Will we see great attacking teams dominate the comp again?

[Springs09]

Since Melbourne started the wrestle in the mid-2000s the comp has been dominated by teams who win by dominating the ruck or rock solid defence. Apart from a few teams (Tigers 05, Eels 09) the top teams have been primarily defence-oriented, with recent years seeing teams deliberately cheating the rules to dominate the ruck and 10m.

Good defence is good to watch, but the lack of attacking flair becomes boring, especially when 90% of teams try to copy the Storm and most attacking play is ultra-structured training drills consisting of block plays and not much else. Damien Cook has been a breath of fresh air and the penalty crackdown saw some entertaining attacking play by the Dragons, Warriors and Tigers rewarded with wins but with the media whinge and Greenburg backing down we've seen the same old play from the Storm and Roosters dominating again.

Are teams like the 05 Tigers and 09 Eels a thing of the past or will the trends change and the great attacking teams return?

 

[The_Shield]

Since Melbourne started the wrestle in the mid-2000s

Your first sentence is wrong. The Storm did not start the wrestle. Broncos started it back in the 90’s.

 

[Someguy]

Raiders have scored the most points this season (coming into rnd23) and will not make the 8. The answer is no

 

[some11]

The Storm did not start the wrestle.

"ThE sToRm DiD nOt StaRt ThE wResTLe"

 

[TheVelourFog]

Cowboys in 2015 a primarily defense-oriented team? You are having a laugh mate. Come back when you've had a proper think about what you've done.

 

[Springs09]

Cowboys in 2015 a primarily defense-oriented team? You are having a laugh mate. Come back when you've had a proper think about what you've done.

Maybe have a read of the post again and not deal in absolutes.

Cowboys didn't have great defence but they weren't anything special in attack either. For the majority of the last 15 years the top teams (Storm - Manly - Dragons - Roosters - Souths - Broncos - Sharks) have dominated on the back of dominating the ruck and solid defence.

 

[TheVelourFog]

Maybe have a read of the post again and not deal in absolutes.

Cowboys didn't have great defence but they weren't anything special in attack either. For the majority of the last 15 years the top teams (Storm - Manly - Dragons - Roosters - Souths - Broncos - Sharks) have dominated on the back of dominating the ruck and solid defence.

what? you posed the question mate, not me

with finals games they put 30+ points on 11 times, including a 50 against the Warriors

pretty shit attack, that

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Melbourne were fantastic to watch in attack last year.

The sharks and cowboys before them were also good to watch.

My question is: if this is the on season, how shit are the threads in the off season going to be?

 

[T-Boon]

Are teams like the 05 Tigers and 09 Eels a thing of the past or will the trends change and the great attacking teams return?

Not under the current rules such as the 10 metres. It is going to get more structured and boring.
And referees are going to be increasingly important as line breaks dry up even more. Penalties are how teams will get in the red zone and referees are the new play maker.

 

[Sea_Eagles_Rock]

Parra in 09 were not a great attacking team. They had 83 tries prior to the finals and scored moderate totals in the finals.

In 05, Tigers were not the most attacking side by a long way. Melbourne were. And a host of other teams were up there too. It was an attacking year across the board.

Manly in 08 were pretty effective at scoring and continued that throughout the finals.

 

[Last Week]

Long answer 'yes' with an if, short answer 'no' with a but....

 

[Mr Angry]

Defence wins games, especially finals.

Been like that for 100 odd years.

We do not have offensive and defensive teams, league players but do both.

 

[Mr Angry]

Your first sentence is wrong. The Storm did not start the wrestle. Broncos started it back in the 90’s.

What when Bellamy was assistant coach?

Which team was first to employ a wrestling coach?

Such delusion, yeah i have vivid memories of the Broncos spoilling tactics and defence based game in the90s.

 

[The_Shield]

What when Bellamy was assistant coach?

Which team was first to employ a wrestling coach?

Such delusion, yeah i have vivid memories of the Broncos spoilling tactics and defence based game in the90s.

Broncos were the first team to employ a wrestling coach in the 90s, just like I said before

 

[Russell Coight]

Defence wins games, especially finals.

Been like that for 100 odd years.

We do not have offensive and defensive teams, league players but do both.

I can only speak for the tigers in 05, but we had terrible defense that year. We had the mentality of "if you score 30 points, we'll score 31"

 

[T-Boon]

Broncos were the first team to employ a wrestling coach in the 90s, just like I said before

Bellamy didn't invent wrestling the same way Newton didn't invent physics.

 

[T-Boon]

Defence wins games, especially finals.

Been like that for 100 odd years.

We do not have offensive and defensive teams, league players but do both.

Winning the ruck wins games now (which is a regression to what RL was trying to get away from in 1908).

Defense has changed and become extremely boring and ugly. Good defense use to be good classic technical tackling (these are an error now), cover tackling etc.
Now it is dominating the ruck and making big ugly gang stops. Tackles are better off being called "tangles" now.

 

[Mr Angry]

I can only speak for the tigers in 05, but we had terrible defense that year. We had the mentality of "if you score 30 points, we'll score 31"

Perception gets clouded with age, during the regular season that could be said.

Then came the finals where the defence stepped up and won a premiership.

Conceeded 6, 6, 12, 16.

 

[Mr Angry]

m

Winning the ruck wins games now (which is a regression to what RL was trying to get away from in 1908).

Defense has changed and become extremely boring and ugly. Good defense use to be good classic technical tackling (these are an error now), cover tackling etc.
Now it is dominating the ruck and making big ugly gang stops. Tackles are better off being called "tangles" now.

Meh, I watched Grand finals won 6-4 and 4-2 not even one try.

The game is far more attacking these days. For all the wrestle, there is still fantastic tries scored.

 

[Springs09]

what? you posed the question mate, not me

with finals games they put 30+ points on 11 times, including a 50 against the Warriors

pretty shit attack, that

What are you on about?

You are talking about one team when I said the majority of top teams in the last 15 years have been focused mostly on defence and wrestling with much less focus on creative attack. Most of those years Cowboys weren't the top team. There's always a couple of teams with great entertaining attacking play, rarely do they dominate though.