Why 10% improvement really makes a difference

Good Morning

 

I havent lost my marbles, I am not on medication , I havent gone to the dark side or found inner peace.  I am like you trying to find a way to see another premiership before I too kick the bucket.  I might not be the smartest person going around but I have learnt a few things along the way. 

1.  We are all creatures of habit

2.  We tend to do what we believe is working for us , even if the rest of the world says it isnt

3.  Self Belief is the most powerful element.  When you have it , you believe everything is possible.

 

Looking back at Season 2020.  A successful year on paper. Top 4 finish is a pass in anyones language.  However, we all know that this was achieved with some glaring anomalies. In my humble opinion:

 

  • 1. MOSES was very average for 75% of the season. He never came back from the calf injury. He lost his runnng game, his kicking game was terrible, he created limited opportunities for his outside men.
  • 2. SIVO & FERGUSON both had average 2020.  You might have an argument on statistics that they were good but they didnt do the damage or create the momentum they did in 2019. 
  • 3. LANE another who fell away. There is a reason players move clubs every few years.  They lose the energy and drive and they fall backwards. Lane gets signed on for a further 2 years and form drops.
  • 4. BLAKE -  for all his attacking strengths, his defence was terrible and you could see this affected his game. He second guessed himself every play. The coach needed to make a stand.  For Blakes sake. He was a shot duck, he needed a spell to re group. 
  • 5.BROWN - injury, second year syndrome, changing attacking structure.   He was down but he is a brillant defender and he will come back.  Losing attacking mojo with LANE didnt help him either. 

 

A common theory in work, crime, sport , gambling is the pareto rule.

For example 80% crime is commiitted for 20% of the population. 80% of the plays created by 20% of the team. Perfect example is the Melbourne Storm.  They spend the vast majority of training doing the same thing over and over again. It is repeative training. They add in fatigue and the mind reverts back to the repeative training and they always fall back to the same system.  I once spoke to someone connected with them and asked them about this. He said, perfecting the little areas that cause the greatest results. Here again 80/20 rule.  By spending 80% training on 20% of the game can create winning teams. They concentrate on:

  • Ball control (   if you dont have it or you dont respect it you wont win a game )
  • Ruck ( everything is controlled by the first steps - where the attack goes, how the defenders react , the indecision and confusion is created by the first two steps, ie SMITH ) 
  • Kick/Chase ( putting the ball into the exact position 80-90% of the time to allow the defense to create pressure EACH & EVERY SET. 
  • Hit/stick defence ( quality of the first defender to hit & stick to allow only one other defender to finish off and maintain the line and shape ) 

We might on the other hand cover multiple areas and only become really good in one or two areas . How many times has our poor ball handling let us down. Or our kick and chase, or kicks to the corner/in goal for repeats. They might not be as flashy as the set play that brings in GUTHO to cut the centre and put FERGO over.  But over the course of a game or a season, the 20% areas win you more games or at least keep you in the contest. 

I am very disappointed we didnt get new Assistants. But I think BA can get the job done.  As we saw with the TITANS towards the end of the year, self belief is powerful. Penrith showed how powerful momentum can be. If we can get 10% improvement in MOSES, BLAKE, SIVO, FERGO, BROWN we are premiership threats. If one or more of the new guys adds to our attacking shape or corrects our defensive weakness we again add 10%. I think BA would have learnt valuable lessons from the heavy physical toll he placed on the team.  Fresh legs and fresh minds is massive. 

Anyway - have a great weekend guys.  Rant Over.  Back in my hole. 

 

 

 

 

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Replies

  • Agree.  Good write up!

    • Where you bored a little ? Not a bad blog.

      As is said every time.  You must always improve in all areas and be better. Hopefully your new recruits buy in and strengthen your group.. Merry Christmas to all.

  • Agreed! Nice article

  • At the Broncos the motto is excellence doesnt have a day off. Under Bennet they lived and died under that motto. Players were expected to continiously improve and the means to continiously improve was given to them.

    Not like some clubs. Just sayin

    • This reply was deleted.
      • Well obviously they weren't living it

      • thats why they changed coaches for this season. i cant say anything about last season ,litigation and all that

         

         

        • Walters was trained by bennet. He knows the training reigiem that Bennet used and he will use it himself. Walters once said. Traiining is very boring because it is so repetitive.

          He is even using the well used motto,Excellence does not take a day off..

           

          • So was Seibold, who Walters played for is irrelevant, the Broncos roster is still terribly unbalanced 

    • This reply was deleted.
      • yes they do. You cant just change coaches when the players are loyal to the out going coach. It creats bad blood between club and player. And beleive me there was plenty of that. As I have said in a previous post on the matter, the club needs a good cleanout of players.

        Love him or hate him. At the Broncos bennet is very popular with players and club alike. Why do you think they bought bennet back from the Knights when the Knights had a terrible season.

        The annomosity of the players towards the last coach was not hidden once I got talking to some of the players.

        Beware of what you do to the coach. You can destroy your club

         

        • Well then I'd say the Broncis have a bunch of immature brats, not highly paid professionals.

          As a pro athlete you know that coaches come and go, as do players. 

          All the more reason not to have the coach in charge of recruitment, that's why a GM is so important, it creates a healthy degree of separation between players & coaches. 

This reply was deleted.

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