lacking the players, so really need to play well to get results.

The Knights may make the 8 over the next few years, I can't see them winning a comp, I also can't see Brown lasting too many more seasons.

100% HD

Napa signing is exactly the type of AGGRESSIVE forward we desperately needed. 

Sue, again, great clubman, but his type of build to play up front was 5yrs ago..... You need size up front. Not 5ft little nuggets.


The Dogs need not 1, but 2 quality backline players.... would love Katoni Staggs & Braidon Burns type of signings that have Speed & Aggression! These sort of signings would not break the bank. 


JMK is doing well, really well so far this year. He can definitely be 1 of the 2 No.9’s/Utility going forward in 2020. An experienced, even  almost veteran like No.9 signing would be welcomed to help with our youthful 1,6 & 7..... like a Jake Friend would be unreal. 


Anyway..... I’m all for some of the young guys getting games under their belts for 2019 as we really have no other option unfortunately. 


Fualalo, Lichaa, Nu Brown, Montoya, Tualau & Olive will surely all be gone by seasons end & out of our Top 30. 

I also agree on letting most of those guys go.
Perhaps a small contract offer for Montoya for 1 year he is a local junior and might come good, at least good enough to come in for injured players and do a job.

Looks like Dman is still in the lock up.
I can reveal the charges are, impersonating a granny, and bad fashion sense.
I told him purple tartan was a bad idea.

I’m sure Easter Sunday is Cabaret Night at CabraVale Diggers

Yes Shaloub is so funny and what about Alex Borstein as Suzie, she is a classic.

I didn't watch much football this week (apart from C'bury), only the 2nd half of Saints v Manly. For the majority of that half Saints were pinned on their own goal line. They did well to hang on through wave after wave of Manly attacks. Half the time it was Saints own fault for turning over possession but the rest of the time it was due to the questionable refereeing. It seemed if there was a knock back by Saints it was ruled knock on, flat passes were ruled forward if Saints did it but let go if Manly did it & so on.
I agree with DCE & co saying there should've been a penalty to Manly at the end, but I don't agree that the missed penalty there caused the wrong full time result. Saints out-played them. The missed call at the end was just one questionable call out of many in that half & Manly were gifted plenty of chances & much more possession. At least the ref boss made an apology for one of those questionable calls, but it's ironic that particular missed call evened things out & prevented Manly from robbing Saints of the 2 points.
If Manly weren't gifted so much possession in that half Saints would've won by more.

Rumour on Twitter from Nick Tedeschi 

Jake Granville close to signing with the Dogs

Now he’s signed up with the Cows until 2021. 

They just purchased that Robson kid from dragons, so they want to move on Granville. 


Now SURELY if this deal was to eventuate, the Dogs would get Cows to pay for some of his contract!!! 


I posted on here last night that a Experienced No.9 like a Jake Friend would be beneficial for a young spine.... didn’t picture Granville, but he would be a massive step up to what we’ve had at 9 for the past 4yrs!!!

Like gus gould says
no no no no no deary me if he signs 
we are going  backwards more 
please no he a micheal lichha clone

Yep, OK deal if the Cows chip in some money...

I'll admit I haven't seen much of Granville lately, he used to be a good running no 9... not sure about his passing, but he has to be better than Lichaa.

After doing a bit more research, I'm not 100% sold on Granville.

He is getting older (29), and his game has gone backwards the last few years.

So he is really only an option for 1-2 seasons, that kind of signing assumes JMK is the man who is our long term hooker.

We do have some good kids in the lower grades apparently, so it might work.

But if we had a crack at a real class hooker who was younger, that is a better option.    

The optimistic view is our premiership window is 2021-2025, it certainly doesn't start before 2021, so if we are signing players who might retire by 2021, that needs to stack up financially.

Let it flow... 
the standard of games and reffing is deplorable... deliberate penalties (pro fouls), laying and 'getting caught up' in the ruck, forward passes... out of control...
worst season of footy I've ever seen...maybe two really enjoyable games a week...

Oy 4 teams can win it played like this...

They need to seriously look at an advantage 6 again for offside penalties when D is inside 10... if the Ds offside, when they make tackle red calls held, zero!!! and play on..

 or use the bloody bin... 

A rumour designed to fit in with circumstances surrounding the signing by the Cowboys and bearing no relation in fact....gee that is a surprise. 

I agree with you and BT.
Granville was a decent hooker who played well in a good team full of playmakers and a good pack.
He has definitely lost some form and he lacks a kicking game. Not even sure he runs enough from dummy half.

I think the best type of hooker for the Dogs is a Farrah-Buderus type who's first instinct is to run and passing is a distant second.

We cannot have another hooker who doesn't run and doesn't place pressure on the tacklers/markers. Its criminal.

Why dont you ever admit that modern day rugby league requires thinkers and decision makers on the field rather than robots and drones.

The reason the top teams do well is because they have smarter players. Full stop. 

Our smartest player is Hoppa and he is on the slide. Next would probably be Tolman but he is also old and a forward.

You really need your spine to be filled with smart/clever players that can make decisions on the fly and sometimes know when to dish the coach and go on their own.

We need a bunch of Shifty Sherwins and Elmasri's

Did you reply to the appropriate post?...

Not sure what I have to ever admit, League has always required decision makers and thinkers...

Calling 6 again and using the bin would let the game flow...

Keeping a big 10 is letting the game flow...
Flow means more action not less, the NRL are right to play advantage and not nitpick, that doesn't mean ignore everything...

Marki is right in a game with tempo and flow the players need to make decisions, it isn't a sequence of set moves....

If teams want to play flat  over the advantage line, they are risking a forward pass, if it is forward it should be called, that is why we have the rule.

Play the ball is tricky, often the tackled player is rushing to play it and the opposition is try to slow it.
Hands on the player or wrestling after held, hold downs, leg pulls etc. should be a penalty.
Lost balls should be a repeat play the ball, unless it is an obvious drop, otherwise the refs are just guessing and it is a recipe for inconsistency.

Most other things were the ref is guessing play on, just pull up the obvious stuff, there is plenty of that.

What really annoys me is the ref pulling up a highly technical marginal 50/50 call, then before or after that letting more obvious stuff go.
They have tried everything, the refs are just not good at their job at present.... they might get better once they get used to the game flowing... (assuming it does)

Perhaps you should admit to ........

I was young, I needed the money...

They're not very good at their job cos the NRLol has screwed with their heads... they grow up reffing to the rules... they grow up getting some calls wrong...
6 week crackdowns, and then throwing them under the bus when the call is wrong... diluting authority and increasing confusion with two refs... the usual suspects never demoted as a result if dubious calls, and now let if flow, ie ignore the rule book...

teams like roosters arent "smarter" because of just their their spine...
without the ball is what has seen them so dominant in the Robinson era... they were the first team to take the offside on your own line to the next level, and we're oft amongst the most penalised in the comp, this year the NRLol has legitimised the tactic through its instruction to ignore the rules for teams that play pretty...