[RUMOR] Griffins future in doubt, Bennett/Walters to coach?

[Big Pete]

You make some fair points qlderxxxx, don't let me convince you otherwise but I'll just throw my last 2c in before I call it a night.

Hook made changes before the Origin period but had to rely on pre-existing structures when it became clear that those adjustments weren't going to work during that time.

Thaiday was kept in the front row position due to a shortage of front row forwards. Both McGuire and Hannant suffered calf injuries which forced them on the sideline for long stints at a time and gave Brisbane little option.

 

[jarro65]

Sounds like we might have missed the boat on Kevvie anyway :sad:

 

[pagey]

Exactly! !

 

[pagey]

Yeah okay who under performed and who did we have to replace them?

 

[pagey]

Exactly! !

Ok watching roosters and rabbits tonight , finishing one and two, obviously where we aspire to be. Can someone please point out where the amazingly coached attack was. From what I saw it was individual brilliance , Inglis, SBW . Or defensive error. My point is do we need a better attack coach , or better attacking players.

Exactly! !!!

 

[Brett]

The Roosters defence is tremendous. All their big guys look fit, strong and lean. Look at SBW, the guy doesn't have an inch of fat on his body. The whole Roosters defensive line moves up quickly and as a unit. It's good to watch. I actually think attacking wise, we are at least on par with the Roosters, but our defence is light years behind.

 

[Mister Wright]

One thing the Roosters do well is hav the halves pass to each other. I creates doubts in the minds of the defence. It's something we started doing with Hunt & Prince together and we've looked better for it.

 

[coreyh88]

They use their backrowers like we did last year. Though I'd say we use the second man play/shifting it wide better than they do. Our attack hasn't been horrible this season (when we've had more than one outside back on the park) it's been the inconsistent performance of forwards (commitment), poor kicking game and mostly poor defence around the ruck with no line speed.

 

[Steve Renouf]

That's great advice, you should take it

[MOD EDIT] Adds nothing to discussion.

 

[rnabokov]

If that was true rna we wouldn't have seen the changes we did in Round 20 when he had the opportunity to make changes.

It's unfair to single Hook out for last night's inadequacies.

To blame it on alleged arrogance or ego is just a lazy over-exaggeration.

As I watch the replays, a few things strike me as clear cut. Hook has brought nothing new to the way we play, and IMO, has created plays which fail to use the specific skills and talents of key players.

He has done this for 2 years now.

He has failed to instill structure and discipline. One key element of structure and discipline is consistently keeping straight line defence, not broken like a Swiss cheese, especially up the middle, sliding forward, not just side ways and critically, defensive line speed. At times, we did it well, but mostly ... well, our stats and results speak for themselves.

Just watch Manly and the Roosters. Consistent, disciplined and fast.

In attack, his repertoire of set plays is seriously limited and rigid. He has not learned to coach adaptation of a structure to a specific situation. Last night left side attack was a good example. We were both overcrowded and too flat. A number of times, a promising start fizzled with the ball carrier running out of support and space.

You can't blame players only for this. Hook has to learn to coach awareness, a kind of mental as well as visual peripheral vision. Players have to know where everyone is in relation to them, and the structure. Then, the structure can change when the caller of the play and the players can adjust their positioning once the available space, time and defensive line positioning is seen.

A good coach also knows the value of inspiring his key play makers to improvise. At least Hunt looks like he has that quality inbuilt but he can't do it if his supports are running the same patterns and lines, and the space available is over crowded.

That's why I say that to me, Hook seems stuck in his own little world and seems reluctant to adopt alternatives, or just plain stubborn, like Henjak.

I will however give him credit for at least thinking about a forward passing game style, as well as positioning Gillett at last so he can have the opportunity of showing more of his enormous talent and belatedly giving Hunt the chance to play where he should have been years ago.

Maybe Hook just needs to relax a bit more?

The End.

 

[Big Pete]

That's exactly what I wanted to see rna. I challenged you and you made some fantastic points. EVERY member should read this post because you highlight many areas that need to be addressed in 2014.

I'm positive heading into the future. Hook has made mistakes a long the way but there have been positive signs in the last few months and I'm willing to give him next season to convince me he has what it takes. If not, let's go out and buy a coach who can instill the championship values we long for.

 

[rnabokov]

Thanks for that BP. I confess I really really want to like Hook. He made a promising start and I hope he is humble enough to be willing to try new ways of doing things.

I agree that Hook ought to coach next year with the proviso that we can get a decent fitness fanatic with good credentials to make this side lean, mean, hungry and ... mobile.

And I still maintain that even without Barba, we have the players to be a top 4 side

 

[qlderxxxx]

You make some fair points qlderxxxx, don't let me convince you otherwise but I'll just throw my last 2c in before I call it a night.

Hook made changes before the Origin period but had to rely on pre-existing structures when it became clear that those adjustments weren't going to work during that time.

Thaiday was kept in the front row position due to a shortage of front row forwards. Both McGuire and Hannant suffered calf injuries which forced them on the sideline for long stints at a time and gave Brisbane little option.

And why were we short on front rowers? Lack of foresight again, didn't replace Petero, a player we knew we only had for one year.

 

[Big Pete]

And why were we short on front rowers? Lack of foresight again, didn't replace Petero, a player we knew we only had for one year.

Maybe but I don't think anybody realised what impact the loss of Civoniceiva would have on the team.

I don't remember many if any complaining about a lack of prop forwards.

He has since addressed the problem by signing Kennedy.

 

[rnabokov]

Ben Hannant is too nice.

Hook needs to read him some chapters from the Book of Revelations and get some righteous anger burning in him, and a big mouth to keep the pack just as angry.

 

[coreyh88]

Ben Hannant is too nice.

Hook needs to read him some chapters from the Book of Revelations and get some righteous anger burning in him, and a big mouth to keep the pack just as angry.

I don't think he has the potential to ever have mongrel. Not that that's a bad thing. Moose and parker have enough between them especially with Kennedy. This is why thaiday doesn't make a good captain though. He needs that mongrel to make him good but lost It when he gained the captaincy. Just see how he performed in origin without the burden of a c or 60+ minutes. That's what we need again. If so I think we will have the best forward pack going except possibly the sharks.

 

[nostradamus]

Thanks for that BP. I confess I really really want to like Hook. He made a promising start and I hope he is humble enough to be willing to try new ways of doing things.

I agree that Hook ought to coach next year with the proviso that we can get a decent fitness fanatic with good credentials to make this side lean, mean, hungry and ... mobile.

And I still maintain that even without Barba, we have the players to be a top 4 side

A LEOPARD CANT NEVER CHANGE ITS SPOTS. End of story for HOOK. I cannot see him change he is way to conservative. DEAR LORD WE CAN ONLY PRAY FOR A BELLAMY OR ROBINSON STYLE COACH. AMEN.

 

[Waynesaurus]

Foxsports is saying Kristian Woolf is being included in consideration for the Cowboys job.