Round 10: St George-Illawarra Dragons vs Gold Coast Titans

[Coaster]

My side next week

1. Rogers
2. Walker
3. Mathers
4. Delenay
5. Peterson
6. Lewis
7. Prince
8. Bailey
9. Friend
10 Myers
11 Lanfranci
12 Kahler
13 Swain

14 Minochello
15 Amos
16 Cooper
17 Stosic

Or Rogers again at Center and Mathers at the wing

Also i thought Samau looked awesome

[Chaos]

I liked the look of Samau..he has the Benji step but with a lot more strength....I say keep him in the side.

I also liked the size of Stosic in the middle even though he was replaced on the 11th minute of the game. Todays game has a lot of interchange options so we may as well use them with a big boy like him.

I'd change the 5/8 before changing Rogers from Centre to Fullback.
I'm not saying he can't play fullback but lets move Hilder out and give us a ball playing 5/8 first. We can tweak the outside backs after that needed change.

[Coaster]

I'd change the 5/8 before changing Rogers from Centre to Fullback.
I'm not saying he can't play fullback but lets move Hilder out and give us a ball playing 5/8 first. We can tweak the outside backs after that needed change.

Agreed

[Supergoose]

Hilder had his best game for the Titans tonight (evidenced by how well Rogers, Delaney and the wingers played outside him), but I reckon Josh Lewis will prove a better option long term. Hilder seemed to play a lot of first receiver though tonight with Prince getting the ball to the outside backs. Maybe we've seen a precursor to Prince playing more five-eighth and Lewis coming into halfback. Backline is not the problem though and they played well tonight without Presto eventhough they failed to finish off some good lead up work.

I also think we need Hilder in the pack. The forward pack tonight lacked go forward when Stosic wasn't on and there were no big hits. The Dragons just rolled down the field with ease. To my way of thinking the Dragons are the least disciplined side in the league but we were worse tonight. Stosic has to stay when Bailey comes back (they could alternate on the field to ensure we're always going forward!) Bailey also plays 70 min and Stosic 20 so that would work out. Hodgson and Kahler are just not hitting hard enough, we need someone to put on some shots and make the opposition forwards think twice before hitting it up. We are tenacious in 'D' but not ferocious. I thought Cooper was good apart from a couple of dropped balls with the line in sight. His wide running proved a bit of a handful and we looked likely with Rogers running off him. I'd be starting Stosic and Meyers at prop, with Bailey and Laffranchi in the 2nd row with Cooper at lock. I think we look better with Amos at hooker to start with Friend playing significant minutes off the bench. The other option is to start with Hilder at lock who is impressing at the moment with Cooper in the 2nd row and Bailey at prop with Stosic on the bench. Minichello, Josh Graham should join Stosic on the bench with Swain when Walker and Presto are back.

The good news from my point of view is we're not that far away, we're just lacking a little fire power in the forward pack that could be solved with a bit of a reshuffle. IMO too many workhorses (which is an admirable quality) and not enough impact to strike fear into the opposition.

[Dakink]

WooHoo!!!!

[Parra Petty]

Hey all,

It was always going to be tough for th eboys after being on the orad for the past fortnight, and especially without Bailey and Campbell there as well.

WIN Stadium is one of the tougher games to jag a win at, and I am sure coach Cartwright can't wait get vack to Carrara this Saturday.

I thought Samau. Petersen. Laffranchi and Prince all tried hard, but we really need to bring in Lewis or Kaiffman to take some pressure of Prince as cheif playmaker. Hilder is solid without being exciting, and the opposition know that the majority of last tackle plays will be ignited by Prince.

Anyway here is the report that will be logged on the site soon, so feel free to check it out and leave your comments -


http://www.league.net.au/fiery-dragons-slay-titans/

Cheers everyone,

Parra Petty

[RobJ]

Whilst solid, Hilder should be moved an replaced with someone who can give us more in attack.
We need that extra zip in attack when sometimes we look flat and go no where.
Sideshow is looking good.....give him more work.

Errors cost us dearly, but I guess they always will.

[Old Diehard]

Hilder's kick across to Peterson resulted in a try. That was a positive. I also saw Mat Rodgers pass back inside once where the receiver Anthony Minchiello was mowed down quickly but I wish it had been to some one like Preston Campbell instead ..And Stosic needs to be on the field more for the Titans (he's a big bloke!)
But no Luke Bailey in the forwards and no Preston Campbell spark and it showed..Smith Samau looked isolated and nervous on a couple of those kicks that resulted in tries but have patients - he does have a bit of the electrifying in him and Walker is out - I've always thought he was talented.
It's a shame that all these guys aren't available or quite playing at their best yet (Jake Webster is out of sorts too!) When they all fire the Titans will scare the opposition, just right now they depend too much on Scott Prince to do something (he's playing real well) - I wouldn't be surprised to see Preston back as 5/8 before the end of the season and with Smith Samau, whose position is more fullback that could make a great combination. Some one said they thought Smith Samau looked like Benji Marshall- very accurate even the side step which is more of a jump to the side is similiar. His kick returns are often dangerouse when he's played fullback in the past. He's 20 and a quite shy bloke by nature! Give him the opportunity and once he's built his confidence then he's the man that will allow Preston to move to 5/8 and still have a fullback with zip. I'm sure the coaching staff know that and will work to built his confidence in himself.

But remember- even the Broncos who had a stack of Australian Players in their very first line-up didn't go all the way in year 1

[meter maid]

It's very nice to hear everyone being positive about the game but come on, they were BAD. It was almost embarrassing to watch at times. There seems to be no cohesion there at all, no running hard onto the ball from the forwards,and not enough passing.
I thought the comentary was very interesting re: Rogers not passing to Peterson, it was mentioned several times. If there's a problem there it needs to be addressed, move Matty over to the other wing outside Delaney. Then if Rogers wants to play ball hog and refuse to pass Matty won't be unfairly blamed.
Hopefully the boys will get their act together soon and get a few more wins in. Maybe the coaching needs a bit more bite. Only time will tell....

[Old Diehard]

Meter Maid- it wasn't that Mat Rodgers hogged the but instead of passing to the wing Petersen , he passed back inside.. Probably costed at least 1 try! I'm sure Mat Rodgers will watch the replay and shake his head too! But as I said the pass back inside to Minchellio with a zipper man should have resulted in a try (was just watching the replay on Fox- sorry don't wish to seem smarty pants!)

[Steelers]

I don't care about the positives and negatives of the Dragons performance, all I care about is the WIN!!!


Oh and I am in love with the Dragons away strip this year. It really brongs back memories of the Steelers with the red shorts and socks with the red jersey this year.

[Old Diehard]

I don't care about the positives and negatives of the Dragons performance, all I care about is the WIN!!!


Oh and I am in love with the Dragons away strip this year. It really brongs back memories of the Steelers with the red shorts and socks with the red jersey this year.

Good on ya! But hey I'm not for Rockdale or Caringbar! BORN & BREED!

[lonegull]

there was only two positives to come out of the match laffranchi was great and smith samau was great he really looked dangerous great move to bring him into the top grade
the negatives there were quiet a few but just mention a few
Hilder- why is he kicking yes we did score a try from one of his kicks but gee scotty prince is rated one of the best kickers in the game, hilders vision he is very predictable hardly takes the line on and defence he dropped of that many tackles i lost count
Mathers- just seems to be lacking confidence,
Kahler-easy target for the dragons they got some great tackling practice every time kahler run the ball he was smashed

the overall team seemed one up no creativity very predictable footbal and we have to remever st george played with only 15 men for a lot of the second half, carty might have to bite the bullet and make some changes

[Steelers]

Hilder- why is he kicking yes we did score a try from one of his kicks but gee scotty prince is rated one of the best kickers in the game, hilders vision he is very predictable hardly takes the line on and defence he dropped of that many tackles i lost count

He honestly can't win. He has people telling him that he needs to take more pressure off of Scotty, while he also has people telling him that he should let his halves partner do all the work. Why can't everyone get off his back, remember the players read the forums and all of this extra pressure on his back isn't going to help his confidence.

[Steve]

He honestly can't win. He has people telling him that he needs to take more pressure off of Scotty, while he also has people telling him that he should let his halves partner do all the work. Why can't everyone get off his back, remember the players read the forums and all of this extra pressure on his back isn't going to help his confidence.

Amen!
People on the forum have gotten an idea in their head and it sticks, no matter what.
Why is he kicking? Because every man and his dog are calling for him to kick and take pressure off Prince.
If he's setting up tries with his kicks, so what if Prince has one of the best kicking games in the league? And it's not the only good kick i've seen from Hilder this year either.

It's like watching Campbell take a bomb at fullback and hearing someone comment, "about time he caught one" when he's only dropped one all year.
These are probably the same people who are calling for Rogers to be in the 1 jersey, but suffer amnesia about his dropped bomb when he moved to fullback.

Sure, Hilder's not setting the world on fire in the 6, but he's going okay.

I'm certainly not going to blame the loss on him being in the halves. This was more a game lost up front and the stupid penalties given away.