Breathingfire
Juniors
- Messages
- 1,575
I have a few thoughts on the game. Firstly, it wouldn't be fair to credit Cronulla for their defence when one considers just how mediocre our attack was. I also don't think it would be fair to question the commitment of our team or their attitude but there are some damning issues within the current set up. You could see the guys ripping in but we just lack the talent unfortunately. You could see Young, Weyman, Nightingale and Morris really digging in and the desire was there but this is an unbalanced football team.
I think tonight showed that we do not have a team that can win the competition this year. Stanley and Green do not provide enough of a threat on the edges nor the speed to trouble the opposition too much. Now I understand both are relatively young, and yes Green looks to have a handy fend and runs straight but neither look like really causing problems. The speed on the fringes just isn't there. Even when Cooper returns he has no where near the pace he once had. Without speed on the fringes we are pedestrian in attack.
We don't have halves that can regularly create opportunities for the outside men to begin with. We kick the ball on the last just because its the last. Another big issue I have is that we never seem intent on forcing repeat sets. If we don't manage to score we just put up a bomb. Why not roll one into the in goal and get a repeat set?
When we go forward we need to go forward in numbers. Not just to create second phase play but going forward in numbers also forces the entire defensive line to move up rather than just two or three opposition defenders; that is one way of getting the defence back pedaling. The more numbers that have to move up in defence, the more numbers the opposition have to reset in defence. Our forwards are like sitting ducks at the moment because of all the one out running.
A good example would be the David Stagg try against Souths yesterday. Tollman was first off the ruck and took it forward, he passed to Sam Kasiano before the line and as Sam drifted right he threw a beautiful little off the hip pass to Stagg who ran a nice straight line through the hole. This was simple but very effective and the whole Souths defensive line were forced to push up because there were 3 or 4 possible ball receivers.
When we get in a good attacking zone we don't work the defence around. We do everything slower than just about every team in the competition. We had enough ball tonight to win 5 games of football. I am not going to start calling for peoples heads or swap this guy with that guy because lets face it, this is the team we have whether we like it or not. Unfortunately I get the feeling its going to be a long year. I hope not...
I think tonight showed that we do not have a team that can win the competition this year. Stanley and Green do not provide enough of a threat on the edges nor the speed to trouble the opposition too much. Now I understand both are relatively young, and yes Green looks to have a handy fend and runs straight but neither look like really causing problems. The speed on the fringes just isn't there. Even when Cooper returns he has no where near the pace he once had. Without speed on the fringes we are pedestrian in attack.
We don't have halves that can regularly create opportunities for the outside men to begin with. We kick the ball on the last just because its the last. Another big issue I have is that we never seem intent on forcing repeat sets. If we don't manage to score we just put up a bomb. Why not roll one into the in goal and get a repeat set?
When we go forward we need to go forward in numbers. Not just to create second phase play but going forward in numbers also forces the entire defensive line to move up rather than just two or three opposition defenders; that is one way of getting the defence back pedaling. The more numbers that have to move up in defence, the more numbers the opposition have to reset in defence. Our forwards are like sitting ducks at the moment because of all the one out running.
A good example would be the David Stagg try against Souths yesterday. Tollman was first off the ruck and took it forward, he passed to Sam Kasiano before the line and as Sam drifted right he threw a beautiful little off the hip pass to Stagg who ran a nice straight line through the hole. This was simple but very effective and the whole Souths defensive line were forced to push up because there were 3 or 4 possible ball receivers.
When we get in a good attacking zone we don't work the defence around. We do everything slower than just about every team in the competition. We had enough ball tonight to win 5 games of football. I am not going to start calling for peoples heads or swap this guy with that guy because lets face it, this is the team we have whether we like it or not. Unfortunately I get the feeling its going to be a long year. I hope not...
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