Defensive issues: an analysis

The easiest way to break it down is they werent scoring through Brooks bar one of the last trys. They were out and out exploiting Lovett and Richards, and doing it easily. They knew they couldnt make sound defensive reads to save their lives. Now while I agree that they probably dont have much faith in Brooks, the opposition had less faith in them and punnished them for it.
 
Likely wouldn't have happened at all if Simona didn't get injured.

Throwing a second rower into the centres and expecting the same game from him isn't fair either.
 
The outside centre burnt Lovett 5 times. Why coudnt Taylor move Brooks/Moses out to the centre position to at least match pace with the outside back ala like both Widdop and Marshall at the dragons?

I dont get Taylors rigid dogmatic approach to stick with his structure. He needs to works on his game day management.

Why have 4 forwards on the bench and not someone who is a backrow/centre to cover in case of injuries?

Not happy and looks like the players arent either.
 
@Black'n'White said:
The easiest way to break it down is they werent scoring through Brooks bar one of the last trys. They were out and out exploiting Lovett and Richards, and doing it easily. They knew they couldnt make sound defensive reads to save their lives. Now while I agree that they probably dont have much faith in Brooks, the opposition had less faith in them and punnished them for it.
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Exactly. It was the slow left side that killed us. It wasn't just Lovett. Simona covers for Richards when he is available. As soon as we lose SImona though we have no chance out wide.
 
Superb breakdown.

@Kidwell, please see the above and just sort it out yeah? Sure jirskyr will even let you use the screenshots!
 
@bp tiger said:
because taylor thinks its his way or the hwy, hitler was the same and that ended not so well.
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Probably contributed to him getting snotted at Souths.
I was just wondering, is there anyone in the team who can throw one? Maybe Lodge?
Interesting thought though.
 
@jirskyr I vote for you to take over from jt, excellent analysis. JT has his head where the sun doesn't shine, you on the other hand have exposed many of the problems although I'm not 100% in agreement with you re Brooks.
 
@Black'n'White said:
I think its pretty rough to be blaming Brooks here…. in all of the frames from the 3 tries down his side thus far, he hasnt created an overlap and is following the play in support, even when drawn in he has bumped off and continued with the play.

To me it just looks like our wingers and centres are muppets, creating overlaps like the had money on a +13.
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Exactly. I think Brooks is going pretty well. We have very slow centres and wingers on that side once Simona is out.

We need some fast outside backs that can defend and score tries. Its that simple. Fix that issue and then worry about anything else.
 
@Black'n'White said:
The easiest way to break it down is they werent scoring through Brooks bar one of the last trys. They were out and out exploiting Lovett and Richards, and doing it easily. They knew they couldnt make sound defensive reads to save their lives. Now while I agree that they probably dont have much faith in Brooks, the opposition had less faith in them and punnished them for it.
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I just want to say one more thing, not to keep going back and forward, you are entitled to your opinion.

But I think it is overly simplistic to say that it's not Brooks fault because the opposite winger scores the tries, or because they don't score through his channel. It doesn't really matter where the try is scored, the point is who makes the first mistake, that causes the defence to unravel?

It's not always Brooks, but I don't think the men inside or out trust him, and he does not recover well if he takes the guy without the ball.

Watch closely next week for how often Brooks physically commits to the decoy. And think to yourself how often, on video ref decisions for possible obstruction, how often it is Brooks who has been collected.

Now compare with some shots of Penrith defending that same play.
 
First few things I notice is that our halves pass the ball too early I think - Wallace and Soward take it much closer to the line on their plays, and they straighten up, which prevents the defence from sliding early. I think we crouch too far across field, we are often executing with narrow field position.

Second thing is how often the ball does not hit the chest of our runner, lots of guys jumping for passes.

Pic 1, marker 1 shows Wallace track the dummy runner, but always leaves him inside left shoulder. Taupau receives and he adjusts, but neither the winger nor centre come charging in.
 
Pic 1, marker 1 - Cartwright is up on the decoy, Wallace is there but staying outside decoy's shoulder. Brooks has let go a good few metres before the line.
Pic 2, marker 1 - Wallace has not committed physically to the marker, he is already moving right. Tedesco has to lean forward for the pass.
Pic 3, marker 1 - Wallace slides, Whare slides, Simmons slides. Nobody has rushed up, they have trusted Wallace to recover the ground. This is actually where Simona gets hurt.
 
@Black'n'White said:
The easiest way to break it down is they werent scoring through Brooks bar one of the last trys. They were out and out exploiting Lovett and Richards, and doing it easily. They knew they couldnt make sound defensive reads to save their lives. Now while I agree that they probably dont have much faith in Brooks, the opposition had less faith in them and punnished them for it.
Click to expand...

But that's half the issue , we have that many issues oppositions can just go from one weakness to another until one works
 
Pic 1, marker 1 - again Brooks gives the ball way short of the defensive line. Cartwright has put himself in front of Lawrence, Wallace is still outside shoulder.
Pic 2, marker 1 - Wallace is already tracking over to Tedesco, who is leaping for the pass. Centre and winger have held their shape.
 
On the other side, Soward often defends at centre, and they do appear to make more rash decisions. I would attack their left side defence more often, but that for us was the Hoeter side, and he is not much of an attacking centre.

Pic 1, marker 1 - Brooks again gives it quite early, dummy runner has already passed him and clearly is not getting the ball. Even so, at marker 2, Soward has come out of the line for really no reason, because they aren't bad for numbers, and Waqa Blake is not committed.

Pic 2, marker 1 - Soward comes all the way in on Tedesco, and makes a good hit. It's probably not the right play, but he sticks and Tedesco does not get the ball away. Also, Hoeter has stopped moving forward, don't know why, he should be expecting a pass, so he can keep his momentum up to beat Blake's cover.
 
Again Penrith's left shape is not good, but Hoeter has had to jump for the pass, giving Mansour time to engage him. Crisp passing probably sees us score here, as Naiqama is unmarked.
 
Another right-side attack.

Pic 1 and 2 - Moses gives it quite early, Sue is nearly standing in front of him. Marker 1 shows the defender Yeo (?) already pulling away from the decoy, with Peachey tight on his shoulder in cover.
Pic 3, marker 1 - Soward starts to back-pedal as Yeo slides. Mansour stays on his man.
 
Jirskyr, this is the best thing I have ever seen on this forum. Really good insight, thank you.

For me what's most interesting is not necessarily the conclusions but the clear illustration of how badly, how quickly and how frequently our defensive structure unravels - and, equally, how shaky our attacking execution is. It's a massive wake-up call, I think, regarding just how poorly coached this side is and how far below first-grade standard many of our players are.

Genuinely, truly depressing.
 
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