How can Mary's men get their mojo back?

There are four key issues in my opinion, aside from individual players, I see the real weakness in broader issues. They have clearly been much better this year than they have previously but most of these issues have been there consistently. 1. Origin and rep footy - once again we find ourselves on the wrong end of Origin and rep footy fallout. Why is it that the Roosters have come back stronger after Origin with Latrell Mitchell lifting to new levels on the back of his Origin experience and James Tedesco finally finding his groove. The Dragons on the other hand have returned with a bunch of broken and exhausted forwards and Ben Hunt with his tail between his legs after Queensland turned on him and blamed him for the series loss. Add to that James Graham and Gareth Widdop who have been outstanding for us playing unnecessary rep game for England including the added impact of international travel. James in particular as an older player and a forward shouldn't be adding to his workload. The net of this is that while everyone argues that Origin has the same impact on the leading teams and allows the weaker teams to make up some ground during Origin the reality is we were the forward pack for NSW and the forwards take the greatest hit in the hardest competition in our game so the Dragons have once again (last year was similar) been significantly impacted by the Origin series and the other rep footy obligations. Banged up forwards as we are seeing with Frizell, De Belin and Graham need more time to recover and may not be back to strength for the rest of the season. Is this really fair on the Dragons or the players? It is time to seriously look at moving Origin to a standalone comp following the NRL season and scheduling rep footy outside the season as well. Right now Origin cannibalises the regular NRL to put on a great show but I for one would love the have something to look forward to once the regular season has finished. 2. Backup management and talent - this really amazes me, we see time and again Melbourne discovering their next superstars who have been waiting in the wings for a chance to show what they can do. Melbourne seem to have incredible players, just think of Munster coming in to replace Slater when he was injured and that seems to be the norm for them. By comparison our backup players seem to be second rate players who will never get a full time 1st grade position and as such loosing one of our key players has far greater impact. Leilua is the exception, he is the first player I have seen us bring in when we are down on troops who has a positive impact on the game. 3. Hair - Widdop has not been the same since the new hairdo, he must be embarrassed because he seems to be trying to lower his profile in games!!! 4. Game plan - the other weakness that has been a long standing issue with the Dragons is the game plan throughout the season. They have for many years, and I am thinking about 2009 now, been able to establish a very dominant position in the competition early in the season based on their game plan developed over the off season. The problem is they are so good at it they appear unbeatable and often string together long runs without loosing a game. Then someone figures out how to beat them, in other words the Dragons have been successful with the same game plan for a long period of time, no one can beat them and one team finally finds a way to defeat them, specifically to defeat their game plan. It was the Raiders in 2009. Now that one team has figured out how to beat the almost unbeatable Dragons all the other teams follow suit and take on the Dragons using the same strategy and suddenly they struggle to win games, their confidence drops and we see the late season fade. The issue now is they don't change their game plan, it worked for them so well in the early part of the season they just need to get back to their game plan and they will be back on track and on top and unbeatable again. However, they have been found out now, the party is over because everyone knows how they are going to play and what they need to do to beat them and so the slide continues and they either limp out of the finals or slide out of the 8 like they did in 2017. They need to be able to mix it up more and evolve their game as the season progresses and avoid becoming predictable which kills teams in the NRL.

I would not put so much emphasis on coming 1st at the end of the regular season and focus more on the whole kit and caboodle, its quite clear several of the forwards are carrying injuries and near burnout I would rest several of the key players bringing them into the finals fresh. Also bringing in fresh blood will help in who to relegate and who to keep on the bench.

Every team, goes through a slump & maybe we are going through ours now, a champion team will rise out of it I would rather, the slump happen now, not in the finals

That’s really interesting about the minutes and the effect on longevity. There’s potentially a case that the fewer playing minutes mean greater intensity which has it’s own physical effect but I don’t know... Sims only played a few minutes in one game in origin so fatigue can’t be a factor for him. Vaughan didn’t play massive minutes either. But the Dragons do look flat particularly in the forwards. I’m not sure it’s physical though. I guess only people in the inner sanctum know for sure but they look down on confidence and enthusiasm. One thing I find interesting at the moment is that at the start of the year James Graham was playing good footy but was probably 5th or 6th ranked forward. He’s still playing the same standard footy but looks by far their most effective forward.

Our right side defense is woeful. If you watch the dragons defend, from anywhere on the park, our left side move up in a line and reduce the space of the attacking side, and the right side take 2 steps, hold and the start retreating and teams are making very easy metres. It’s been going on pretty much all season, and teams know it. 2/3 of our conceded tries have come down the right side. Forget Lafai, I’d be calling time on nightingale, giving Aitken a spell, bring in Lomax and hope that Macdonald is back. The problem with our attack is one out, sideways running. The forwards need to go back hitting it up through the ruck with two options each play, or short offloads between forwards at the line to break up the defence ( rounds 1-10). The halves need to dig into the line and play more direct with some early ball out to the centers to give them space and one on one, like the first 10 rounds. ATM it’s all sideways running and hope that Dufty can burn someone. The forwards are buggered atm from all the defense covering our right hand side backs and teams marching 80m every set. Mary needs to make the hard call and spell nightingale and Aitken, and not reinvent the wheel. Go back to what worked at the start of year. We make easy metres with our big boppers when they do run straight and hard up the middle through the ruck, and be a bit more patient like we were earlier in the year. It looks like we are always going for the fancy play when we get in the red zone and panic when we don’t score on the first play. Easy to fix if you strip it back to the basics and Mary makes a couple of tough calls, if not he might be shown the door because is we continue the way we are , we will go out first week of the semis.

Mary says this talk blaming Origin burnout is a cop out and that’s what the stats say too.. Frizelle has only played 4 NRL games since the beginning of June.. De Belin has had 3 hours of onfield time and Vaughan 2.5 hours since the end of June.. Framed in the context of a report that stated there was only 50 minutes of actual ball-in-play time in a recent Manly- Rooster game,and you’d agree that’s not uncommon these days,there’s reason why we still have 37,35 year old forwards running around..and why these fit and uninjured players in their prime are less prone than before to needing physical refreshment...I acknowledge the halfs are exceptions..

I said it after the Tigers game and will say again now...all their Origin players should have been rested that week. The Storm, Rooster and Rabbitohs all rested their Origin players and the Dragons should have done the same.

Max, all of this from Baz is pretty much spot on. No anti-Dragons bias here. We aren't playing well at the moment, end of. I said in my talking points on Sunday night that the soft run home could actually help confidence wise heading into the finals, but then, a tough Round 24 or 25 game could be also what we need. In saying that, Old Boys day up at Newcastle is never an easy thing to go about.

Completely agree, and I'd add that combinations that clicked early were probably made to look a lot better by playing against sides that hadn't yet gelled. So teams that had to work on their combinations likely had to put more effort into them then teams that started well

It's all in the forwards and a little in the backs. The old fella Graham is leading the way among a young pack who've gone off the boil. Call it origin fatigue. Poor player management by Mary but when half your team played origin or Int football a few weeks ago they shouldn't be getting pumped as they have been in the last few weeks. Also, they seemed to miss a go-to finisher last week and that's where McDonald has been very good this year. All players need to just run straight and hard again and they'll get their mojo back again.

In a funny way, I think the Dragons good run of no injuries has not really done them a lot of favours. Some players look tired and those carrying niggles continually ( eg Debelin and that pillow strapped to his hip) are not giving their best. They need some new blood coming through to invigorate the squad. The sameness of tired troops and limited play is easily countered by decent teams now. The only new face to emerge in the team all season to offer something a bit different is a few recent games for Leilua. The forwards are no longer dominating, Widdop has done nothing in months, Hunt remains the main game manager and he is a fair bit "rocks and diamonds" and only Dufty provides any real spark to the team. They have plenty to do to remain serious contenders in September.

Looks like the dragons aren’t the only ones with a soft underbelly...

What anti Dragons bias? I love it when someone’s team gets objectively criticised and they can’t resort to anything better than “why do you hate my team?”

You’re right. Dragons are going great...

Butt hurt much?

The forwards need to find their fire. As a group, can't get it from one or two. At best, this pack is as good as any and better than most. Mary's job to ignite that spark. A pattern is emerging that Mary is potentially good in the off seasons and firing his team at the start of a season but his squads, which have been top drawer for a number of years, fade at the end from fatigue. By this point in a season fitness should not be an issue with any player and training needs to be tweaked to inject fresh ideas and enthusiasm. Mary seems devoid of fresh ideas as the year drags on and drops some good things that worked early. Dragons were really great when they were all moving, expecting action constantly - bodies in motion. Backing up and offloading. Now it's 'play footy in their half' attitude with predictable one-outs before going to the backs on tackle 4 or 5 Leilua brings some fresh attack options and should see more time on the field, back end of each half might be great usage. I'm surprised that the weakness in Dragons backs is the centres and Mary was a top flight centre who should be able to get the best out of his centres. Aitken needs to lift in defence and Lafai overall. I think the dump on Nightingale is unfair, there is a lot to be fixed before blaming him and changing that spot won't suddenly improve the team. Mann hasn't had the best year, but probably the best option off the bench at the moment. The current 17 is close to the best they can put on the park, needs something special from above. Coach in the hot seat for my mind. A chronic underachiever and Wayne could be available in 2020.

Adam I think your article highlights one very important factor and one that only a coach who has been there many times before knows of. Game management- or lack there of. Banking all those early season wins are crucial to any side and particularly one that has a multitude of rep players during Origin or other tests. Starting 8 & 1 after 9 rounds should have afforded the Dragons the luxury of resting players during and after Origin. I like the Dragons and the style of footy they played but I certainly don't have sympathy for them now. Cronulla, Roosters, Storm, Broncos & Cowboys have been going through this for years. You bank the early wins and manage the roster around Origin and peak at the back end of the season. Mary has alot ot answer for and to be honest the Dragons have not had any major injury concerns this year. I think they are physically & mentally drained and even with a soft schedule (which probably is the worst thing to have) will need to finish the season off strongly and be smashing those soft teams to build momentum. The stiffest test should come this weekend and it looms as a danger game as the Warriors will be hungry for redemption to turn their season around. Lose this weekend and the Dragons could fall into the bottom 4 and from there will have no chance of winning a premiership this year.

enjoy your wooden spoons next year and the year after and the year after

you obviously have not seen Hunts 3 individual tries over the last 2 weeks. your anti Dragons bias is amazing

That one run per half must really be wearing Frizell out.