Often criticised for lacking tactical smarts, BA and his senior players took a well hatched plan into last night and the team executed well as a unit... and kept Melb scoreless in the second half
1. Move Melb wide in defence - it was most noticeable in the first half where we shifted 3?passes left to get Lane in space and get him in more 1on1 tackles which with his big frame meant more faster play tye balls on tackle 4 and our next run set a good platform for last tackle kicks
Playing one out through the middle third is suicide against Melb
2. Kicking on tackle 4 - while the Melb wingers were still up we kicked deep and made them turn and chase and for most of the game it worked very well with Moses and Lussick doing well and very good chase
3. Isolating Munster - we put him under a lot of pressure in the Melb defensive line and as the game wore on he made more and more bad reads and we pulled their edge apart almost every time we had good ball in their 20
Melb are the best front runners in the game but when things don't go to the usual script they can get frazzled and frustrated like any other team
Well done to coaches and players.... smart footy beats dumb footy every time and last night we out muscled Melb and out smarted them and executed better
This IMOis the style of play which plays to our strengths
Well done BA and team ✅✅
Replies
Could someone please explain the " middle third" for me? Don't really understand the term
Thanks for that. Appreciate it Brissy
While we are on the topic of tactics the variation on the block play that led to fergo's 1st try was superb. In previous months teams had worked out that gutho gets the ball every time and were shutting down the play deluxe, with gutho often getting smashed. This time instead of passing to gutho moses fired it out to fergo for the try.
Begs a question why has it taken a month to work out/execute the variation?
100%
They have been given extra freedom!
BA's stubborn mind has finally succumbed and he let them play with what's infront of them, rather than to a set structure..
The best part of the Moses to Fergo pass is that it was not a Harbour Bridge pass. It gave Fergo ample time.
100% NBE this is the style of play we need, dominate forwards with moves! the shape of our backline was great with options happening, the storm we're just outplayed by THE MIGHTY EELS!!!
Yes the Eels ran hard and "left bodies on the ground" as Tallis quipped, but I don't agree it was a belated victory for "chasing the collision". The Eels were targeting the edges rather than one out crash plays up the middle. They were getting two passes off the ruck. They also kept an inside runner in support, and eventually breached the Storm in the middle. So they also ran me decoy/support runners. And tellingly, the created overlaps in the opposition red zone multiple times. All four tries were ran in and not from kicks. Put differently, they chased gaps and edges. This is not the same as "going around" or the classic "go wide without earning the right". Instead, it's simply that the Eels stowed dumb one-out running and ran smart: every starting player bar Moses and Alyssa I exceeded 100m and Carty from the bench did too (because Lane went off). It was a power game but a smart power game, forcing the Storm defence to move side to side to catch the movement. And they strung passes together without dropping the ball. As Dylan said, they had been playing too conservative. This was a victory of changing tactics from dumb grunt play.
Chasing the collision isnt about tactics but intent.
But if the intent is to use just your body and not your brain, collisions will just be repeated episodes of running square into people. The point of footy is go past the defender. Sometimes that will be over the top of the defender but if that is the only intent, it's a tactic, because there are other options. Including having a support to create indecision, or drawing in only to pass out for overlaps. I still maintain the Eels will not beat top teams by one out power running. They played a much smarter game against the Storm than they have played for ages and they won. Lessons there.
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