A call out to the students of the game...

Tiger_heart

Tiger_heart

Well-known member
Has it come down to the tactical switch (Brooks at 6, with Hastings running the show) or have there been other changes - eg I think we were moving up in defense a lot more than sliding; the kick from Hastings to Nofa was something that was tried at training?; lots more dummy half speed/service? How did our tactics upset Parra, did we play a faster game, a la 2005?

Enlighten me, please 😎
 
The team that played today is more like the team Madge wanted,we still have AD,TT AJ to come back and it will be full steam ahead...Hastings is a master leader he showed that today...If he wasnt suspended for 3 matches we would be in a far better position,we would have won 2 of those games...things are starting to gel for Madge,I have said it before he is a good coach with an inept squad but now they are starting to realise whats needed to compete at this level...
I hope this has helped mate.....
 
Chicken_Faced_Killa said:
They seemed to want it as a team today. Haven seen that committed unity all year. Maybe being slammed by everyone was what they needed
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I think this is probably more the case. There was a fair bit of siege mentality to that performance.
Is it sustainable? big test next week.
 
Numbers on their vacks mean nothing..played the same today as the Storm Game..unfortunately Hastings got suspended game 2 and missed the following 3 games causing disruption with different combinations in the spine in each game.. back now hopefully combinations can grow and the injury to young Jake is not to serious..

Brooks still did most of the general kicking even with 6 on his back...
 
Depth in attack, offloads, limited one-out runs, attitude in defence, urgency, more discipline (although this can improve).

We played a game of footy today, unlike the netball we've been playing every other game.

Hastings running the show definitely helped; Brooks is just not an organiser...wasn't everything though.
 
The difference today was our attacking intent, we used the ball rather than protect it.
We had depth, used decoys, had support plays and collapsed the Eels defence creating some options wide.
We also attacked in defence at the right times as well.
You can't win games on defence alone, we need to score points.

Our defence though is causing teams alot of frustration which last year wasn't the case. Cayless has done a very very good job so far on this.

Today Laurie, Hastings and Simpkin was directing the middle with Brooks roving out the back using our backrowers how they should - bash or decoy plays rather than just bash all the time. When we looked lost one of those 3 stepped in and made a decision. They also were supportive of the forwards in the middle as well something else we have lacked.

Our confidence was high, they played hungry and to win. Lets hope it's not a blip as they showed something that could cause a few teams some problems.
 
I think a lot has to be mentioned about our intentions to slow down the ruck we copped a lot of penalty’s but the boys backed it up with solid defence made a huge difference
 
Built the win on resilience in defense after the ref slaughtered us in H1. Clear plan to straighten the attack and give brooks room to isolate their B/C defender. We told them all week brooks would run which was cheeky. We failed to put them away at 20-10, 20-16 and nearly paid dearly. In the end we had the luck we have not had earlier in the year, but you make your luck in the effort areas. Brooks and Laurie and obviously Hastings were inspired.
 
I think the Tigers executed a few plays without errors, were rewarded with points and played with more confidence.
The forwards seemed to be in position ready to run more often which may be due to Hastings' communication.

The first receiver can force the opposition defence to make decisions and create space by running at the line between 2 players, committing them to the tackle then passing to where the space is. Brooks has been doing that, but we also need people to make something out of that bit of space.

It doesn't matter what numbers the spine wear, between them they need to manage the game, create space from first receiver, create line breaks using that space and backup any line breaks to convert them into tries.
 
The sweeping backline movements were in total contrast to what we've shown to date. There were some really complex formations, varied lines from forwards and it was lethal with Parra unable to stop us. If anything we had fewer chances this week then the last few but just always finished. I think we earnt those situations in prior games but just fell apart when we had the advantage.

I'm surprised at how much better we were. I'm surprised we have those backline movements in us.

This isn't sophisticated analysis but it must just be the impact Hastings had in orchestrating it.
 
Geo said:
Numbers on their vacks mean nothing..played the same today as the Storm Game..unfortunately Hastings got suspended game 2 and missed the following 3 games causing disruption with different combinations in the spine in each game.. back now hopefully combinations can grow and the injury to young Jake is not to serious..

Brooks still did most of the general kicking even with 6 on his back...
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Hastings did not run the team against Melbourne, nor did he against Newcastle.
He clearly ran it today. You are not giving him enough credit.
 
I posted before the start of the game that Madge was more relaxed than I’ve seen him for ages. Possibly because he let the players do more of the talking.
As Sheens mentioned 20 years ago, when he was asked about what he had learned, “people do things for their own reasons.” There was a definite change in ownership of the on field performance.
There was obviously a lot more effort, but the motivation was a result of the commitment to each other. That’s only ever been there in small doses.
We’re back in the game. 😁
 
Geo said:
Numbers on their vacks mean nothing..played the same today as the Storm Game..unfortunately Hastings got suspended game 2 and missed the following 3 games causing disruption with different combinations in the spine in each game.. back now hopefully combinations can grow and the injury to young Jake is not to serious..

Brooks still did most of the general kicking even with 6 on his back...
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I wonder if Brooks has been kicking under pressure every game because it’s his job as a halfback to create his own space, having Hastings direct the play for a kick, allowed Brooks to just react as the set was organised for him.
 
It’s simple more points of attack and good management around the ruck. We have been crying out for someone to play first receiver and a hooker who could be dynamic and create space for a decent playmaker running wide. Brooks has been playing that first receiver role for a while with no one skilled enough running wide and no creative hooker so easy to shut down one out. Getting a ball playing lock was meant to be the solution and is for a lot of teams that split the playmakers side for side however peachy has been a failure at that role doesn’t make the space for the outside and Hastings did it perfectly tonight as well as Simpkin being a genuine threat. That gave brooks and Laurie room to move wider.
Hastings also managed to get the team into shape when we got into the attacking end which is a big improvement
 
Better engagement from dummy half. Simpkin had the forwards running onto the ball at speed. Quick service to the halves. Last week with Liddle he was so slow and offered nothing. Sometimes he would spin around and give the ball to a flat-footed forward.

Hastings used Luciano and Kelma at the front of a block play quite often. These guys continuously got us quick plays of the ball.

Our goal line defence has been decent all year, so I'm not surprised we were able to deny them as often as we did.
 
Luke Brooks #1 Fan said:
Better engagement from dummy half. Simpkin had the forwards running onto the ball at speed. Quick service to the halves. Last week with Liddle he was so slow and offered nothing. Sometimes he would spin around and give the ball to a flat-footed forward.

Hastings used Luciano and Kelma at the front of a block play quite often. These guys continuously got us quick plays of the ball.

Our goal line defence has been decent all year, so I'm not surprised we were able to deny them as often as we did.
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It wasn't that long ago when I said Simpkins service was poor and he was dropped.
The thing is he's a baby but obviously he's learning and today he was awesome.
Tragic that he got injured.
Next year he is going to be a great understudy to Kori and if retained will be be our number 1 hooker for a while.
Rua will be next....perhaps?
 
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