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If it’s a matter of opinion then you should be able to form your own opinion based on what you see instead of just blindly placing faith in people who might not be competent at their jobs right?
My advice is to not put too much importance in one game and ignore all the others. I mean, from an entertainment perspective this is normal, but if you're then going to put on your analytical hat you need to look at things differently. As someone who desperately wants them to win the comp (like I do), it's understandable to look at last night's game as the expected standard: "That's our team and anything less is a massive failure and some merkin needs to be sacked!" But in reality every performance is part of a range of expected performances and last night's was at the extreme upper level of the range. You could say the stars aligned, and we should expect it rarely. At the bottom end we have games like conceding fifty to Manly, which we also should expect rarely. One problem for all of us is that this range is so great (greater than for everyone in the comp this year including Souths), and particularly within a fortnight of each other. This is a definite problem with a definite cause and probably a number of solutions somewhere. But for us fans, we don't have enough information to point the finger. But I guess it's fun and cathartic to do so.
I think a lot of it is undeniably mental. We don’t seem to cope well under pressure.
Is it reasonable to suggest that the more you experience that pressure the better you get at coping with it?
Not necessarily. I’m sure it helps but there are other factors as well. I think how you prepare for the game plays a huge part as well as the inherent qualities of your personnel.
And we have made a couple of small adjustments to our attack …….
i think you are an underrated merkin
Do you think it’s reasonable to suggest that the more experienced you are the better you get at preparing for big games?
Not as a coach.
I'd say in most games it's pretty close to parity between the packs. And don't forget the difference between kicking games can benefit one pack significantly at the expense of the other. But the main difference between packs (and especially ours vs opponents) is in how many times they carry the ball. While every pack does about the same amount of tackling over 80 minutes, some are responsible for a much greater load of the attack, which adds to their fatigue. This is of course assuming an even share of possession, which is why controlling the ball is a key part of our game plan. With an even share of possession we will fatigue more quickly than a pack that makes fewer carries, which is most of them. Probably only Souths requires less go forward from their backs than we do.
I think you're missing a key way the middle defence can be exploited. Our pack is never overpowered, except under extreme fatigue, but it is susceptible to a mismatch. Like anywhere on the field, a mismatch favours the attacker, and the way to beat our pack is with speed and footwork. This is why Souths always trouble us. It's not Burgess and Tatola who trouble us, but Murray and Cook. They always have a field day against our middle. This causes the defence to compress and then our edges magically open up and deadshits wonder why we are outnumbered out wide.
Why not?
I was more impressed with our adjustment in attitude, commitment and execution. Its what gave us space in attack and the ability to be more creative.
Plenty of rookie coaches have won competitions. Stuart, Hagan, Robinson. There are a lot of long term coaches who haven’t either or had less success with more experience eg Brown, Macguire, Griffin. I’d say how a coach prepares a side is more of an inherent quality.
Has Brad Arthur been coaching in the NRL for 7 seasons but lacked the experience to know when to rest players and how to pace training efforts?
Its actually pretty rare that a rookie coach wins a comp. You also have to look at the respective squads that each rookie nrl coach had. Blokes like Joey Johns, Brad Fittler and Sonny Bill Williams help. I bet Brian Smith would have killed to coach one of those guys.
