I definitely agree on this bit and most of the rest.... mistakes can happen.... in particular the tackle JMoz had to make was difficult...

What was definitely well below par was the defence from Holland, some of that was well below par ..... he might have had a shoulder injury .. but even before that he looked ordinary... long term I would rather see him at fullback, or playing 14.. 

I'm not a fan of Hoppa at fullback, I never have been.... in this current team he might be the best option... but I would try Holland there, as it might solve 2 problems in one...

Am I the only one that thinks the Pups are NOT the problem or were the cause for our loss last night??..... it was the experienced players that let the team down last night!!

Hoppa’s failed catch off the kick off, Lichaa’s stupid strip, Holland’s terrible defensive reads in both halves, Morris’s miss on BJ..... the pups aren’t the problem


Well done Lewis, JMK, Martin, Ofa, Smith’s carries out of our half.... all did well

You're right about him showing signs of improvement last night. I thought it was his best appearance for the club so far.
Previously, too many penalties & too much dropped ball, along with leaving the field injured more than once.
Tragic way for the team to lose it in the end tho. As others have said, the improvements overall render that bit insignificant & they'll learn from it moving forward.

I think we will do better in the outside backs, we have Harper who looks a likely prospect...

We may be able to keep Morris X 2, if we can't we can probably use that money to recruit  some outside backs....

If some of Martin's PNG mates could be guaranteed to not get home sick, some of them are prospects...

I agree on both points....

My man Priest is at least showing some signs of improvement... (Or is that rose coloured glasses?)

I don't think Eastwood or Brown will be here next year or playing NRL for us....

Tony...this day is full of surprises...Marki said we had a technical win...amazing. But you are ready to drive out to Watsons Bay...the thing you don't understand is that the players we have are developing and not all on the huge paypackets those who have recently left were on. Sometimes the opportunity to develop in the best environment is all that is needed. The loss was hard but the way we scored the points was enough to put a smile on the dial. They weren't scored by someone slobbing their way over from 5 metres out but actual great play. The Dogs did it without Foran, RFM and Klem. A handful of the players have less than 10 NRL games to their credit. Yes, be disappointed in the game result but not the game. Have confidence that this board is led by a winner with character and not a selfinterested bozo.

likely 2019  team
meany
criten
holland
hopoate
smith/montoya
foran 
cogger/ lewis
martin/ elliett
jackson
f mariner
klemmer
king
toleman

res
 falolo
ogden
brown
tooamanga

forwards are reasonable ,but the backs still look very thing 

So the greatest thing for our club this year is to see how good our junior system is going and the fact that we are unlocking these great young players, is such a good thing?
But is it really???
We’ve spent soo much time and money on our youth to only see them leave to go to another club. We are salary cap stricken till 2021. Whoever we produce, we will definitely lose to cashed up Clubs willing to pay the money we cant...
Not only have we lost all our first graders but we will be losing our next gen of great players too....
This club will take minimum 5years to recoup. We are effed !!!!!!

I have to admit I was super impressed with the turnaround in our performances of the last 2 weeks. Its what we've been craving for for so long. Its also encouraging that there is reprieve from the stale and stagnant performances we've been accustomed to thanks to Desball. Future is looking up.
I will add this, yes Im disappointed with the last 7 mins and am now over the loss but this is about bragging rights and I cant stand the smug look on Ricky's face. We had them on the hook just couldnt reel them in.
The boys will have learnt heaps from the way they lost.

Marki, try and think positively.

The best outcome would be that we need to fit them all into the team, that's what I'd like to hope for.

I'm really not into planning for failure, if it happens it can happen without my help.

Zef, there is nothing wrong with Cogger being the back up half we had to have...
Cogger was bought before Lewis was tried in firsts. Not saying he has cemented that position, but on the little evidence ive seen from both players, i think Lewis is the better and more creative player. Cogger seems to me as a link player. Lewis creates. I think this team is craving for the latter.

Yeah, well said.
In fact all 3 backrowers had top games.
Elliot was brilliant last night with very strong carries and tackled low on many occasions. Jacko was also good running some good lines and creating space in attack. He did let Austin score that first one with a poor attempt but overall was good.

The improvement in the team and speed of attack is most pleasing and coincides with the new faces. Lewis, Martin, Smith have all added something to this team that was stale for so many years. 
Technical win.

I hope there's a chance in a late season game to run Lewis in the centers for a look. I'm not saying that's necessarily where I'd prefer him but I think it's one of the positions he might have to fit if everything planned were to work out well - and there is the we might be in need of centers thing too.

But I more want to see it to see how Lewis and Martin work together on the same edge running off each other. They do seem to have a connection.

I still don't know what happened there however I can live with it. I'm more encouraged that we've scored points, good points earned points in the last two games and had a gap on them than I am concerned that we let in three tries to lose a game in 7 mins.

It would concern me more if we were a settled team, but I can live with it... for now.

Despite him needing a lot of work in defense, and him knowing it (which is good) Martin is the edge runner we need. He's got skill and power and can make a template out of himself, one where he's not compared to anybody else but where he's one of the ones others are compared to. I do like his talk, he knows his defense needs work and has said it, he's talked about where Deano's told him to lift his game and works on it. Fix his defense and he is all weapon, no settlers for him.

We're still a better team than we were three weeks ago, in fact there's quite a gap in it.

Goal now is to be a better team a month from now, a much better team.

Brent Read‏Verified account @brentread_7 10h10 hours agoMorePoor form from Leilua. Had a nightmare night, scores the winning try, and then gets up and gives the Bulldogs players a spray. He didn’t deserve to be on the winning team

that was gut wrenching watching that try by leilua i almost through my remote into my tv

I thought the ref was hard calling a penalty for taking Leilua over the sideline..looked like momentum and a very early call of held if so.

But we did get the rub of the green for a change during most of the game.

Def think Pay wants to ship Brown out for sure. He is less tolerant of Brown's mistakes than anyone else's...

Maybe Holland was injured because he did seem very ineffective. Lichaa is in the same boat Frawley is IMO..cant consistently execute and often takes the wrong options.

But overall we are improving and in the contest so gotta be happy with that.

Felt sorry for Martin. Scores 3 tries and 6 outa 6 goals and we still can't get a win. We are desperate for edge runners and althpugh his D was a bit of a worry early, he had a good game and seems a team player to me.

If Hopoate caught an easy short kick off that wasn't short. If Lichaa hung onto the ball, if the team  could tackle for a couple sets of 6 at the end. Things that should be automatic the 1%ers. Good teams do them and poor teams don't.

Martin still misses tackles he shouldn't but he has improved a lot this year.   Holland has always been iffy in defence and can't see that changing.  Lichaa made good metres he just looks confused in attack sometimes.  Brown does well in Intrust but is found out in 1sts. Pay isn't a fan wouldn't be surprised if he moved on.

Brown has that fault yes but he goes ok in ISP controlling play.

I think he tries too hard with the hero plays and over plays his hand because he knows Pay wont give him bigger minutes (if any). I think he has more improvement in him to be of better value than Lichaa who just can't create.

Or bring Woolford into the team. Our two weakest links were Holland and Lichaa but theres not much to replace dutchy with and only Woolford for Lichaa if Pay wont give Brown enough minutes.

Except for individual mistakes and the last 7 minutes, they played well collectively.

Saw the presser and Pay said he told Martin the areas he needed to improve...Rhyse listened. Now he just needs to give Holland and Lichaa a talking to.

Yes , me likey Hannah alot too

If i was interviewed by Hannah, i think i'd also be remembering and calling her name....

Brown is very hot and cold.  Threw a forward pass for no reason just does silly things consistently.  Why is Eastwood in 1st grade?

I agree, I can't defend a lack of defense...

Holland is OK for fullback or 14, perhaps wing ... but if this game is a fair indicator ... not a centre...

I think Brown did a few suspect things in attack and looked shaky in defense...

At the time I was thinking get him off and Pay thought the same ...

We could try Woolford or even Frawley at 14, there is something about Brown that doesn't inspire confidence. .. he was good against Newcastle. .. but we were on top in that game ... against Canberra we lost momentum when he came on.

Very good game from Smith ..

IMO. 
3. Martin.
2. Smith
1. Lewis

Keiran Foran is an extremely class act. When interviewed he always seems interested and always calls the interviewer by their name....perhaps a small thing but a quality one

still the dogs are very short in the centers ,what is doing with josh morris is hard 2 say if he is staying or going ,  but looking @ 2019  still say we need a centre kerrod holland  got owned by jason crocker 2night period  along with remis smith thhe raiders exploited this & got us in the last 50 seconds like lost in space doctor smith saying was   oh the pain the pain  

Dudchy was a disgrace.

Lichaa was good. Im usually one of his harshest critics but he was fine today. Poor ball security to give it away late and it contributed to field position which they eventually scored, but it wasnt a direct points scoring play. 

Great source...the Kennel...Guess weekend detention being phased out

With a 14 point lead and 7.5mins left so many things need to go against you to lose the game.
Or so many things must go your way for you to win.

Even after the short kick off, i was hoping we wouldnt let them score for 3mins. They score a converted try with just under 5mins to go.
Then i just hoped we burnt the next 2 or 3 mins. They score another with just under 2mins to go. Then i just wanted us to number up and defend that kickoff in thrir own half, snd what do we do? Let Austin cut us down the flank for a 50m break and gift them valuable field position.

I still cant believe it. Its demoralising. We were about to chalk up a good and much needed win at belmore and now have just added to our poor record there.

Most dissapointing is the fact that Martin scored a hatrick and 24 points yet he walks away a loser...