Worst Defence

[Flutterby]

AN alarming lack of fitness stands as a root cause behind the rot that is again setting into the Broncos' defensive line this season.

Despite belting the hapless Cronulla Sharks 44-16 last Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak, 14th-placed Brisbane still own the worst defensive record in the NRL.

Ahead of tomorrow night's round 7 clash against the Bulldogs at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, Ivan Henjak's troops have leaked 169 points this season.

The Broncos' last-placed defence stands poles apart from the NRL's benchmark tackling teams - the Dragons, Storm, Sea Eagles and Titans. By comparison, NRL leaders St George Illawarra have leaked only 65 points in 2010, at 10.8 points a match.

Wayne Bennett's men have also coughed up 123 fewer missed tackles, or 19 fewer a game, than Brisbane.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/bri ... 5856622896

OK, this is not earth-shattering news - we all know the Broncos defence is pretty shite ATM. However I firmly believe a large part of the reason is that we have so many young guys (still eligible for U20s) playing in our NRL squad. As I have mentioned before - defence is hardly evident in pretty much the entire U20s competition. So with us having to use so many young guys it is really showing us up at NRL level, whereas the other "front-running" clubs are using comparatively few young guys in NRL - if they had as many U20 guys playing I guaruntee their defence would be just as bad. I am not making excuses for the Broncos over this, but I am fearful for the future of defence in our game over the next few years as the U20s 'graduate' to NRL in every club. Something needs to be done to address defence at U20 and junior levels across the board.

I also find this interesting

It is believed a conflict with former high-performance director Dean Benton over the fitness targets being reached by the NRL squad was a major factor that led to Benton's resignation earlier this month.

as I was of the understanding Benton was up there with Billy Johnstone as flogging players in the pre-season to ensure the fittest possible players.

 

[ALH]

Good point about the defence in U/20s Bellamy, Hasler mentioned this issue.

Look at the scores in U/20s.

Bellamy stated that he has to slowly bring up U/20s guys as the defence isn't upto 1st grade level.

 

[Dexter]

Which begs the question, why don't the NRL coaches make it a priority that their u 20 side needs to be drilled in D exactly the same way the NRL side is?

 

[ethos]

I am not making excuses for the Broncos over this, but I am fearful for the future of defence in our game over the next few years as the U20s 'graduate' to NRL in every club. Something needs to be done to address defence at U20 and junior levels across the board.

Bring back reserve grade and ditch the U20s. icon_thumbs_u

As for the Broncos I think the cause of our poor defence goes beyond the youth of the squad. It's got more to do with structure and technique. The team's defence was terrible last year as well, they got it together at the end of the year but they need more consistency throughout the season. The Broncs also concede a ridiculous amount of offloads and have done so for a long time. As for a solution.. change the defensive coach perhaps?

 

[Flutterby]

Yep agree with you Ethos. I did say the youth was a large part - but it is not the entire reason.

As far as I am aware Peter Ryan was not replaced, so we currently have no defensive coach at all - which certainly wouldn't be helping.

From a Broncos perspective I would have preferred we continued with the philosophy Bennett espoused when U20s first came in, that we were still going to play our best U20s in the Q-Cup instead. Although even he didn't stick to that policy for long - one has to wonder why and if the NRL put some kind of pressure on the clubs to play their best juniors in the U20s as opposed to any other comp.

 

[Coxy]

Yep agree with you Ethos. I did say the youth was a large part - but it is not the entire reason.

As far as I am aware Peter Ryan was not replaced, so we currently have no defensive coach at all - which certainly wouldn't be helping.

From a Broncos perspective I would have preferred we continued with the philosophy Bennett espoused when U20s first came in, that we were still going to play our best U20s in the Q-Cup instead. Although even he didn't stick to that policy for long - one has to wonder why and if the NRL put some kind of pressure on the clubs to play their best juniors in the U20s as opposed to any other comp.

I think because the NYC is telecast on Foxtel (at least some games) there is pressure to ensure the product is quality.

Though frankly 48-42 scorelines are not indication of quality to me. Joe Average who doesn't really care would enjoy watching all the tries though I'm sure.

 

[thedman]

Am I understanding that last para correctly re: Benton - his targets were too low and he didn't have the team fit enough, which lead to his resignation? or did he resign because the the team weren't achieving the fitness targets he set? ie. he wanted them to be fitter and resigned because they weren't putting the work in?

 

[Flutterby]

Well given that the crux of the article is saying that lack of fitness has been identified as a reason our defence is so bad and the players are now doing added fitness sessions during the season, I took interpreted it as the first reason.

Though as I said, this surprises me - from my (albeit limited) experience with Benton and his staff, the second reason would have been more likely

 

[Bucking Beads]

Defence has been a problem at Brisbane for a number of years even in 2006 when we won the Premiership. I would have liked Ivan to work more on defence since he started as coach. Maybe he has but it just ain't working I am not sure.

 

[ddd]

Defence has been a problem at Brisbane for a number of years even in 2006 when we won the Premiership. I would have liked Ivan to work more on defence since he started as coach. Maybe he has but it just ain't working I am not sure.

IIRC, the start of 2006 was poor defensively, we turned that around to be best defensive team in the comp, you'd think some of the kids could look at the tapes to see what they should be doing.

 

[tkday]

Surely it's time to find some new assistant coaches? If we don't improve our defense this coming game with the Knights I am gonna rage so hard.