Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

leaguegod wrote:i thought townsend just re-signed ?

Yep till 2020.

Current list
http://www.5thtackle.com/nrl-transfer-market-confirmed-deals-exits/

Kieran Foran is set to sign a three-year deal with the Bulldogs in the coming days after confirming the move on a New Zealand radio station.

confirmed by the club now, its amazing that after whats seems like 5 years of foz>dogs rumours, its actually happened

i don't think we'll know whether its a good signing for a long time, even if you think he is in a better place mentally now, he still has a pretty long injury history that does increase the risk here too


but in saying that, our spine has needed a player of genuine class for a long time now and foran can be that guy if he stays healthy and away from hayson

Is Hayson still dating his mum ?

that was a game that pretty much highlights the good and ugly of the current squad

the good:

Forwards dominated their in form pack
Kept what had been a high scoring team to 2 pints

The ugly:

despite dominating the first half, had yet another half without a single point, embarrassing at times
the 3 tries were basically due to:

Hoppa creating space in broken field after a pretty meh bomb
Milne letter lichaa of all people score
fluke try at the end


we're still not creating enough, relying solely on grinding teams out and then having individual effort tries on the back of it

i have completely flipped from "there is no better coach out there, so why sack des" to "i could do a better job then this spastic"

the 2 things that really sticks out to me is that 1) apart from a maximum of like 5 games since the start of 2015, our players put in every week, we have a number of players who give everything every week and we are draining every last bit of mental toughness away from them & 2) the fact that we run the same 3-4 ugly, boring attacking sets on repeat shows that the players are player to their instructions, they are in sync, they are playing as team, they are just not being coached anything that can work in todays NRL.

Hasler is obviously still a good motivator because i think the players believe in him and play for him but that is clearly not enough and shows that our gradual decline over the last 30 months is all on a few key things

1) player recruitment/retention (players not good enough being picked or players being picked in roles that doesn't suit them)
2) the worst attacking gameplan in the entire comp.

He has had this team since 2012, the attacking decline was starting to show in 14' and really accelerated every year since then, he has had time to make changes but had just dragged us further back by playing the same awful style of footy that gives us no chance at ever scoring more then 2-3 tries a game. we will grind out a tough win against an ok team once every 6 weeks and dessie will use that game to defend the way we play the rest of the time.


Foran isn't the light, there is no light untill Des is gone, i can't believe that he is capable of changing us anymore because us playing the same way we did last year is a sign of how stubborn he really is. gotta admit, i feel like an idiot for actually believing he would make the changes the team desperately needed. Bring on 2020

leaguegod wrote:i have completely flipped from "there is no better coach out there, so why sack des" to "i could do a better job then this spastic"

the 2 things that really sticks out to me is that 1) apart from a maximum of like 5 games since the start of 2015, our players put in every week, we have a number of players who give everything every week and  we are draining every last bit of mental toughness away from them & 2) the fact that we run the same 3-4 ugly, boring attacking sets on repeat shows that the players are player to their instructions, they are in sync, they are playing as team, they are just not being coached anything that can work in todays NRL.

Hasler is obviously still a good motivator because i think the players believe in him and play for him but that is clearly not enough and shows that our gradual decline over the last 30 months is all on a few key things

1) player recruitment/retention (players not good enough being picked or players being picked in roles that doesn't suit them)
2) the worst attacking gameplan in the entire comp.

He has had this team since 2012, the attacking decline was starting to show in 14' and really accelerated every year since then, he has had time to make changes but had just dragged us further back by playing the same awful style of footy that gives us no chance at ever scoring more then 2-3 tries a game. we will grind out a tough win against an ok team once every 6 weeks and dessie will use that game to defend the way we play the rest of the time.


Foran isn't the light, there is no light untill Des is gone, i can't believe that he is capable of changing us anymore because us playing the same way we did last year is a sign of how stubborn he really is. gotta admit, i feel like an idiot for actually believing he would make the changes the team desperately needed. Bring on 2020

As is usually the case, you've hit the nail on the head with your current assessment of the team LG.

They are gutsy and clearly playing for Hasler/pride.....but their attack is the most predictable I have seen from a side for a very long time.
As a fan it must be frustrating to be losing so many games but even more frustrating to watch the style of football being played.

However, I'm not as confident as you are LG, whether it the gameplan that is leading to this predictability or whether it is the player's ability/confidence that is creating it.
And that is something that a Foran could quite feasibly fix as I still rate him the best half in the comp at playing to the line and playing what is in front of him as opposed to just rolling out set plays.

Also as a long time Woods hater, I hate to admit it.....but the powder-puff has somehow developed an offload from the depths of his arse and some second phase play could also really help your attack next season.
I still wouldn't expect him to bend the line at any stage though....

very frustrating, i've gone through down years but this one is more depressing because i can't see any light, you go into every game knowing exactly what will happen. they will try hard, stay close but ultimately fail to offer anything in terms of attack, the amount of tryless halves we have had is embarrassing.

there is also nothing worse then going into an eels game knowing kenny edwards is gonna act like a cock head after they account for us rather easily tonight

i think some of it is the players ability too, don't get me wrong its not whole on his game plan, the rest is on his and the front office recruitment and retention to date.

i just look at our spine and wonder how we got here, ennis>lichaa decision backfired, havn't fouynd mbye's position, has taken 4 years and counting to replace barba


Jrey - is who he is, a good ball running pivot with heaps of energy, adds heaps to a good team but is never gonna be able to carry a struggling one.

Hoppa - another ball runner, strong and tough, but as a common theme in our team, lacks creativity. realsitically, should be our right centre with a more creative fullback.

Lichaa - has been running lately, i think his running game or lack of is probs due to our game plan but his serv ice out of hooker is terrible, he passes behiond the halves, they have to stop atleast half the time to get the ball to have any chance.

Mbye - cops alot of abuse from our fans and opposing fans, he isn't a halfback but i still think he could a good pivot or even a fullback, hell he could even be a hooker. i think its been a bit harsh on him trying play the chief playmaking role that doesn't suit him and then to make matters worse his hooker passes the ball behind him and the defenders are never worried about the fullback creating anything, makes it easy for teams to take away the strengths we used to see from him. His terrible kicking game needs addressing tho and is a huge part of the problem, he can't be our #1 option there and if he plays pivot next year. we need a hooker with some type of kicking game to keep mbye to 3-4 kicks a game.

Foran will help but if we no't find an upgrade for 9 or 1, we are still gonna be far to predictable


the longer the season has gone, the more annoyed i have got at the likes of eastwood and kasiano, they've always had lazy moments and made up for it, the lazy moments are still there, the great plays are not. i am slowly becoming happier with the woods pick up. i'm pretty happy with a 5 middle rotation of klem/woods/tolman/graham/fualolo(who with elliot has been much better this year). if interchanges go down to 6, i think we'll be well position to handle that. but its really not like the pack is ever our problem

argh

LG do you think Mbye would make a decent centre? I've always thought that should be his position at the moment. He strikes me as the sort of guy who was probably always the best player in his Junior team, so they made him halfback so he touched the ball lots where he created heaps with his running game. That works fine all the way probably up to and including the Toyota Cup, but you need more to be a half in the NRL.

Do a Shaun Berrigan and go from half to centre to hooker as he gets older perhaps.

to be honest, in 20's he basically played either 6 or 1 and then in NSW cup it was either hooker or centre. been used more at 7 in first grade then any other grade with the dogs.

i'd really like to see him at fullback, he isn't enough off a playmaker to be a 7 but he could chime out the back just like some of the better fullbacks do. he has a really good flat cutout pass that would work really well on those out the back plays.

there would be growing pains there but i think mbye well enough rounded player to not really get caught out in any of the obvious areas that some struggled with in switching

leaguegod wrote:
there is also nothing worse then going into an eels game knowing kenny edwards is gonna act like a cock head after they account for us rather easily tonight

I actually nearly spat my coffee out when thinking about this.

It is almost 100% chance of occurring and as a neutral observer of the match tonight (I equally hate both of these teams), this will be one of, if not the reason I watch the game.

Dip wrote:LG do you think Mbye would make a decent centre? I've always thought that should be his position at the moment. He strikes me as the sort of guy who was probably always the best player in his Junior team, so they made him halfback so he touched the ball lots where he created heaps with his running game. That works fine all the way probably up to and including the Toyota Cup, but you need more to be a half in the NRL.

Do a Shaun Berrigan and go from half to centre to hooker as he gets older perhaps.

Definitely.

He reminds me of Lafai, who would equally struggle if he was the creative hub for a team.
But chuck Moses in the centre's and I think he would be great.

I suspect the Dogs will play better than most expect tonight and to me, it shapes as one of those games where JRey plays impromptu and they suddenly look decent in attack.

leaguegod wrote:
there is also nothing worse then going into an eels game knowing kenny edwards is gonna act like a cock head after they account for us rather easily tonight

Was that attempted intercept that led to a try sufficient ?

Fucking Kenny Edwards!! I don't even like the guy. Deadset kept the Dogs in that game single handedly.

Only 36% possession in that second half for the Eels on the back of a 4-0 penalty count, so I am amazed we managed to stay in it, but it highlights your point LG about the predictable nature of the Dogs attack.

The fact Moses only missed 2 tackles and made 20 went against you guys also. He had his best game, particularly in Defense as an Eel tonight and topped it off with a well struck FG in a game I thought we would get run down in.

its another typical dogs performance, dominate the majority of the game but offer nothing in attack, the 2nd try was basically just due to tiredness of 2 parra forwards from being on the backfoot for so long

even when we scored, i was disappointed, you knew like 4-5 other times this year, it was just giving us fans the false sense of hope before we ultimately have no ability to seal the game


its not even like parra had to defend well with us having all the ball and field position, we literally through nothing at them, generally 4 hit ups, one predictable play and a rubbish kick.

again, plays like the tolman & klemmer hit ups on 2nd last tackle happen so frequently i am sure its an instruction from super coach, god knows why

i can't remember ever seeing us with a worse attack. the post SBW walkout teams offered more, they couldn't defend but they were a bunch of ressies and offered more in attack then this terribly coached team.

another tryless half last night inspired me to look at how we fare in each half

Bulldogs total tries halves to date:
0: 11
1: 8
2: 8
3: 4
4: 1
5+: 0


Disclaimer, the 4 was against the knights

we score 0 tries 34% of the time, we score 1 or less 59% of the time FFS


The frustration is real, we're not just bad, there is just nothing to like about us or our future under Des, even the knights and tigers fans can fool themselves into think there is better times ahead (both are probably wrong but still)

plus, we must be awful to watch as a neutral, just so ugly and when we play good it usually just means we make the other team look just as ugly. get used to it australia, after the bye we are on channel 9 6 of the last 7 weeks including 4 Thursdays in a row! LOL

Ice wrote:Fucking Kenny Edwards!! I don't even like the guy. Deadset kept the Dogs in that game single handedly.

Only 36% possession in that second half for the Eels on the back of a 4-0 penalty count, so I am amazed we managed to stay in it, but it highlights your point LG about the predictable nature of the Dogs attack.

The fact Moses only missed 2 tackles and made 20 went against you guys also. He had his best game, particularly in Defense as an Eel tonight and topped it off with a well struck FG in a game I thought we would get run down in.

The refs won you the game with the extra time penalty that wasn't a penalty. Consider it a kiss on the dick

the penalty was rubbish but given they probs should have been awarded a penalty try, its hard to say they got that lucky with the refs

leaguegod wrote:the penalty was rubbish but given they probs should have been awarded a penalty try, its hard to say they got that lucky with the refs

Never said they were unlucky. But no penalty, no win

Fuck Kenny is funny to watch. So angry, I imagine thats how Ryno cuts around at a pub until he gets knocked out.

The dogs are hard to watch hey... just boring, trying hard but nothing happening. They need to try something different with the halves. Start Frawley. Move Moses to fullback or hooker. They are just lacking creativity so badly.

i think frawley is pretty rubbish tbh, clearly a ressie but to me its clear that while he is not a first grade halfback, either is mbye.

Mbye however looks like an nrl quality hooker when he goes there, lichaa is not. so i can't see any logic in picking lichaa atm. the way he passed behind players consistently makes the jobs for our already struggling creative players even harder

I dont think the Frawley is the saviour (had a couple of excellent games when he started) but at least he is different. They need to try something different.

Abolutely, piss Leicha off, move mbye to hooker.

Try something different.