http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/game-has-become-a-choke-anderson/2007/02/16/1171405444503.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
ON THE eve of his return to the NRL coaching ranks, Chris Anderson has raised concerns about the choking defence he believes is behind the switch of star centres Mark Gasnier, Jamie Lyon and Greg Inglis to five-eighth for their respective clubs.
One of the most successful coaches of the modern era, with premiership wins at the Bulldogs and Melbourne, Anderson has been out of the game since being sacked by Cronulla at the end of the 2003 season and will take charge of the Sydney Roosters in tonight's Foundation Cup match against Wests Tigers at Aussie Stadium. The former Australian Test coach kept a close eye on the NRL during his three seasons without a job and did not like everything he saw.
"The fact that you're putting the best centre in the game into five-eighth to get the ball to him and running him a lot from dummy-half is, I think, a bit sad," Anderson said yesterday. "Mark Gasnier is the best running centre in the game, the game should be able to create an opportunity where a bloke like him can get the ball in the centres with a bit of room to move.
"That's what we all love to see, those athletes out wide using their pace and size and strength. But it's just become a territory game. You hardly see any second-phase footy, you hardly see wingers and fullbacks joining up to bring the ball back a lot of that open play has gone out of the game.
"It's become all about the wrestle. You get three or four blokes in the tackle so that the play-the-ball takes five or six seconds, and then every time there's a play-the-ball the defence is set, they're coming at you and you can't build any momentum in a set of six."
As a result, players are forced to practise wrestling drills at training and Anderson feels the eight hours per week the Roosters dedicate to weights sessions is time that could be better spent honing their skills.
"I don't think that makes anyone a better footballer," he said. "You get some strong blokes out of it but if no one did it and you just went for natural strength it would be the same. But that's never going to happen. If one team does weights then every team has to do weights."
Ditto with the "if you can't beat them, join them" style of play the Roosters will adopt this season, although Anderson has decided to switch Braith Anasta from five-eighth to the back row and use youngsters Josh Lewis, Jamie Soward, Mitchell Pearce and Mitch Aubusson in the halves. Pearce and Aubusson will start tonight's match, with Soward on the bench. Lewis withdrew yesterday with a shoulder injury and has been replaced by Craig Wing, while Chris Flannery comes into the side at lock after Adam Schubert succumbed to a knee problem. The Tigers have drafted in Bronson Harrison after losing second-rower Ben Galea to a hamstring injury.
After 3½ months of pre-season training, Anderson is confident the Roosters will be as fit as any team in the premiership but he cautioned: "At this time of the year even Souths think they can win the comp. We think we can win the comp, too. We're all pretty excited but the first game is always a relief, I think, just to get it out of the way."
At Coffs Harbour, where the Titans will meet the Storm in the first hit-out for the new club, John Cartwright and his players are also excited, and the rookie coach anticipates that feeling to build as their March 18 premiership opener against St George Illawarra gets closer. "That's a really good edge that we have. The players are all so keen to play in the first match and do well," Cartwright said.
For Cartwright personally, tonight's match will see 14 months of hard work and planning finally reach fruition. "We had to sign 30 players, so that was a really long, drawn out, and at times painful, process," he said.
ON THE eve of his return to the NRL coaching ranks, Chris Anderson has raised concerns about the choking defence he believes is behind the switch of star centres Mark Gasnier, Jamie Lyon and Greg Inglis to five-eighth for their respective clubs.
One of the most successful coaches of the modern era, with premiership wins at the Bulldogs and Melbourne, Anderson has been out of the game since being sacked by Cronulla at the end of the 2003 season and will take charge of the Sydney Roosters in tonight's Foundation Cup match against Wests Tigers at Aussie Stadium. The former Australian Test coach kept a close eye on the NRL during his three seasons without a job and did not like everything he saw.
"The fact that you're putting the best centre in the game into five-eighth to get the ball to him and running him a lot from dummy-half is, I think, a bit sad," Anderson said yesterday. "Mark Gasnier is the best running centre in the game, the game should be able to create an opportunity where a bloke like him can get the ball in the centres with a bit of room to move.
"That's what we all love to see, those athletes out wide using their pace and size and strength. But it's just become a territory game. You hardly see any second-phase footy, you hardly see wingers and fullbacks joining up to bring the ball back a lot of that open play has gone out of the game.
"It's become all about the wrestle. You get three or four blokes in the tackle so that the play-the-ball takes five or six seconds, and then every time there's a play-the-ball the defence is set, they're coming at you and you can't build any momentum in a set of six."
As a result, players are forced to practise wrestling drills at training and Anderson feels the eight hours per week the Roosters dedicate to weights sessions is time that could be better spent honing their skills.
"I don't think that makes anyone a better footballer," he said. "You get some strong blokes out of it but if no one did it and you just went for natural strength it would be the same. But that's never going to happen. If one team does weights then every team has to do weights."
Ditto with the "if you can't beat them, join them" style of play the Roosters will adopt this season, although Anderson has decided to switch Braith Anasta from five-eighth to the back row and use youngsters Josh Lewis, Jamie Soward, Mitchell Pearce and Mitch Aubusson in the halves. Pearce and Aubusson will start tonight's match, with Soward on the bench. Lewis withdrew yesterday with a shoulder injury and has been replaced by Craig Wing, while Chris Flannery comes into the side at lock after Adam Schubert succumbed to a knee problem. The Tigers have drafted in Bronson Harrison after losing second-rower Ben Galea to a hamstring injury.
After 3½ months of pre-season training, Anderson is confident the Roosters will be as fit as any team in the premiership but he cautioned: "At this time of the year even Souths think they can win the comp. We think we can win the comp, too. We're all pretty excited but the first game is always a relief, I think, just to get it out of the way."
At Coffs Harbour, where the Titans will meet the Storm in the first hit-out for the new club, John Cartwright and his players are also excited, and the rookie coach anticipates that feeling to build as their March 18 premiership opener against St George Illawarra gets closer. "That's a really good edge that we have. The players are all so keen to play in the first match and do well," Cartwright said.
For Cartwright personally, tonight's match will see 14 months of hard work and planning finally reach fruition. "We had to sign 30 players, so that was a really long, drawn out, and at times painful, process," he said.
