WHILE the Dragon’s Gareth Widdop is deservedly receiving plenty of raps, don’t underestimate the input of last year’s high profile signing Gerard Beale.

The former Bronco played just five games in 2013 before picking up a serious knee injury which put paid to his season.

Those handful of matches were played at fullback and there was plenty of fanfare that he was the man to fill the void left by Darius Boyd.

Enter Josh Dugan into the mix and Beale is pushed into the centres with immediate success.

So much so that the left side of the Dragons is starting to resemble the very successful combination of Hornby, Cooper, Boyd and Morris.

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Kurt Gidley, Laurie Daley and Kevin Walters join Sterlo in the studio at 7.30pm Thursday night on Fox Sports 1HD to preview this weekend’s action.

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When Dugan returns it will provide an enviable quandary in regards to Adam Quinlan.

His form has also been outstanding and I would seriously consider playing him alongside Widdop in the halves.

News_Rich_Media: Roosters coach Trent Robinson has praised his side's resilience after their miracle comeback against the Broncos.’

CHOOKS TO PAY PRICE



When Roosters coach Trent Robinson sat down off-season to prepare his side’s campaign to defend their premiership crown he would have identified areas in their game in which they needed to improve.

When you score more points and concede less than everybody else you would imagine there wouldn’t be too many that have caused you concern.

However, as I’ve written before, what was good enough one year is never good enough the next and one of the reasons we haven’t seen a club go back to back for so long is that they have generally failed to improve.

Last season the tricolours actually bucked the trend in what is usually seen as key areas to success.

They forced less line dropouts and scored less tries from kicks than any other team and were also the most penalised.

This season they remain the only side not to have scored off the boot after three rounds but it is the penalty department which could be their biggest downfall.

In the two matches they have struggled in this year against Souths (12-6) and Brisbane (10-3) they were on the end of heavy counts.

Eventually giving away so many penalties must catch up with you and the better opposition teams will make you pay.

News_Rich_Media: All the highs, lows and big blows from yet another round of unpredictable results in the NRL.

NOT THAT BAD, SATTS

It was disheartening to read that one of the game’s toughest men in John Sattler had become disillusioned with the modern game.

While I can understand his concerns I am certain that despite the eradication of shoulder charges and push-a-thons replacing brawls, rugby league remains as aggressive, confrontational and gladiatorial as ever.

Yes, there are too many penalties at the moment but that will find it’s natural balance.

The biggest drawback is the amount of players staying on the ground to give time for a replay to be viewed and the drawing of a possible penalty.

It is a real turn-off to hear players tell teammates to “stay down” as we did at Brookvale Oval last Sunday.

The current process allows this to happen and realistically if I was a coach it would be hard to resist the temptation to tell my players to seek such a penalty if they felt they’d been fouled.

I am starting to warm to the Paul Gallen view that if two sets of eyes on the field as well as two sets patrolling the sideline don’t pick anything up, we should play on.

We know that the match review committee will deal with those who slip through the net.

News_Rich_Media: There are doubts over the future of Newcastle Knights youngster Alex McKinnon as he recovers in intensive care following surgery on two fractured vertebrae.

GET WELL MCKINNON

Finally, thoughts and prayers are with Alex McKinnon who, when signing with the Knights, I wrote would prove to be as valuable an acquisition as Darius Boyd, Beau Scott or Jeremy Smith.

While it appears his on-field aspirations may not be fully achieved, it is much more important now that his recovery is as successful as possible for his life after football.

I also hope that Melbourne’s young Jordan McLean is not crucified after being deemed the main culprit in the lifting tackle.

We have seen other similar tackles where the impact and outcome has not been so dire and I continue to believe that the infringement itself should be what is dealt with.

This is an emotional time for the game and cool heads need to deal with the aftermath. Everyone is devastated at the moment and you can be sure that Jordan McLean is doing it tough.