@stryker said:
I have no proof as I have never, ever, not once, ever claimed we could defend our line and for the friggen 100th time…I AGREE WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES AND ATTITUDES!!!!!
I have also never been a fan of promoting the kids the way we do but when you have a club so mismanaged and with talent scouts who couldn't be bothered looking further than their postcode, you end up with a side like ours.
Stryker has it…
this week bar the current game, from a quick count ( so yes the numbers may be fractionally off) out of 42 try's, 25 were scored by centres and wingers. Now thats a fair cross section of the current game utilising outside backs as the targets for scoring, I dont think you can argue that, its common knowledge, those numbers pretty good.
Until Rnd 8, barring a ass kicking by the Bunnies, and round 1 managing 19 points, the other 6 rounds we scored 20+ points a game, thats a respectable amount of points to be scoring.
Then comes rounds 9-11, we lose 3 on the trot. Pumped by the Rorters pack, and impotent vs. the Knights and Cowboys. The pitchforks come out, though different to the earlier season gripes of having leads and capitulating... now the torches have become effigies of Taylor, apparently he is coaching the attack out of us.
Honestly, the 5 hit-ups and bomb was there the whole time, sure its boring, though Unless we were dominated by big packs as we were in the Bunnies and Rooters game, it provided the field position for us to score points... Winning and the haters werent vocal, it was crickets not critics.
So... we go back to the beginning of the post. Wingers and centres being the pointy end of every offensive unit. The 3 rounds that caused this new Taylors coached attack out of us crowd, our centres have been a rookie in Hoeter and Lawrence past it Im afraid. Seeing that neither of them can remotely be considered offensive weapons, and neither of our wingers noted high fliers, we are handcuffed, plain and simple. Many games its only the wingers and centres scoring all the tries, its a fact. If you parlay that into the defensive mindset of oppositions who would be coached into knowing this, how easy is their defensive structure to hold us out? We are so little a threat out wide its almost not worth worrying about.
Simona has been gone since round 9\. the points drought no coincidence. If you have just a little freakyness out wide defences have to respect it, it alters defensive shapes... We have had the slowest backline by miles over the 3 weeks, Richards, Hoeter, Lawrence and Kev.
I dont think Brooks and Moses have been setting the world on fire at all, though no matter who the halves were, even Thurston and Jesus Christ himself would struggle with that backline. Its just not up to standard, and by a long shot.
