Back the defence versus hold the ball.

[sladden road]

I’d be interested to hear the forums opinion on the completion rate versus defence. I keep hearing 2019 Rosters comparisons as the lowest completion rate in the comp yet still winning.

Is this our overall”way we want to play” or identity that we have been searching for.
geez I’d love it to be a higher completion rate.
I think Parra this week completed 18/19 in the first half.
We are far off that.
It simply has to get better over the next few games. Is it a application mindset ? Or is it just the way we play?

 

[SharkShocked]

It's the way we play caution to the wind.

But I think it needs to be brought back in just a touch.

 

[BatteredFlake]

Ive always thought while you have the ball the other side cant score so it is good defence to have good completion rate. Also gives you oportunity to wait till you are ready to take chances to score. Maybe reverse thinking is high completion means you have been too cautious with Attacking opportunities.... In otherwords I dont Know!

 

[sladden road]

Yep. We have been waiting for it to click for a while. I hope this happens in the next month.

 

[bluefox68]

I’m no expert…

But:

No coach wants his players to drop the ball or throw intercepts…

Teams can have great completion rates but be so conservative that they end up losing…

I believe Fitzy has been absolutely brilliant in that he has moulded the team’s attack to the players’ strengths (smaller forwards / instinctive halves) AND moulded the team’s defence to his system…

Creates accountability and ownership.

We just need our execution to align with ‘the plan’…

Bring on the 5-year extension!!!

 

[Frenzy.]

If the team tries to change style now just in the name of having a higher completion rate i think it would be disruptive and detrimental. They have systems they have trusted all year. They trust each other. They trust the coach.

The team only concedes 14 points per game on average. With the talent on show in attack they can score above that and beyond in most games without changing the attack. Higher completion makes the fans feel better and might mean an even higher winning score but at the end of the day its how many points you don't concede that matters.

I have faith in the systems as they are. It's high risk, high reward footy which can make us nervous in the run of play but I always come out of games thinking they, as a team, have done really well.

 

[chewsta]

When we have had better completion rates we looked unbeatable. Against Melbourne at Pointsbet Springs to mind. so we do have it in us. Hopefully Fitz can get us back in that frame of mind for the next 3 or 4 games. If he can, fmd look out!!!

 

[Weaponhead]

The answer is more of an 'and' rather than an 'or'. Low error rate and create scoring chances = points. Poor teams can have high completion rates because they do nothing with the ball. 5 hit ups for a kick won't win semi finals against good defences.

The Sharks won't change style but they do need to tighten concentration and judgement to play closer to their best. For example, Wade drops the ball twice in the first half on Sunday. First one is a stone cold drop on a hit up. Concentration error, creates pressure for the defence as it gifted Newcastle an attacking set. Second drop was the inside pass off Talakai with the line wide open. Bombed try. Both of these drops were not in contact and should have been taken. One created the pressure to defend points, the other cost the opportunity to score points.

There will always be errors in the game. Minimising unforced errors that create more defensive pressure will go a long way to winning games. Good teams defend their errors but are also well drilled enough not to push their luck against good opposition.

 

[Special K]

The only thing I would like to see more of is repeat sets. We score so many tries it feels like(probably wrong) from outside the 20. I'd love to see us strangle a team out of a game

 

[Ozzi_78]

While we are talking about what I’d like to see… both props close to the line running hard and BB picking one of them wide of the ruck… good luck stopping them when defenders have to make a choice.

This is what annoyed me with Hynes intercept from the scrum last week. Patience and it’s points.

 

[Big Bloke]

The only thing I would like to see more of is repeat sets. We score so many tries it feels like(probably wrong) from outside the 20. I'd love to see us strangle a team out of a game

I agree but these days so many teams do the short drop out these days, you are not always guaranteed of getting the ball back when you've trapped them in goal or they've knocked the ball dead.

 

[Frenzy.]

So, to better inform opinion, including mine I did a spreadsheet (just for Quigs)

Shows clearly that when The Sharks are behind in completion rate the defence doesn't actually hold as well as we may be led to think. This doesn't hold true in one game in Round 6 versus the Storm when we had a better CR but still got flogged. Apart from 1 loss in Round 1 teams go close to doubling our score in losses.

So, I still have faith in the system but now find I'd like to see a 3-5 % increase in completions to be really competitive in this semi final series

When we have had better completion rates we looked unbeatable.

The stats support this. Pink ones are when we were ahead for CR. Check out the scores. Reverses the 2:1 ratio mentioned above

 

[chewsta]

I knew it! Nice work mate. Why am I picturing you as Martin Prince off the Simpson's every time a spreadsheet is supplied LOL!

That Warriors game at 88% completion with 11 on the field is where we want to be! Hopefully with 13 on the field this time though.

 

[2012....Sharks Year]

Fitz keeps talking about the style of footy we want to play which is obviously open and free-flowing. Obviously with that comes the increased chance of errors. What shits me the most is the unforced errors that aren't even the result of contact. We really need to get our completion rate up over 75% preferably 80% against these better sides and our defence will keep us in most games. Continue to complete at 60-65% and we'll get hammered.

 

[sladden road]

So, to better inform opinion, including mine I did a spreadsheet (just for Quigs)

Shows clearly that when The Sharks are behind in completion rate the defence doesn't actually hold as well as we may be led to think. This doesn't hold true in one game in Round 6 versus the Storm when we had a better CR but still got flogged. Apart from 1 loss in Round 1 teams go close to doubling our score in losses.

So, I still have faith in the system but now find I'd like to see a 3-5 % increase in completions to be really competitive in this semi final series


The stats support this. Pink ones are when we were ahead for CR. Check out the scores. Reverses the 2:1 ratio mentioned above

View attachment 65930

Yes…a spreadsheet ..f**king yes!!!!!

 

[Quigs]

I'll wait till I see Stake's spreadsheet. His sheets are more detailed and are spot on factually.

 

[sladden road]

Yeah, we need to hold a bit more ball. That would be my basic summation. As the doc said , just a bit more and we are good .

 

[Mr Angry]

I want Blayke as MoM.

 

[Craigshark]

Don’t want to see us change our style, but we definitely need to improve our completions a little. Defending our errors against the knights is a completely different story to doing it against these other top 8 sides.

 

[BatteredFlake]

Don’t want to see us change our style, but we definitely need to improve our completions a little. Defending our errors against the knights is a completely different story to doing it against these other top 8 sides.

Well I can definately see a corelation between a good defense and completion rate and attacking stats. The head coach and staff would have FAR greater knowledge as to the current stats, regarding that. I think you are right in saying ,cant play like we did against KInights . Dont think we Will .