Dib should be assassinated for sacking Hasler. Easily the worst decision in our clubs history. It shows once again that if you listen to the fans you end up sitting on the hill with them.

 The man is a brilliant coach and could easily be the best the club has signed if he was still here. Manly were backed by most to be bottom four and he has them playing better than any team in the comp with a similar roster. He gets the best out of the worst players consistently. 

I will have to have a look at it again.
He was trying to pass to Wakeham, I am not sure why, I think he thought Wakeham might be in a better position to kick.

I don't blame Napa, but he was in the way.

It is fairly standard play to have the option of a 2nd kicker, if the first kicker is pressured.

Our halves had very little ball in the 2nd half, we had one or 2 shots in attack at best in the 2nd half.
When a team doesn't have the ball, it is all about defence.

Our kicking game and general play in attack was been way better since Wakeham and Averillo have been partnered in the halves.

We were mostly kicking for yardage in the 2nd half, on the rare occasions when we had the ball.

Our inability to tackle Papalii deserves special mention

That was bad.

We are lacking a forward who can make a similar impact carrying the ball.

Maybe we can take those dud Turbos off his hands..

I watched a replay the pass looks premeditated rather than a last minute panic decision.

It is still the wrong, if I had to guess, I think Averillo's intention was to run the ball on the last tackle.
When we run the ball on the 5th it typically goes wrong,  they haven't got that  part of the game right.

One of the reasons that the six agains cause so much angst from supporters from all clubs is that the play continues uninterrupted.  Unlike with a apenalty there is no stoppage during which  the decision can be analysed. This also probably leads to quick knee jerk decisions

If Allen is fit now…. Surely that’s the end of Floppa in 1st grade?

Lets go back five seasons further, and assassinate the fvckwit that hired him in the first place. Des NEVER had Canterbury's interest at heart. He was only in it for the lucrative pay check and didn't give a fvck about the teams future. That was very evident from the outset.

When they are given it is often hard for fans to pick the difference between a hold down that was punished with a 6 again and one that wasn't 
.

If was just us fans complaining or it happened every week I would discount it.
But Baz is also complaining and some games against some teams at their home ground it seems worse than normal.

Being a smaller forward pack we need fast linespeed and we need to gang tackle wnd wrestle bigger forwards. Last week we were allowed to wrestle, so it isn't consistent week to week.

Or from ref to ref or game to game or within games and it ain't  going to get better.

Either way, the onus is on the half to pass the ball to the right player. Not another players back. Blaming Napa for that is unfair. I’ve never been a huge fan of him but he did everything possible to get us a win today. Our halves did the opposite 

Manly certainly started the season poorly but they didn't have Tommy Turbo and as that wise man known as the Mock said the success is probably a result of Tommy doing his own thing. The worst part about the early Des Bulldogs' tenure was that he had Cleal with him and let players of the calibre Finucane go. You could also argue Tapau was such a loss. The recruitment was poor....Cleal only went to the places which had good pie shops. 

DWZ going now seems to be official.
Like Des I am happy he is going, in both cases achieving great results before/after being at our club does change the fact that both were a bad fit for our club at the time they were here.
In both cases expectations were unrealistic and they were slotted into a role thst didn't suit them.
In the case of DWZ and the Warriors I would be very happy to see him lift the premiership trophy at the Warriors. After the Dogs the Warriors are about the only other team I would like to see win.

In the case of DWZ it is odvious that we payed him fullback money and the assumption was that he could play fullback. For many reasons he wasn't suited to thst role.

If he reverts to wing, and improves his defensive decision making at the Warriors he could be a great player for the Warriors, no hard feelings and I am happy he left on good terms.

That is my problem with the Des era, no one said he couldn't coach.

But scouting, juniors, recruitment and retention cap management at the Dogs was the worst I have ever seen by far at the Dogs and my memory stretches kack to 1973, or perhaps slightly earlier.

Appointing Des as coach was smart, giving him so much power and responsibility was dumb.

Towards the end Des was sticking rigidly to a coaching formula that wasn't working, the pressure had got to him, he needed a break and a reset. Sacking him was the right decision, appointing Pay was questionable but with the rooster our options were limited.

We can also be very critical of some recruitment in the Pay era.

For the Fox at fullback I see it as different to DWZ.
The Fox is an elite talent who is worth big money anyway, if he has to revert to wing he is more than capable in that position.
The Fox has the raw ingredients, speed and some playmaking ability.

The experiment might no work. But a club at the bottom has to roll the dice, and has to attract elite talent.

If it doesn't work, we have signed a great winger for a fair price.

I think he’ll be playing wing, and I’m happy at the price.

I don’t think we can be too critical of letting Finucane go. He wanted to move to Melbourne for family reasons. And Tapau was behind better props. My opinion is that we aren’t in a better position recruitment or development wise than we were

My question is to everybody who thinks we have improved since Des is this. How many recruits from outside the Canterbury Bankstown district have we scouted and brought through?  How many have gone onto being regular first grader? Then how many decent first graders have we signed? 

The club recently stated that they’re excited with the talent we have coming through Flagg, Matt’s and dev squads, and regular watchers of such have said the same. Result of putting recourses into them after a decade of not.

As for first graders coming to the club, you really do not understand how deep a hole we dug for ourselves during The Des and Dib era. This was REAL, not a figment of someone’s imagination. I remember on a previous incarnation of The BDP, someone who regularly lunched with honcho’s ( might have been IanC, if not someone who mixed with the same people), telling us way back in 2016 we were well and truly f***ed for 5 years or more, adamant about it, as it turned out rightly so.

There were two problems, salary cap space - as in how much we were over-paying and back ending contracts, and roster space - as in how long and how many over-paid backended contracts were gonna run. And then we bought Woods, over-paid again!

None of this seems to surprise anyone who’s been paying attention except you.

I believed there was no opportunity to improve until this year. I was wrong it will be next year. I say this because without laying blame on Des, Castle, Dib or anyone else, the club allowed unreal contracts, overpayments, extended back-ended or front-ended contracts, paying unfathomable amounts of freight to other clubs for our players to move on etc etc.. So it is immaterial who was to blame the damage has been done and the club was physically unable to do anything about it, they were locked in and their hands were tied. We have finally shed the last of the shackles and we will see improvement from here.

As for why Des does well at Manly and not The Dogs. I reckon the reason is simple - the man can coach, that’s self evident, and I don’t buy any of the “his heart wasn’t in it” shit, he gave it his best.

But he can not manage a roster, or a football department. At Manly his hands are tied both through finances and management, he’s got a say but not the final or even weightful say.

At The Dogs we handed him the keys to the joint, financially and directionally - and he can’t manage anything outside a dressing room.

Well said...

Sometimes the club and fans need to be patient, play the long game and do the hard yards.

Going for the quick fix usually doesn't work and often makes a bigger mess.

Footy wise, I think we are seeing some improvement over the course of the season.

It is no secret we have the weskest rooster, the most inexperienced halves and are short of some grunt in the middle. We also lack some strike in the backs.

Baz doesn't quite have the cattle and there are very few players in reserve grade that csn make a difference.

On the firm over the last month or so, we are heading in the right direction and will win a few more games.

We are not making the 8 and would not win a semi even if we were gifted one.

It is easier to be happy when expectations are realistic.

You didn’t answer the questions though. You have not given any examples for evidence to back up your argument. 

I have been patient. And I will wait and see how Barrett go’s over the next three years. I’m not trying to upset anybody. I’m just venting after another loss. I hope we will improve and become the best club in the game again. It’s been way too long

I don't think JAC can be a top fullback.
He might be OK in attack, but I'm concerned he may not be able to position his players in the defensive line. This is what separates the top fullbacks from the rest of pack and why Slater will become an immortal.

Meaney in my opinion is the best player at the back for us. I didn't watch the Parra game and from I read here he had a poor game, but he is usually the safest guy at the back with few errors and is getting better at setting our defence.

Unless we got a superstar fullback, I'd prefer JAC on the wing and Meaney at the back. Even if JAC is on big $$$ I dont care. You need 2 or 3 big money players and if ours is invested on the wing for a few years - so be it.

Those are fair and interesting questions Micko.

It would be worth asking these in about 5-8 years when we are expected to be a powerhouse again and we can reflect back at years 2017-2022....

We will probably call it one of the darkest periods of the clubs existence.

I'm not sure he can even coach - single handedly that is.

I mean, I think he is a great defensive minded coach and strategist and he commands respect from his players who fear him. 

But I also reckon he needs someone to coach them in attack. I have often said, dont underestimate the genius of DCE and Turbo Tom. These 2 see the game, they see the moment and they back themselves no matter what Des is thinking in the coaches box.

Same was case with JR and Barba. They made Des. Not the other way around.

Micko, like you, I'm not going to sugarcoat how bad our recovery has been over the last 5 or so years and I certainly dont like the broken promises from CEOs etc. 

But I do believe we have to endure some hit and miss with player recruitment in the next couple of years until we get ourselves into a position where not every bad choice is make or break for us.

Because that is they component here. The top teams can make 1 or 2 bad recruitment or retention decisions but get away with it. The bottom teams cannot, and the pressure soon gets put on the coach and sometimes the board. 

No doubt Barrett has made bad choices in Flanno and Allen. These 2 just haven't worked out for us. Cotric and Hethrington have been OK without being exceptional. They are still WIP in a new team fitout but I reckon they'll come good.

My main positivity is that Barrett knows what to do for this team to be a contender again but we just need him to land the right players. It will be hit and miss for afew years more I'm afraid but necessary.

I am just hoping we dont hold onto players 1 or 2 years too long again like we did in the past. It was the beginning of our problems. 

Broncos who are pinned to bottom like us, have been too trigger happy to release their good players which has bit them in the bum. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. Having a production line of talent coming through the lower grades makes it easier to release your older players.

I'm hoping Barrett can change our ethos of remaining too loyal to players who are well over the mark....