Round 13 Vs The Bulldogs

[OldPanther]

There is another way to look at this. Of our five wins, three of them had won the week before. The other two had lost by 1 point (to a top 4 side) and 6 points. They were all in reasonable form at the time we played them.

I'm sold

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Hey hey hey heyyyyyyyyy, This is not the time or place to be positive ok!

Says the guy getting angry last week because others had the temerity to have a positive opinion on Edwards.

 

[TheFrog]

Of the teams we beat, none won the following week.

You could argue that is because we knocked them about. But I won't do that. This stat is meaningless also. The crux of it is that we need to win 7 from 12, preferably more. Our draw is not difficult. I'm expecting Tommy Smith to start a thread on this any day.

 

[PANTHERMIKE]

Says the guy getting angry last week because others had the temerity to have a positive opinion on Edwards.

Angry? Yeah, nah.. But points for trying.

 

[Panther_Daz]

It is not so much wins and losses v good and bad teams.

It is more to do with the fact we struggle to score points against good defensive line ups.

Does Hook have the game plan to break down the best defensive line ups? There were a couple of well worked tries yesterday but there were also some that were purely due to the Dogs softness and the fact they gave up.

Even Brad Fittler said yesterday that we stand too flat to trouble the top teams. That is something I have been saying all year.

 

[OldPanther]

It is not so much wins and losses v good and bad teams.

It is more to do with the fact we struggle to score points against good defensive line ups.

Does Hook have the game plan to break down the best defensive line ups? There were a couple of well worked tries yesterday but there were also some that were purely due to the Dogs softness and the fact they gave up.

Even Brad Fittler said yesterday that we stand too flat to trouble the top teams. That is something I have been saying all year.

It's absolutely true and we won't beat the Storm unless they come up with something. The try to CHN was just pass to the right guy. Nice pass and vision from Moylan but very soft defence.

 

[Panther_Daz]

It's absolutely true and we won't beat the Storm unless they come up with something. The try to CHN was just pass to the right guy. Nice pass and vision from Moylan but very soft defence.

That CHN try was just putrid Mbye defence really. He missed another one a few mins earlier if I remember correctly as well.

 

[Tronald Crump]

Thats what I am talking about. I don't care the Bulldogs were missing players x,y,z. We did what we should have done. Put them to the sword.
If we can play with the same desire for the rest of the season we will win more games than we lose.

 

[franklin2323]

To be fair Fittler doesn't train with them if the halves want a flat attack structure they should get it. It is up to Gus, Brandy and anyone helping with our attack to find a way to score using that. CHN try is what we should be aiming to do get a forward one on one with a smaller guy or put them into a gap.

 

[franklin2323]

Thats what I am talking about. I don't care the Bulldogs were missing players x,y,z. We did what we should have done. Put them to the sword.
If we can play with the same desire for the rest of the season we will win more games than we lose.

exactly. I think the score flattered us still but given the changes to the spine and Mansour just back very promising signs. Lets see how the team progresses over the next month

 

[MrBlack]

That CHN try was just putrid Mbye defence really. He missed another one a few mins earlier if I remember correctly as well.

I think our first try against the dogs in the semi last year was pretty much exactly the same. Mbye is a liability in defence.

 

[betcats]

We scored 3 tries by getting our edge back rowers one on one with defenders, CHN got over and Yeo offloaded to Moylan and Blake.

As for our structure, I look at us and have similar thoughts to Freddy, we need to be deeper, we are never . Johns however really likes us playing flat and off the cuff and getting over the advantage line quickly, he was saying whenever we score you can hear our trainers telling the boys 'fast and flat" over and over so it seems this flat attacking structure is here to stay for as long as hook is. I think the idea is that we play up at the advantage line and make space for ourselves by forcing the opposition backwards. In theory that sounds great and it works when our forwards are rolling but when they aren't shit gets ugly. I still think a good defensive team will shut us down comfortably.

 

[Panther_Daz]

As for our structure, I look at us and have similar thoughts to Freddy, we need to be deeper, we are never . Johns however really likes us playing flat and off the cuff and getting over the advantage line quickly, he was saying whenever we score you can hear our trainers telling the boys 'fast and flat" over and over so it seems this flat attacking structure is here to stay for as long as hook is. I think the idea is that we play up at the advantage line and make space for ourselves by forcing the opposition backwards. In theory that sounds great and it works when our forwards are rolling but when they aren't shit gets ugly. I still think a good defensive team will shut us down comfortably.

Good post.

That is why we need to be able to adapt to who we are playing and be able to mix things up a bit.

We can't play the same way against the Knights as we do against the Storm. Storm and Sharks have the best line speed. They will shut down the play before the ball even gets to the second rowers let alone the centres.

We must stand deeper against certain sides.

 

[betcats]

Good post.

That is why we need to be able to adapt to who we are playing and be able to mix things up a bit.

We can't play the same way against the Knights as we do against the Storm. Storm and Sharks have the best line speed. They will shut down the play before the ball even gets to the second rowers let alone the centres.

We must stand deeper against certain sides.

Yeah we definitely need some variety or just something else to throw at teams when we are being shut down. I think with Edwards at the back now we need to look at bringing him into the attack a little bit as a runner and maybe throw in in some inside plays to keep teams honest around the middle similar to what NSW did last week. I was never a huge fan of the Melbourne/bennetts dragons style of heavily structured attack but it would be nice to have at least one deep backline set play we could use in certain situations also, and Waqa Blake needs to get more early ball.

 

[franklin2323]

Maloney misses plenty of tackles.No reason we can't exploit that either he misses or Graham helps it and leaves 2 out of the line. I still say offloads and inside balls with good hole running is all we need to beat those defences

 

[OldPanther]

A big difference is the fact that we have a proper kicking game now and Moylan in the halves. While I agree the Storm etc. Will be tough with their defence they will get caught out as our halves are now better at the "flat and fast" style. Particularly Moylan. The kicking game and willingness to kick early will keep the defence off balance as well.

I would like to see Edwards get around behind the line some times as an option for inside balls etc.

There was a period in the first half that Moylan dropped off and Latu started getting the ball more as a first receiver which worries me.

Lastly Blake has a problem passing. Watching again now and he ruins at least 2 opportunities because he just holds it and runs. He'll have to learn to pick his moments.

 

[OldPanther]

It said upload file too large.

The people saying our attack is too flat and we have no variation are wrong. This is the 2nd half when Moylan goes to Yeo who offloads to blake try:

Nice deep backline with Edwards the centre and winger and a flat option in Yeo.

Edit: can't get the pic to work sorry.

 

[mxlegend99]

Lastly Blake has a problem passing. Watching again now and he ruins at least 2 opportunities because he just holds it and runs. He'll have to learn to pick his moments.

He might back himself a bit too much. But it could be a case of playing safety first and not wanting to throw a pass he isn't confident in.

He did pass for Rein to score his second. I think hes just selective with his passes. Hes not as good as others at passing

 

[OldPanther]

He might back himself a bit too much. But it could be a case of playing safety first and not wanting to throw a pass he isn't confident in.

He did pass for Rein to score his second. I think hes just selective with his passes. Hes not as good as others at passing

That's a fair point. A little bit of self control could be a good thing.

 

[mxlegend99]

Yeah look back at his debut year... he had no brains and had some really shitty errors. His hands are his worst area for sure.

Hopefully he learns to use them better and creates a few more tries.