Is Josh Dugan’s ball playing to blame for the Dragons attacking woes?
MUCH has been made of the Dragon’s inability to cross the white stripe this season but on the back of the competition’s third best defensive line, a finals berth is imminent.
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MUCH has been made of the Dragon’s inability to cross the white stripe this season but on the back of the competition’s third best defensive line, a finals berth is imminent.
With Gareth Widdop in sublime form and Benji Marshall undergoing a career resurgence, it can be hard to understand exactly why the side is ranked fifteenth in the competition in attack.
So what’s the story?
It’s by no means the only factor, but Josh Dugan’s inability to ball play seems to be overlooked again and again by the critics.
The NSW Origin fullback - renowned for his dynamic running game - has provided just one try assist, and one line break assist for the Dragons in 19 games this season way back in round 4 against the Sea Eagles.
Dugan had shifted to centre temporarily with Pat Mata’utia moving to fullback. Dugan received some early ball and with footwork and strength drew in Manly winger Cheyse Blair and offloaded out to Jason Nightingale who finished the move in the corner.
Effectively, he is yet to set up a try from the back this season.
When Dugan missed the Dragon’s round two clash with the Tigers, Mata’utia was shifted to fullback where he delivered a try assist and line break assist in his first attempt at the role.
When contrasting Dugan’s ball playing stats with some of the games best all-round fullbacks this season, the numbers are grim.
· James Tedesco (22 games) – 13 TA, 13 LA
· Greg Inglis (19 games) – 13 TA, 16 LA
· Matt Moylan (11 games) – 10 TA, 11 LA
· Lachlan Coote (20 games) – 13 TA, 16 LA
· Brett Stewart (20 games) – 10 TA, 14 LA
This isn’t to brush aside Dugan’s quality as a fullback, the value of his kick return, powerful nature of play and safety under the high ball are invaluable.
It does however suggest that perhaps his role as a number one could be reassessed to improve the Dragon’s attacking capabilities.
Ever since Billy Slater redefined the role of the modern day fullback, young players have been brought up in the position with an emphasis on improving ball playing as a vital requirement.
Dugan has been brought up as traditional hard running fullback which he has been allowed to do due to his phenomenal strengths in other areas.
His ball playing weaknesses became apparent back in 2012 under Raiders coach David Furner when Dugan was placed in five eight as an experimental move to try and rejuvenate a struggling Green Machine.
After a series of wayward passes the move lasted just three weeks.
Having said all that, if Dugan can, at some point, develop his ball playing ability, the potential for the Dragon’s number one is limitless, a terrifying thought for rivals.
With a positional switch back to centre or a rapid evolution of his game highly unlikely at this stage of the season, the Red V’s rock-solid defensive unit will have to be stunning in order to stage a run into the back end of September.
Originally published as Is Josh Dugan’s ball playing to blame for the Dragons attacking woes?
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