from:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/2607464/Stacey-needs-a-minder
Stacey needs a minder
By STEVE KILGALLON - Sunday Star Times
After nine months flogging real estate and growing a tidy paunch, when turncoat Kiwi Tonie Carroll asked Brisbane if they would let him make a comeback, he was thrust straight back into the Broncos team.
There was one big reason why. Broncos captain Darren Lockyer misses more than one in every four tackles he attempts. But when Carroll defends alongside him on Brisbane's left side, Lockyer has less work to do and does it better. "I love playing outside him," Lockyer said recently. "Teams have always worried about where they run if Tunza's out there."
The Sunday Star-Times understands the Warriors have had internal debate about finding a similar "minder" to lighten the load on their key playmaker, Stacey Jones, fearing his defensive workload is blunting his attacking prowess.
Exclusive statistics prepared for the Star-Times by NRL Stats show that despite critics claiming Jones is a poor tackler, he's actually one of the best defensive halfbacks in the competition.
However, he also makes nearly twice as many tackles as some other leading halves, such as Benji Marshall, which may leave him too tired to dominate on attack.
"We talk about his [Jones'] defence a bit, and it is obvious he gets targeted, but every halfback does," says Warriors coach Ivan Cleary. "The problem is that Simon Mannering, who is probably our best minder, has had to spend time in the centres. He used to do it for [former Warriors half] Grant Rovelli and he will do that this weekend [against the Roosters]."
Jones has grown tired of his defensive abilities being examined. "We [halfbacks] are perceived as the weaker defenders," he says. "And I've copped a lot of sh*t for being a poor defensive player. I probably don't cop as much flak in Australia, where their media and fans probably focus on their teams' weaker defenders."
A standard tactic employed by every rugby league team is to "spot" the opposing halfback in the defensive line, and run their biggest players at them as often as possible. There are two obvious reasons: first, being typically light and small a halfback is most likely to miss a tackle on a big man, and second, to tire him out.
"You know it's coming," says Jones. "We do the same to the other team. We know who's running at you and what he's going to do."
Most teams respond by hiding their halves wide in the defensive line between the centre and the wing. The best example is the Tigers, who hide Marshall so well that he makes fewer than 10 tackles a game. He stands very wide and shifts around. But if the tactic doesn't work, it can mean a big opposing centre or backrower running directly at the hidden defender and forcing them into a one-on-one tackle.
That situation is where many halves fail, such as Souths' speedbump Chris Sandow, who makes effective tackles less than 70% of the time.
The halves who outshine Jones are often more sturdily built and their clubs may be hiding another playmaker, which is the case with the Roosters where Mitchell Pearce's stats are impressive and Braith Anasta is the player who is hidden.
The Warriors, in contrast, have two little men to hide, so Cleary also has to find a place for Lance Hohaia. His original plan was for a "big" standoff, Joel Moon, and he says: "I would still like to have that." Cleary says Jones is defensively sound when attacking players run straight at him. If he is left isolated and they aim for space, he can be brushed off. That's why Jones, who used to defend next to the winger, is now one slot further in, which means more work but hopefully fewer individual tackles. When he comes off the line, he has a key decision to make to read the attack and then turn his shoulders inside or outside.
"Physically, it is a difficult position to defend, but tactically, you've also got to decide whether to go in, or to go out," says Jones. "It's where all the big plays happen ... and there's only right and wrong, there's nothing in between."
The trade-off for that pressure is that Jones can be paired with a defensive second-rower who can make the initial powerful contact around the chest which makes it easier for Jones to finish the job. It also helps that Jones' speed off the line is good, which drags his centre and second row up with him to make the line harder to break.
Mannering (who averages nearly 24 tackles a game, at 87.2% efficacy) and Jacob Lillyman (24 at 82.9%) are the men who need to ensure Jones has enough energy to perform on attack, where the Warriors' recent record is remarkably dismal.
"He might do 25 tackles, but how many of those are one-on-one?" Cleary says. "It would concern me [if he did lots of one-on-ones]."
