Does anybody know what is happening with Dan Lydiate ?

First topic message reminder :

I know he has been offered a dual contract, but has the offer been taken ? Does he have a club to train at ? Is he going back to France ? So many questions, and still now answers, I thought that all the dual contracts would be sorted by know. Has anybody got any news ?

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Come the 6Ns (unless there are more injuries), I think we will see the squad having the halfbacks as (in order of preference)

Scrum Half -: Rhys Webb, Mike Phillips, Rhodri Williams (unless Gareth Davies comes back on form)
Fly Half -: Dan Biggar, Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Priestland

SS,

Again I agree though I am not a fan of Anscombe being fast tracked but think he will be and I hope Davies can come back and regain his pre injury form.

It will be a shame if O Williams doesn't get looked at especially as he would have gone to SA if not for poor discipline.

Lydiate apparently carried for 6 metres during the whole of the AI's.

Luxury player.

how many rucks did he hit? How many tackles did he make on or in front of the gainline?

While I agree he is not an excellent carrier of the ball and is not the complete back row forward of say a Kaino or Messam give me another NH 6 who does the same amount of defensive/donkey work and is superb carrier

Dan Lydiate does thre hard graft so that the likes of Warburton and Jenkins can then get all the praise when the are wrapped over the ruck line a letter n and pinching the ball, without Lydiate chopping the way he does, our superstars would not get half the turnovers that they get, it is of no coincidence that Sam and Geth are not as prolific for their region.

gcBlues wrote:Lydiate apparently carried for 6 metres during the whole of the AI's.

Luxury player.

Problem is if we ditched Lydiate, for say Tips, we would have people saying 'Tipuric apparently only made 4 tackles that lead to turn overs the whole AIs, luxury player'.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

gcBlues wrote:Lydiate apparently carried for 6 metres during the whole of the AI's.

Luxury player.

Problem is if we ditched Lydiate, for say Tips, we would have people saying 'Tipuric apparently only made 4 tackles that lead to turn overs the whole AIs, luxury player'.

I think Tipuric will thrive at the Ospreys now that Lydiate is there, he is very quick at the breakdown and with Dan chopping them down, there will be plenty of opportunities for Tips to steel the ball.

LD - I would think that the backrow of Lydiate, Tipuric and Baker would be pretty fierce, and the fact that they would be a regular unit, could give Warbs and Taulupe a kick up the rump performance-wise, as IMO internationally regional 'units' work best (Front row, locks, backrow, half backs, centres, and back three).

ScarletSpiderman wrote:LD - I would think that the backrow of Lydiate, Tipuric and Baker would be pretty fierce, and the fact that they would be a regular unit, could give Warbs and Taulupe a kick up the rump performance-wise, as IMO internationally regional 'units' work best (Front row, locks, backrow, half backs, centres, and back three).

I could not agree more, Faletau in particular has been underperforming as of late.

I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

I would not like to see that happen although you do have to wonder, just say it quietly or you will get the Dragons faithful on here taring you limb from limb.

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

If Dan had headed back to Dave Parade, then it would have boosted Faletau's game IMO, as he would have Lydiate doing the tackling, Cudd doing the jackling, leaving Faletau free to concentrate on being the ball carrier.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

If Dan had headed back to Dave Parade, then it would have boosted Faletau's game IMO, as he would have Lydiate doing the tackling, Cudd doing the jackling, leaving Faletau free to concentrate on being the ball carrier.

Agreed but and also with you LD but I could not blame him if he did move on - he showed us loyalty the last time he resigned with us depite being tempted with big money offers

Next time he needs to make the right decision for his own sake

http://ospreysrugby.com/News/Article/37499

LordDowlais wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

I would not like to see that happen although you do have to wonder, just say it quietly or you will get the Dragons faithful on here taring you limb from limb.

You do know who he supports right? Dear me Dowlais

Chunky Norwich wrote:http://ospreysrugby.com/News/Article/37499

Well thats that then, hard proof that he is at the Ospreys, he will be playing against Ulster no doubt, I might go and watch that one.

Could the Dodger contradict himself anymore?

“Dan Lydiate suddenly became available while Warren was preparing his list of National Dual Contract candidates which offered us the opportunity to bring a key international player back to Wales.

“The aim of the contracts is to stem the flow of our best talent abroad and to ensure the players staying in Wales will have the very best care to prolong their careers at the highest level."

Risca Rev wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

I would not like to see that happen although you do have to wonder, just say it quietly or you will get the Dragons faithful on here taring you limb from limb.

You do know who he supports right? Dear me Dowlais

Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of StoneMotif and the Saint, they are not known for holding back when somebody say's anything detrimental about the Dragons. I've been tarred and feathered by those two on more than one occasion on here.

LordDowlais wrote:

Risca Rev wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

I would not like to see that happen although you do have to wonder, just say it quietly or you will get the Dragons faithful on here taring you limb from limb.

You do know who he supports right? Dear me Dowlais

Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of StoneMotif and the Saint, they are not known for holding back when somebody say's anything detrimental about the Dragons. I've been tarred and feathered by those two on more than one occasion on here.

By me? Where?

The Saint wrote:By me? Where? .

Come on Saint, me and you have had many a spat on here over the years, I do not take it personally though, I bet your a good guy in the real world.

If anybody now doubts about the merits of how much of a LIAR the Dodger is, they only have to look at his utterances today, so Dodger you have been actively trying to get DC sorted for two and a half years have you, why then did you try and get George North on a CC and put him with the Blues, when he wanted to stay with the Scarlets, tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough to see the back of this infidel.

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

Possibly, and I can see the logic. But just to point out a good example of the opposite: Jonny Willkinson at Newcastle. Always a relatively poor team. However, Wilkinson was still a world class international despite playing for a not-so-good-team. He didn't need to move. I don't think moving clubs will necessarily make Faletau a better or worse player. There are more factors involved than that.

Wayne, the people who listen to Roger's sound bite and take them serious, tend to know not of the day to day goings on of the regions, and tend to have the opinion rugby is played in November and Feb-Apr.

LordDowlais wrote:

The Saint wrote:By me? Where? .

Come on Saint, me and you have had many a spat on here over the years, I do not take it personally though, I bet your a good guy in the real world.

Tbh I can't remember you saying anything detrimental about the dragons, but we have disagreed on something dragons-related some times. The thing I've taken issue with most is your 'neutrality'

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Wayne, the people who listen to Roger's sound bite and take them serious, tend to know not of the day to day goings on of the regions, and tend to have the opinion rugby is played in November and Feb-Apr.

Yes I know that SS, at least there are 2 people within the WRU (Buchanan & Davies) who knows the true story about how he has performed in the past in his dealings with the Regions and if they can persuade the rest of the Board members of the WRU what he has been up to, we might be able to get rid of him.

LordDowlais wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:LD - I would think that the backrow of Lydiate, Tipuric and Baker would be pretty fierce, and the fact that they would be a regular unit, could give Warbs and Taulupe a kick up the rump performance-wise, as IMO internationally regional 'units' work best (Front row, locks, backrow, half backs, centres, and back three).

I could not agree more, Faletau in particular has been underperforming as of late.

LD,

I don't think he's been underperforming as such, I would say he has always performed to a good consistant standard but nothing outstanding. That said Baker should have had a run in th AIs and along with Pitman at the Scarlets then I hope the added pressure both can put on Taulupe will help him lift his game further.

As for the backrow of Lydiate Baker and Tipuric well that has some serious potential both for the Os and Wales.

Griff wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

Possibly, and I can see the logic. But just to point out a good example of the opposite: Jonny Willkinson at Newcastle. Always a relatively poor team. However, Wilkinson was still a world class international despite playing for a not-so-good-team. He didn't need to move. I don't think moving clubs will necessarily make Faletau a better or worse player. There are more factors involved than that.

Interesting comparison there Griff. Is it harder to stand out behind a mediocre pack at no8 or fly half? Im not sure if your a ten and your scrum is going backwards and you get the ball you can still drill a ball 60 metres down field and people will laud you for doing your job well. Its more difficult for a no8 to do their job well - get over the gainline and smash people - when you are going backwards at the scrum

But I do take your point he should still be able to shine in a lesser side, but it must be frustrating for him to come from Wales to what at times can seem like a semi pro standard

GavinDragon wrote:

Griff wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:I wonder whether he will need to move on from the Dragons as it cannot be helping his form at the moment

Possibly, and I can see the logic. But just to point out a good example of the opposite: Jonny Willkinson at Newcastle. Always a relatively poor team. However, Wilkinson was still a world class international despite playing for a not-so-good-team. He didn't need to move. I don't think moving clubs will necessarily make Faletau a better or worse player. There are more factors involved than that.

Interesting comparison there Griff. Is it harder to stand out behind a mediocre pack at no8 or fly half? Im not sure if your a ten and your scrum is going backwards and you get the ball you can still drill a ball 60 metres down field and people will laud you for doing your job well. Its more difficult for a no8 to do their job well - get over the gainline and smash people - when you are going backwards at the scrum

But I do take your point he should still be able to shine in a lesser side, but it must be frustrating for him to come from Wales to what at times can seem like a semi pro standard

I think it's similar for a 10 to a number 8 actually - how many times have we Dragons fans said "I wish we could sort out our pack so that our half backs had a good platform to play", etc. Maybe that's why Wilkinson was such a good defender - he needed to be in an team over run so often!

But yes, I agree that Faletau must be frustrated. But our pack is better this season. He should have a better platform now, but he doesn't seem to be reaping the rewards of the extra freedom it allows him.

Anyone read Wayne Pivac's comments on Owen Williams? Looks like Saint was onto something as usual.

Pivac said, more or less, some players will stay, some will go, and we will sign some too, and Owen is a good player.