St George Illawarra Dragons: A season in review

Hello Lovelies,

So the home and away season is almost over for the St George Illawarra Dragons so I thought I would write a season in review post. Overall, I think our season hasn't been too bad. Now I know I'm biased because I am a supporter of the club but there are plenty of dragons supporters who have been very negative about our season when they really don't need to be. I'm going to try put things into perspective and explain with reason why our season wasn't a failure.

It was an improvement from last year. I think as long as we move upwards on the ladder, then the season has been ok. Fans need to be patient. Finals will come in due time if you relax the pressure and let the team build at their own speed. Especially since our team has been changing a lot over the past couple of years. Until there is a consistent roster, it will be difficult to see rapid improvements.

We sacked a coach. So there are two points from this. Firstly, as much as I liked Price, and was happy to give him a chance, his time was up and he needed to move on. Secondly, under McGregor, we've been a completely different team, showing new energy and passion. It was a good move from the club to get rid of Steve Price and I think a positive turn for our club.

We signed a coach. Sacking Price left room for Mary to show his stuff and I think he did enough to prove he deserves a proper shot at the job. With a full preseason under his belt and a chance to sign some players he wants to sign. I know some people believe three years is too long but you must understand that the club needs to show stability with its coaching staff if they are to attract players on long term deals.I think McGregor will do a pretty good job next year and if we make the top 8 or even fall just short then I think he would have proven himself worthy of the position.

Injuries. Lets put our injuries into perspective. Sure, it wasn't as bad as other teams. But our superstar winger, Brett Morris, missed plenty of games after his origin injury, Merrin wasn't ever 100% the same post origin, one of our big signings in Dylan Farrell (who we surely based many plays off during pre season planning) suffered a double pec tear. Michael Witt who we signed for the halves also suffered a season ending injury. It was unfortunate but I feel like a lot of the planning we did in the pre season went to waste with injuries.Hopefully things work out better next year. I know injuries is hardly an excuse but when you are trying to rebuild a club, you need everything to work in your favour.

Poor list management. One of the negatives of our season was our poor list management. I put a lot of this on Steve Price  as well as CEO Peter Doust who failed to recruit smartly. We signed Witt and Williams and Widdop. That's three halves. We wasted so much time messing around with halves pairings at the start of the year, in the end we lost one of the best young players coming through in Sam Williams. We then signed Benji Marshall and had to start all over again with our halves pairing. We also have an over abundance of centres. Beale, Farrell, Dugan, Green, Runciman (and Thompson if we need him there) have all played there this year. There's only two centres on the field at once. The same goes for fullbacks. There is one fullback yet Beale, Dugan and Quinlan can all play there. And yet somehow I cannot list a forward pack full of stars. How that happened is beyond me. I love our forwards and am so proud of their effort this year but the fact of the matter is they just physically are not big enough to go head to head with the likes of Burgess, Graham, Gallen, Taylor... At what point did management think this was ok?

We broke the hoodoo. If anything, Dragons fans can walk away this season and say 'praise The Lord, we beat the raiders at home!' That for us, is actually a pretty big achievement given we won 2 minor premierships, a grand final and a world cup challenge before we could beat canberra. So I think that was a great part of the season.

We were top of the table. It didn't last long but it was wonderful to be able to chant 'we are number one, we are number one' to the boys at Cronulla. They looked happier than ever and it was a feeling we hadn't felt in a really long time so that was another highlight of the season.

Home games are an issue. I'm going to expand on this for next Monday's rant but just quickly, I cannot believe there was only 4 games at kogarah and 4 and wollongong. And not one kogarah game was against another Sydney team. no wonder the crowds were rubbish. No wonder we didnt crack 20000 in our membership. We are a proud club. kogarah is our home (more so that wollongong in my opinion just because of the club history). To only play four games there is outrageous and a big let down for the season. And to think they are considering scrapping kogarah altogether! To think they play local derby's between us and the sharks at Wollongong when Kogarah is closer for both clubs and there is actually a rivalry between Shire and St George rather than Shire and Illawarra! this really angers me and you'll get the full rant next monday so stay tuned.

In conclusion: I don't have too much of a problem with this season. Improvement, effort, change, hope. What is there to complain about?

How do you think we went?

Monday Rants: personal motivation

Hello lovelies,

Today's rant is in fact an attack on myself and my lack of motivation. In particular, when it comes to my health. My laziness is getting out of hand. I am actually so disappointed in myself for letting myself crack 60kg. Shame on me. Since my university timetable ruined my dance schedule, I never really found a replacement activity. Then I took on longer hours at my work and extra curricular uni activities and just cannot be bothered to find time to exercise. I look at photos from 2 years ago and it's sad how much bigger I've gotten. I no longer like wearing bikini tops. I wear one piece swimmers. Board shorts are an essential.

On top of that I've lost all self control with my eating. I'm eating whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like. It's an awful shame because I think I have a pretty enough face, I just don't have the body to match. Admittedly, I will never be stick thin, never be a column like figure because I naturally have wide hips (yay for having babies) and wide-ish shoulders. But I am definitely not the smallest version of myself I can be and that's really upsetting.

I'm 18 with stretch marks. Let that sink in. Any remaining muscle tone is fading. Particularly in my arms and back. I used to have a sexy back from tennis and dancing. Now it's just a bit meh. I have a big butt which looks ok in tight jeans but strip it down to mini shorts and you'll see it's fat, not muscle.

I think I'm letting myself down by not having personal motivation. And not having discipline or self control. It's a shame really. also hate gyms. Everyone I know goes to a gym so there isn't a single one in my area that isn't already taken by someone I know. Also I don't agree with paying to do things that you can do for free if you just step outside (paying to run on a treadmill? no thanks, I'd rather run outdoors).

Does anyone have any tips for me to stay on track?


Thanks for listening lovelies,

Monday Rants: Public Transport

Hello lovelies!
Hope you've all been well,

Today's rant is about public transport. In short  I am so sick of buses. Today I was stuck at a shopping centre for an hour because my bus came early and left before scheduled time and so when I got to the stop, it had already left. If you get there early, you are supposed to wait until the scheduled time to leave!

And then there's the rude bus drivers who think they have some right to not be polite. Without sounding racist, it is often the chinese bus drivers who seem to yell in my face and show zero manners. It's as if they are doing me a favour and I owe them when in fact they are doing their job and if they work in public service they should treat the public with respect.

And finally, there's the fact that the government keeps changing the fare structure every two seconds. Not only is it hard to keep up, but it's very inconvenient especially since when they introduce a new system, they don't always introduce concession fares straight away. As someone who doesn't pay full fair it's really annoying to always be behind on the system because the government hasn't updated it for concession.

Ok, I think that's all. Gosh I do not like public transport.

Monday Rants: Mind your own damn business

Hello lovelies,
Today marks a new series I have decided to undertake called "Monday Rants" in which I basically slam society in potentially hypocritical ways because I need to release the negative energy that builds up during the week.

Today I am ranting about people who fail to mind their own business. Basically, there are certain things I say or do that do not require other people to chime in. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. BUT when I state mine, you have no right to hammer me for what I think, feel or believe. If you do not agree, I am happy to hear your counterarguments however merely saying "you're stupid" or "hahah lol who even thinks that" or "im better than you" isn't really helping your case. See, until you present logical arguments that can be backed up with relevant examples, I really do not care what you say to me. On top of that, if we have had a past clash and we end it on okay terms, I tend to try cut you out of my life. SO DO NOT COME BACK. It is generally clear if I have no interest in your comments so please don't even bother making them to me in the first place. I get that when I put my opinions on social media, I open myself up to interrogation, "hate" and harassment. I will defend myself and my thought but you aren't going to get the response you want out of me. I will not erupt with anger. You are in no way harming my life. So save your time and mine and mind your own damn business.

It also really annoys me when people cannot accept that certain things simply do not involve them. If I am talking to a friend and another friend tries to find out what's happening, I will change the conversation topic. People need to understand that if I want you to know something, I will tell you. If I do not tell you, I do not want you to know so please do not go searching. Do not ask my other friends and put them in a position where they may have to start spreading things. I will hate you for putting them in a situation where they have to choose which friend to please. It also shows that you are no true friend of mine if you cannot respect the fact that I may have secrets. Don't ruin the relationship, just mind your own damn business.

And finally, there are the people who cannot for two seconds live their life without gossip or rumors. When I see you, there is no need to ask about every little detail of my life in the hope of finding out some drama. Again, if there is something important you should know, I will tell you. I will not speak just to fuel your need to be the centre know it all queen B and so that you can then go around telling other people. This is not year 8 anymore. We are not 14 (mind you I turned 14 in year 10...). Grow up and mind your own damn business.

Ok I think that rant is over. Go on, hammer me for being a bitch about it. I dare you.