by Jason Taylor
After last week's dismal showing against North Queensland, the buzz word at the Parramatta Eels has been attitude. "We need an attitude adjustment," was the comment from Eels skipper Nathan Hindmarsh. So what does "attitude" really mean in the world of rugby league? Effort and commitment. Any team who loses by 36 points can definitely do with an improvement in their effort and commitment. However, from a coaching perspective, it is important not to gloss over deficiencies that may have developed in your team's play in the hope that a better attitude will fix all of your problems.
Last Friday we saw St George Illawarra bounce back from a poor performance by thrashing Wests Tigers 36-12 . The Dragons' turnaround after a 30-4 loss to Canterbury was attributed to an improvement in attitude. What is important to note, though, is that the Dragons had performed well in round one with a strong win against Newcastle and after last week's win have won two of their three matches. The upshot of this is that the Dragons have proven they have effective systems in place and provided their attitude is right, they will win their share of games this season.
Parramatta, on the other hand, have lost all three of their games. While their attitude and performances in rounds one and two were better than last week, they still weren't able to win. In fact, when one looks closely at their game last Saturday night, particularly in the first half, what stands out is a lack of defensive co-ordination rather than effort or commitment.
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The Eels versus the Cowboys last Saturday.
Defensive line-speed is a good way to measure a team's attitude. A line that moves up quickly is a positive sign whereas slow line-speed indicates a poor attitude. In last week's game the Eels edge-defenders displayed some good line speed where they moved forward to pressure North Queensland's attackers. In this way, the Eels defenders demonstrated both effort and commitment to the task. However, on numerous occasions the effort these players put in was poorly timed and lacked co-ordination with the remainder of the defensive line. Ultimately, they applied pressure to themselves, instead of the opposition.
Picture one is a good example of this. It shows North Queensland forward Jason Taumalolo running the ball to the outside of Eels five-eighth Ben Roberts, along the line of the arrow. In anticipation of the ball being passed to Cowboys centre Brent Tate, Eels defenders Willie Tonga and Luke Burt have raced forward to tackle Tate. This effort from Tonga and Burt ensured Tate wouldn't receive the ball. However, by racing up ahead of Roberts, before the ball was passed to Tate, Tonga and Burt left Roberts one-on-one with a bigger and stronger player. Without Tonga's help in the tackle, Roberts was unable to stop Taumalolo. The rampaging back-rower steamed down-field before sending Ashley Graham in to score.
Picture two is the lead-up to another North Queensland try and again highlights how Parramatta's efforts to pressure the Cowboys attack were misguided. Three Parramatta defenders, Taniela Lasalo, Ryan Morgan and Chris Sandow, have raced forward almost 10 metres to pressure the Cowboys attack and limit their metres. However, Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston was standing at first receiver when the defenders started coming forward. Thurston had a number of players on his outside ready to receive the ball. Thurston had caught the ball and was already drifting across field, yet the Parramatta defenders continued to come forward. The Eels line was committing defensive suicide by racing up at Thurston.
The Eels versus the Cowboys last Saturday.
In the picture, Sandow has two Cowboys attackers on his outside whom he was unable to tackle after coming forward so quickly. Thurston then passed the ball to Cowboys centre Kane Linnett who raced downfield. Two more passes and a kick ensued before fullback Matt Bowen scored the try. The damage was done when the three Parramatta defenders tried to pressure Thurston, one of the game's premier attacking players, without having his support players sufficiently covered.
The right attitude is always important but I get the feeling the Eels will need more than an attitude adjustment tonight. A co-ordinated, more-aware defensive line would be a great start if they are to be a chance of getting their first win of the season against the Panthers.
