Areas That Need Fixing for 2017

[Sproj]

Attitude is the glaring issue. We need to get a ruthless streak put into the team. They are the best side in the comp when they want to be, unfortunately that is few and far between. We usually play to whatever level the team we are playing goes at.

Case in point is every Cowboys game. Every game we start running away from them only to drop it, take the foot off the gas, etc. Obviously, some of that comes back to their big boppers they have coming back on late but most of it is due to dropped balls, lazy tackles or just plain stupidity.

 

[bazza]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the signing of David Mead is a good one. I think Pearson and Opacic have been good in the games they've played, but they are probably playing top grade a little before even they expected.

think Mead will fix our lack of ability in defusing kicks, as well as giving us another attacking edge. I'm not sure if he's lost a pit of pace, but he was one of the fastest players in the comp at one stage. He's had a few injuries, which I'm not sure he fully overcame this season. Hopefully he can regain his speed and off the mark acceleration. I can't wait to pair him up with Roberts. Together they can be lethal.

With the exception of Oates and Kahu It'll be the first time since Yow Yeh that we'll have a winger who has speed to burn and actually finish a try.

I think it also allows Kahu to play left centre, where he's probably been most dangerous. He'll easily set up Oates for a fair few tries.

 

[Wolfie]

I think we need to fix up why we have picked up so many shoulder injuries this season, or have we just been unlucky?

 

[Allo]

I think we need to fix up why we have picked up so many shoulder injuries this season, or have we just been unlucky?

Thinking about this the other day, at least with our team, it's become what the ACL was 5-10 years ago when every team just about had a starting player do one. I don't know if it's tackling technique, the wrestle from the defence or just plain biscuity-ness, but man do we need a break from them.

 

[abashii]

I think we need to fix up why we have picked up so many shoulder injuries this season, or have we just been unlucky?

I'm not sure we did pick up all that many, did we? As far as I remember, Opacic injured his shoulder in the ISC, Gillett did his in Origin, Reed did his a million times over the last 4 years. The only players I can think of besides Reed who has been carrying issues for years are Oates and Kiko. Oates did his when Ben Matulino was allowed to shoulder charge him without penalty, and Kiko did his when a Stotm player, Vunivalu I think, shoulder charged him at the end of a game unnecessarily without penalty. So we were a bit unlucky and if the NRL actually enforce shoulder charge rules we'll be fine next year.

 

[bazza]

I think we need to fix up why we have picked up so many shoulder injuries this season, or have we just been unlucky?

I'm more concerned with the individual cases of Reed and Opacic. They really can't be more similar. Even the shoulder injuries.

 

[Number6]

Agree shoulder issues are a worry. Would be worth looking at tackling techniques and training loads. Also lack of depth causing us to play injured players, it's not acceptable to risk shortening players careers just because we can't trust our younger players.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

I reckon that we need to use our hands more when we have the ball , watching the other teams spread when they have it they find more gaps.
we were doing it in some games which we found more gaps. More of that 'more tries'

 

[bazza]

I reckon that we need to use our hands more when we have the ball , watching the other teams spread when they have it they find more gaps.
we were doing it in some games which we found more gaps. More of that 'more tries'

I agree. We need better ball movement and changes of direction. One out running is not going to work especially when our pack is quite lightweight in comparison to other packs. Instead, we need to play an uptempo style which troubles bigger teams and tires them out early. This allows us to dictate the match and makes the opposition play how we want the game to be played. We need to play a style where we can utilise our skill rather than trying to play like the opposition. We also need specific gameplans which can target the oppositions weaknesses.

The perfect example is the Melbourne match, where right from the onset we moved the ball around and limited the involvement of their big forwards. Melbourne's greatest strength is their forward pack and their control of the ruck. The best way to limit that is to eliminate that aspect of the game altogether.

By spreading the ball with long passes, what you're effectively doing is stretching their defence, which is otherwise very compressed. By stretching the defence, your not allowing them to get 3 or 4 players in the tackle, and as a result they're now having to make one on one tackles, far more often than they ever would. This doesn't let them wrestle and slow down the play the ball, and it can allow us to win the ruck as well as generate a quick play the ball. This creates a staggered defensive line and its when then the likes of Hunt and Milford can really shine and can play what's in front of them with changes of direction, speed and footwork around the ruck.

Melbourne are a team who like to be in control, but it also means they panic when the match doesn't pan out the way they would of liked. When they're faced with unstructured play, their defence don't know how to react. Gaps start opening and soon enough their defence breaks down and it forces them into playing a way which is outside of their comfort zone. They aren't good at chasing points, and when they're forced to play catch up footy, they really struggle. They start to force passes which they otherwise wouldn't, their defence stops communicating, they struggle to react to what's happening in front of them, their gameplan goes out the window and soon enough they self implode.

If you try to beat Melbourne at their own game, which surprisingly many teams still foolishly try, then your going to have a tough night. This sort of style isn't exclusive to Melbourne, since a lot of teams have copied Melbourne and have become so structured these days, especially in their defence. If your able to unsettle those structures, you're going to go a long way towards winning the game.

I wish we went into more games with a tactical gameplan designed specifically for the team we're playing, which ultimately aims to break down specific aspects in the oppositions style of play.

 

[Morkel]

The only thing that we need to win a GF is a healthy roster. We have the players, I absolutely believe that. Last night proved that you can have the best forwards in the game, big fuckers, but you make mistakes, get fatigued, you'll get split apart by the better teams. Bigger players just fatigue quicker. If we can keep the same players on the park, we get better cohesion, less errors, we have the skill to capitalise already.

 

[Fernando]

I rate our kicking game the worst in the comp, so that's the obvious area to improve IMO. Whether it will improve is another story.

And like a lot have said, front rowers. I'd love to sign Vaughan or someone similar and play McGuire at lock.

 

[Cult]

I rate our kicking game the worst in the comp, so that's the obvious area to improve IMO. Whether it will improve is another story.

And like a lot have said, front rowers. I'd love to sign Vaughan or someone similar and play McGuire at lock.

I know the Bulldogs can't really claim to have a kicking game but surely you can see that their kicking game is worse than ours?

 

[bazza]

The only thing that we need to win a GF is a healthy roster. We have the players, I absolutely believe that. Last night proved that you can have the best forwards in the game, big fuckers, but you make mistakes, get fatigued, you'll get split apart by the better teams. Bigger players just fatigue quicker. If we can keep the same players on the park, we get better cohesion, less errors, we have the skill to capitalise already.

Well its the same if you have the smallest pack. You keep turning over possession, your going to be forced to defend a lot. That extra defence takes its toll on any team, regardless of size. The only difference is, if your pack is small, defending against bigger opponents becomes increasingly hard, whereas if you have one or two players who can stand up against the opposition pack, and then bend the line with ball in hand, it goes along way to shifting the momentum back in your favour when your on the backfoot, pinned in your own half.

Too often we get bullied by bigger teams, and we struggle to get out of our half because he have no one who can get us back on the front foot. I strongly believe in order to go to the next level, we're one or two big forwards short. Players who can get us rolling forward again to relieve some pressure off of our defence.

 

[Morkel]

Well its the same if you have the smallest pack. You keep turning over possession, your going to be forced to defend a lot. That extra defence takes its toll on any team, regardless of size. The only difference is, if your pack is small, defending against bigger opponents becomes increasingly hard, whereas if you have one or two players who can stand up against the opposition pack, and then bend the line with ball in hand, it goes along way to shifting the momentum back in your favour when your on the backfoot, pinned in your own half.

Too often we get bullied by bigger teams, and we struggle to get out of our half because he have no one who can get us back on the front foot. I strongly believe in order to go to the next level, we're one or two big forwards short. Players who can get us rolling forward again to relieve some pressure off of our defence.

You could argue that we were "bullied" by the bigger Cowboys pack in the last quarter of the game. How did they go against the Sharks? The Sharks didn't win because they were bigger or better, they won because they were the least fatigued.

 

[rnabokov]

You could argue that we were "bullied" by the bigger Cowboys pack in the last quarter of the game. How did they go against the Sharks? The Sharks didn't win because they were bigger or better, they won because they were the least fatigued.

Indeed. If the Cows had a week off, I reckon it might have been a very different story


Having said that, the Sharks and Raiders are doing well simply because they let the ball do the work at speed, keep relentless momentum and defend well.

And having said that, that's for mine, pretty much just what we did in 2015.

Oh, and size is over-rated. Technique and attitude is what counts, as well as a 1st class kicking game ... just as effective as a classy monster forward pack if not more

 

[Wolfie]

The only thing that we need to win a GF is a healthy roster. We have the players, I absolutely believe that. Last night proved that you can have the best forwards in the game, big fuckers, but you make mistakes, get fatigued, you'll get split apart by the better teams. Bigger players just fatigue quicker. If we can keep the same players on the park, we get better cohesion, less errors, we have the skill to capitalise already.

Excellent point about having a healthy squad. We carried Milf and Gillett with injuries, lost Reed through injury permanently, and its something that hasnt been reported, but Opacic played that last game with an injury on top of his existing shoulder one, which was a bad one anyway. Macca also had his worst season i can recall with injuries, and we lost our only decent backup for him in Knik. None of that helped.

 

[LittleDavey]

The only thing that we need to win a GF is a healthy roster. We have the players, I absolutely believe that. Last night proved that you can have the best forwards in the game, big fuckers, but you make mistakes, get fatigued, you'll get split apart by the better teams. Bigger players just fatigue quicker. If we can keep the same players on the park, we get better cohesion, less errors, we have the skill to capitalise already.

Unless your name is Taumofuckinglololololololo.



Injuries definitely cruelled us this year, but for mine our weaknesses this year seemed to be:

1) Lack of fitness (injury- and origin-related IMO) - we play like we did against Melbourne and we would beat anyone;
2) Attitude in defence through large parts of the year - somewhat injury-related no doubt, but there was obvious disharmony in the team this year and I hope it's gone by next season; and
3) Game management. Storm lastnight closed the game out with 2 repeat sets as the final plays of the game. I understand Cronk/Smith are demigods BUT we don't have enough control. I really hope Macca/Hunt/Milf/Boyd work on this in the off-season; game management and forcing repeat sets. We don't do it anywhere near enough and it would improve our game massively if we could build pressure.

 

[bazza]

You could argue that we were "bullied" by the bigger Cowboys pack in the last quarter of the game. How did they go against the Sharks? The Sharks didn't win because they were bigger or better, they won because they were the least fatigued.

So by that logic, your saying we got physically dominated by the Cowboys, as well as most other teams during the year, purely because we were more fatigued than our opponents?

I think the Sharks pack took it to the Cowboys pack and had players who could match it physically with the Cowboys pack. We didn't. The Sharks were able to cut down their yardage game. We couldn't. The Sharks made metres out of their end. We didn't

Against the Sharks, the Cowboys got fatigued because of their own wrongdoing. You can't just go into a match, were the opposition is physically bigger than you and hope that they make plenty of unforced error. Your not always going to be presented the opportunities the Sharks were awarded. You can't just hope that they get fatigued to be able to win. You have to have players who can match it with the bigger teams and not get dominated on a regular basis the way our pack does. We have no one big enough to be able stand up to the other forward packs in the comp.