22/23 Off season - what must be done?

[Cult]

We are ALWAYS going to be on the back foot until we sign a hooker who can pass off the ground accurately. It’s the priority. If we can’t do that than nothing will ever get fixed. Every single play starts with the hooker

 

[Mr Fourex]

The whole Cobbo story makes me worried. The kid is our future and apparently couldn't get up for a must win game this week.

Totally......

True champions don't pass up the opportunity to play because they're..... "tired".

 

[thenry]

Totally......

True champions don't pass up the opportunity to play because they're..... "tired".

Come on man it's most likely family or mental health stuff.

 

[Santa]

FOCUS 1: Line speed in defence

- No personnel changes required
- All attitude, commitment and effort
- Fundamental baseline of being eligible to play first grade... if you do not move up quickly in the defensive line for 80 minutes you are sent to QCup until you are capable / willing ... Applies to every player on the park. No excuses.

FOCUS 2: Second rowers supporting halves in defensive line

- The most basic and fundamental job of our second rowers should be to support their halves in defence
- Every second rower who wants first grade game time has to prove that they can sit in the pocket of the half on their side of the field and prevent 1-on-1 situations... That's their singular most important KPI and first priority at all times
- Running metres and attacking contributions null and void if you allow a half to be singled out (especially close to the line)
- Have a stats person watching the games recording '1 on 1s allowed' as a stat to judge second rowers

FOCUS 3: Wrapping up the ball in the tackle

- Develop a 3 man system... First man is tasked with initiating contact in whichever way possible to prevent a line break... Second man in automatically goes to lock up the ball... third man in can take legs only if ball is secure. Extremely simple but effective
- Non adherence to your responsibility as a tackler should be counted as an 'ineffective tackle' and counted against the player in question
- Have a stats person watching the games recording 'offloads allowed' as a stat to judge players

FOCUS 4: Quick PTB Speed

- Have a stats person watching the games recording 'slow PTBs' as a stat to judge players, measure individual PTB speeds and use it as a key metric for first grade selection
- Barring injury or playing for penalty, every PTB should be as quick as possible at all stages of the game
- Players should be encouraged to look for quick PTB opportunities FIRST, and opportunity to make metres SECOND... A short run with lightning quick PTB is better for the team than a long slow run with a slow PTB
- Players should be trained to run into contact as low as possible, with weight leaning forward... Increased chance of finding your front quickly or drawing an accidental penalty for high shot
- When called by a playmaker, a player should execute a 'pre-emptive' PTB (Melbourne and Penrith do this all the time)... they don't wait for 'held' to be called before playing the ball.. they initiate contact and then almost immediately play the ball without waiting for the call... usually it coincides with the ball being played right as the ref calls 'held' and it NEVER gets called back. It can't be done all the time, but it should be practiced for us in opportune moments.

FOCUS 5: Attacking shapes from dummy half

- The only focus area which may require additional player resources.
- Focus on moving the ball laterally (directly from the ground) post PTB - without picking it up, taking a few slow steps before passing it on, while picking effective moments to run (on the back of a fast PTB or line break)
- Focus on always making sure the ball is in the playmaker's hands when they want it

Roster Changes (Release or demote):
- Haas (Release)
- Staggs
- Riki

Roster Changes (Sign):
+ Experienced Front Rower
+ ANY Available Hooker

Coaching Changes:
+ Any experienced QLD assistant coaches to oversee strategy and attack (Hannay, Hagan, Henry) with a view to taking over the top job

Great post. Wish I could like it 100 times.

 

[Mr Fourex]

A player who to be has been a tad disappointing this year is Kobe Hetherington. I’m not saying he had a bad year or am writing off by any means just thought he would have really taken off and be more dominant this year

His last few games have been poor......I thought he was strong before this shit patch came along for the team. Really would like him to take the no.13....and move Pat into starting prop.

You could say the same thing about all of them really (re disappointing season right now)....other than Corey Oates, whos been solid all year.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Come on man it's most likely family or mental health stuff.

We can really only make comment based on whats been reported.....so far the story reads bad for Selwyn, IMO.

 

[theshed]

We need an established hooker.
It’s that simple.

Grant, Hunt, Api, Cook, Robson, Mahoney, Braily, Cheese, Simpkin

I don’t know how we get them but we gotta get one of them

 

[I bleed Maroon]

We need an established hooker.
It’s that simple.

Grant, Hunt, Api, Cook, Robson, Mahoney, Braily, Cheese, Simpkin

I don’t know how we get them but we gotta get one of them

Api Korisau could probably be talked out of going to the Tigers at the moment. I would be snooping around to see if he can pull a "Madge signed me and he's gone" clause out of thin air.

 

[Dexter]

Way to overreact! We were punching well above our weight for most of the season and won games on heart and passion. We have run out of puff and this young team is spent. Lessons will be learned and we’ll come back better next season.

Penriff are a similar average age why aren't they tired.

 

[bazza]

Convince Ben Hunt to play hooker. I don't see us being able to sign any other hooker. Hunt is exactly who we need. He would be tremendous for Reynolds. You can never fault his effort, and his leadership, creativity and direction out of dummy half would be such an upgrade over anything we've had our of hooker in recent memory.

Gamble also needs to be in the team. It's criminal that he is not even on the bench. We are currently using our biggest forwards to play the link man role instead of just running straight and hard. Seems such a waste to have our props just shovelling the ball out the back. Why not just give this role to Gamble who is actually a playmaker?

Haas can go. For such a large human, he is the second softest forward in the NRL after Aaron Woods. Bloke literally cuddles blokes in tackles and gets driven back when making tackles on blokes half his size. It's laughable. He has no venom in defence. He is easily replaceable by players much cheaper.

Same goes for Staggs. I wouldn't mind losing him if it helps resolve other weaker areas in our squad. Cobbo would offer more at centre.

 

[nopatience101]

Convince Ben Hunt to play hooker. I don't see us being able to sign any other hooker. Hunt is exactly who we need. He would be tremendous for Reynolds. You can never fault his effort, and his leadership, creativity and direction out of dummy half would be such an upgrade over anything we've had our of hooker in recent memory.

Gamble also needs to be in the team. It's criminal that he is not even on the bench. We are currently using our biggest forwards to play the link man role instead of just running straight and hard. Seems such a waste to have our props just shovelling the ball out the back. Why not just give this role to Gamble who is actually a playmaker?

Haas can go. For such a large human, he is the second softest forward in the NRL after Aaron Woods. Bloke literally cuddles blokes in tackles and gets driven back when making tackles on blokes half his size. It's laughable. He has no venom in defence. He is easily replaceable by players much cheaper.

Same goes for Staggs. I wouldn't mind losing him if it helps resolve other weaker areas in our squad. Cobbo would offer more at centre.

The Haas thing is why he has such a big motor, if he ripped in and played half as long he would be a better player.

 

[Old Mate]

Gamble forever.

 

[bazza]

The Haas thing is why he has such a big motor, if he ripped in and played half as long he would be a better player.

Agreed. His impressive stats have literally no impact on the team's success. When he was out, we arguably played better than when he was in the team. Compare that to when Carrigan is out, and it shows Haas is easily replaceable. He can go make his 200m and 30 soft cuddle tackles over 80 minutes elsewhere.

 

[Cult]

Penriff are a similar average age why aren't they tired.

Because they’re reffed completely different to most teams.

 

[BroncosFever]

I know we've just been spanked twice but if you did a poll at the start of the year, most would've said 8ith/9th would be a realistic position for us to end up in with where we've been the past few years.

I guess what makes it hard to cop is that we were in the top 4 only a month or so ago. My gut feel is that Parra win came too easy, we scored a few arsey tries, it was the same sort of game we've played in 90% of our games, start poorly, have to defend well and then we come into the game. In the past 2 weeks those trademark poor starts have put the game out of reach after about 20 minutes and then things compound and suddenly we get towelled up.

I would like to see us put in a really good performance next week, just to give the fans some sign of assurance that things aren't that bad. Realistically we've been towelled up by 2 of the genuine premiership contenders at a time when they're really looking to launch. We've been found out a bit late in the season. I guess what we all need to know, is there an internal problem that has caused this or are the players just not ready to punch out a solid season yet.

 

[Dexter]

I know we've just been spanked twice but if you did a poll at the start of the year, most would've said 8ith/9th would be a realistic position for us to end up in with where we've been the past few years.

I guess what makes it hard to cop is that we were in the top 4 only a month or so ago. My gut feel is that Parra win came too easy, we scored a few arsey tries, it was the same sort of game we've played in 90% of our games, start poorly, have to defend well and then we come into the game. In the past 2 weeks those trademark poor starts have put the game out of reach after about 20 minutes and then things compound and suddenly we get towelled up.

I would like to see us put in a really good performance next week, just to give the fans some sign of assurance that things aren't that bad. Realistically we've been towelled up by 2 of the genuine premiership contenders at a time when they're really looking to launch. We've been found out a bit late in the season. I guess what we all need to know, is there an internal problem that has caused this or are the players just not ready to punch out a solid season yet

If body language means anything we've clocked off.
Get on saints 13.5 and bank a couple a dollars

 

[Renegade]

I know we've just been spanked twice but if you did a poll at the start of the year, most would've said 8ith/9th would be a realistic position for us to end up in with where we've been the past few years.

I think most would've said;

1) Top 8 min
2) Player progression
3) No more 30+ point pastings.

We're on track to fail all 3.

 

[BroncosFever]

I think most would've said;

1) Top 8 min
2) Player progression
3) No more 30+ point pastings.

We're on track to fail all 3.

To be honest, those things really only have happened in the past couple of weeks. It's entirely possible the squad just has been found wanting against the very best teams late in the season.

In regards to progression, I can't really name a player who has gone backwards.

The Dragons game will tell us more.