Clint Gutherson was supposed to be the Dragons' answer at fullback amid concerns about whether Tyrell Sloan can make it as a No.1 in the NRL. The Dragons bought Gutherson from Parramatta on a three-year deal worth $2.6 million, and he's already been showing the leadership qualities that Shane Flanagan thought Ben Hunt was lacking. It was also thought that Gutherson would provide a better work-rate than Sloan and shore up the Red V's last line of defence, with Sloan known to miss key tackles that the game's top fullbacks shouldn't. And while Gutherson was good with ball in hand on Saturday against the Bulldogs, he produced a number of poor efforts in defence that left Dragons fans worried. He missed a one-on-one tackle on Marcelo Montoya for the Bulldogs' first try, and while he was long-odds to prevent the four-pointer he would have been disappointed with the clean miss. He then missed another tackle on Connor Tracey close to the line that allowed the Dogs fullback to score their third try. Toby Couchman produced a valiant effort to try and hold Tracey up over the line, but he shouldn't have got that far if Gutherson didn't let him. The fact a fullback is being criticised for missed tackles probably means the Dragons' defensive unit was bad as a whole, and many would argue it should never get to the point of a No.1 having to save tries. But Gutherson holds himself to the highest of standards and would be disappointed with the two tackles he missed. The 30-year-old missed four tackles and made five, summing up the Dragons' defensive woes on Saturday in the 28-20 loss. Gutherson was much better on the attacking side of the ball, having a hand in three of the Dragons' four tries and running for 135 metres from 15 carries. But some of his defensive efforts left much to be desired and were the talk of fans on social media.
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