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State of Origin

rlcm

Juniors
Messages
1
RLCM COMMENT - State of Origin 1 - Analysis of Play the Balls.
By Gary Roberts

From an abridged version of the Laws of the Game in the NRL Media Guide, the glossary refers to the Play the Ball as: The act of bringing the ball into play after a tackle.

Then for Tackle the glossary says: Refer to the Play the Ball definition.

Thus it can be safely said that a completed Tackle ends play and the immediate Play the Ball is the beginning of the next play.

Therefore, the more quickly one team can end being Tackled and quickly begin their next Play the Ball, should be an advantage.

This is simple information that all coaches and players are aware of.

However, take it further and look at the tacklers. By putting into practice the opposite of the above and slowing down the opposition in the Tackle and then having an effective marking system, they should have an advantage over the period of the game.

A simple game plan around the ruck area could be:

1. In attack, the ball runner should attempt to finish being Tackled quickly.

2. In attack, the ball runner should be aware of the rewards of a quick Play the Ball.

3. In defence, do not let the opposition get to the ground quickly, thus eliminating a quick Play The Ball.

4. In defence, the markers are to be aware of the effects that a quick Play the Ball can have.

Again, this is simple information that coaches are aware of but if a team has positive stats in achieving points 1, 2, 3, and 4 efficiently then the major part of the overall game plan can evolve.

And that is the containment of the opposition and making them spend 50% of their game time in their half, thus eliminating a positive kicking game.

So if a team can maintain an intensity for 80 minutes based around the above points it would have a fair chance of winning.

The Sydney Roosters where NSW coach Gould is the coaching director have used this method twice in the last 12 months when defeating the Brisbane Broncos coached by Queensland coach Wayne Bennett

An analysis of the first State of Origin shows that the NSW Play the Balls were 25% faster than Queensland over the 80 minutes.

Queensland were contained in their own half for 50% of the game and the majority of their Play the Ball speeds were in the 3 to 5 second bracket.

NSW were able to maintain a continuous rate of intensity for 80 minutes which was the result of the majority of 2 and 3 second Play the Balls going the way of the Blues.

New South Wales 25 defeated Queensland 12

The interest now moves to Sydney for the second State of Origin on Wednesday night.

NSW, buoyed with a win and the knowledge that they contained Queensland effectively in the first game, must be confident. Added to this is Andrew Johns saying that he thinks NSW can play even better means that Queensland must move to a higher level for this game. .

"There are still areas to improve. As a team we missed opportunities and I think I missed opportunities when I could have done some more with the ball," Johns said ominously.

Maroon's Coach Wayne Bennett would be concerned as this is a must win game. Hopefully, for Queensland's sake the selectors have given him the players to institute a game plan involving a method of play that will allow Queensland to spend more than 50% of game time in NSW territory.
 

Anonymous

Juniors
Messages
46
Thanks for that rlcm.

It's up to but I think you mind be able to make some positive contribution to our History and Research thread at the top of the forum.
 
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