A mate of mine at the pub used to shake his head and mutter into his glass “you can’t put brains in statues” whenever he saw or heard someone in the bar carrying on like a galah.
Watching the Dragons attempt to play the sterile, uninspiring ‘statistics game’ over the past few seasons, I find myself muttering “you can’t put creativity into accountants”.
Paul McGregor is under pressure in 2017, so will he get more creative? Is asking McGregor to use his imagination tantamount to asking a fish to climb a tree? OK then, if that’s not fair, then how about introducing a little personality into the game.
Paul ‘Mary’ McGregor seems like a nice bloke, and the players seem to think so too, but his style is bland and it translates to the field. St George-Illawarra’s game is a safari suit, it’s sausage and mash without the gravy, it’s Penn and Teller without Penn, i.e. not much to speak of.
In defence of the fans, they weren’t expecting miracles, nor were they demanding much of anything beyond signs for hope.
I believe they would’ve been satisfied with indications that lessons from a frustrating recent past had been learned and the appropriate reforms were being attempted, even if not yet mastered.
Not long into the game it must have felt like watching Groundhog Day for Dragons fans as once again hope for the new season began to die, but they chose to skip the denial stage of this season’s death and move straight to anger.
My guess is that very soon Dragons fans will bypass the bargaining stage as well and head straight over to depression, which will be followed mid-season by the reluctant acceptance of their imminent fate.
Successful teams need to have to have a change of gears in attack and defence. They have to have a primary strategy and a contingency plan for all occasions. They must have high energy bodies in motion playing to patterns designed to create numbers and holes in defence as well as an effective kicking game, ball retention and committed defence.
St George-Illawarra can put holes in defence, but it tends to be their own.
McGregor needs to get creative, and soon. St George-Illawarra need the inspiration and energy that comes from an exciting new game-plan with bell and whistles, schemes and plots, angles and dangles and full of courage with a dash of chance.
The coming weeks could be McGregor’s last shot and he has nothing to lose by chancing his arm.
I for one doubt that St George-Illawarra have learned anything from recent years but if they have now might be a good time to show it, before the fans revolt and the heads roll.
Pedro the Saint
Roar Rookie
Groundhog day is listening to Mary on the post match Charity shield game 2017' and re-playing Price 3 years earlier... If i hear that game being called a trial one more time i'll simply ignore it and treat it the same way (a trial) There something called culture in a footy club - Saints have it in a sense of history and pride but not in terms of leadership and smarts for the modern era. So many times i see Mary in the game box venting frustration that none of the players see - take a leaf from Sticky on occasion and show some passion, take a leaf from Harry Bath for that matter - get to the sidelines. Widdop is not a captain, guys like Frizz who lead by example are first choice captains. . . Mary needs to go back and build on what he can do - defense. 2015 showed this as at one stage we lead the comp with best record of defense. As for attack - we have nothing and will continue until we pay $$ for an attacking coach or until we let the likes of some handy juniors (Field & Dufty) off the chain. These guys are like mongrel dogs that havn't been fed properly for 2 years. . . waiting patiently.
Shaune Murphy
Roar Rookie
G'Day Tom and thanks for the welcome and positive comments. I'm not sure Mary will survive, that said, it all hinges on the first 5 rounds I think. It's either complete redemption or it's over for him. Anything less than Saints demonstrating a fresh, lively attack will not do. The dragons have a good pack on paper but i know how frustrating it is for the piggies to aim up game after game and not have that good grind turned into points out wide, the knock on effect is that it seems pointless after a while and can be demotivating across the park. Like everything, time will tell and i won't mind being wrong on this occasion, I'd predict 10th/11th.
Tom Rock
Expert
Welcome to The Roar Shaune. Great debut article mate. Your love and knowledge of the game are very clear, as is your obvious pain of supporting the Dragons. Do you think Mary will survive the year? And where do you realistically see St George Illawarra finishing in 2017?
Shaune Murphy
Roar Rookie
Yes mate, I had referred to the charity Shield game but The Roar team edited some bits out; the best ones actually :). I'm feelin' ya, (Metaphorically speaking), that's the way i saw it. I was hoping for hope mate. Not to be, it seems they just can't adapt. Looks like another looooooooong season buddy.
JohnnoMcJohnno
Roar Rookie
Hi Shaune. I presume you are talking about the charity shield game when you refer to Groundhog day. Unfortunately between the Nines and the charity shield it feels exactly the same as last year. The movie Groundhog day had a happy ending but only after God knows how many attempts at getting it right. I fear I won't live long enough to see the club turn it around.