I think @
Eelementary is spot on. This has been bugging me more or less since Brian Smith left. Our defense is so meek at times that the opposition is encouraged to inherit the game. Sorry bad joke.
Anyway, our middles are constantly not putting enough pressure on the ball carrier which then allows the opposition to play unmolested and fast(we don't cut down their time) to the outside. Once a team gets that right against us and we don't get the hint, we are in trouble. Our outside men are then put under all sorts of pressure and they start to try to solve it on their own with varying degrees of success depending on the quality and speed of the opposing team. Faster outside backs will obviously help, but not entirely against great thinking and executing play makers, who will always play patient and create the desired scenario, by fatiguing our middles enough for the laziness to set in.
This also shows in our ruck and play the balls. I'm sure if we checked the stats we would have one of the slowest play the balls out of the better teams, if not the slowest. Our passive defense and wrestle allows them to play the ball quicker then we can set ourselves in defense so often. On the other side of the ball, we don't even fight in the tackle to get up quicker or sway the ref to give us a 6 again.
BA always wants us to chase the collision, but I don't think the players get that it should also apply in defense. It almost seems to me that they try to take it a little easier in defense to put more effort in attack. Well that doesn't work against the top sides. They are obviously coached to just wait in defense so no one comes shooting out of the line, but they are losing the collision by doing that. The Roosters, Storm and Panthers don't wait, they come at you and in a line. Then when they have the ball, they are always in motion and don't have to many one out plays like us, especially the Panthers.
I feel that we have a really good team(albeit a little slow) but tend to play very stiff and constrained for much of the game. I don't get it, individually they are very talented players, but collectively, they just don't seem to gel against good teams. In attack, when in good ball, we seem like strangers.
Now what or who is to blame for all this, well I won't speculate, because it would be a guess since I am not on the inside, but whatever or whoever is the reason for these deficiencies it needs to be fixed or we will never be good enough to win a premiership and just making up the numbers at the pointy side of the season.