Souths Kicking Game

[GI Cordial]

Guys unless our kicking game improves we have no chance of winning this year. Teams like Manly, Storm, Roosters, Cowboys, Panthers have Halves that keep applying pressure, with repeat sets and trapping players in their own goal its the finishing off the sets that win you games. We just not in the same bracket this year. I hope the boys can prove me wrong.

 

[southsport]

Guys unless our kicking game improves we have no chance of winning this year. Teams like Manly, Storm, Roosters, Cowboys, Panthers have Halves that keep applying pressure, with repeat sets and trapping players in their own goal its the finishing off the sets that win you games. We just not in the same bracket this year. I hope the boys can prove me wrong.

Yes, Souths hand over the ball cheaply at times, I think on the 5th tackle Keary is a better option to kick than Reyno..........against the cowboys Walker ran once on the 5th and got tackled short, on another he kicked it dead. These errors hurt us.

 

[Dogmatix]

Souths' kicking game was poor vs Cowboys and does need to improve

But the main problem was that the forwards got smashed. According to NRL stats Souths made 615m vs 886m for hit ups

Take the Burgess family out of the Souths' forward pack and it has no metres in it

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Souths' kicking game was poor vs Cowboys and does need to improve

But the main problem was that the forwards got smashed. According to NRL stats Souths made 615m vs 886m for hit ups

Take the Burgess family out of the Souths' forward pack and it has no metres in it

I would suggest that if you take 3 or 4 of the best forwards out of any pack in the competition it would have no metres in it...

Tom had been playing out of his skin until last weekend and Sam had a poor game also, by his standards. We missed Te'o a bit more than you would imagine as we

We get George back this week and that should give us some added punch.

 

[souths_pride]

Settle down lads, it was only one game! Over the last string of 4-5 wins, Adam Reynolds has been one of our best players in terms of his kicking game. Luke Keary has been as well! I think the biggest problem against the Cowboys was that they were a desperate team who played the game like it was their grand final. They hit the ground running, forced repeat sets and didn't make any mistakes. We've got to play like that from now on; like we did against Manly at the SCG! I think having an ordinary game and getting beaten was a real wake up call because I felt one of the problems last year was that the team almost found it too easy during the regular season and come finals time almost came out and played as if it was their God given right to play in the Grand Final; it doesn't work that way! Sure you get a pat on the back for a good regular season but finals football is a different kind of football. Thats not to say we were playing badly, it just that we weren't playing as if our lives depended on it. The game against Manly in the finals last year was a good example, we weren't bad and I still can't figure out how we lost that one, but Manly like they always do seem to rise to the occasion when it really matters. I also think its down to a bit of ad-lib footy! Matthew Johns hinted at it before the start of the season; when it comes to the finals you need to have something more than a structured game plan! Luckily I think Luke Keary can provide that unpredictability.

 

[rabbitohs95]

Agree with Pride, kicking game has been phenomenal until the Cowboys game, and in that instance every facet of our game (surprisingly not handling which was at 80 something percent) was down.

The addition of George and maybe Sutto will definitely help our pack. Besides that everyone in the forwards has been doing well, even Ben Lowe has been churning out some big metres and high number of tackles.

Another week, hopefully another win. We need to take advantage of the bandaged Dogs team with a number of players out injured.

 

[southsport]

Souths' kicking game was poor vs Cowboys and does need to improve

But the main problem was that the forwards got smashed. According to NRL stats Souths made 615m vs 886m for hit ups

Take the Burgess family out of the Souths' forward pack and it has no metres in it

Yes, but the cowboys had most of the possession.

 

[Big Sam]

Kicking game was fine for 5 straight matches, now it won't win us a premiership. Give me a break.

 

[Galeforce]

I would not dissect our game against Cowboys too much.

We were outplayed in the first half , they had a lot more ball (63%), better go forward and more kicking options and success. We did a lot more tackling.

Although it was not apparent due to our licking in the first half, we actually had them on the back foot in the second half and they were the ones trying to slow down play.

With George and Tom rotating , i do not think any other team will have a better go forward for balance of the year. Off the back of our forwards , i believe our kicking game will improve a lot, especially after the masterclass given by JT.

 

[souths_pride]

I would not dissect our game against Cowboys too much.

We were outplayed in the first half , they had a lot more ball (63%), better go forward and more kicking options and success. We did a lot more tackling.

Although it was not apparent due to our licking in the first half, we actually had them on the back foot in the second half and they were the ones trying to slow down play.

With George and Tom rotating , i do not think any other team will have a better go forward for balance of the year. Off the back of our forwards , i believe our kicking game will improve a lot, especially after the masterclass given by JT.

I agree with you about the second half, our only problem was that our execution was poor. If we had taken our chances and executed our set moves with a bit more precision then we could well have come away with the points.

I always believe that there are two key elements to winning games of footy - position and possession. You've got to play the game predominately in the oppositions half and you need to hang onto the footy. The best way of doing that is to manage your handling errors and to cut down on penalties. Another way of retaining possession is to force goal line drop outs. With the Cowboys doing two out of those three things, even the best teams in history would struggle to win a half of footy! So the essence of what I saying was, there is very little we could do to turn things around in the first half. In saying that, when you do come up with ball and your facing that sort of onslaught, you HAVE to make your possession count and we didn't do that; its easier said than done though! After defending your own in goal line for like five straight sets of six, the pressure on you to come up with a brilliant set of six in reply is magnified ten fold.

 

[alien]

reynolds and keary normally kick well...

 

[The Chello]

I agree with you about the second half, our only problem was that our execution was poor. If we had taken our chances and executed our set moves with a bit more precision then we could well have come away with the points.

I always believe that there are two key elements to winning games of footy - position and possession. You've got to play the game predominately in the oppositions half and you need to hang onto the footy. The best way of doing that is to manage your handling errors and to cut down on penalties. Another way of retaining possession is to force goal line drop outs. With the Cowboys doing two out of those three things, even the best teams in history would struggle to win a half of footy! So the essence of what I saying was, there is very little we could do to turn things around in the first half. In saying that, when you do come up with ball and your facing that sort of onslaught, you HAVE to make your possession count and we didn't do that; its easier said than done though! After defending your own in goal line for like five straight sets of six, the pressure on you to come up with a brilliant set of six in reply is magnified ten fold.

Spot on - yes we were outplayed last week but, seriously, give more credit to the Cowboys' performance. 63% possession in the first half, no errors until, like 55th min. We didn't have the composure or patience to overcome those sort of stats and it's quite understandable as I think most sides would struggle to win games either.
The kicking game has been good lately but yes it has been a problem for us in recent years. More thought into the last tackle kicks and more thought on preparing for that last tackle kick is what is needed going forward. All the great players are thinking in tackles ahead and aim their play accordingly. Walker had a few brain explosions last week which didn't help the last tackle option so I do believe we will not see things like that happen this week.
Expect a stronger showing this week. Some interesting battles Luke v The niggler, lafai v Auva, Graham v Burgess'

 

[Rabbits20]

Our kicking game was definitely off in the 1st half. In the 2nd it was much better. Good to see more grubbers from Reynolds allowing us to get repeat sets. We need Adam to keep improving at this throughout the whole game leading into finals.

When Adam is kicking well his whole game comes together and we saw that in the last 20mins.

 

[The Chello]

It seems to me that we usually wait for the 5th tackle before kicking. Why not on 4th and even sometimes on 3rd just to put a question mark into the defensive mind set...
the grubber kicks were few and far between last night. The continuous bombing on the last tackle is so predictable, I would like to see a little variety, perhaps running the ball, chip kick (if in the opposition's half) or even a grubber to the corners of the field.

 

[Big Sam]

The bombing is predictable but Adam and Luke can land them on a sixpence. They get such good hangtime that opposition players barely make 5m after catching the ball.

 

[Rabbits20]

The bombing is predictable but Adam and Luke can land them on a sixpence. They get such good hangtime that opposition players barely make 5m after catching the ball.

Yeah your right and we get a good kick chase off them so when the opposition catch the ball we nail them pretty much straight away normally about 15metre out from their own line which is a good place to start a defensive set.

Occasionally the ball swirls away in the air or the bombs can cause an error as well.

Lets hope in the finals Reynolds and Keary can get more depth on their bombs and we can start defending inside their 10 metre line. I'm sure Madge will get them to work on this a lot too.