The team we have being assembled looks very much attack minded to me. Can the eels with an all out offensive mind set change the nature of the game. Combined with an effective 80 minute defence can attack win the day. Recall 2001 and 2009 the great exciting footy we played. Is it a winner ?
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We need to play more attacking footy inside our own half. We did this to great effect when we had Semi.
Grey fox, my idea is all out attack.Let's make it hard to stop us from anywhere. Defence is not the best part of this game, scoring tries get's people on their feet.
I like your thoughts Seth . Attacking structure , with second phase play , quick play the balls and big bodies will fatigue any defence but is dependant on 60% possession with little or no mistakes . We have a terrible record with drop balls
Paul, it is not a perfect system but this game has become five hit ups kick the ball. The bounce often decides the try.Let's get it back to ball through the hands instead of kick and hope.
Just to illustrate my point, have a look at the following stats ...
2019 The Roosters were 2nd in attack & 2nd in defence
2018 The Roosters were 3rd in attack & 2nd in defence
2017 The Storm were 1st in attack & 1st in defence
2016 The Sharks were 2nd in attack & 3rd in defence
2015 The Cowboys were 4th in attack & 6th in defence
2014 The Rabbitohs were 2nd in attack & 1st in defence
2013 The Roosters were 1st in attack & 1st in defence
2012 The Storm were 2nd in attack & 1st in defence
2011 Manly were 1st in attack & 2nd in defence
2010 The Dragons were 11th in attack & 1st in defence (by a long way)
So in the last decade only two premierships have been won by teams without top 4 ranked attacks or defences.
You have to be great at both.
Our defence has to improve markedly next year if we are to go deeper into the final series than we did this season.
Look at the Roosters this year. When they were really on their game their attack was devastating but that is not what won them the grand final. Their defence was under extreme pressure from halfway through the first half until the last few minutes of the game when they took the tiniest of opportunities, of which they had very few if any in that lengthy period, and turned it into the winning play of the match. If they did not have such great defensive capabilities they would have succumbed to the weight of possession that Canberra enjoyed during that 50 minutes or so and they wouldn't be on the hat-trick of premierships that they are now.
Our defence up the middle was pretty ordinary this season so it must improve quite a bit to have any chance of being real premiership contenders. That will require a major change in attitude for the entire team. They have to learn how to play for each other and believe in their team-mates' ability to create an impenetrable wall of defence that no team can breach.
Whenever Parrmatta teams have had any success they have had exceptional attacking power but only when they also had great defence in the 80s have they had premiership success.
Alan D R, it's a vision of attack being irresistible. The roosters were not playing the best attacking side in the world. Why can't attack be the dominant force ?
I like your mindset but the current team has a long way to go to be as great as the Parramatta team of the 1980s. They were the dominant force of the early 80s premiership but Canterbury were able to defeat us in the 1984 grand final because their defensive effort was able to prevent us scoring a try in 80 minutes of football. Their attack was nowhere near as potent as ours, they only managed a scrambling try from their hooker, Mark Bugden, when Pricey was out of the defensive line being treated for an injury. We were able to get them in 1986 but no tries were scored in that match so we didn't win it off the back of our attack. It was only the defensive grit of a champion team unable to use their brilliant attack to dominate the Bulldog's relentless defence that won the day for us.
The current team just do not have the potential to be anywhere near as good as our team of the 1980s. That team boasted one of the best backlines ever assembled in the history of rugby league. Of the current team only Fergo could have forced his way into any of our premiership winning sides and even then he would have had to play on the left wing as Eric Grothe Snr was our right winger back then. In this hypothetical selection process Gutho may have been chosen in front of Steve McKenzie in 1981 but we were able to win with McKenzie as our fullback that day. If we are to be a premiership contender our defence will have to be vastly superior to this year.
Roosters stats (Run metre) showed They were the best attacking team and best defensive team last year.
The second phase play worked well for us last season and I don’t see that changing for 2020
John eel, I want every team in the comp shit scared of our attack. That's when you win trophies.
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