age.s
First Grade
- Messages
- 7,988
We've been fine with the ball in hand, good even. There's always talk of getting beaten in the forwards when you lose a game of footy, but we've been well on top physically for the majority of the season when we've been in the grind. Were scoring enough points when we get opportunities. I dont know how many times weve lost after scoring 18+ this past few years, but it couldnt have been often. Nath has been ridiculous (with the ball), probably the brightest spot in this dismal month. There's plenty of hunger there too, see Casey's chase down last night. You can see many of the components that have made us great still present, so i still don't think all hope is lost.
Our problem is defensive organisation. Lots of very simple defensive mistakes, guys sliding or jamming when they should be doing the opposite, edges getting caught on numbers, guys pushing up too quickly and not reacting to kicks in behind, guys switching off at marker, the list goes on. Many, if not most, of our tries conceded this year have looked like training drills and we'd have to be way down there in terms of tries conceded to tackles in our defensive 20. It looks like players aren't communicating and are out of sync with the guy next to them. These, more than anything are characteristics of bottom 4 sides and hasnt been part of our dna this decade. As much as some want to heap it on Tago (and he was very shit last night), the reality is it's happening on both sides of the field in all positions. Nath, Martin, Cole, Casey are all a part of the problem. This is a team wide issue.
Missing Edwards hasn't helped, nor has having new combinations every week, but we've had these challenges in the past and never crumbled like this. It's hard to go past the loss of Luai, who was renowned for his chatter, aside from being an elite defender in his own right. It's looking very much like he was much more of a leader on the field than we'd given him credit for, especially as the Tigers look considerably more resilient defensively this year as well.
Its hard to know whether it's possible to fix something like that. I want to say Ivan's got a big job ahead of him, but he might not have the tools to instil that kind of leadership on the field. I want to believe like @martielang and a way back certainly feels possible, but it's hard not to think we are reverting back to our historic mean of mediocrity after our once in a couple decade flash in the pan.
Our problem is defensive organisation. Lots of very simple defensive mistakes, guys sliding or jamming when they should be doing the opposite, edges getting caught on numbers, guys pushing up too quickly and not reacting to kicks in behind, guys switching off at marker, the list goes on. Many, if not most, of our tries conceded this year have looked like training drills and we'd have to be way down there in terms of tries conceded to tackles in our defensive 20. It looks like players aren't communicating and are out of sync with the guy next to them. These, more than anything are characteristics of bottom 4 sides and hasnt been part of our dna this decade. As much as some want to heap it on Tago (and he was very shit last night), the reality is it's happening on both sides of the field in all positions. Nath, Martin, Cole, Casey are all a part of the problem. This is a team wide issue.
Missing Edwards hasn't helped, nor has having new combinations every week, but we've had these challenges in the past and never crumbled like this. It's hard to go past the loss of Luai, who was renowned for his chatter, aside from being an elite defender in his own right. It's looking very much like he was much more of a leader on the field than we'd given him credit for, especially as the Tigers look considerably more resilient defensively this year as well.
Its hard to know whether it's possible to fix something like that. I want to say Ivan's got a big job ahead of him, but he might not have the tools to instil that kind of leadership on the field. I want to believe like @martielang and a way back certainly feels possible, but it's hard not to think we are reverting back to our historic mean of mediocrity after our once in a couple decade flash in the pan.
