On Fox sport today Cooper Cronk displayed a little of his knowledge of Rugby League. That little was more than all the other commentators knew combined. He is a natural for TV Sports and one can see why Fox has signed him to a contract. An example of what he revealed was in the Penrith game where wunderkind N Cleary was bombing on all the last tackles by by kicking the ball high down the centre of the field.Cronk said that was wrong because it gave Cronulla the ability to attack down either side of the field thus splitting the Penrith defence. The way to go was to kick deep into a corners that Cronulla had only one way to return the ball and Penrith`s defence would cover that with ease Player Cleary had no idea of that and it would seem neither does his father recently appointed coach to West Tigers, nor the coach of Penrith A Griffen! It is no surprise to me that coaches do not know of this because as a class they no very little. It was amusing to hear the other commentators saying the same thing about kicking as Cronk said, after Cronk had said it! They were like parrots pretending that it was their information.Cronk also said that Parramatta was doing the wrong thing in constantly changing their halves set up. The halves have a great bearing on how the team is performing and should not be changed so often. He thought that Taka was not the best replacement for a half position. He said he was a runner of the ball not a distributor. He said also that Taka holds the ball in one hand. Cronk did not say why about that but presumably its easier to lose the ball and can be stripped with ease holding it by one hand. How many other players would be aware of such detail of an opposing player? Cronk knows more about league than any coach does. He would be an excellent coach but I am afraid he is lost to Fox Sport. He would be an excellent mentor for our 1/2 `s young or old. Watch out for kickers to concentrate on kicking to the corners and not straight down the field starting tomorrow.
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Kick to the Seagulls - simple.
On the 'holding the ball in one hand" comment - it means you can only fend off tacklers with the other hand and easily picked off when tacklers come at you from the same side as you hold the ball.
Watch the players that can fend with BOTH hands, far more effective runners of the ball.
Otherwise it just doesn't make sense changing up a halves combo that have been together since pre season.
Not really, Brad might have just decided he is over the Guth experiment and wants to try a different approach, i agree with BA that Taka is the next best option.
Commentators quite often talk about kicking the ball into the corner.... And with the holding the ball in 2 hands, he means if the ball runner is holding the ball with one hand it's obvious for the defence that he is just going to run the ball.. Running with the ball in 2 hands (especially for a half) puts the defence in doubt as to whether he's going to Run to the line, Pass or Kick eg. Kieran Foran
He's not referring to the Easts player, Carter. Get Carter was a very good 70s movie with Michael Caine starring as Jack Carter. There was a very ordinary remake in 2000 with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role.
another problem with players holding the ball with one hand is that it limits their options. if a player has a ball in one hand, it is almost always indicative of the direction they're going to pass or play to. when a player holds the ball in both hands, they've got the option to go either side...making it much harder for defence to read
Obviously holding the ball in one hand frees up the other hand to fend off a defender. In that case holding it in one hand gives you more chance of passing than tucking it under your arm. He doesn't tend to carry it in one hand until he hits the defensive line anyway.
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