Howdy All,
Things obviously arent great our end, between the injuries, distractions & change of defensive structures etc, but maybe just maybe there are signs of more commitment in defence, which is the "Green Shoots" Jason Ryles has been referring to.
Round 1
Score 56 – 18
50% possession
79% completion rate
285 tackles made, 41 missed tackles – 80.51% effectiveness
Round 2
Score 6 – 32
49% possession
73% completion rate
326 tackles made, 41 missed tackles – 85.79% effectiveness
Round 3
8 – 16
49% possession
77% completion rate
381 tackles made, 35 missed tackles- 90.07% effectiveness
Round 4
26 – 12
45% possession
73% completion rate
379 tackles made, 29 missed tackles – 90.67% effectiveness
Average across 4 rounds – 36.5 missed Tackles . the bench mark (storm) are on average missing 21.3 per game in comparison
Important to highlight that the Cowboys (39.7), bunnines (38) & tigers (37.5) have on average missed more tackles then Parra, across the 4 rounds
Titans across 3 games are missing 39.7 tackles per game.
Stats taken from NRL.com
If some of the brain fades with ball in hand can be cut out (and some better defensive reads made), we should see a more competitive Parra side on the park and points will flow. hoping my glass half full will be 3/4 full in next few weeks.
Replies
I think we're all hoping for the same thing.
Sure, if we can get the missed and ineffective tackles down to 30 or less plus get the brain fades out of the dopey blokes who do them that's the goal.
😂😂😂
Hugh, you have some nerve buddy.
Regardless, I agree with you. There are some signs defensively of improvement from the first two weeks, but also from the past two years.
It’s a big test for a very inexperienced side to not only maintain those defensive efforts, but continue to improve & keep that intensity for longer periods, despite the scoreboard.
On top of the ridiculous errors we are seeing, that inability to score points is giving these guys no reward for their strong defensive sets.
That can only last so long before heads will drop, and thats where our senior players have been such a huge let down in attack for mine, especially DB.
As you said, hold the ball, then find ways to actually score some points, and confidence will rise, energy levels will rise, and momentum will turn.
We can’t keep giving teams more & more sets on our goal line by not defusing bombs. It just destroys any momentum built from the defensive sets.
I know JR is up against it & we aren’t sure what his coaching ability looks like just yet, but I do like that he is trying to build strong foundations, something im not sure we have done in the past.
Its very ugly right now, but lets face it, we saw worse defensive efforts from a very experienced team under a coach of many years, so if JR can build resilience defensively in a ridiculously inexperienced side with constant combination changes, those green shoots may take off when he is able to bring in the players & experience that is he after.
Or not.
But, we’ll all watch week to week anyway, so we may as well go in with some hope.
Good stuff, Hugh.
Hugh, a brave and highly-provocative blog.
Without Moses and an ordinary kicking game (least kick metres in comp, Foxlab), a bit better with Hawkins, we're going to continue to struggle in the high-speed grind, defensively and get fatigued more easily. It'll affect our attack negatively too.
We saw how different the current Panthers are without Cleary, and the Storm without Hughes (not new).
For now, I hope to see continued improvement in attitude and the one-percenters with-the-ball better discipline (3rd worst for errors, Foxlab) and better kick chases to help the defence before we get too hung up over the fancy stuff with the ball.
Unfortunately, it's mostly been with the new recruits, the young ones, doing the hard yakka buying in and only a minority of the existing squad. Nov 1st, 2026 can't come quick enough.
Great words at the start HOE. Brave but very informative. Well done Hugh.
Lol, LB. Yes. "Informative" is a polite euphemism.
Geez I hope we win on Sat.....Imagine going 0-6 in Darwin next week against that overhead projector fucker...
Or PG, flying out of Darwin next Sunday 2-4. But I confess to being a registered Unicorn. It is a given that our defense has been poor for decades but some might agree its slowly on the improve, and if we can also adjust in attack by gettng deeper in attack and cut down our forward passes and giving in particuar our outside men a chance to catch and score we'll be celebrating. Just like Hugh, chuckle.
There is no fluidity in attack. It seems that they have not done it in training. Main reason is there is no 'conductor' to pull the strings of players where to go and what to do. Simply there is currently no organisation on the field. Fingers crossed that Moses can be immediately in top form when he returns which is very doubtful.
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