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Anasta on his way out of the restaurant:

It's pretty clear that Sexton is not the player to take up the 7 in our current side. It's not a question of Hutch being more creative. Burton is an instinct player and a running 6. Mahoney is an effort player and, whilst I love it, a bit of a hothead. Neither of them should be asked to...

Honestly unbelievable people are still criticising CC for picking Hutch every game, as if they know better. CC has done an unbelievable job to have us where we are right now. Most people had written us off before the season even started. I'm not a fan of Hutch at 7 either (for all the same...

Gus, although he says he "has no inside info", stated that Madge will be picking players based on work rate. If there's anything to that, incumbents and existing pairings might not mean all that much.

Can't agree with you there. Our defense is so damn good this year because of attitude. The system is solid but it's the players showing up for each other for 80 minutes that's made it great. It's crucial, in maintaining that mentality, that there aren't players failing to pull their load. It...

I doubt it has much to do with his talent. I think the biggest issue is that, much like Burton, Sexton's a quiet, heads-up footballer. We need an organiser with a calm head at 7 because Burton has the potential to be the best 6 in the game but he won't get there if he's being forced to steer the...

Injury update from Gus stated:

Was never concerned. Tigers have been worrying some good teams, so I wasn't expecting us to blow them off the park, but can't put in 80 minutes. We came out slow after the Bye but part of CC's strategy is for us to win on our fitness, continuing to smother attack at the back end of games when...

Research has shown headgear provides no protection against concussions.

People on the Tigpies forum are ALSO saying, "It's Badger, expect a horrible loss." :P

Losing good players because they want to go somewhere better is a sign of a failing club. Losing good players because your FG side is too stacked for them to break in a sign of a successful one. We have to get used to losing good players. When your recruitment is on point and your pathways are...

You are VASTLY underestimating Mahoney's contribution to our defense. JMK may miss fewer tackles but only because he doesn't even come close to attempting as many tackles as Mahoney. Mahoney is everywhere and in everything. Dolphins also have the softest draw in the league this year and the...

We're going to trade one of our young stars for a half who couldn't cut it with us over a decade ago, then couldn't make it in the NRL, then had to come back to the Tigers and has them 2 from 6 this year? Good sauce.

I feel for the bloke if this has genuinely caused some level of mental health decline but, honestly, would this be happening if he'd been good enough to lock down a permanent FG spot? >.>

If (and maybe it's a big if) we maintain our current trajectory, I wouldn't feel crazy expecting 5th-8th. I don't think the current top 8 is indicative of where some of those teams are truly at. Phins, Raiders and Sharks have had especially soft draws to start the year. Manly have been hot and...

I think this is something people fixate on because the game has been a certain way for a long time. The NRL have made the game faster, things are changing. An exceptionally fit team (like we are this year) doesn't need a huge, hulking prop to win games, either in attack or defense. In his press...

Sexton will not replace Hutch this year, nor should he. It would be a disaster. You can only run 2 quiet halves if your hooker can organise and call plays and that's just not Mahoney. Whoever's in the 7 has to be able to run the side. Also, if anyone thinks Hutch is being dropped while we're...

Burto is one of the top attacking 5/8s in the league right now, by stats, also a premiership winning Centre. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see him in the side somewhere. Critta deserves a spot. I don't care what anyone says about his form. He's a superstar, a leader and a big game player. He's...

The only thing I don't like about what Burto is doing rn is that we'll definitely lose him during the Origin period. :P

Even if Jack was playing, he'll get done for this. Can't front another player in the tunnels.

Sexton has no future here. We've got great young halves coming through and, while we're playing like we are, Hutch stays in the side.

We don't have a large pack, we carried a VERY small bench and lost a starting forward and still won comfortably. Not only is Cirro's gameplan utilising his players really well but the team are SO much fitter than we've been in years.

If we can remain this consistent and avoid too many injuries, I dare say we do more than just sneak in to the 8. We've put a couple of teams to the sword and played good games against two top 4 sides (even if we lost one by 2 points). We look more confident and cohesive every week. I'm (very...

Haha. I think, deep down, they know it won't matter who they have defending in the halves.

Reading their forum, Knights fans are absolutely shitting it at the prospect of Kiks running at Cogger all game. :D

Knights drop 1 spot after losing to a recently underperforming Roosters outfit by 2 points. Dogs drop 3 spots after losing to a recently dominant, full strength Storm side by 2 points. Dragons jump 3 spots after beating Tigers, who put on a relatively hapless performance. Absolute stitch up.

Ciro: "Alright Hutch, look, we really need Matt to get his hands on the ball more. Can you handle that?" Hutcho: "If I get tackled on the 4th, he has no choice!"

We might not be a contender for a GF berth this year but everything we've seen so far suggests we could be a top 8 side. We beat the Rorters and, at full strength, probably would have won this week. Our systems are working and Ciro is getting the most out of the players.

Always been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, coming in to a side in shambles as a rookie coach. Starting to feel genuinely good about the appointment now. We have defensive starch we haven't seen in years.

He's not a notorious speedster but I agree he definitely has more in him. New team, new role and it's only Round 5. He's already been a point of difference in the side. He'll only grow in to it from here.

This is so true. Great halves often don't start becoming great halves until their mid 20s. Burton's 24 and you can see he's finally starting to get a real feel for the game. He's a running 6. When we get him playing alongside a real, organising 7, I reckon he's going to prove an incredible signing.

Anyone else really happy to see Cogger back in the NRL and playing well?

Everyone had written us off this week and we won. If we'd ACTUALLY lost this and we got to the end of the season 1 win short of making the 8, everyone saying it "isn't a win" would be dropping to their knees and offering to suck V'Landys off for the 2 points.

We should absolutely celebrate that. We carved them open in the first half. We just made the mistake of trying to defend our lead in the 2nd half and against some of the best players in the comp, even with some off the field. Some of the forced reshuffles screwed us, too. Any day we find a way...

If we get a strong win against Souths (doesn't matter if their backs are against the wall, they're a shambles right now), we'll take a lot of confidence in to the following games and could cause some upsets.

It's not entirely Burton's fault. On top of the fact that we were rarely in an attacking position, Mahoney kept inexplicably moving the ball out to the right when we did get there. On one of our attacking sets, he went right, short side, on the last 2 tackles. There was nothing happening. I've...

He's the only reason there's any hope for the future right now. Our pathways are looking more stacked than they have in a very long time. We have lower grade teams who could go on to reach Panthers level success in the next few years, the way they're looking. If the long term health of the club...

Honestly, if you can't see why we're shit in attack, you are SERIOUSLY overestimating some of our players. Flanagan would be unlikely to do much better with this squad. Our spine is poor (I hope we get to see Tracey at 1 sooner than later) and our forward pack aren't much better. The market has...

Hutcho makes sense. THEORETICALLY, we need someone to steer the ship and allow Burton to act as a strike weapon. Sexton looks more dangerous than Hutcho and provides more spark but he's also inexperienced. Burton SHOULD be the one providing the spark and making use of what, on paper, is an...

Something definitely seems off. It's not an Australian website so I assume that, if they ship anything at all, it's probably not coming from Australia. Prices make 0 sense with global shipping costs. The site lists no contact details except an email address and a Whatsapp number. They list their...

Was watching the Ronald Yee "flies don't lie" episode yesterday when I saw the news. What a sad day.

"The Bulldogs would sign Luai at the right place but the club won’t pay ‘overs’ for the Samoan star." To rephrase, we'll meet the competing bids in an effort to force other teams to pay overs and decrease market competition for players we really want.

Pap's injury liability is weird. His last 2 injuries have been a shattered kneecap and a broken & dislocated ankle, rather than massive tendon or muscular issues. Both were freak accidents. The injury before that was a hammy+knee injury which, as a one off, isn't a huge deal. I'd be curious to...

He means he has definitely signed but the mullet has to stay in Melbourne.

I didn't mean to come off as quite so critical of Cogger, for sure. My point was really just that their backup 6, who's been out of the NRL for a bit before this season, managed to come in and fill the Luai void without issue. No one's offering Cogger a 1mill+ contract. I think Luai's being made...

True but would Penrith have been prepared for Cleary to come off? Even with the quality of their next-man-up approach, I have serious doubts there could have been a comeback with Luai and Cogger in the halves at that point. That's what makes Cleary worth 1 mill+ I think we were getting at the...

In case anyone needs reminding, Cleary and Chrichton manufactured one of the greatest comebacks in GF history, against a stacked Broncos team, with Jack Cogger in the 6. If that doesn't speak volumes to how little the 6 matters when you have a potential future immortal at 7....... Luai is a good...

2 players who couldn't find a long term home anywhere saying, "It's not me, the culture sucks." That's the NRL equivalent of claiming all your exes were "crazy bitches" because no one can stand to be with you.

I can't see anyone besides Sexton and Burton getting first shot, unless someone comes in and blows them away in the pre-season.

It's nice if you want the player gone but not so much if you actually want them playing for you. Would be happy to see TPJ off the books but it's a double edged sword.

He's looked a bit injured at points this year but otherwise it's not his fault. He's not a tackle breaking winger or a tall, athletic one. He's fast and can get himself in to position to score tries that others wouldn't. The issue is that we don't have the playmakers or even the structure to...

Thompson dressed like a propa geezer.

Don't know if this has already been posted but....

This is not a very common occurrence, as a lot of Bulldogs players, of late, don't have a spine to injure.

Paps had that. Legend gave the young bloke his first try.

A win is a win. Fuck off.

I'm withholding judgement until the end of next season. A little part of me expected this season to be an absolute shitshow (maybe not quite as much as it has been but close enough). If we flop again in 2024 and the year doesn't bring some HUGE signings for 25, I'll worry.

If you told me 2 years ago that I'd be saying this, I'd have laughed but I wouldn't mind keeping Waddell on the books if it's a cheap contract. He's improved a little on his brain snaps/errors and (sadly) has become one of our more reliable forwards (at the VERY least, he actually gives a fuck)...

Exactly this. There are families out there struggling with the cost of living, both parents working (sometimes multiple jobs) just to get by. If you're making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year just to play sport, you've got it really good. A 10 year career can set some of them up for life...

I think a lot of us would love to see Buzz's head on the top of a big wooden pole.

Exactly this. We've had sub-par systems in place for years and we have these players who've grown accustomed to working within them. If they can't adapt to a better system, we find people who can (obviously difficult right now). The club is a business, at the end of the day, and businesses don't...

Call that the DJDeep Cut.

Burton and Sexton, with a full pre-season together, have a lot of potential. Burton has a heap of talent but needs a smart 7 to drive the combo. Sexton seems like he might that player. Luai would likely be a waste of money.

On paper, maybe. In reality, I reckon it'll take a fair bit for Roosters to give Robbo the boot. He's a proven, multi-premiership winning coach for them. If we have another awful year in 2024, CC's head could be on the chopping block.

Is that not a thing? Now I understand why all my light switches are leaking!

Edwards up there in the VB Hard Earned for last week.

Barring critical injuries, I reckon Penriff probably go on to get the threepeat this year. They look switched on, nearing the end of the season.

Grant, lying on Gutho: "Does it look like I'm laying an egg?!"

Did Hughes just kamehameha?

If Parramatta aren't happy with the result tonight, they can just use Gutho's head to erase it.

You cursed him. He sensed someone was imagining him in a Bulldogs jersey and immediately put 2 passes in to touch.

Where do you play him, if you keep him in the side (remembering that Knight probably joins the bench)?

I'd be inclined to let RFM go. If he's having issues with the way things are being done and causing problems, why wasn't he causing problems in the past 5 years, when the club was constantly shitting the bed? No one who's grown accustomed to the soft shit we've been doing for years should be...

Fuck yeah, now that's the kind of signing I can get behind. He was excellent as Todd in Breaking Bad.

Sutton: "Hey Cam. Really glad to be working with you. Just a quick question. What would you say is our team's defensive style?" Ciraldo: "None." Sutton: *Dials manager*

JAC, Kiks and Sexton hopefully back in the side next week, Avo back to permanent fullback, Hughes, Wilson and Edwards hopefully stay in with Ok, Alamoti and Perham out. We could field a pretty solid team against the Fins.

"Burton! He's gonna bomb it!" ....couldn't see that coming.

This is going to be rough. I kind of understand Avo to 7, though. On our defensive efforts the past few weeks, the only chance we have of not being completely embarrassed is to score some points. Rajab, Flanno and KO in the halves have shown 0 creativity. At least Avo might (bolded and...

Boyd gets hooked. I have no idea how Sexton was stuck behind him. Sexton still has a long way to go but Boyd is almost Flanno level.

Gus could announce that we'd successfully cloned Johnathon Thurston, aged him to 23yo and signed him on a 10 year contract and you'd still be on here pissing and moaning about Gus violating the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning.

I hope it's lime.

Sucks about Sexton. With him in the side and Kiks back, I might have held out hope for an upset.

We need to make this happen. I reckon he's still got some post contact metres in him but, more importantly, we wouldn't have to listen to him commentate another one of our games.

Burton's won us more games this year than anyone. If we'd lost him to a major injury in Rd 1, we'd probably be behind the Tigpies on the ladder. He's got some shit he needs to improve (most of our players do) but he's young and he's talented. With what should hopefully be a consistent 7 now, in...

For all our troubles, at least we're not the Roosters. Only 1 win more than us despite a VASTLY superior roster and a multi-premiership winning coach. :P

This argument is illogical. How many new Penrith fans do you think they've made in the past 3 years? They were garbage for longer than we've been. When you get it right, you attract new fans, especially the younger generations who want to be seen supporting a team that wins.

Both.

Okunbor wondering what just happened.

Never seen so many people fucking tilted at half time with a 4 point difference. :P

Not sure, actually. This is his first year but I'm not sure how long his contract is.

If Wilson keeps playing the way he is, he'll be vying for a spot in that line up.

Heard some of Freddy's pre-game amp up. "Do not, under any circumstances, even in a try scoring situation, pass to JAC."

"We're hearing the fan with the laser has been taken out behind the stadium and shot."

2 tries in a row not from kicks? What is happening?

Reckon Canberra keep fading out of games because Ricky Stuart is REALLY bad at half time speeches? :P

What "secret"? Gus made it clear he'd warned CC, during the pre-season documentary.

I really don't rate him, based on what I've seen of him. He IS better than what we have but only because we don't actually have a single NRL level halfback. For our sake and his, I hope I'm wrong about him and he kicks on (and not out on the full).

I like Burto so I feel rude saying this but, whilst he has talent in spades, I don't think he has the brains to be a 7. I still believe we could find a lot of success with him at 6 but there has to be an organiser beside him and there needs to be someone to mentor him, otherwise turning that...