Thank god for that!

Yeah shame as Meaney is one of few footy-smart players at the club and plays at a high efficiency of his potential. But, if he got an offer, you cant go into a bidding war for him when you cant even guarantee him a spot.

With regards to DWZ, I thought we had a war chest and plenty of cap money. It doesnt bother me if our 2 highest paid players next year would have been 2 wingers in JAC and DWZ. But if Meaney is gone, that means someone is playing fullback and it ain't Nicko Hines. 

So there must be someone in the pipeline if we are losing 2 fullback/wingers

Ok that explains it.....

We have Dufty.

And that's a good pickup in my opinion.

Worst decision in a very long time. I was completely neutral and I was left fuming. Refs need a long stint on the sideline. 

So our salary cap is effectively  reduced by $400k  or to put it another way a $400k costs us $800k. So much for paying overs.

I find this all very interesting and it's basically what i was saying a couple of weeks ago. I do rate dufty, but I really don't think you can play him at #1. Got to find somewhere else to take advantage of his obvious skills with ball in hand and hide his chronic liabilities in defense. I still reckon #6 is that position a couple wide with a back-rower riding shotgun.

I also wouldn't sign him long term or for much, and I definitely wouldn't get in a bidding war for him. Seems Canberra's the only option at present for him and if they want to pay excess they can have him. But if he's interested in a lazy $400k for a year with a year option in our favour NOT to play #1, then I'm interested.




The six reasons the Dragons don’t want Matt Dufty

From the outside looking in, few can understand why St George Illawarra have decided to part ways with in-form fullback Matt Dufty at the end of the season.

The popular No.1 has racked up 10 try assists and 11 tries so far this season and capped that with a man-of-the-match effort in the Dragons’ 52-24 demolition of the Broncos last Thursday.

That performance prompted even Billy Slater - one of the game’s fullback greats - to wonder why the Dragons were passing on Dufty’s signature for next year.The question is why are the Dragons letting Dufty go?The answer, according to several well-placed sources,is that some at the club believe that beyond his undeniable attacking prowess, there are weaknesses in Dufty’s game.

Reason No.1: Defensive positioning

The main reason the Dragons are not extending Dufty’s deal is because of perceived deficiencies in his defensive game.

Dufty set up five tries against the Broncos last Thursday night, but the statistics also showed he was the “cause” of all four of Brisbane’s tries, taking his tally to 12 “try causes” in 11 games this year.

The mistake that raised the loudest alarm bells came when Jack de Belin was beaten on the inside by Albert Kelly to set up a try for TC Robati in the first half

De Belin, in his first game back, is clearly at fault but the positioning of Dufty is of equal concern.Nearly all teams place their fullback at “A” defender (first off the ruck) when defending close to their line, allowing the fullback to shift behind the line as cover while the ball is shifted across field.At the start of the tackle, Dufty is out of position, setting up between the “A” and “B” defenders. Had Dufty been at “A” defender as cover on the inside of De Belin, the hole would not have opened up for Kelly to set up Robati.

When Manly played Parramatta a few weeks ago, Tom Trbojevic showed exactly how a fullback should defend around the ruck. He was constantly barking instructions and even came up with a try-saving tackle.

Dufty was also caught out of position for Brisbane’s first try of the night last week. Fullbacks are often encouraged to fill numbers down the short side, but his decision to defend in the front line on tackle four allowed Kelly to kick in behind for David Mead to score.

Granted, he was plugging a hole in defence trying to stop an overlap, but there is an argument that more communication could have prevented the situation in the first place.

Reason No.2: Effort and work-rate in defence

Another of the frustrations the Dragons have with Dufty is a perceived lack of effort in attempting to save tries. A lack of urgency for just a split second is often the difference between a fullback stopping the try and the opposition scoring.Earlier in the year, against the Knights, the play was spread out wide and Dufty appeared to show no interest in tracking the ball. He was standing still when the ball was played and remained under the post as the Knights spread it to the left-hand corner.Fortunately for the Dragons the last pass went forward, but Dufty made no effort to get to the corner and save the potential try (see video below).

A lack of urgency was also highlighted in round one when Sharks prop Aaron Woods crashed over late to seal a win for Cronulla. Dufty found himself at “A” to the right of the ruck, but didn’t react quickly enough when the ball went the other way.While Tyrell Fuimaono deserved plenty of the blame, Dufty could have put himself in a try-saving position had he followed the play.James Tedesco, Trbojevic and Clint Gutherson are three of the most tireless fullbacks. There was a set of six during the 2017 Origin series that epitomised why Tedesco has been the premier fullback in the competition for so many years.He covered almost 150 metres in two tackles defending the NSW tryline, pulling off two try-saving efforts in the sequence, which saw him hit a maximum speed of 32.5 kilometres an hour 

Reason No.3: Kick defusals

Matt Dufty is ranked 19th for kick defusals in the NRL based on all the fullbacks who have played a minimum of five games this year.

It’s another factor behind the Dragons’ decision not to re-sign him. Dufty has been exceptional chasing down kicks to score tries, but has been exposed at the other end. Only Valentine Holmes has a less effective kick-defusal rate.

Against the Sea Eagles and Warriors this year, Dufty has butchered grubber kicks to gift the opposition easy four-pointers.

Reason No.4: Roster management

This isn’t the first time the Dragons have baulked at re-signing Dufty. He was almost let go a few seasons ago before the club threw a one-year deal at him.The Dragons are in a tricky situation with their salary cap, which means they believe paying Dufty $500,000 would not be a smart business move when they have Cody Ramsey and Jack Bird on the books.While all the talk has been about Ramsey wearing the No.1 next year, the Herald has been told by well-placed sources that St George Illawarra are giving strong consideration to moving Bird to fullback in 2022.The club also has a huge opinion of 19-year-old Tyrell Sloan. Some, like Slater, would argue that none of those three options are superior alternatives to Dufty, who has been linked with a move to Canberra after meeting with the Raiders on Thursday.“He’s been told he’s not wanted by the Dragons,” Slater told Nine. “That is quite strange because I always thought you only replace someone if you have someone better.”

Reason No.5: Lack of success in his five years in the NRL

Another key reason the Dragons have decided against Dufty is because of a desire to move away from what hasn’t worked.Dufty has been in first grade since 2017, with the Dragons playing finals football just once in his three full years in the top grade during that time.

While Dufty can’t be held responsible for that, there is a view at the club that he has had his fair share of opportunities to make a difference and hasn’t made a big enough impact against the top teams in the competition.

Reason No.6: Attitude

Speculation has been rife for the past fortnight that something has to be wrong off the field to justify the Dragons’ decision.The Herald has been told Dufty is a popular member of the group and has not had a falling-out with anyone at the club, nor has he been involved in any misdemeanours that have contributed to the situation.While there are no issues with him on a personal level, sources close to the club suggest there is frustration with a perceived unwillingness to respond positively to constructive criticism.

The Dragons believe that his defensive issues have been highlighted for a number of years under a number of coaches, but the development progress is not at the level they would like it be.Perhaps that is what Phil Gould, who undertook a review of the Dragons two seasons ago, was referring to on Nine’s 100% Footy program a couple of weeks ago when he said: “There’s definitely tries in him. If you’re a team struggling for points, he’s a fullback that I would buy for that. As to the reasons why the Dragons don’t want him, I don’t think it’s football related.”

I'll say on that, Points 1-3 are undeniable. Points 4-5 are Dragons business so who cares. Point 6 is subjective but probably has a lot of truth in it seeing as he's never improved his liabilities and if anything they've gotten worse.

$400k, one year, one year option in our favour. Make the offer, take it or leave it.

Good luck Raiders if you pay more.

Referee's and the bunker seem to be unable to differentiate accident, mistake, intentional, low impact and high impact.  Is this because both players and officials weren't given time to prepare? Should it have been done at the end of last season. Should PVL concentrate on one job and get to these changes earlier? Off season, not mid season.

You can dissect ANY player's game and find deficiencies - even immortals.

The point is, we arent going to challenge for the title in 1-3 years. Dragons on other hand are on a different level and may have other title aspirations or options to replace him.

I'm interested to see what Dragons will do if they offload him. I've seen Ramsay and he's made some brain explosions far worse than Dufty can ever do.

It would only have made sense if they had chased Niko Hynes but they didnt. Kurt Mann ain't a fullback and neither is Ravawlara. 

We on the other hand need an enigma of a fullback as part of our rebuild. 

I'm all for him

I'm worried when the game stops for 2 minutes and they STILL fekk it up and get it wrong.

The ref and bunker had plenty of time to call me last night or at least listen to Braith Anasta and make the right call.

They didnt. They waited the 2mins for CHN to be attended to, watched it numerous times on replay, and stuffed it up. Textbook NRL refereeing.

Hmm... looks like Pawwa have had their own Max Mannix moment. That try bombing operation can now be forever known as a Mitchell Moses moment. Mmmmmmmm.

Yeah, and you’re pretty good at it too. When they’re wearing blue & white.

You even add some.

My guess is that we are trying the Fox at fullback, with a fallback option of moving Averillo.
If they work out as I expect, both are comp winning options.
I also think Burton/Averillo is a promising halves combination.
We need a good hooker and I would even try Flanno at hooker, as an experiment sometime this year.
I say that because we want a hooker who can help steer the team around and who has play making instincts.
This season is perfect for experimenting once we jag a couple of wins to shift momentum.
The big risk is the losses start to worry Baz, and he starts to get negative and conservative.
Some aspects of the team selection this week do make me wonder how Baz is travelling.
Regardless the off season is a reset with key players arriving.
Any players in our team who are marginal selections will play themselves in  or out.

I would prefer Shaun Johnson at the right price to Dufty, even given his injury history and patches of inconsistent form.
When SJ is on he is on, he would add some experience to our young side.
Sit out the bidding, if the Raiders are chasing Dufty they are unlikely to offer SJ big money.
Most other sides are reasonably well set for halves.
SJ might get an offer from the Warriors.
Time our bid right and we may get a good deal.
Only problem is that we need a hooker and some more forwards, we will not be bidding high for SJ if we can afford to bid at all.
He is a great talent, it will be a shame if the UK is his only option.

It is always disappointing when Parra win, I hope life goes back to normal, the Dogs winning and Parra losing, that is the natural order.

The Cheese has been warned off scoring tries by the front rowers union, rightly so.

Can I be the first to thank TBaz for naming Katia at fullback... If anyone out there can get a video of Villis reaction when he sees the news I will be forever grateful...

Did we suggest that to Baz after the 14th or 15th beer?

I know you suggested Dr Marki as head of recruiting, that was when I thought you had a one too many drinks. Or was that me?

What is it with some Bulldog supporters (another site) and maybe even some board members as well..... there are rumours about wanting to get Dufty from St Merge  or Johnston from the Sharks. FMD what part of "we need a hooker and a prop or two" don't some people understand. They can go out and buy as many wingers, centres, fullbacks or halfs as they want but without a decent forward pack it all counts for jacksh!t. If the club cannot secure any FR forwards or a hooker for next season just tell the members and fans were screwed for another year and be done with it. Better than fvckarsing around and letting everyone speculate.

Warburton said today there’s signings in the pipeline.

But that don’t mean they’re gonna announce them either them until the time’s right, of which there’s always a lot of variables at play. For instance a lot of times the signed player wants it kept under wraps until they finish their commitments, and a lot of times the club wants to announce at strategic times for coverage and sponsors…whatever.

And sometimes it’s to shut up the fans, but not always.

Bottom line is - when they’re good and ready.

I expect the club knows the priorities and the budget.

I wonder what is happening with Flanno, still not named in reserve grade.
I will not be surprised or disappointed if he leaves.
Some other club may suit him better, unless he is injured, I think he should be playing reserve grade.
 

Topine picked in second row again.  Does this mean Daley us seen as a future first grade hooker.  I would have thought the more experience the better if Topine was a prospect going forward 

I was half happy when we signed him.
But I'll be twice as happy if he leaves early.
I cant see him improving this team. 
He needs the team to play completely different or he must leave. 

I like what I have seen from Topine, Daley and also Davies.

But Topine has done it in the NRL.

Impressive reserve grade form just means a player is worth trying in the NRL.

What I don't understand is why Katoa keeps getting selected.

Mocki, I have a Dogs win as final leg of a 5 leg multi... do a bloke a favour and tip the Dragons will ya...
Oh and enjoy being at the game...

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that our Mounties team plays better than our first grade team. No doubt at all.

Their team movement and line speed is miles ahead of first grade. 

I have been saying it for years now and I reckon Mounties would easily beat the NRL team.

They should already pay you out Dman.

I took Dogs at 4.50 odds and will make my way to the game shortly.....

It seems our first graders cant hear me when I scream at the tv.... they won't escape me at the ground.

Thanks for nothin...

Flanno is playing for Mounties.

How is he going?
It is a good opportunity to build confidence.

In general our lower grades are competitive. The issue is the NRL side, the standard is higher and our team is off the pace.