Dragons Season Thread - 2019/20 aka Year 1 of the new 5 Year Plan

by **RiscaGame** Wed 08 Jan 2020, 2:56 pm

First topic message reminder :

Because it seemingly hit his head. I understand why he did it, as they were slowing us down a fair bit and not getting penalised, but it needs to be a few more angles than the clip I have seen.

by Luckless Pedestrian Tue 13 Oct 2020, 12:23 pm

Wales Online reporting we're close to signing Will Rowlands. I'll believe it when I see it, but that would improve us no end.

by PhilBB Tue 13 Oct 2020, 12:23 pm

To me, it still looks a team completely reliant on Williams and Davies at half back.

Lose one or both of those and I think that House of Cards comes crashing down

by PhilBB Tue 13 Oct 2020, 12:24 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Wales Online reporting we're close to signing Will Rowlands. I'll believe it when I see it, but that would improve us no end.

Chris Kirwan's tweet is interesting

by Luckless Pedestrian Tue 13 Oct 2020, 12:31 pm

I honestly thought the trail had gone cold on that.

by PhilBB Tue 13 Oct 2020, 3:47 pm

Wasps don't agree with Mark Orders either:

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/rugby/will-rowlands-wales-rugby-news-19097319

by Luckless Pedestrian Tue 13 Oct 2020, 4:27 pm

That would seem to be that:

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/18791344.wales-lock-will-rowlands-not-heading-dragons---wasps/

by **RiscaGame** Tue 13 Oct 2020, 6:24 pm

PhilBB wrote:To me, it still looks a team completely reliant on Williams and Davies at half back.

Lose one or both of those and I think that House of Cards comes crashing down

Totally. Davies more so though. You can see that, from Friday. Davies had a bit of a mare off the tee, yet Lewis hardly had a sniff of game time again.

by mikey_dragon Tue 13 Oct 2020, 8:31 pm

For months Robin Davey has been saying Rowlands to Dragons is a done deal, I just figured it would be the 20/21 season. There's no requirement for Rowlands to join sooner and he seems to be enjoying his rugby at Wasps. If they worked it out so he can join sooner then great, Blackett probably just dismissing it so it doesn't become a distraction.

by mikey_dragon Tue 13 Oct 2020, 8:33 pm

RiscaGame wrote:
PhilBB wrote:To me, it still looks a team completely reliant on Williams and Davies at half back.

Lose one or both of those and I think that House of Cards comes crashing down

Totally. Davies more so though. You can see that, from Friday. Davies had a bit of a mare off the tee, yet Lewis hardly had a sniff of game time again.

I've been saying it since not long after he joined, Josh Lewis isn't good enough. As erratic as our halfbacks can be, they're 10 times better than what's on the bench. Still, there's plenty of WQ fly-halves out there, and a certain scrum half who is currently without a club...

by mikey_dragon Tue 13 Oct 2020, 8:57 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I honestly thought the trail had gone cold on that.

Even if we did get him, it would just lead to more hate aimed at us as well as Rowlands. miaow has already been typing a load of BS about him on another thread.

by formerly known as Sam Tue 13 Oct 2020, 9:21 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:For months Robin Davey has been saying Rowlands to Dragons is a done deal, I just figured it would be the 20/21 season. There's no requirement for Rowlands to join sooner and he seems to be enjoying his rugby at Wasps. If they worked it out so he can join sooner then great, Blackett probably just dismissing it so it doesn't become a distraction.

I think he has a contract until next summer so 21/22 would be his first season at Dragons if there's a done deal. He's in good form at the minute so I doubt Wasps will let him go early. They are certainly lacking any natural replacement for him if he did go in the short term.

by **RiscaGame** Wed 14 Oct 2020, 12:55 am

mikey_dragon wrote:For months Robin Davey has been saying Rowlands to Dragons is a done deal, I just figured it would be the 20/21 season. There's no requirement for Rowlands to join sooner and he seems to be enjoying his rugby at Wasps. If they worked it out so he can join sooner then great, Blackett probably just dismissing it so it doesn't become a distraction.

Robin needs to stay relevant and try to distract Twitter from his and his golf course’s “alternative” views. There’s no real news off him ever. The only thing Lyn the Lyp and Dorian’s dad did properly during their tenure, was hammer him on away flights.

by PhilBB Thu 15 Oct 2020, 9:53 am

There was a theory that Davey was being used as a patsy by the Dragons.

I think that theory has some merit.

by **RiscaGame** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 11:05 am

I would say so.

by Luckless Pedestrian Thu 15 Oct 2020, 12:39 pm

Interesting bonus fixture tomorrow. It's being streamed on the Dragons' and the Scarlets' Facebook and YouTube channels, kick-off at midday.

Dragons XV: D Howells; O Jenkins, J Thomas, A Owen, J Rosser; J Lewis, L Baldwin; C Maguire, E Shipp, L Fairbrother, B Carter, J Maksymiw, H Taylor (captain), B Fry, T Basham. Replacements: R Lawrence, J Reynolds, C Coleman, M Williams, G Young, D Babos, W Reed, R Dyer.

Scarlets: T Prydie; R Conbeer, T Morgan, P Asquith, A Brew; A O’Brien, D Blacker; R Evans, M Jones, J Sebastian, T Ratuva, M Jones, E Kennedy, J Morgan (captain), U Cassiem. Replacements: T Davies, S Evans, D Evans, K Mathias, W Kruger, H O’Connor, J Price, T Phillips, J Miles, D Davies, C Tuipulotu, W Homer, S Costelow, J Roberts, I Nicholas.

Lots of former Dragons behind the scrum for the Scarlets.

EDIT: just noticed the Scarlets have a 15-man bench!

by **RiscaGame** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 12:53 pm

Interesting side from us. Nice to see Babos involved. Interesting to see Shipp clearly is fit then too. I am not sure I would be playing Basham in this game, but I guess we may not have many other options. Clearly Griffiths isn't quite ready, but somebody like Benjamin could've played?

Kick off at Midday doesn't help me though. Unless I have a surprise cancellation.

by Luckless Pedestrian Thu 15 Oct 2020, 2:21 pm

Chris Kirwan mentioned a number of players who could have been selected, including Lennon Greggains who I'd forgotten all about.

I take my lunch between 1 and 2, so it's not so bad for me!

by **RiscaGame** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 2:25 pm

I haven't seen what he has said yet. I will look now, thanks. I forgot about him too. I only remembered about Benjamin, as he gets mentioned by what I assume is a friend, every time Dragons release their team. He made a good point on how a few other players could've been involved too, like Dixon and Lewis Evans.

I have been blessed with a cancellation anyway.

by **RiscaGame** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 2:51 pm

Interesting to read this, on his SWA article.

Chris Kirwan wrote:Go to the Dragons' website and you will notice a new inclusion on the pen pics of the management team – Patrick Marr, mental skills and leadership coach.

by Luckless Pedestrian Thu 15 Oct 2020, 3:14 pm

That's such an important part of the game, I was going to say these days, but it's always been important, just valued more now maybe.

by **RiscaGame** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 3:24 pm

Yeah, definitely.

by mikey_dragon Thu 15 Oct 2020, 10:19 pm

Did we actually sign Joe Thomas?

by **RiscaGame** Fri 16 Oct 2020, 2:50 am

mikey_dragon wrote:Did we actually sign Joe Thomas?

Trial

by **RiscaGame** Fri 16 Oct 2020, 12:05 pm

Awful start for Josh Lewis. To miss touch that badly, is shocking.

Sadly, off for a HIA now, as well. However, I am looking forward to seeing how Reed goes.

by **RiscaGame** Fri 16 Oct 2020, 12:09 pm

Now Reed does the same.

by mikey_dragon Fri 16 Oct 2020, 12:26 pm

Well worked try, if it gets awarded. Interesting to note that the lock forward Carter seems to have overtaken the others from the academy.

Ah, it was awarded then disallowed.

by Guest Fri 16 Oct 2020, 7:14 pm

A healthy scoreline for the Scarlets. Didn't see the game what was it like? Decent standard or did it look like a training session?

by **RiscaGame** Fri 16 Oct 2020, 9:21 pm

I’m not sure why your post was complained about?

Very poor game. Tbh, you’d have expected Scarlets to be stronger, given the two sides selected, but Dragons didn’t help themselves with the silly mistakes like the three missed penalty kicks to touch. Was a poor game though. I’m not really sure what either have taken from it, bar conditioning. I guess Dean Ryan has another idea of who won’t make the grade. I would’ve preferred him to play Dixon etc along with a few youngsters.

by mikey_dragon Fri 16 Oct 2020, 9:25 pm

A few of those players will be playing on the international weekends, particularly in the front 5 for us - so we can take that this period won’t be a good one for Dragons. I always thought Scarlets had the slightly better team up front but they significantly upped the tempo. Good run out for them. Tex won’t be available now though but Rob Evans probably will be.

by **RiscaGame** Sat 17 Oct 2020, 4:19 am

Front 5 won’t, unless there are injuries. First choice will be

Harris/Bateman, Hibbard, Jarvis/loose head that isn’t playing, Screech, Davies.

by mikey_dragon Sat 17 Oct 2020, 10:02 am

I figured they would come back in - but Joe M, Coleman, Williams will be there covering. Jarvis is likely to get injured, which leaves us with Coleman... Unless one of Harris or Bateman swaps sides (which they can and have done). Our 9, 10, 12 is very important - but the cover for them is a potential match loser.

I would start with Shipp btw, with Hibbard on the bench.

by **RiscaGame** Sat 17 Oct 2020, 11:45 am

Most would start Shipp, but I’m just imaging what Ryan will do, given his selections thus far.

by mikey_dragon Sat 17 Oct 2020, 12:10 pm

Also we seen yesterday that our back 3 players are pretty good, but we already knew that. Josh Reynolds is good too and hopefully will be in the 23 - which would give the option of switching Bateman to TH. Interested to see if Aneurin Owen can make the step up as well. Given the make-up of the squad now all I can say is I’m thankful for Dr Roberts.

by Guest Sat 17 Oct 2020, 5:45 pm

RiscaGame wrote:I’m not sure why your post was complained about?

Very poor game. Tbh, you’d have expected Scarlets to be stronger, given the two sides selected, but Dragons didn’t help themselves with the silly mistakes like the three missed penalty kicks to touch. Was a poor game though. I’m not really sure what either have taken from it, bar conditioning. I guess Dean Ryan has another idea of who won’t make the grade. I would’ve preferred him to play Dixon etc along with a few youngsters.

Welcome to 606, where that question is par for the course. Pathetic really.

Makes sense it was poor given there's nothing riding on it.

by mikey_dragon Sun 25 Oct 2020, 4:01 pm

Beyond embarrassing for Hibbard...

by **RiscaGame** Sun 25 Oct 2020, 6:19 pm

Have to wonder what Shipp makes of it. Rhys Lawrence too, as he technically got released to retain him.

by Guest Sun 25 Oct 2020, 7:41 pm

What did Hibbard do

by PhilBB Mon 26 Oct 2020, 10:37 am

rugby racing and beer wrote:What did Hibbard do

That's a superb question.

His agent, however, is a genius. Getting three years out of Jackman.

And, let's be honest, Jackman is no fool. Right? He must have known how good a hooker Hibbard was when he offered him that three year deal.

Jackman, suggested for the job by Warren Gatland.

Choo Choo.

by mikey_dragon Mon 26 Oct 2020, 8:54 pm

RiscaGame wrote:Have to wonder what Shipp makes of it. Rhys Lawrence too, as he technically got released to retain him.

What have got shot of both Hibbard and Lawrence, but even I couldn’t for-see Hibbard being this bad.

A word on Griffths, he’s just awesome isn’t he. Really hope he has better luck with injuries.

by mikey_dragon Fri 30 Oct 2020, 3:25 pm

In the match against Ulster, Griffiths' first start since March, he made 23 tackles (2nd highest in league), 4 offloads (highest in league), 4 turnovers won (highest in league).

We'll need him against Munster, but we are also without 2 LH's so I doubt it will count for much anyway. Can't see us getting close based on recent form and haven't yet decided if I want to bring myself to watch the garbage we're putting on display.

by Guest Fri 30 Oct 2020, 7:54 pm

PhilBB wrote:
rugby racing and beer wrote:What did Hibbard do

That's a superb question.

His agent, however, is a genius. Getting three years out of Jackman.

And, let's be honest, Jackman is no fool. Right? He must have known how good a hooker Hibbard was when he offered him that three year deal.

Jackman, suggested for the job by Warren Gatland.

Choo Choo.

So you don't know. Ok.

by **RiscaGame** Sat 31 Oct 2020, 12:18 pm

Bit of a strange team for tomorrow. I don’t get why we are starting Hibbard and Fairbrother. Don’t get Josh Lewis at 15 either. I feel a bit for Basham too.

by mikey_dragon Sat 31 Oct 2020, 12:29 pm

Fairbrother is solid but agree on Hibbard. Lewis making the 23 let alone the 15 jersey is a surprise.

by **RiscaGame** Fri 06 Nov 2020, 12:26 pm

Dragons next two fixtures are off, due to 7 COVID cases. Hope all 7 recover as well as Jamie Roberts seemingly has. Thankfully there were no cases from Munster, who we played last weekend.

by mikey_dragon Fri 06 Nov 2020, 12:27 pm

Yikes, this year/season gets worse and worse. I was happy about playing Connacht at home, as our fixture list has been difficult so far. I wonder how all 7 and just Dragons boys got that.

by mikey_dragon Thu 26 Nov 2020, 10:14 pm

We must be a bit rusty and we’re up against our wounded Italian bogey team next.

by **RiscaGame** Fri 27 Nov 2020, 4:19 pm

It has flown a little under the radar, this game. Because of the break and the return to play schedule we had, I wasn’t sure when we were playing again and thought we had another weekend to go.

Be interesting to see who we pick. It’s very annoying now they don’t have to announce the 23 until the day before too, as tomorrow I’ll be more concerned about getting my Pivac out banner ready Wink

by **RiscaGame** Sat 28 Nov 2020, 10:32 pm

Ahhhh good. We are still playing Hibbard over Shipp.

I normally want Basham starting, but like our bigger backrow tomorrow out there. I guess that’s why Hibbard is starting too, as Dean is probably relying on trying to have parity in the scrum and pack as a whole with physicality and then players like Basham, Shipp and Maguire could come on and hopefully if the game breaks up, we can use them more as more dynamic players. Hopefully Rosser will look sharp off the bench too.

by mikey_dragon Sun 29 Nov 2020, 6:05 pm

Shocking decisions being made where we had the chance to kick for touch and press for the fourth try, twice, but opted to kick at goal and both were missed. We played loosely in the dying minutes trying to get that try, and Benetton end up scoring - bloody awful attempt at a tackle from Lewis.

by **RiscaGame** Sun 29 Nov 2020, 6:48 pm

I’m really not sure why we are trusting Davies to kick, tbh. Especially playing Lewis as we are, at the minute.

He’s a good player Sam, but his kicking issues can’t keep getting ignored.

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