I am not a Dragons fan, but I see a number of problems in their player recruitment strategy in the last few seasons.
There is a difference between acquiring players and building a team in the NRL. The Tigers have been a poor team over the last few seasons but they have a clear strategy centred around their halves.
The Dragons overpaid for Gareth Widdop and made him the dominant half without considering team balance. Then they went out and signed an ageing Benji Marshall who was effectively pushed out by the Tigers and struggled in Super Rugby.
The Dragons have a quality fullback in Josh Dugan but the way they constructed the team does not take into account his style of play. He is a ball runner and is not a noted passer of the ball. This is not a criticism of Dugan; he is an excellent defender and a dangerous kick returner who can break a game open.
To compensate for this lack of creativity, the Dragons need to sign ball-playing forwards and develop the play of their halves to enable attack from different points of the field.
The Dragons forward pack can only be described as solid. Players such as Jack de Belin, Russell Packer and Tariq Sims are tough players and absolutely necessary in any side but the Dragons are missing some creativity in the forwards.
The Dragons need to bring in some dynamic forwards who can create opportunities through offloads and crafty ball play.
A player such as Penrith’s Leilani Latu has demonstrated such abilities and is contributing to Panthers attack that is unpredictable and dynamic. A player such as Latu could add a lot to the Dragons and would be a relatively cheap option. Other players in this mould could include Sio Siou Taukeiauho of the Roosters or even Bulldog skipper James Graham.
I would also like to see the Dragons target a ball-playing lock who can swing to either side of the field and help out the halves to create attacking opportunities. The Dragons should target local junior Jack Bird to fill this role.
Bird has great instincts and he could excel at playing what he sees as a ‘second five eighth’ on the field.
Young Drew Hutchinson can get a shot at playing consistently in first grade in season 2017 and he has shown potential ability to lead a team around the field and has a nice kicking game. This would free up Gareth Widdop to play a more instinctive style of play, as he did at the Storm where he had considerable success when surrounded with elite talent.
A slight change in strategy for the Dragons would help bolster what was a pretty stale attack in 2016.
NRL/steelers
Guest
Agree Cutters coach must have more of an input in 2017
KenW
Guest
If I knew a current one-hit wonder I'd gladly join in the metaphor - pointing out that they'll soon be old news but the Stones will go on outselling them! But I'm old, and I don't know any new-fangled music.... so you win this round JVGO I enjoyed that though, looks like a lot of work went in.
KenW
Guest
No problem with him on the wing, he did show some clever finishing although I suspect his lack of size or outright pace might see him never truly secure the spot. As you say, McDonald would probably have the running. Of course a fringe first-grade winger is exactly what he was when we bought him so from that perspective he was exactly what was ordered. My mention was more the idea that he was supposed to come in and revolutionise the side from fullback. From the outside it always seemed an unlikely concept and so it proved, I'm not among those quite ready to do away with Mary, but he has to own that mistake (and hopefully learn from it).
Rossco
Guest
Losing JD is a huge blow for the Dragons if he has signed with the Broncos as reported. We have some good players that only need the guidance of a good coach to turn them into very good players and JD would of done that. I have watched his coaching over the past few years and have said on many occasions that he should be in charge of an NRL side. The boards decision to remain with Mary and allow JD to leave will come back to haunt then for many years to come.
Oingo Boingo
Guest
Laurie Daley is Mary's assistant coach , together they have worked very hard to devise the Dragons and Blues game plans .
The Barry
Roar Guru
Brilliant!
peeeko
Roar Guru
jack Bird apparently had a degenerative back problem that was supposed to make him unable to play. Runciman was nothing special otherwise another NRL club would have taken him. Mitch Rein wanted 600k - no one else seems to want him except Penrith on a cut price deal if you believe Vaughan is on 600k then ....
JVGO
Guest
Please allow me to introduce myself, well I'm The Man.....
Dutski
Roar Guru
Best Rolling Stones related rugby league comment ever!
JVGO
Guest
As a Sharks supporter The Dragons just need to give up. Just the fact that they won all those premierships in a row years ago by hanging onto Cronulla's coattails is just not enough anymore. That streak ended the year the Rolling Stones released his Satanic Majesty's. After a few glimmers in the 70's both the Stones and the Dragons have just sunk lower and lower ever since. Face it Brian Jones is not coming back, nor Graeme Langlands. And premierships with Wayne Bennett don't really count. Maybe they could relocate to Wollongong or something. Oh wait on, haha, they already did. They need to realise that comparing Wollongong to Cronulla is like comparing Tattoo You to Beggars Banquet. Noone wants to live there the same way no one wants to listen to Voodoo Lounge. All their good juniors like Jack Bird will inevitably choose Cronulla over the Gong. It's just common sense. Who wants to hang out at SHellharbour Workers when you can score at of Northies? And they need to get themselves in the paper more often, get some freaking press, and I'm not talking about the Illawarra Mercury. They are taking the Saints nickname way too literally.They need some scandal magnets. They hire Russel Packer, he's almost a killer and what does he do, nothing. And Benjie the human headline, barely raises a ripple in the Tele. This is simply not good enough. What can the Journos do with that? i think their only hope is to get Anthony Mundine back honestly, captain. coach, CEO, mastermind, publicity hound, everything. At the moment Saints fans just can't get any satisfaction, the players might have the haircuts but they don't have the riffs, they are just tedious and about as relevant to the world as....well...Wollongong...and Steel Wheels...or Emotional Rescue. They are the Ritchie Sambora of the league.
Adam
Guest
I think Mann turned out ok, albeit not as a fullback as he was signed for, but he did lead the tryscoring and proved to be a capable finisher. Where he fits in next year with Macdonald coming in is another story
Adam
Guest
Fair enough then, you are right as a Dragons fan I watched them this year and they looked most dangerous when they played ad lib. Unfortunately guys like Joel Thompson, Jack De Belin, Russel packer and Tariq Sims are not these types of player. They are great in their own right but fairly predictable. That makes it a must to sign Luciano Leilua who looked more dangerous than any Dragons forward of the past 5 seasons, my understanding is the Dragons will throw plenty of coin his way and won't be outbid which is good news. As for Bird, hard to see him leaving the Shire after a premiership win
The eye
Guest
Exactly,the only final 8 hypothesy one could make is that Parra would have been there without the rort... Took the Storm 75 mins to get on top of the Knights in R5...Raiders could only manage a draw...and the Tigers..ouch.. Titans won 11 and drew 1,deservedly went through....Dragons won 10 in what will be regarded as an average at best season...harsh as it sounds Benji was right to apologize to fans..
Mal Webster
Roar Rookie
Correct. I am talking about a style of player that the Dragons could use to get more out of their attack. I am not saying to go out and get Graham or anyone else. The players I named are just examples of forwards who offer something different - and that's what the Dragons need. I would definitely target Jack Bird - a local junior who has repeatedly said he is bored playing in the centres. Put him in the back row and let him play.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
In small defence of the author... Frizell shouldn't need to be mentioned as he goes without saying and is on a very long contract, he didn't seem to be saying the Dragons need to sign James Graham, he was using him as an example of a ball playing forward in the mould he thinks the Dragons need, and Bird is only currently contracted until 2017 (based on a brief look at zero tackle and google).
Adam
Guest
You have no idea. You mention the Dragons forward pack as being solid yet no mention of Tyson Frizell who is out best. You say sign the Roosters guy who I'm pretty sure recently resigned and why would James Graham leave a club where he is captain. I keep coming to this site looking for quality and always end up reading crap devoid of any quality
KenW
Guest
But you can pull facts like that for any team. Switching off against Newcastle when they had a big lead would have earned a reprimand from the coach, but it was the last game of the year with the finals unreachable - ultimately it didn't matter. They got a break with the games against the Storm & Cowboys (teams still chock full of internationals by the way) but the draw wasn't exactly favourable otherwise. They had played all of the top 4 teams (funnily enough in ladder order), away from home, by round 6 including Cowboys & Broncos with a 5 day turnaround and then another game on the GC straight after to top it off. Talk about starting the season behind the 8 ball.
KenW
Guest
I think you're on the right track. There's a couple of questionable areas, and a couple of signing that didn't work out (i.e. Mann, Lafai) but overall there's a pretty reasonable squad there. Dragons fans eat their own so McGregor and, especially, Doust are under siege by the fans. McGregor still has question marks on him, ultimately the team looked disjointed this year and the fact that the Dugan/Mann plan ever got out of a trial match experiment doesn't show him in a great light. It was a tough year though, Masoe was supposed to add size to the pack but he was gone in the pre-season. Ben Creagh didn't last much longer, taking a lot of direction out of the team. Marshall was an opportune pickup the year before, not the ideal partner for Widdop - they both quite obviously play better with a dominant halfback - but it had shown some promise in 2015. Marshall was 2nd in try assists. In 2016 though Marshall just couldn't stay on the field for more than a couple of games at a time, being replaced by the very different McCrone, and Dugan wasn't much more reliable. When you've got 2 of your 4 spine players in and out of the team weekly, it rarely leads to slick performances. But excuses aside, I agree that McGregor needs to show that he has a plan. I actually think the dropping of Rein is a good thing, he was capable of a good dart but he was always a poor ball distributer - both in decision making and execution. Is McInnes the answer? I don't know. I can also understand them hunting for an established halfback, albeit unsuccessfully so far. Hutchison is a good young player but I think he's destined to be another running 5/8th not the dominant halfback partner that Widdop needs. Also hoping Leilua sticks around - if he develops the way it looks that could be a very serious and adaptable forward pack when you consider Vaughn, Packer, JDB, Frizzell, Thompson, Masoe, Sims & Ah Mau around him.
Walter Penninger
Roar Guru
I thought getting rid of Price was at least part of a plan.
Parrafan
Guest
Saying they just missed the 8 is almost a misnomer. They won two easy games against origin depleted Cowboys and Storm respectively, and only just won a game against Newcastle in the final game of the season. Many dragons fans are concerned and for good reason. There seems to be little to no game plan and no hope of getting rid of their current coach due to lack of funds. It will only be a short time into next season before we see the oust doust signs come out.