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The captain’s challenge is a big talking point of the NRL pre-season. Similar to the cricket system, the captain can make as many challenges…
Playing hardball on the weight clause could have led to a lot of pain. If Schuster went after them for it, it could drag on for ages. And they would be no guarantee to win. They are clearly not terminating him because of his weight but because of his performance, his recent injuries provide him some cover to claim the weight is temporary, not to mention this sort of clause has never been tested in the first place as far as I know. There’s a lot of angles.
They’ve settled for a good amount, but possibly less than they might have in a direct negotiation with a new club. Schuster’s come out fine, but Manly have made the pragmatic decision for themselves.
NRL News: Johnson drops huge hint on playing future, Manly confirm Schuster payout, Latrell ban is 'killing' him
In my opinion he hasn’t been as bad as all that. He’s got a habit of running sideways a bit too much but otherwise I think he’s been solid without being outstanding. Hunt is almost always the guy that drives the big play but Flanagan is effectively playing as halfback most of the time, which is giving Hunt time and space to play what he sees.
If we look at the last 5 years of Dragons 5/8ths (since Widdop left), I’d take Flanagan’s honest efforts in a heartbeat over the occasionally brilliant but usually missing Amone or Norman.
NRL Round 7 Talking Points: With big wins come big losses, and which coach is the game’s biggest sook?
Feared the worst for the Dolphins after round 1, they looked awful. It looked like late 2023 form was continuing. They’ve been genuinely good since though and I would say this weekend with all the injuries was the best of the lot. Staying in the top 4 is probably a bridge too far but picking up wins with key players missing suggests that a big fall is unlikely.
NRL Power Rankings: Round 7 - Dolphins, Dragons finals bound? Knights a non-event, Parra on the precipice
I’d never given it much thought but I’m surprised to hear that clubs don’t already donate ANZAC jersey proceeds to a relevant charity.
NRL Round 7 Talking Points: With big wins come big losses, and which coach is the game’s biggest sook?
Agree that the Dragons could use a top-line prop – heard someone in the media describe it as a ‘tackle 1’ prop. Molo has really picked up this year though, looking much more dynamic and powerful than recent seasons. Su’a in the backrow is providing much more consistent punch as well.
NRL Round 7 Talking Points: With big wins come big losses, and which coach is the game’s biggest sook?
He looked like having a break-out year last year too, was close to the only bright spot of the Dragons season. Still wasn’t exactly the fittest guy running around but you can live with that when he was bending (and occasionally breaking) the line on almost every run. That recent form will get him some leeway but if he can’t turn it around I’d rather get Viliame Fifita or Toby Couchman some time on the bench.
NRL Round 7 Talking Points: With big wins come big losses, and which coach is the game’s biggest sook?
At this stage what’s stopping all 3 from being there? On current form it wouldn’t be out of the question. The Dolphins continuing to win with all those injuries was very impressive, the Dogs have been mixing it with the big guns, and the only game the Dragons have dropped in the last month was the torrential conditions in Newcastle.
It’s still early of course – any or all of them could drop away. Looks like a year of change though, a bunch of ‘dud’ teams looking much more cohesive (could include the Tigers there), and plenty of others who aren’t as high as they were expected to be.
NRL Power Rankings: Round 7 - Dolphins, Dragons finals bound? Knights a non-event, Parra on the precipice
I think it was desperation. It was obvious the club was paying too much for him at centre and something would have to give in 18 months or so when the contract was to be renegotiated. The ray of light was the chatter that Flanagan might prefer him at fullback, if that worked he could actually be looking at a bump. But then not only doesn’t that happen but he gets ‘demoted’ to wing. He thought he was seeing his career spiral down, and set all of his energies on getting out.
Right now it looks crazy though, he’s worth more to the Dragons than he ever has been. He’s moving to Parra for less and they don’t look like a team on the way up. A bit of patience and this all could have ended up differently.
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention
He is pretty much playing as the halfback. He’s enthusiastic, took the line on a few times and takes a lot of the organising work off Hunt. Add in that defence and he’s becoming very dependable.
Ultimately though he ended the game with 0 line breaks, line break assists, tries or try assists. I suppose it depends who we’re pairing with him but I don’t think he has the creativity to be the senior partner in the halves.
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention
How good were some of his tackles on the line?
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention
Surely they’ve promised him centre though?
But yeah, if he knew he was going to play like this then hanging around on the open market a little longer before signing might have helped the bank balance.
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention
Any 40m+ field goal I think can be called a monster without too much exaggeration. It’s a big drop kick to keep straight.
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention
I knew you’d like that one Phil, you’re nothing if not predictable – and still not much even then.
CONFIRMED: NRL superstar joins ex-All Blacks coaching greats in Japan - could he do an SBW?
As a Dragons fan I’m not sure why we signed him 3 years ago but I’m even more baffled why Manly ‘poached’ him.
NRL Round 7 Team Lists Late Mail: Des forced into spine reshuffle, Panthers and Dragons announce debutants
Suli is a bit of a problem. He’s been really good, far too good to leave out. But his winger will barely touch the ball except coming out of their own end. I was pretty down on Feagai last year. defensively he does have issues but after watching Rava go from top tryscorer to unsighted in attacking footy, perhaps I condemned him too harshly.
NRL Round 7 Team Lists Late Mail: Des forced into spine reshuffle, Panthers and Dragons announce debutants
I never claimed anyone was rubbish NQR, the Cowboys were a genuinely good team in some of those years, middling in others, and poor in a couple too. But they never were an all dominant team deserving of an 80%+ win rate only to be held to half of that by corrupt referees.
If James had the Cowboys winning twice as often as other refs – and I’ll take your word on it – the obvious conclusion is that he was favouring the Cowboys (consciously or perhaps just vibing with their style), not that the other refs were out to get them.
NRL Round 7 Team Lists Late Mail: Des forced into spine reshuffle, Panthers and Dragons announce debutants
It isn’t a big deal. A single player has decided to take up an offer to play in Japan for a couple of years. I’ve not seen any detail of the money, but it’s unlikely to be higher than the money he could have gotten in the NRL. Good luck to him, a cool adventure, but it’s hardly a harbinger of impending doom for the NRL.
History suggests most of them come back to the big leagues after their sojourns in Union anyway.
CONFIRMED: NRL superstar joins ex-All Blacks coaching greats in Japan - could he do an SBW?
Lomax at centre with Bird out is going to be interesting. He’ll be desperate to show that his current form is not limited to playing at wing. Personally I think he’s simply a better winger but he’ll be charged up for a big game regardless I expect.
The Dragon that will really be happy with the switch will be Rava, he’s been playing well but not getting many try scoring opportunities on the left outside Suli. 0 tries in 6 games so far this year after scoring 21 last season on the right outside Lomax, so I’m sure he’ll be looking to prove something as well.
NRL Round 7 Team Lists Late Mail: Des forced into spine reshuffle, Panthers and Dragons announce debutants
Wait up NQR, I get that a Cowboys fan is going to like the referee that had them winning 82.4% of games – but that’s an extraordinary stat for a team that wasn’t extraordinary.
Are we supposed to conclude that the Cowboys were far and away the dominant side of 2009-2017 but were held down by all the referees except one that dared to ref them fairly and so they fired him? That seems a stretch.
NRL Round 7 Team Lists Late Mail: Des forced into spine reshuffle, Panthers and Dragons announce debutants
I’ll be sorry to see Lomax go on field. I even liked him at centre for the performances he occasionally pulled out, even if he never did it consistently enough to justify the pay packet. At wing he’s genuinely a top line player, I reckon he just doesn’t have to think as much. He runs hard, chases every kick and doesn’t have to make as many decisions in defence.
Kyle’s been good, I think his confidence is coming up too, by eye he seemed to be getting a lot more involved last week. Runs sideways a bit too much but overall I think he’s complimenting Hunt pretty well and freeing him up to run what he sees. I think he’s got some way to go before he could be looked at as a long-term solution but it’s a decent start.
Lomax shines on a wing with some flair in Dragons' win over Tigers as Bunker hauls off Bird but spares Klemmer ... twice
Some parts really do seem desperate for him to have a bad game so they can claim he’s clocked out.
NRL Power Rankings: Round 6 - Dragons, Raiders prove doubters wrong, Souths players still putting in for Demetriou
Sort of Big Gordon, hardly jumping with glee though for the Dragons. Compared to the nightmare of 2023 it’s fine but personally I never saw any reason that would be repeated this year.
3-3 with a negative for/against is pretty much exactly where they were in the years before that when when they competed inconsistently and inevitably finished a win or 2 outside the top 8. I think they have a solid squad right now, decent forward depth and points in the backs, they can do better than the inconsistency that they have shown so far.
The Tigers off 2 straight spoons would be happier I suppose but I don’t doubt their fans are saying similar.
NRL Power Rankings: Round 6 - Dragons, Raiders prove doubters wrong, Souths players still putting in for Demetriou
Agree that the Flanagan one wasn’t the worst but still easily 10 mins on the pine a year or 2 ago. The Lomax one was worse. Neither played dead is the problem, the game is still encouraging players to lie down if they want their opponent convicted.
NRL Round 6 Talking Points: Concussion sub needs a fix, learning about 'disruption', why does everyone hate Gutho?
Agree that the Flanagan tackle wasn’t high range, still baffling how it wasn’t 10mins under the interpretations that definitely haven’t changed since Magic Round a few years back. The Lomax one was worse in my opinion, Utoikamanu for the run in and push would often have 10mins as well, but I guess we’re not currently worried about this either.
Klemmer probably owes both guys a beer for not laying down, it’s a shame the comp encourages that but that’s where we are now.
Lomax shines on a wing with some flair in Dragons' win over Tigers as Bunker hauls off Bird but spares Klemmer ... twice
Suaalii has played more Rugby than he has League so I’m predicting a smooth transition for him.
2025 will be the first season since he was 5 that he won’t be playing League. He dabbled in Union for 2 years at high school while still playing League for his club on the weekends. He was only at that high school in the first place because Souths paid his way to impress his parents.
Hansen's done Joey Manu no favours comparing him to SBW. He'll be more like RTS - and Foz is the reason why