This an extract / quote from a post made by Fathead.
You see the nature of the game doesn't allow for the continued policing of either the on side or lying in the ruck.
If you did, you would basically have a game of NFL where every play is policed and measured. It's a fair game but it's not our game.
I see the NRL at a critical impass. It wants to be as fair as the NFL but doesn't want the stoppages.
If it wants to keep NRL in its present form, then it just has to put up with players being offside all the time and lying in the ruck.
I take all your points FH, I think you have identified it correctly. A better way to describe it is some sides are more opportunistic.
Some people on this site would call that cheating!
These opportunities of course are self created. It is interesting that the methods used by Parra in beating the top sides and being competitive against the top sides was exactly the same methods when inferior sides managed to beat us....... you know the games we were expected to win and struggled because they got offside and swarmed and intensified against us.
When we had shut outs against us like Manly, Souths and Easts we failed to concentrate at the same intensity and basically didn't turn up.
How to harness this is up to the coaches and that swarming and desperate intensity the players.
Also interesting listening to Parrakeet talking about her biases and the like relative to a half with a long kicking game. if you use the tactics employed by Nathan Cleary in these last few games you have exactly the same game now employed by Mitchel Moses..... Manly don't just go well when Tommy fires up, Cherry-Evans has a lot to do with there success. When his kicking game is on, look out for Tommy.
Skill is still a gigantic part of the game but when you look at a review of this season, most of the skill was bashed out of the players, they carried injuries and compromised back to a war of attrition.
We stopped admiring the skil of the players and looking at their toughness and stamina......i.e. much admired players, Cheese and Ice Papallii. Yeo and Cam Murray. Even Kikau in the GF last night played like a war horse.
Getting the player mix right is the key to the next premiership, you can't win a war of attrition every week, that is why teams with attacking machines like Tommy Turbo can give teams a rest on a regular basis as they cut up the teams that don't turn up.
Parra at present has not got the attacking skills to do this unless for some reason they can become a version of the 2001 side and just start operating like a machine.
My first thing to adresss is speed and attack in the backline and edge forwards capable of cutting sides up. There are balances in that but think Tommy Turbo and JAC are standouts, start thinking about the next level of these players as a start to building the type of players we need. We also need to moderate or exaggerate our selections for certain sides. Maybe Ray Stone would play against the better sides and attacking type against the lessor as a simple example.
Replies
I liked the way the GF was played with a good sense of precision. When the quality is there it does influence a reff to back off a let them play to their potential .If only players approached the game as a contest of skill and ability rather than looking for cheap advantage by bending the rules it would be a much better game for all involved
An attitude needs to change from " win at any Cost" or the unicorn view of " let the best team win. " It will sadly never happen
Actually I like your analogy Tad because the one thing I did not address was the refereeing who are an integral part of your orchestra.
Note I said refereeing and not referree ......i.e the refs have to be in harmony every week and the simple part of that is we probably do not want to know the words, just listen to the melody.
Getting rid of some of the pedantic issues would be a good start, the tiniest of knock ons in the play the ball, did he or didn't touch it should all be ruled out and the advantage given to the attacking side. The technical aspect of a catcher going up for the ball and it leaving him temporaily because it went into the defender should be the owner of the ball is the possessor. i.e. 9/10's of the law is who ends up with the ball if no obvious descepancies are noticeable.
The reality of the defender is and should be a pure judgement of did he interfere and provide a shepherd, that's not hard, the unfairness is where is left ear was out of lign with his arsehole and therefore adjudged offside regardless.
This is one of the most frustrating aspects we watch every weekend, with the usual comment being "thats bullshit".
Finally the ref has to have the descretion to "play on" and only act if he thinks its warranted.
I won't go any further but we all have our pet hates that you might like to list.
My list of pet hates Poppa Dodgy forward passes missed by linesmen. I don't mean 3 inch forward either. Knock ons I simply don't, t understand that rule. Heaps of times if a player fumbles a ball backwards it is automatically called a knock on. I Don,t like balls being stripped off a player even a one on one strip.
Good blog Poppa. I really think the game has become a battle of the back 3. Never more apparent watching the Souths back 3 get rag dolled by 3 players every time they retrieved the ball. The way the kick deep , hang it in the air then swarm the player and basically firemans carry them backwards for 10 metres. The fullback was too light and no match and only Johnstone was able to make a yard or two.
The back 3 is dead set a major factor in a teams success. WE have a great kicker in Moses, we defend very well but still are prone to give six agains to relieve the pressure. Our back 3 really struggled in the big games. GUTHO was busted and couldnt get the set starting in the positive. FERGO was 50/50 and same for Daze. I was so disappointed with SIVO this year thought he was average in his runs.
WE need to get a good winger or a great centre and push WAQA to the winger and utilise his air skills similart to Crichton for the Panthers. The winger must be able to get our sets starting in the positive. Who is out there ? I dont know. Sometimes you need to trust kids and hope they aim up. Rumours about Cotric appear to have gone nowhere. We need a winger with size and pace.
Bit off topic sorry Pops.
Great response PT, not off topic at all. discussion is the essence of understanding, we can all learn of each other.
I just watched a highlights reel on Facebook of our season which the club posted. It's mainly us shredding up shit teams. Well to be honest it was all us shredding up shit teams. What I did notice was about 50% of the try's featured Fergo. He's gone now.
I have always thought Ferg's was the the x factor for us. In his first season I remember him (BA) sending Fergs a message of bring these blokes home. Fergs knew what winning was about it was that simple.
Age, Injuries and maybe a bit of coke probably brough about his leaving us, I believe BA was starting to think he was becoming a liability but he showed at the end he was still above many of his peers.
Is there another one around the corner anywhere Wiz?
I have a feeling Dunster could be a significant improver during this Orf Seezun. Penisini goes with out saying, I hope he does some sprint work, he is naturally quick but we need that X factor from him.
If we can offload Sivo, I think we should. He is a myth now......gee I say that and think of the good things he can do. Maybe the AC process may take away some muscle mass and allow him to develop some flexibility.
We aren't very far away and certainly not as far away as you are insinuating with this blog. We have the capacity to be a better attacking side than Penrith who won the competition this year. I've said it before Poppa but you seem to over emphasise pace. Every club in the competition would have Sivo on fair enough coin. He's a match winner and a better winger than 3 out of the 4 that played last night in terms of overall impact in my opinion. I hope the knee injury isn't the end of him.
When Ferguson came to the club he was the best winger in the game and he and Sivo the best pairing. Unfortunately he suffered a serious knee injury, lost the impressive condition he had on board (I'd guess he lost 10 kilos of pure muscle) and we didn't quite get the 3 years we might have out of him.
I'm glad you are coming around to Dunster, he is all class in the same way a young Lyon or even a young Hayne was. You can just tell they grew up with a footy never more than a foot away.
War on attrition. Cleary mentioned there were 5 players who probably should not have played through injuries. A lot of younger players in Penrith. There style of play is relentless physical as a most games now. I wonder what is the life of some positional players these days. I am thinking of Kaysa Pritchard..Quite a number from Roosters this year as well. Many injuries may surface later in life as well.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next