Rnd 4 Team vs Wtigers

[Poupou Escobar]

Egan debut last night. But Mahoney is to young.

Mahoney is a bit smaller than Egan. That plus his age (he is still eligible for Flegg) make him a risk. Plus he probably isn't in the top 30.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

What's your point?

We aren't losing possession every week. Just the past two. Two isn't a very reliable pattern on which to base a theory.

 

[Gazzamatta]

We aren't losing possession every week. Just the past two. Two isn't a very reliable pattern on which to base a theory.

Genuine question Poo. How often did we have more than 50% possession last season?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Genuine question Poo. How often did we have more than 50% possession last season?

It's a good question mate. You'd have to have a look. One thing I do know is that we won 16 from 26, including finals. If we regularly lost possession we still won more games than most teams. And if we didn't regularly lose possession it was with the same forward pack we have now.

 

[Gazzamatta]

It's a good question mate. You'd have to have a look. One thing I do know is that we won 16 from 26, including finals. If we regularly lost possession we still won more games than most teams. And if we didn't regularly lose possession it was with the same forward pack we have now.

Thought you may have the data at hand. It seems to me BA has been spruking the posession statement more than often. Sure we won but my point is we seem to work harder for our wins than the "top teams". I reckon lack of posession may well be a symptom more so than just bad luck. Fatigue is the end result and lets face it. We regularly look totally fatigued.

 

[Chipmunk]

The Storm hardly ever won the possession in their matches last season. I recall looking at it just after the Origin series, they had more than 50% possession in a game only twice.

 

[Bazal]

The Storm hardly ever won the possession in their matches last season. I recall looking at it just after the Origin series, they had more than 50% possession in a game only twice.

Strategic penalties had a lot to do with that I would suggest

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Thought you may have the data at hand. It seems to me BA has been spruking the posession statement more than often. Sure we won but my point is we seem to work harder for our wins than the "top teams". I reckon lack of posession may well be a symptom more so than just bad luck. Fatigue is the end result and lets face it. We regularly look totally fatigued.

I think we are a team that uses the ball more than others, which increases the chances of errors. And early in the season teams don't have their shit together in attack, meaning even more chance of errors.

But I agree we work harder - that is the key to our attack and defence. We always have plenty of movement off the ball and we get numbers into the tackle. We have recruited and retained forwards that mostly fit this style, so fatigue shouldn't be an issue. But maybe the heat becomes more of a factor with our style? We certainly crumbled when Penrith dominated possession in the middle of that game, plus the entire 80 minutes against Manly.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The Storm hardly ever won the possession in their matches last season. I recall looking at it just after the Origin series, they had more than 50% possession in a game only twice.

How often did they have 49% though? There's a big difference between that and 45% That 4% difference becomes an 8% discrepancy when compared to your opponent.

 

[forward pass]

The results of Panthers and Sharks this weekend makes you realise we were beaten by two damn good sides. The Sea Eagles game was an aberration.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And beaten by both of them on
goals.

 

[Bandwagon]

The possession / wins last year were

11 games won where we held 50% or greater

5 games won with less than 50% which were as follows.

Tigers 49%
Bunnies 49%
Dogs 47%
Titans 43%
Rabbits 48%

......And probably the most relevant to the conversation is, 0 games lost where we held 50% or greater

So we were 11/11 when we had 50% or greater and 5/13 when we had 49% or less.

( obviously I didn't do finals )

 

[hineyrulz]

32 degrees predicted on Monday. Ouch.

Game over.

 

[emjaycee]

The possession / wins last year were

11 games won where we held 50% or greater

5 games won with less than 50% which were as follows.

Tigers 49%
Bunnies 49%
Dogs 47%
Titans 43%
Rabbits 48%

......And probably the most relevant to the conversation is, 0 games lost where we held 50% or greater

So we were 11/11 when we had 50% or greater and 5/13 when we had 49% or less.

( obviously I didn't do finals )

What % did we have in the 8 games we lost?
Just asking for completeness of the data.

 

[Bandwagon]

What % did we have in the 8 games we lost?
Just asking for completeness of the data.

Titans 48%
Sharks 47%
Raiders 45%
Warriors 45%
Roosters 42%
Raiders 49%
Cowboys 45%
Knights 41%

 

[Bandwagon]

So if you take Pou's arbitrary number above of 45%, of the six games where we held possession of 45% or less, we were 1 win and 5 losses, and of the 18 games where we held 46% or greater we were 15 wins and 3 losses.

 

[Gazzamatta]

Great stats. Ta.
I guess it proved posession pretty much evens out over the season so its not necessarily the prime reason for a loss. You can have even posession yet not threaten or tire the opposition by restricting offloads, not playing an expansive game or not bending the line. The more questions you ask of the defence the greater decision making is required which relates to fatigue.
One out with minimal support should never improve your posession particularly how slow our team plays the ball.
Fatter forwards anyone?

 

[Glenneel]

I feel BA has gone for a smallish pack and Kennies words for once make sense. The workers need to offload.
I dont see us competing with bigger packs but wesring them down with one up running. We need to wear them down with more running around. Offloads tire teams put and create space. BA hasnt the team to play safe footy. We ant to win we need a style where games become a shoot out. Not a grind. The big powerfull guys will wear us put that way. We need to stop playing to their style and go to war on our terms. Just like when we beat Brconos 50 -32 or whatever it was.

Semi was the catalyst for our big win there. Ripped the heart and soul out of them with a dominant first 40 after scoring 3 absolutely scintillating tries.
Been saying for years that a small pack has to pass the ball to tire the big packs out but our middle forwards in particular are almost devoid of doing so. Instead they use themselves as battering rams and eventually they get worn down by the bigger packs.

 

[Glenneel]

I am certain that running one out is not in the game plan.

I read a lot of pre season reports mentioning skill sessions and ball playing. Not seen much evidence of that.
Players response to poor posession appears to be dont use the ball for fear of losing it. When you arent bending the line It aint gunna work I'm afraid[/QUOTE]
Trouble is that once Parra get dominated we automatically revert to one out running. Been doing it for years. That is a result imo of historically having few skilful forwards in the pack. BA has tried to address this by bringing in skilful players, Brown, Vave, Williams, even Matagi with a late offload just before the line. But most have been inconsistent or not picked.
I worry about Brown who plays well above his weight but seems to get smashed every week. Eventually he'll get ground down so needs support which he is not presently getting.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The possession / wins last year were

11 games won where we held 50% or greater

5 games won with less than 50% which were as follows.

Tigers 49%
Bunnies 49%
Dogs 47%
Titans 43%
Rabbits 48%

......And probably the most relevant to the conversation is, 0 games lost where we held 50% or greater

So we were 11/11 when we had 50% or greater and 5/13 when we had 49% or less.

( obviously I didn't do finals )

And this year we've already f**ked it. 53% possession against the Panthers and lost. #SAD