Same as every week.
Some may disagree, but I don't think the issue is a talent problem. We definitely lack talent in the halves, but across the rest of the field we have a much better squad than a lot of teams sitting well above us on the ladder. Talent doesn't explain woeful defensive efforts which see opposition players either barge right over with little effort, or stroll in down the sideline untouched. Not an exaggeration - Alex Johnston jogged into the in-goal to score a try without a hand even being laid on him tonight... how that can happen in first grade football is nothing short of astonishing.
I don't care if our attack isn't clicking because we lack the spine to make it work, there is NO excuse for poor defence. You don't need superstar halves or a CS9 type hooker to defend.
I think it's half attitude and half a lack of structure - it can't just be the players not caring, scrambling and showing up for each other.. A lot of the time it genuinely looks like they don't know what they're meant to be doing or where they're meant to be in defence. We get caught out for numbers so commonly out wide that it's frankly unbelievable. This is coaching - this is making sure the players have structures and systems in place to work as a cohesive unit. Defence isn't about relying on the talent of individual players, its about creating a system whereby any average old dumb-as-rocks player can slot in and know exactly where to be and what to do and all that is required is the heart, fitness and discipline to stick to it. We either have no such system or the system is completely flawed - throw it out and start again. This should have been an absolute priority for Kevvie and so far I see very little difference from last year. Even Under 9s can mark up on an opposition player, this is as elementary as it gets.
The same is true of attack, we have absolutely no direction, no shape and no structure. There's a reason a kid like Walker can get dropped into a Roosters side decimated by injury and still look good - because their attack is structured and systematic.. players have a simple job, know what it is and just have to do their bit and the whole machine runs like clockwork. It's painfully obvious watching the Broncos that this isn't the case - we have no direction, structure or cohesion, ESPECIALLY once we concede points, then everything just falls in a heap and we panic and make it up on the spot, relying on individual brilliance to get us across the line. This is definitely a halves problem, but also a coaching problem... We should be implementing a VERY simple, basic, easy to understand system which anyone can run and execute and sticking to it - we don't have the cattle in key positions to run a complicated, Storm-esque attacking juggernaut? Fine. I'd settle for a no-frills, consistent, smart, grinding attack which at least has the team all working together rather than running around like a bunch of headless chooks. Again, Kevvie has yet to deliver any improvement on last year.
We can go to market for any players we want and throw money at anyone - the problems on the field won't improve until we implement some real structure on both sides of the ball.
My take on this is a bit different, and a lot of what I am saying has been posted often. I reckon Kevvie does coach structures, shapes, and defence etc.. It's just that the side isn't within cooee yet of having the confidence and thus composure under pressure to implement what he coaches.
I don't think the players are dumb, it's just that they do dumb things as soon as consistent pressure is applied either by a well organised, rushing defence or swiftly executed, well organised attack. This explains why we did well against the Dogs, who like us can't apply or respond to consistent pressure. However we simply can't handle the pressure against the better teams like Souths last night. The players panic, bunch, make poor decisions, structures fall apart, execution goes to shit, and then the players hang their heads after the confidence is bashed out of them. It's largely the same as last year.
This side is simply too raw and inexperienced yet to handle what the top side dish out - top sides who largely have settled rosters with a quality spine and good kicking games. A few stars don't hurt their chances either. Mitchell last night terrorised us. Reynolds led Souths really well. They played the new rules to perfection, as will the Panthers next week.
When Souths applied the blowtorch in defence, cutting down our time to react and execute our attacking shapes, that was it. We lost all composure.
Those young kids simply panicked when a wave of slick fast and well executed attack was launched at them. Our edges lost shape, players were too slow to react and tries were easily let in.
There's no fix for this other than the side staying together and just focusing on doing the basics as well as can be. Keeping the side settled will go a long way to help the process. The poor recruitment over the years is really really exposing us.
I also don't think this can be blamed on any one player, and, what is bloody obvious as we all know, is that we have no proper leadership out there to help the kids keep it together, and last night they just lost it, as they will again next week. BUT, what I did see last night was a definite improvement in our middle defence. In patches, we actually rushed the attack and we pressured them and their plays broke down.
This year is going to be a long, slow painful process of learning to handle pressure, maintaining composure and then slowly we will see things improve. However, with only 1 genuinely experienced playmaker and no genuine captain, it's going to take a long time.