Attacking suggestion

[Slippery Morris]

As a suggestion the Saints seem to attack much better when they are outside the 20 mtrs so what they should do is play the ball back and get tackled 20-40 mtr away from the line to bring the oppostion off their goal line on the 3rd or 4th tackles if they are not having much joy attacking them in the 20 mtr zone in the previous sets. Give the attack that extra space between the goal line and defensive line. Then let Soward weave his magic as it appears he works better with his kicking game further out from the line the closer in. Might sound stupid but their success rate from that distance is miles ahead of their success rate from inside the 20.

Just a thought.

 

[Mr Red]

the reason we cant attack inside the 20m zone is because we dont have a half back capable of steering the team around the field properly and choosing the right plays to run at the right time..
we seem to have only 1 attacking play - with 3 variations inside the 20:
1 - go to the left side and pick up Creagh with a short ball
2 - go to the left side and let Creagh go as a decoy, then pickup boyd who chimes in as the extra man
3 - go to the left side and let creagh go as a decoy, then throw a cut out pass to morris who is in the open because the winger has gone in to take Boyd who comes into the line as an extra man.

Parra read this play very well on the weekend and therefore we had nothing left up our sleeve...

 

[Saint Angelo]

I agree and moving forward, I believe Soward and Hornby really need to utilise the grubber kick in towards the goal line a lot more so they can put the defenders in two minds and stop them from rushing up and in on Creagh, Cooper and Co.

I thought that we failed to do this yesterday and the Parra backs were in our face all day.

Instead we kept putting up misdirected bombs and in most instances had no chasers contesting the ball.

 

[watatank]

I wouldn't mind seeing Soward/Hornby putting the kick through, particularly if teams are going to jam up on us like that. Then when teams start to retreat then hit Morris out wide.

EDIT: too slow :lol:

 

[Godz Illa]

Hornby is stepping inside and running a lot more, especially early in the game, in an attempt to draw some heat away from the outside men. He needs to run with support inside though to actually give himself some space

 

[Whos Ya Daddy]

2nd phase play. Our structured attack is predictable but we have plenty of players who can get an offload away. How about Bennett lets them.

The thing is Brisbane are average defensively so we might not need to throw a lot at them other than isolating the turnstiles to get the job done. The problem is Melbourne. They are a brick wall in defense and we need to produce something more to trouble them.

 

[Whos Ya Daddy]

the reason we cant attack inside the 20m zone is because we dont have a half back capable of steering the team around the field properly and choosing the right plays to run at the right time..

We also have 2 centers and a fullback who are allergic to the try line.

 

[TheRev]

the Broncs/Storm have a lot of really tall strong backs, it makes catching a bomb very difficult (in defence and offence), although against paramatta we rarely had any pressure on their catchers which is why they handled it so easily.

 

[TheRev]

We also have 2 centers and a fullback who are allergic to the try line.

Precisely.. this is what I indicated before when comparing our backlines to other clubs, our guys are great tacklers, but if the opposition gets a bit lucky and scores a few tries, then we have very little to come back at them with. Specifically:

Boyd - I was so excited to see him running again in R26, and again on his first carry on Sunday... but.. he got hit high on that run, and then he went back to the crab/fend running thing he does, especially close to the try-line, he isnt going to break the line like that, and if he does, he has no speed to break free.

Boyd should have 10-15 tries to his name this season, most fullbacks chime in with hard angled runs close to the ruck, how many times do you see Patten or Slater or Hunt or Hayne or any of the fullbacks, popping up out of nowhere, and before you know it, they burst through a hole and in for a try, why are we not seeing that in our team? Hes always out on the left running our standard play.

Cooper - Sunday was the first aggressive run ive seen from him in months, where he looked like he was genuinely trying to break the line, then later he had that dissallowed try, so that was a good improvement, but basically he is there to tackle and draw the opposition winger in to get a ball to Morris.

Scott - Our other great defensive centre, though thats 2 defensive centres.. is there any chance we can use Cooper to protect Soward instead?

Sailor - I prefer him as a 2nd rower honestly, and a backup winger/centre if we lose someone, he is just not dangerous unless he is battering it up, oh and I dont blame him for letting that bomb bounce, it was probably a better % play than attempting the catch, he just got very very unlucky with the boucne & batter back.

Hornby - I still think he is a fullback or.. maybe even a hooker?, but he tries his guts out, but I think next year it will be time to give someone else a crack at 7.

Look we are what we are, and we were millimetres from winning that game.. there are pros and cons to every teams approach, but I just wish we had a backline that could defend AND attack. Right now, we only have Soward/Morris/Creagh that the opposition needs to watch, most teams have 7-8 options.

 

[bmwpower]

boyd has got to be the worst support playing fool back around. he needs to follow the ball more. no wonder he has only scored once this year.

 

[JamieSoward#6-]

earlier in the season boyd made alot of good line breaks and usually ran for about 50-70 metres before being pulled down. His not doing that anymore

 

[TheRev]

In Boyd's defense, maybe he has been asked to play a specific way by Bennett (and if its for a greater strategy.. all well and good), but it sure seems like he could be involved a lot smarter than he is currently.

I was asking before about whether Boyd was a natural fullback, or whether he would be better on the wing? Theres probably noone I would trust more under a high ball mind you, Hornby or him would be my only picks at the back.

 

[Slippery Morris]

I will probably get smashed for this but I still think Head is our best half. He has a great football brain and can sniff out a try closer to the line with a freakish pass, grubber or bomb. He really mixes it up and can be unpredictable which is what we lack now. Having Young as a backrower and Fien as the Hooker with Head on the bench to replace Fien when he gets tired would be ideal but too late in the season to make changes like that.

 

[SN0WMAN]

We tried quite a fair bit of trying to draw defenders in the middle of the ruck to offload to an inside player, Parra had this pretty well wrapped up last Sunday - that play works best when our forwards are on top of the opposition.

 

[j0nesy]

Two things:

1. Patience; and
2. Don't overuse the kick, more particularly cross-field bomb.

 

[Whos Ya Daddy]

Rev

I think it is too late for Cooper to switch sides but I will be very disappointed if Scott is still playing the the centers next year.

I would like to see Boyd moved to center next year and Flo at fullback.

In an ideal world we would sign Tim Smith but I can't see it happening.

 

[TheRev]

We tried quite a fair bit of trying to draw defenders in the middle of the ruck to offload to an inside player, Parra had this pretty well wrapped up last Sunday - that play works best when our forwards are on top of the opposition.

Yeah thats exactly it, if we are moving forward quickly, then we tear teams apart (as would any club frankly), but you dont always get that, especially in finals, and obviously when your 10m out and the opposition isnt moving backwards.

Also, I wish we would stop wasting 1-2 tackles moving sideways or just doing dumb things, were wasting opportunities to attack, and its 5th before we know it.

 

[TheRev]

Rev

I think it is too late for Cooper to switch sides but I will be very disappointed if Scott is still playing the the centers next year.

Could Soward hang out on the left instead of right? I don't want to move Cooper, all his experience is on that side of the field.