Old Saints are sinners for Dragons
Roar Guru Forget the St George Illawarra Dragons’ late surge on Friday night. The first fifty minutes at WIN Stadium is where the real problem sits.
The first half of Friday Night Football showed just how far apart the Dragons and the Canterbury Bulldogs really are.
The Bulldogs were perfect from the opening whistle. They looked slick as per usual and scored a soft try in the early stages. Everything pointed to a Bulldog attacking avalanche. The Saints were in real trouble and it only got worst for the home side.
It is rare in 2012 that a side looks so disinterested so early. They looked like a team that knew their fate.
The first twenty minutes of the game was a perfect example of just where these teams are headed. The Bulldogs are on a charge to September while the Dragons are headed for the scrapheap.
Surely Dragons coach Steve Price knew some tough decisions were ahead when he took the reigns from Wayne Bennett. While other teams have become attacking machines, the Dragons have broken down. No longer will tackling and kicking long win you a premiership.
While the Bulldogs push up together in attack and make Sam Kasiano look like Stacey Jones, the Dragons don’t push up at all and get picked off like flies.
It was too easy for Canterbury and must have felt like a training drill.
Dan Hunt to the middle, Ben Hornby takes one left and drops it inside to Ben Creagh. Trent Merrin back to the middle before Jamie Soward throws a looping ball out the back to Brett Morris. Hunt or Merrin back to the centre before Soward bombs for the winger.
Boring and predictable.
“I was disappointed with the first half as we don’t pride ourselves on that start. We spoke about all week eliminating the offloads and speed discipline and we didn’t do that” Dragons coach Steve Price said post match at the press conference.
“To dish up and allow that number of points so early on is not good enough for an NRL side.
“We showed credibility and strength to get back in to the game. We clawed our way back and showed signs of trying to win it back you can’t do things like that at the beginning.
“In the second-half we ran with intent and created those offloads because we ran hard.
“We had no ball during that first block in the first half because we didn’t do anything with intent.
“We’ve put ourselves in that situation and we’re going to fight our way out of it.”
The question is, can they?
The Dragons are now 6-8 and headed for the abyss.
Do Hornby and Soward have the creativity to take this team forward? Are the Dragons forwards doing enough as a pack? Should Dean Young retire now? Where is Evander Cummins?
The Crowd Says (13) | Page 1 of Comments
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June 17th 2012 @ 9:19am
Steggz said | June 17th 2012 @ 9:19am | Report comment
Hornby seems to have lost his impact. And it saddens me to say, but maybe his time is coming to an end. Soward suffers from a lack of ball and greater focus on him due to Hornby’s lack of impact.
June 17th 2012 @ 11:04am
Charles said | June 17th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
I agree with Steggz, Hornby needs to get more involved, he is still very capable! Shorter passes up the middle more often is required as shown in the 2nd half. Perhaps the 2nd half will have given them the confidence they need! Changing hookers sometimes three in one game affects their attack too much, Fien has to be there for the full game! I would not write them off just yet but time is running out.
June 17th 2012 @ 11:05am
Steggz said | June 17th 2012 @ 11:05am | Report comment
I think Fien and Rein are a good combo. I’d still start with Rein.
June 17th 2012 @ 12:42pm
Charles said | June 17th 2012 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
Both are good players although Fien is more experienced and I feel his presence in the game adds more to their attack. I am sure the coach will work it out as he seems to be really trying hard to make this team fire!
June 17th 2012 @ 3:28pm
Ken said | June 17th 2012 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
Personally I’ve love to have Cameron King as the main number 9, he might not have as much of the dynamic scooting ability of Rein but his speed and accuracy at getting the ball out of dummy-half provides much more momentum for the forwards. You’ve only got to look at Cam Smith (not that I’m directly comparing the two) to see that direction out of dummy half is more important than scooting ability.
Rein of course got an opportunity and has played pretty well, it’s just that he seems to throw a high proportion of balls that blokes have to pull in from head height or just behind them and it makes a real impact. Fien provides a good foil and change-up but I don’t think he’s getting on a bit, he’s never going to be a truly top class hooker and we need to look at the future.
June 17th 2012 @ 3:55pm
Charles said | June 17th 2012 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
Good observation and comments Ken! It is a real art form and such a crucial role as it all starts from there.
June 17th 2012 @ 9:44pm
Curtis Woodward said | June 17th 2012 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
Alot of guys in reserve grade who could add some spark. King, Kemp, Cummins, Stockwell, De Belin
June 17th 2012 @ 1:12pm
Adam Scroggy said | June 17th 2012 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
The Dragons won their premiership on the back of one of the best defensive lines we’ll ever see. That 2010 defense was almost impenetrable, and they won their games off the back of frustrating teams that threw absolutely everything at them. I hated it when people called them boring, because I think any true footy fan can appreciate a team stoutly defending its line for four sets in a row just as much as some Benji Marshall or Shaun Johnson magic.
For whatever reason, that defensive ability is gone now. It started waning halfway through last year and now it has disappeared completely, even though it’s largely the same team. As a result, they can’t grind out games like they used to. They look average.
I don’t think Hornby and Soward have it in them to lead the team around the park without that defensive starch. I think Hornby is trying to be more creative at the moment but he simply isn’t that kind of player. Price definitely has some work to do to find answers.
June 17th 2012 @ 3:11pm
Charles said | June 17th 2012 @ 3:11pm | Report comment
The best form of defense is attack, without possession the opposition cannot score! As a spectator I would expect a team to be sound in both attack and defense, not one or the other! As a player I would feel confident being good at both. Sorry, but I think Wayne Bennett’s style is effective but boring. Stephen Price seems to be working more on attack and perhaps they have lost confidence as it is not working well as it should. If they do what they did in the 2nd half I think their confidence will grow and defense improve.
June 17th 2012 @ 10:07pm
Droppa said | June 17th 2012 @ 10:07pm | Report comment
If we could not drop the ball 1st tackle in our own 22,if we could not give away a penalty 6th tackle in thier 22,if we could find touch when we get a penalty,if we might not kick the ball dead from the restart we may go a long way towards winning.It reminds me of the Brown polish…
see ya at the Titans game,i’m driving from Newcastle….what a loser i am.
June 18th 2012 @ 4:15am
JVGO said | June 18th 2012 @ 4:15am | Report comment
Crap and gutless as the Dragons are they are still better than Newcastle….just.
June 18th 2012 @ 8:00am
jamesb said | June 18th 2012 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Is Steve Price the right man for the job?
At this stage, No.
Apart from moving Brett Morris to fullback, Price hasn’t put much of an imprint on this side, other than been the worst attack in the NRL.
The dragons need to bring in the young players, like Cummins, King, De Belin. We saw it on Friday night with Marketo, where he set up the Dragons first try, he seems like a good young player.
I also think Hornby should consider his future if his form continues to decline, otherwise Price needs to make tough decisions. Dropping hornby would be one of them.
June 18th 2012 @ 9:40am
Charles said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
We need a blend of youth and experience and there are some good young players like De Belin showing promise. Ben Hornby may retire at the end of the season, who would you choose as 1/2 back jamesb?