A lot of us on here are disillusioned with the football department , the way we're playing our footy verse the way we want to play our footy and that type of footballs effectiveness in the modern game.
Who at the club is recognising the trends that creep into the game . The ones that prove successful that eventually all clubs try to emulate .
The Storm with the wrestle , the way players revolutionise their positions , block plays , sweep plays ect ect
The clubs which we aren't one of who are at the forefront of these innovations win premierships while the rest play catch up.
Rugby leagues a simple game and the basics remain , gain momentum and play off the back of it.
The days of traditional front rowers seem to be coming to an end with the speed of the game continually accelerated by the powers that be and the ball in play longer than it's been in decades the front rowers role is about to change.
Unless your big and mobile like a Payne Haas who for a big man has good acceleration the plodding front rower with limited lateral movement is becoming a thing of the past.
Forwards who just do hitups will be gone , ball skills will be paramount for your middles.
Clubs will start opting for smaller middles in your Rueben Cotter , Jake Trbojevic , Hopgood type mould where your bigger forwards will be your edge backrowers .
Backrowers who are damaging but aren't required to do as much work in the middle, Fifita , Olakalatu, Crichton and Kikau.
The emphasis will be on ball movement , moving defences around not allowing rushing defence or gang tackles resulting in more fatigue through the middle .
Theres talk of getting rid of the kickoff, why does a front rower have to run into the teeth of the defence , what if you went two passes wider and Brian To'o took the hit up.
Which scenario statistically would give your more momentum.
The onus will be on defence in the new era as it is now but it'll be seen as easier to defend your line then anywhere else.
Its harder to promote the ball quickly from 5 metres out and teams with strong defences will recognise it and linespeed off your line will be far quicker and stifling.
The game is getting more and more like touch and players are recognising if they can get it wider then the shooters out of the line you gain momentum.
Its all about speed, the habit of running into a solid defensive line of large forwards is changing , teams are looking at getting at the smaller halves on the first tackle inside their own 20 or going around condensed defences and getting the results.
Youll start to see more trick plays especially with impromptu kicks early in sets even straight off a kick off with teams attempting 20/40's which hasn't caught on yet but will.
The Walker brothers were ahead of their time, with the NRL seeing themselves as being in the entertainment industry this type of football sells the game with endless highlight reels so they'll look to promote it.
Momentum based statistics will takeover , what part of the defensive line of the opposition leaks the most metres and points , regardless if it's tackle one that's where you attack.
Warren Ryan's conservative brand of football no chip kicks in your own half is long gone, pressure creates momentum and the tackle number or field position is becoming irrelevant.
Rugby League as you used to know it has already changed and the Parramatta Eels haven't yet caught on.
So what are we going to do to innovate and be proactive in shaping the way the games to be played in the next decade or are we waiting to see what everyone else does and stay a few years behind because we're playing pre 2020 successful football at the moment and it's obsolete.
Replies
Change the coach
as he refuses to change 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
Unfortunately the coach is but part of the problem
Good read bup, at this stage we are definitely behind the pack so to speak and as long as BA remains head coach we will continue to fall further behind.
The game has been evolving to where it is now for a few years and will continue to evolve only at a more rapid pace. A few years ago i noticed a change in the lock position and stated on here it was reverting away from the extra front rower role it was at the time to a more traditional ball playing role it use to be. At least the eels weren't too far behind in catching on to that change although I think we can still get a player with more agility and leg speed in that role and turn hopgood into one of those smaller front rowers you talk about above.
Yeo, Radley , Hopgood all play this type of role, front rowers will play similar moving forward
A great blog mate, a new Coach (Obviously) who is tactically smart can develop multiple game plans for the given situation. A Roster that is very fast in the backs and fit,robust and agile in the forwards. Yes agreed the game has moved on and BA and Parra have not. We have the ingredients with a few smart recruiting decisions....but the power game and effort on effort crapola needs to be much more nuanced and adaptable....if we are to break the biggest "monkey on our back" and not become the North Sydney of the NRL era.
Speed is a must, you can overcome defensive misreads and diffuse attacking kicks with speed in defence and put pressure on defences in attack.
In statistics the speed of the play the ball is used I'd be interested to see the stats in regards to the average set speed.
Speed... remember how good a roll on we got when we had PJ March and Brad Drew in 2001... followed by a massive run from Vella.
it was all time
Those were the days - excitement central seeing how many metres were made !!!!
I like your analysis Bup. I agree the 20/40 kicks can be game breakers. .I would like an emphasis on playing smarter . Maybe a bit like chess.Trying to move defences with fatigue,speed, into poor defensive shapes and creating holes for runner support shapes. A more intelligent game rather than bash and barge as the only tool you have. The bash and barge may be a temporary tactical tool to mask something else.
I think last year's Grand final was a great example on how the game may be the way the transition is heading. eg the Cleary try was a great example
I often try to work out team's weaknesses before our match up.
When I watch Parra attack I can't work out who their trying to get at.
We tend to play how we want to play rather then play to opponents weaknesses.
Even then we don't use our strengths properly .
For example when we're in the red zone Lane is extremely hard to stop close to the line but we fail to isolate smaller defenders enough.
Its quite simple to do , in your previous play you run at your intended target forcing him to marker.
Your first receiver gets the ball with options left and right with the intent of ball playing close to the line turning it into Lane running an inside line straight at the intended target.
Your initial run fatigued the defender before a physical mismatch .Yet we don't do it enough both Broncos halves should be navigating that same play tonight.
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