It's good to get another win and be up there amongst the top of the ladder.
But at what point does our defence become an area of concern?
Some key stats include:
- 9 of 12 matches this season we have conceded 20 or more points
- Our last 5 matches we have conceded 20 or more points
- We have leaked 20 or more points on 5 of 7 occasions when playing teams outside the Top 8.
Defence isn't the 'be all and end all' but it lays a very strong foundation to being successful, we need to greatly improve this area of our game.
How do we improve this, is it purely and attitude problem or is there a deeper lying issue?
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Two tries from dropped balls off kicks, one from a weird entanglement.
The try-less second half was terrific.
Why can't they repeat the tryless second half for the full 80mins..
20points per game is really bad...
Invites teams back into the contest..
We gave them a couple of try assists.. Our defence in the second half was much improved.
If you worry about todays D then I worry about you
The timing of this blog seems just horribly wrong.
Sorry JB, but after the game we all just watched, we let in some points but we scored more and we were up against an incredible fight. Raiders at home, 3 on the trot and prime time. Big home crowd, 4 degrees and at the end felt 2 degrees, yet we won.
That was as big a win as the Wiff or Storm wins.
Exactly, well said.
Can't agree in full with you, Grunts.
Yes, we played well and scored more points than them.
But our defense leaked points in the 1st half, whether from kicks or not. Tries from kicks are roughly 50%(???) of all tries scored. Part of coaching defence would incorporate defending kicks.
We've been leaking alot of points most of the year, so I reckon it's a concern.
That's what we're talking about here.
And I know it was frigid, but they were playing in the same conditions. More acclimatised as they may be, it still would have been uncomfortable for them.
Respectfully disagree, Rupe.
There is absolutely nothing uncomfortable for the Raiders about playing at home in front of a packed house of their fans, in the climate they play, train & live in every day.
Tries from kicks are a big part of the game but two of them were from dropped balls, not poor defensive reads.
Fair enough defence has been a concern this season for sure & still is a work in progress, but it was a big improvement tonight.
They had so much ball and field position and we repelled them time & time again.
Raiders were very good tonight, Manly best they've been all season last week, we played Storm / Panthers / Cowboys / Sharks / Roosters all top 4 or 8 teams away from home, and we've done it understrength until now.
With some backline pieces back in place tonight, it was a big improvement, hopefully the confidence builds now & we see this consistently.
Good points here from all above, A lot depends on injuries. To me, our backline feels more solid in defence than last year despite being smashed with injury and conceding more points. I think it's a concern but one that can be fixed, or fine-tuned for finals.
Agree Acme. Storm also showed what a disrupted spine / weakened outside backs can do to defensive combinations when they were flogged twice in a row. We just need to stay close to full strength for a bit
The 2nd half defence was pretty good. Plenty of desperation shown.
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