HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
I just hope all the players have a nice time.
NRL Round 5 - Bulldogs Vs Knights - Accor Stadium - 6:15pm Sunday 6th April
- Thread starter Lefty
- Start date
frankLauda
Matthew Gidley
That Titans game we were the better side for 20mins. But we failed to capitalise. Then we just seemed to run out of steam. I heard it was very humid conditions.
Conditions must play a role. That’s why I tipped the cows over Canberra, because of how hot it was at the game.
I checked the stats on the Cronulla/Dogs game at it was all quite even but Cronulla had 14 errors to the Dogs 8.
So the dogs won’t beat themselves. Been impressed with Jacob Preston. If we can minimise errors and complete I think we have the edge in the backline. I think we can hold our own against there forward pack.
Mohoney and Toupinoa will be massive outs for them if they get charged. Speaking about minimising errors, little concerned about Marz under the high ball. Sexton going to be targeting him. He’s got a good kicking game.
Conditions must play a role. That’s why I tipped the cows over Canberra, because of how hot it was at the game.
I checked the stats on the Cronulla/Dogs game at it was all quite even but Cronulla had 14 errors to the Dogs 8.
So the dogs won’t beat themselves. Been impressed with Jacob Preston. If we can minimise errors and complete I think we have the edge in the backline. I think we can hold our own against there forward pack.
Mohoney and Toupinoa will be massive outs for them if they get charged. Speaking about minimising errors, little concerned about Marz under the high ball. Sexton going to be targeting him. He’s got a good kicking game.
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MBQLD
Sean Rudder
I’ve been living in Northern NSW and then Queensland near Bundaberg for 7 years and we went to that game. It was very very bad and that was just sitting there, playing would have been unbearable so no wonder 20mins was all they had in the tank.
In saying that though, there will be other hot and humid games this year where they will have to be far better than what they brought to the Gold Coast.
As annoying as the bye is for us supporters I think it came at a very smart time for the team. They get an early performance review before the season starts to get away from them. Sit them down and highlight what works, underline what doesn’t and then hit the training paddock for rehearsals. Nobody would have been impressed with where they are at so far. (As a team)
They’ve gotten wins but they were far from comfortable and as it’s been said time and again, once the boys gel they’ve got some big scores in them. We’ve all seen that every team in the comp is beatable so dare to dream.
Frank McWilliams
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Dogs going well even though under strength and could be more so this game. My concern is that we may rush players back, Gamble and Leo, when not quite right rather they missed this week to be right for season.
mozza
Game on broheim
frankLauda
Matthew Gidley
AOB has showed in the past he does not rush players back. Lucus is the biggest out for us.
It’s way too early in the season to be this negative IMO. Especially when you consider we’re a team builds throughout the year and early season form is up and down. The Storm just got beaten by the Dragons lol.
Well that's true, Bulldogs have been up for a month, they're due a dud performance.
Good Times
Keith Beauchamp
I think it's the opposite. They're top of the table and we're looking like amateurs. There's pressure on us to show we're a half-decent team at this point.
Never too early especially when you can still see some off the old habits and traits pop up in games. I mean seriously we still can't put in consistent performances, our good games vs bad games are miles apart.
One week we look like world beaters, the next week we look like just met each other.
HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
We really struggled with the big athletic Titans forwards once the fatigue set in and the good news is the Dogs don’t really have those.
The good team Cronulla have struggled most with is Penrith (they’ve gotten good wins over everyone else in recent seasons) and the Dogs are very much doing a Panthers impression with their strong yardage backs and small fit forwards with stifling line speed. So maybe the difficulties transferred over a bit.
I don’t know. Obviously the Dogs are good. But we won’t be taking them lightly this time and being forced to go into the game with a patient mindset is the best thing for the team atm. Whether that leads to a win matters less than improvement, trending in the right direction.
Side note Leo is looking like a better and better signing for the Dogs (unfortunately), they’re already a good & committed team but he’s a more imposing athlete physically than anyone else they’ve got in their pack and he’ll look really good taking play 3-4 hit ups after the likes of Kiraz have got the set on the front foot.
The good team Cronulla have struggled most with is Penrith (they’ve gotten good wins over everyone else in recent seasons) and the Dogs are very much doing a Panthers impression with their strong yardage backs and small fit forwards with stifling line speed. So maybe the difficulties transferred over a bit.
I don’t know. Obviously the Dogs are good. But we won’t be taking them lightly this time and being forced to go into the game with a patient mindset is the best thing for the team atm. Whether that leads to a win matters less than improvement, trending in the right direction.
Side note Leo is looking like a better and better signing for the Dogs (unfortunately), they’re already a good & committed team but he’s a more imposing athlete physically than anyone else they’ve got in their pack and he’ll look really good taking play 3-4 hit ups after the likes of Kiraz have got the set on the front foot.
Beatell
Darren Albert
We arent a good enough team yet to come up with B/C and D. I do believe that will come. DB short kicking game will give us extra options and threats. Cogger poses no real threat with his running game and Sharpe is still learning where to be when he dummies and runs. He is a legit threat especially when the play has broken down.
slotmachine
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Even in the same game tbh. I don't think we've put together a decent 40 minutes yet this season. Maybe first half v phins (who are looking like spoon candidates).
frankLauda
Matthew Gidley
Goes to show just how good and important Jahrome Hugh’s is to that side. Munster had an average game. If it was the other way around with Hugh’s in Melbourne win that game.
frankLauda
Matthew Gidley
The last two results against the dogs.
Round 7 36 - 12
Round 13 32 - 2
They pumped us last year. Our outs definitely don’t help. If I’ve got my neutral tipping head on I’m backing the Dogs TBH. Hopefully I’m wrong.
Round 7 36 - 12
Round 13 32 - 2
They pumped us last year. Our outs definitely don’t help. If I’ve got my neutral tipping head on I’m backing the Dogs TBH. Hopefully I’m wrong.
After the trials (even the bad one) and first 2 games everyone was really positive and happy that we are trying to overhaul our attack. You simply can’t expect that the side isn’t going to make errors if we’re doing that, especially early on. Our 2024 “5 hit ups and a shallow bomb” style may have actually served us better against the Titans, but having the second last attack in the comp isn’t going to cut it when the whips are cracking and I think AOB has recognised that. If we want the side to be more adventurous in that area though, we need to expect some growing pains early on.
I thought AOB completely hit the nail on the head in the presser saying that the spine went in with the wrong attitude and tried to play around the Titans to go for the easy kill without setting it up first. Of course that’s bad but this side isn’t used to winning in round 1, they’re definitely not used to winning their first 2, especially trying attacking football…they got ahead of themselves. They’ll learn from it.
All I’m saying is that if you want to write us off after the Titans game, you probably need to also write off 13 of the other teams as well as very few have played consistently good football. Like Gus Gould says, you don’t really know if it’s going to be a good or bad season until around round 7… by then most teams would have won a game and most would have lost one.
Will be interesting to see if we've got that patient mindset this time. If ever there's a game we need to go into it with, it's this one ... to win this we really need to get into the arm wrestle. From a patience and execution standpoint so far this year, we've only forced four line drop-outs in three games ... to me that's an indicator that we have a ways to go.