Well at least Foxy and Shoes will have fresh legs on their return...

With 7exy, Burto and Lou in the side we don't need Crutch for kicking... Just for talking....

Could we give Crutch a megaphone and sit him on the fence behind our goal line???...  Imagine how fresh his legs would be!!!... 15 mins halftime to slow and go to t other end of the stadium seems about right...

I just had visions of him dummying to every person in the front row, then getting tackled by camera lead, running into a photographer,  and tripping on several blades of grass... 15mins may not be enough....

He is one of those guys who leads the effort areas and his kicking is mostly good,

Sexton is a better halfback,  Mann is a better lock, Salmon is a better second rower and Hayward covers lock  hooker and half off the bench. So it is hard to squeeze Hutch in even though I don't think that he is a bad player. 

For example  Hutch is better than the 2 Newcastle halves,but most NRL halves are better at attacking plays. I think that he is more of a utility.

It will be interesting to see what CC does. Our defence is good enough to beat most sides and make the 8. To make an impact in the semis we need to improve the attack and add a bit of size in the forwards.  When we add attack we might lose a bit of defence / grit.

Salmon showed the benefit of fresh legs last week, Mann and Hopoi this game, Hughes will show it against the Eels. 

Reed,  King and Kiraz, Preston and Kiks can play with high intensity to a high standard week after week.Also Critter and Tracey. 

Gus said that they were worried about burning Hughes out, in his first year of NRL. 

Hopoi was great on debut he adds some size and workrate and maintains our defensive standards and energy. He should be good to go against the Eels and one to 2 games after the bye.  After that he will probably need a rest.

Go Fins. I want to stay in the 8.

Bugger, old man Bennett is a myth. 

Damn. Arsey Raiders got it. Phins couldnt ice the game despite all the chances they had.

The good news though, it's mid season, the Dogs are only one win out of the 8, they are playing a good brand of football and we have a very healthy F/A. The next couple of months is going to be very interesting. I haven't been this confident at this stage of the season for a few years now.

Agreed. The brand of footy the boys are playing is a breath of fresh air, finally.  Watching the Knights game I was not stressed out at all as I used to be whenever we were defending our line or made a mistake. I knew we'd be sweet as. Been along time coming to turn our fortunes around and put those abysmal dark years behind us and whats more exciting is the best is yet to come. We are in a good place.

1 win between 11th and 4th... Maintain the effort and discipline... Combos continue to build... Hopefully limited injuries... Top 4 not out of the question....

I thought that too... But then losing keeps us closer to top 4...

IMO we have settled on our first choice spine and backline, we have some useful players who can fill in.

We can slowly give some young guys more experience in the forwards and improve our depth. I still think Sutton might add something to the team.

Next game is big for both teams.  IMO a win for us more or less ends Parra's season and put us in the frame for a possible top 4 finish. 

A win for the Eels puts them back in the hunt for the semis.

I am finding it really hard to get a handle on how some teams are actually going to finish the season, mainly Sharks, Warriors, Canberra, Titans and Manly. Some times it is hard to know how good a win over those sides is.

As an example in between the times we beat them, the Knights beat, Dolphins, Warriors, Tigers and Titans. Knowing how bad the Knights halves are, I am questioning the Dolphins and Warriors. 

If we keep winning, top 4 will take care of itself.

$3000 fine for headbutting Lou... Most players would probably think it's worth it... 

I am fine with it, as long as the money is donated to a worthy cause like - GFWCDLSDF...

......

Grand Final Winning Celebration Drinks  for Long Suffering Dogs Fans.

Junior and Reg need a meeting with their bank managers, we are putting a few zeros on the fine.  I've told the NRL how thursty you all are.

So end Rnd 13 we have the 2nd best defence, 3rd best diff. This is so significant that with one more wiin we’d be 4th…and think of the ones we dropped v Souths v Melb.

We got so many things going for us moving forward.

First is Gus on the development and pathways. The fruits of which are just starting the show and the true effects still a season or two, three away and the foundations there for the next decades.

Second is Cirro who I know think there can be no doubt is a Premiership aspiring coach. Think of what he’s done in two years, particularly this one - he still does not have the roster to truly compete yet the stats as posted above show results way above expectations… especially Marki’s..

The staff - especially The Enforcer.

Stable front office, when was the last time you heard them speak, let alone be spoke of.

I got no doubt of as now we are a heavyweight club. We got development at worlds best standard and we can pick and choose whom we recruit - that’s right we can compete with Easts, Melb, Penrith and any of the other heavyweights or wannabe’s for any player on the market.

We tick all the boxes they’d consider - a stable club that’s well coached where any player can aspire to rep honours and Premierships.

Gone are the days of squabbling over scraps. We pick, we choose - and it’s an honour if we look at you.

Depending on how this current side and some of our juniors progress,. I think that we are mostly promoting from within, not recruiting.

The Parra game is another big test and a guide to how our pack is progressing, especially without Kiks.

I say that because Parra are coming through the front door, the game will have be won and lost in the forwards and probably in the first 20 mins, especially if it is wet.

If we go with them in the first 20, or even edge ahead. Our fitness and mobility will have the fat boys floundering like fish out of water in the last 15.

If we go with them for the first 20, they can't go with us for the full 80.

IMO what that means is, Hopoi starts at lock.

There is no more important game this year to date than this week... Guthos 200th, opportunity for 3 wins on the let's trot, and a chance to shut that whiny little flat tracker in 7 and his supporters up... 

It's a helluva turn around... On every front... Especially with an 'assistant', an 'unstable board',  a 'bunch of utilities', and a 'self serving GM', and a club that was unable to sign 'Mutch Misses'...

We know our halfback will not go missing when the going gets tough, or kick the ball from behind the dead ball line.

Kick pressure from us will have him kicking from  Canterbury Rd.

I am more confident now that we can end their season.

Their next game is the Chooks after a bye and an embarrassing loss, after a high intensity game against us, they will have no fresh legs.

7exy and Burto... Thank God we have the bye next week or is be worries how fresh 7exy's legs would be... 

Another leg freshener for Crutch.... I assume he'll be back in the 7 after the bye hey Mock???...

Hope we can make a full strength side for the last 8-10 weeks of the comp... Cos it's good lookin side at full strength... 

I have sent a shipping container full of leg freshener to the club.

No worries this week, long turnaround and we had a pretty easy game against the Knights.

We can go flat out leading into the bye.

We don't have any cover for Critter backing up from origin. 

I don't think that we have had our top 17 in form and injury free. 

Aside from the regulars there are a few others who might push for a spot in the 17.

Sutton  Patolo, Todd, Hello Kitty, Hayes, Samarini, Clark, Papalii,, etc.

I would be interested to hear how Samarini is going in reserves. Big lad, centre who has had a few injuries. Can break tackles and seems to be a solid defender. Can play centre, but mainly a second rower these days. A guy like that can be handy on the bench.

If we have Curran and Todd/Sutton on the bench we have bench props who can play long minutes.  Patolo, Farmer or Hello Kitty might give us more impact off the bench. 

Hayward and Hopoi have really taken their chance and improved the side, some other young pup might sieze his chance before the end of the season. 

Does that leg freshener come in a nasal spray yet or is it still rectal???...

What the Parra game will show is if the Dragons and Knights were really that bad.

Both of them started the game well.

We didn't dominate either first half, but found a way to score points and limit the damage. 

Second half we got on top and the opposition never looked like scoring. 

Our kicking game against the Knights was the best effort all season a lot of that was Sexton, but Reed also chimed in.

Round 1 - we fumbled and bumbled at the start Parra got on top and we did well to be in the game with 10-15 mins to go.

Next step up for us is stop the opposition dominating in the first 20 mins. Then grind them out of the game with our kick / chase / linespeed.

They may have had an off night... But we did exactly what is required when teams have an off night... We didn't get dragged down to their level, and took advantage...

Was the defector wearing a bulldog jersey???...

Could've got ugly but didn't... Forwards have held their own... Give me Burto and Romy every day after that 40 mins from Nicho...

The defector ruined the game,  but Teddy and Nicho are not up to this level.

Re ugly... Yet...