Big problem. Thommo and Hetho only  have to  blink now to get long suspensions

Katoa is a liability in attack and defence most of the time.

His real talent is the wrong play at the wrong time.

We do need to move Katoa on and sign a specalist NRL standard starting hooker.

Yep that was part of it...

Also we started the season with Flanno, I can see why it was a gamble worth taking, but by the time Flanno was punted his confidence was shot and a lot of the teams confidence was shot.

From what I saw our best spine was 1.  Meaney, 6. Averillo. 7. Wakeham, 9. JMK. 14. BBO.
We rarely played with that spine and even rarer was that spine with Thompson, Hetherington and Jackson in the side.

Frustration is causing some of the suspensions, good players hate losing and sometimes try too hard.

For 22 I hope Baz has a good plan for the spine from round 1, it works out, and we can stick to it.
In terms of size in the forwards and pace in the backs the 22 side is a step up from 21.
What is needed is confidence, execution and direction.
We need Burton to work out and steer the side around, he needs to do most of the kicking.

Ordinary decision from Pearce on that play..

We actually did look better when Katoa came on but he single handedly took any chance away with that high shot, another high shot on our 40 and then for good measure a strip also on our 40. 

Like I said, he is a genius at coming up with a dumb play.

Ya'll finished....... and some of you call yourselves true Doggies supporters tsk.. tsk.. tsk.  I know you all saw the same game as I did and there will be millions of different perspectives, but there's no need to pent your frustrations against particular players. Sure there were a few mistakes, dropped balls, a couple of bombed tries etc, but in general I thought there was a definite improvement.  There were glimpses of really good go forward and their defence effort against the warriors was pretty bl00dy good. Once again I thought the game was managed extremely poorly by the man in the middle. If it wasn't for the lopsided penalty count and the questionable 50/50's, it would have been a much closer game. If, for instance, that fair try by us being disallowed was fairly given, and the warriors last try was disallowed because their player was clearly offside, then the final score would have 18 - 16, which in my books is probably a more accurate indication of where we are at.  As supporters you just have to relax, there's absolutely nothing you or I say that will make any difference.

BAZ has lost me in the last few weeks.
The attack is abominable, slow with no plan.
No one takes the line on when we have the rare backline passing raid?? Just slowly get the ball to the wing and mostly lose ground.
We seem to play for completions, terrified of making a mistake until we are 12-18 points behind.
Jacko at first receiver is ridiculous, easy pickings.
We actually looked better when the Raiders Red Head ran. Our guys are not ready for the offloads.
AVO would be a champion in another coaching environment, he is not a 7.
Why BAZ persists with him there is not doing his career any good. Try him at fullback for the remaining weeks.
BBO has a dig and is one of those players who look likely to make things happen. A champion in the making at halfback.
It is scary if JMK is our first choice 9 for next year, slow with no vision, not in the first 20 number 9's.

ODF - Baz didn't think the Katoa hit was a penalty, I think that he had time to pull out. Tne game was more or less decided by that.

I do agree that the effort has been good most of the season,  and some of our young players are showing promise.

Baz whinges about the refs a lot, I think he is right more than 60% of the time.

Averillo is probably gone for the season with a broken hand, apparently from a late hit the ref didn't see ... according to Baz.

The most go forward was from our loan players.
Schoup had his best game in the top grade.
But give us a break, the frustrations come out when the same dumb attacking plays and same dumb mistakes happen week after week.
I am not sure about definite improvement.
The opposition are in 12th place and we were off the pace all day.

Trindall looks to me like the best half in the Knights / Newcastle game so far.

Right on cue, a perfect mock.

My biggest issue is that Baz spent a lot of cap on Hethrington, Waddell, Flanagan, Allen and re-signed Okonbor and JMK. Recruitment was terrible. 

You mocked yourself with the Knights/Newcastle call.

Baz has to pick and stick for the year. Burton is the easy one. I would go with Dufty at 1 Burto at 6 Avo at 7 and BBO at 9. Let them play together for the year and get close to finals. Hope they don’t get injured and have a crack at going better in 2023. 

The two most glaring things we haven’t got, nor had for seasons IMO are

1. Enough big bopper forwards to get us metres, particularly coming out of our own half. We can have 60% of possession and still lose the territory by 60%. Vaughan may be one of the more significant signings next year for that alone, I would like another one to go with him. Hetho and Thompson have got metres in them but not as the spearheads.

2. Every other team in the comp has at least one player who can split defence with a step, swerve or pace and score a try on his own. We’ve got none. The closest being Meaney and maybe Sloop, but… nah not really. Cotric should but from lack of mojo or opportunity hasn’t looked likely at all.

Good news on that front is next year we’ll have an abundance of them. Dufty, JAC, Naden, Cotric if he finds his mojo, Burton. All capable of doing it on their own.

But anyway…

Actually, if Ryan James is looking for a gig. Him and Vaughan, cheap and nasty.

We’ll get to halfway.

I understand you are a bias Bulldogs fan like I am. But that was a high tackle. He hit him in the head with the shoulder. I know Baz doesn’t agree but ge was clearly wrong. There was contact. I don’t think it was worth a penalty but unfortunately that’s the stupid rules now. And if we were hoping that we were a chance from that we deserve to lose. 

Couldn’t agree more

Your not wrong those Canberra players were a  God send . The score would had been worse if Napa and co were there . Barrett is not a first grade full stop . 

If Ryan James is off contract or unwanted by Csnberra, he would be a handy addition to our side, money should be reasonable.

We will find out if Baz can coach next season, or the year after. Gus is around to give him a few tips. Furner is defensive coach. We have a lot of coaching experience on board.

On the surface the standard of defence this season doesn't seem like a rap for Furner, but sometimes coaching doesn't instsnt results.

I agree with all of that.... but Averillo is a running threat.
JMK and BBO reasonable threats from dummy half.

I Will add we don't have a backrower who can break the line, ball play or offload.
Not since CHN left and with RFM out injued most of the season.
Doorey is young but seems to have some potential.
Next season we will have TPJ.

We are missing some things in defence as well.

1 or 2 smart signings for 22 could still make a difference, don't need to be big name star players, just strengthen a weakness.

I think we should recognise that we have been roundly beaten by rubbish teams the last two weeks

Ryan James is off contract for Canberra and of 22. If we sign him end of year for 23 we could push Canberra to release him for next year. 

That would be good…. But the issues are at 9 & 7

Today we had numerous sets inside the Warriors 20…. Especially whilst that imbecile Katoa was on, and we had absolutely no clue what to do, who to pass it to & where the ball should go. 

Sign the ranger Horsepower too

Big forwards running hard on to the ball at the opposition end score tries or drag defenders in which can create opportunities.

A smart dummy half is also essential.

Our side has lots of issues this season 22 should be better.

I have a hunch we might be releasing Wakeham, unless he is injured I don't know why he isn't playing.
We can sign a more experienced specalist half like Sezer for reasonable money, some guys are just looking for a gig.
Flanno should start the season in reserve grade and might come good at some stage in 22.
He needs more confidence, he needs to run, he needs to start playing square and he needs to execute better.
How he gets all that is a long hard offseason, lots of extras.
I think Flanno wants to be a winner and is prepared to work hard, hard work sometimes pays off.

In the case of Averillo he has been the main man in a struggling side for too long, he is more of a 5/8,  and we don't have the right type of service and smarts at dummy-half. We don't have lots of great opportunities with a fast play the ball and the opposition short of numbers.

I hope Burton will be the main man next season.

Sloop is looking more like a Chris Mortimer (Andrew Farrer) type. I hope he kicks on with some better players around him.