LIVE GAME Round 4 v Warriors

Live Game Discussion
I hated we lost like that, but it was a fair call. Ball knocked back, then propelled forward by Lote into the hands of the guy who knocked it backwards oiginally, he reaches out, and plants it short, no one has a hand on him and he still has control of the ball, so he has a second go at it.
Rowdy and Tuqiri needed to do better. Moltzen needed to do something.
 
I wonder why every tackle isn't attempted this way 🤔

Must be a reason 🤔
It comes right back to the way kids are taught to tackle now. Gone are the days, except in the very young grades, where contact is around the hips as it leads to quick ptb and you can't control the ruck.

If you go back; the root cause was the change from the defensive side being back 5m to 10m. The typical tacking style did not align as the attacking team had such an advantage agaisnt the retreating defence. Holding down in the tackle became the counter, referees countered that by penalsing the defenders, so the defenders changed the tackling style to keep the attackers on their feet where they can. This is why leg drive at the point of contact became so important. And the list goes on from there.

Getting up and under the ball has always been an effective technique but the opportunity is not always there to effect that style of tackle. No forward worth their salt will willingly present the ball in that manner. Players are taught to drop just prior to contact (lowering head hight) put the bumpers up (raising both arms to protect the ball) and push through the tackle (leg drive) with a best outcome fo breaking the tackle and achieving an offload or PCM. OF course this doesn't alway happen for a number of reasons - but the counter is the gang tackle where player one wraps the ball to prevent the offload and prevent the attacker from gettign the the ground and the the drive is countered by the second plyer in and the third takes the player to the ground with players 1 and 2 turning him on his back and 90 degress to the line of attack (again where possible) effecting a dominat tackle and being rewarded with a slow play the ball. This is why there has been such an increase in head knocks on both sides of the ball.

I think the resoution to the problem is in the hands of the officials. If we want the tackles to be lower we have to reward the defenders as the game is all about risk v reward. Curently if you axe an attacking player you have to immediately release and let them get to their feet. Giving you no control over the ruck and having the defence scrambiling. There is no line speed, no cohesion and teams would simply fall apart. If there is a second player in he is penalised for a flop.

If however, the defender was rewarded for a legs tackle there would be an immediate change in behaviour. This could potentially be implimented if a head on legs tackle was considered to be a dominant tackle and a second player was allowed in to control the ruck allowing for a set defence. We would also see the return of the round the body pass and front rowers playing like Artie.

Give me the keys for the day and this is where I woudl take it. Mind you I would also bring back contested scrums with the ball going into the middle; mind you scrums would only be for double knock ons - with all other offences being a handover.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Back
Top