Re: [RUMOUR] Ben Barba to Cronulla
I'm starting to really think that you guys firstly didn't watch many bulldogs games in 2012, and secondly haven't even watched the 11 minute highlights video of Barbas 2012 lol.
having a "monster forward pack" or a coach devising structures around you means jack-**** when the other team boots the ball downfield and Barba carves them up and runs the length of the field by himself to score. he didnt just do this once, or twice, or 3 times - he did it pretty much once a week, either scoring himself or putting someone else in.
Seriously - go watch the video now, then come back and tell me he was only good in 2012 because of the coaching and the forwards.
Fair dinkum, mate we saw the clip and a closer examination of it makes me think it's not as impressive as you're making it out to be.
I am a believer in you can only beat who is in front of you but recent Broncos seasons have caused me to rethink that to a certain extent. It's why I never really got carried away over our strong win against Manly this year as the timing of the game, injuries etc prove to have a big impact. We didn't really build on that win like we should have and they accounted for us pretty easily in the return bout.
Back on Barba, I watched that "season to remember" ciip - not sure if it's the video you're referring to or how much overlap there is but put some of those tries into context. Firstly, support play was an integral part in a lot of them. Since ours at the Broncos has been non-existent the last few years I'm going to say it's something that probably does need coaching and instilling. It's not a given as every team wold be doing it. If some of his Bulldogs team mates aren't playing "Johnny on the spot" then all they are a just fancy linebreaks.
Now let's look at the tries themselves. The clip highlights tries against the Titans, Tigers, Roosters, Warriors and Eels - which all missed the top 8 and most of them finished with pretty woeful defensive records. In fact, the only try I watched that is remotely like the Barba you described was against the Eels who won the wooden spoon that year. I'm guessing he didn't have to sidestep some awesome defense for that one.
His performance against Melbourne in Mackay was outstanding, no argument from me there but in the next encounter (which I guess was the GF) the Storm had him worked out and he probably had his worst game that year.
Seriously ap, if you're going to rely on 2012 form to press Barba's claims you need to be a bit more realistic and less nostalgic.
