I have some bad news for you.
I don't remember his Eels team that well either, but going off the historical numbers.. they were the worst offloaders in the comp in '11, and 3rd worst in '12. Last in tackle breaks for both years, too. Effective tackle rate was good in 1st year (but they still conceded plenty of points), dropped hugely in the 2nd (and they started conceding ridiculous amounts). Attack was a huge problem in both years, and the collapse from 1st to 2nd year was the defensive stuff dropping down too.
Given the shape of his numbers, it seems as though he was trying to play an ultra conservative game without the go-forward to do it properly in his first year. Low errors, low penalties, high possessions but terrible metres/run, and nothing creative.
2nd year they started conceding more penalties, though the error rate remained low. Their metres/run shot up, but their possessions had dropped dramatically (due to more penalties and tries conceded) - they were a little more efficient in creating, but didn't even get close to offsetting the problems created in the 2nd year. In short; 1st to 2nd year their attack (and go forward) got a little better while they collapsed on D.
I do find it funny (and also a little sad, given his appointment here) that he personally identified Chris Sandow as the guy to run his apparently very structured low-error attack. Luckily the spine is already here at least.. just need to fix the pack. And the defensive issues. Mind you, just fix the first one and the second will naturally fade, at least to a degree. What could the last season have been if we had signed Taumalolo?
