GAME PLAN AGAINST KNIGHTS

[snowleopard]

On this forum we tend to comment on games after the event and before the game focus more on who should play as opposed to what the team collectively needs to do to win. Was thinking we should be proactive and develop our own game plan each week and maybe be able to contribute to the performance of our team (and the result) as I am sure some of the coaching staff and players keep an eye on our forum. Anyone interested?

 

[Newtown]

Simple Game Plan.

To the Players - Show much more enthusiasm, determination and teamwork than you did last week.

To the Coach - Only select players who are fit and are not carrying an injury. Do not be afraid to give young up and coming talented players a run - they may be ready sooner than you think they are.

 

[pHyR3]

Good idea, so i was thinking that our defence and kick chase seems to have gotten some real energy in it compared to last year. Defence is average, chase is good compared to other teams.

What potter needs to do is have a really predetermined plan for the forwards in order to maximise their impact on the field. In my completely unprofessional opinion that means allocating minutes per player and TELLING them that, get em working harder/more productively. Don't tell the 80min players they are on for 80 though, say 60 and we'll see how they go. Puts some pressure on them.

my 0.0001 cents :slight_smile:

 

[happy_tiger]

Good kick chase , keep a straight line , keep the kicks away from Uate and Boyd at all times McManus will be a bit tentative
Pressure on the halves in defence No stupid penalties

80% completion rates , lots on inside balls early to work their bigger forwards around

If they have a weakness I think if we can isolate their centres , particularly with Rowdy and Koroibete

Keep the crowd out of the game

 

[system]

I'm in. early season back the fitness. Reckon potter has done better than most here. Kick
Long chase hard, run the opposition fwds around to use interchange. Slow the play the ball and get quick ones.

Great kicking game is needed both attacking and defensive.

A bit depends on the team we pick but if we so the basics smartly we should get this one

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[the_third]

Good kick chase , keep a straight line , keep the kicks away from Uate and Boyd at all times McManus will be a bit tentative
Pressure on the halves in defence No stupid penalties

80% completion rates , lots on inside balls early to work their bigger forwards around

If they have a weakness I think if we can isolate their centres , particularly with Rowdy and Koroibete

Keep the crowd out of the game

Like this. Simple and target the weak
Links

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[innsaneink]

God help us if Potsys on here looking for ideas

Fwiw, we need to win the ruck before anything - easier said than done

 

[Kul]

Just hold the ball.
These guys are talented enough to score points, so a 85% completion rate and greater possession will see us come through in the end.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[cktiger]

It might also help if we don't concede the first 5 penalties…....

 

[innsaneink]

It might also help if we don't concede the first 5 penalties…....

Thats what happens when you lose the ruck…it didnt take long last week

 

[tigerbenji]

If Potter is looking @ the Forum he wouldnt be able to pick a team because none of us can agree on a team.

 

[Goose]

I think they are weak defensively in the centres, I would be trying to isolate both Gagai and Tahu into making defensive deceisions, they both get it wrong alot.

Last year boyd was caught out a bit with good short kicking games, if we can get reasonable field position this is another area we may benefit.

The usuals still apply kick well (and chase well), at least break even in the ruck and keep errors down (not really a game plan, but necessary in every game)

 

[Goose]

one more thing, I think our forwards will have to be a bit clever at times, if we hit it up 1 out, we may struggle, need a couple tap ons, running in pairs with Robbie picking an option and alike, at least try and be one on one at first contact, woods and galloway are reasonable one out, ther others will be dominated, but we have skill in our pack with Blair, Anasta and Fulton, if we use the ball and a bit of sleight of hand it will help dramatically.

 

[stryker]

Bennett was upset last year that no teams feared playing the Knights….much the same as we feel about our side. With a pack including Mason, Snowdon, Smith, Cositgan, Fa'alago and Scott, I suspect we will see a very physical display from their pigs. My game plan would be to try and nullify their influence.

1\. Limit our one off hitups - The Knights are an aggressive pack and will eat our runners alive if we do the usual 'one bloke truck it up' stuff. We have to be creative with our forward running. Gal and Woods can handle it but no one else can. Run the forwards off a combination of Farah @ dummy half and Miller @ 1st reciever to mix it up and keep them guessing.

2\. Downtown kicks - These must find the turf regularly. Uate and Boyd are dangerous broken field runners and to nullify their impact they can not continually recieve the ball on the full at speed.

3\. Pressure their halves - Gidley missed most of last year and Mullen can crack under pressure. I want to see Blair get in their faces constantly and cut their decision times in half.

4\. Centres. We have the better pairing but only when they have the space. Good clean and fast balls must hit our centres regularly. The Knights pairing are a bit suss defensively and should be targetted.

5\. Marshal - Bennett highly rates Benji and will be looking to send a heap of traffic his way to nullify his attack. He must have support in defence.

6\. Anasta - As the Knights forwards will be looking to play an aggressive and tough game, Braith should be used as another ball player. They have some hot heads amongst them and no doubt he will be taken out late occasionally...so be it. That will result in easy field positioning for us through repeated penalties.

7\. Defence - Especially in the middle of the park, this must be tight as a drum. The forwards need to hunt as a pack and get multiple bodies into tackles. The backs need to move up as one and not leave a staggered line that Gidley or Boyd can expose.

All in all, this will be a huge test for the first game. Newwie look like a good side this year and we will have to match it with them in the forwards if we are to be any chance. Bennett has laid down the challenge to his pigs and they will come out firing. We have to contain the initial onslaught and then counter through crafty running and correct decisions. If our forwards get hammered, the score could be quite embarrassing.

 

[innsaneink]

When I see who they have just from Gooses and strykers posts….its a big concern.
Their centers are awesome, gagai is a freak and will go all the way in this game
God help anyone opposing tahu if they get a bad ball and have to stop or turn to catch it....he loves smashing blokes, can put a hit on.....and then the pigs stryker mentiond, aggro and skill, muscle power ...Mullen when he''s on can be terrific, same for Daaahhhrius if its not that time of the month...tough first up -especially up there

 

[TIGER]

Don't let Benji kick the ball. I'll say it every week if I have to.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

They will be a tough first up assignment…

Their Forwards are tough, but outside of Scott & Smith, they will struggle in defense laterally. Many have already mentioned it, but we need quick play the balls and need multiple runners, with the occasional ball movement through the ruck. To achieve this, we need to ensure we feed off the deck from dummy half and do not try to go through their line. We need to touch; drop; and gain another quick play the ball and do it again and again until we catch them going backwards. The new rules will allow us to achieve this or we get the piggy back!

While I do feel their forwards will tire, and running them around sounds logical, I'm also worried how Newcastle always seem to get a good start to there sets from the back 3\. To reduce their meters, we need to kick the ball dead [into touch preferably] as often as field position allows. While this will help their big men by allowing them to get air into there lungs, it will benefit us more in defense. If we cant stop there roll on, we will not be in front on the scoreboard for too long.

Pray for a miracle 20 minutes from Benji Marshall and I'm thinking about taking a draw at 80 minutes at the TAB… Good Luck!!!

 

[snowleopard]

When I see who they have just from Gooses and strykers posts….its a big concern.
Their centers are awesome, gagai is a freak and will go all the way in this game
God help anyone opposing tahu if they get a bad ball and have to stop or turn to catch it....he loves smashing blokes, can put a hit on.....and then the pigs stryker mentiond, aggro and skill, muscle power ...Mullen when he''s on can be terrific, same for Daaahhhrius if its not that time of the month...tough first up -especially up there

I picked Ink's post as it mentions Goose"s and Stryker's posts. Which in conjunction with Happy's ideas seem to be spot on. My initial comments are based on the assumption that Woods was still limping on Saturday night so probably won't play and this I think leaves a huge hole in our limited go forward as we don't have any other player with the same capability to plug the gap. This means that when I look at the Knights pack and Bennetts traditional game plan of tough uncompromising defence and structured attack we are not likely to be able to match let alone get the better of them in the most important forward battle unless we play smart by being patient and wearing them down at both ends of each half.

Defence
To stop their forward momentum and as they probably will be physically bigger than us we will need to get multiple defenders in every tackle and drive them backwards into the ground on their backs so we minimise the offloads and legitimately keep them on the ground for a longer time so we get time to reload ourselves for the next play. There has to be an absolute focus on keeping hands off the ball at all times (especially late in the tackle count) as the refs have signalled that this is an area they will penalise heavily . We saw clear evidence of this last week and also in Robbies comments at the presser when he said it was the only way we could slow down the Roosters forward momentum. To maintain the constant gang tackle mentality how MP uses the bench will be critical and this mentality is the only way I can see we can leverage the advantage of being smaller and more mobile to our advantage.

Make sure Robbie, Milky and Benji put themselves in a position to pressure the 2 knight's kickers . And make sure if Benji jumps out of the line to do this that someone is covering the big hole he invariably leave.

In conjunction with gang tackles we use our kick/chase game to keep turning them around again and again so the bigger pack will tire more easily and lose forward momentum. This means early tackle count kicks to the corners and a great chase. And if we are in their 20 not trying for the magic play rather go for multiple ingoal dropouts to maintain pressure. One of the real positive areas for us this year over previous years has been our kick chase and Robbie, Milky and Benji have excelled.
\
\
Attack (to be continued)

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Bennett was upset last year that no teams feared playing the Knights….much the same as we feel about our side. With a pack including Mason, Snowdon, Smith, Cositgan, Fa'alago and Scott, I suspect we will see a very physical display from their pigs. My game plan would be to try and nullify their influence.

1\. Limit our one off hitups - The Knights are an aggressive pack and will eat our runners alive if we do the usual 'one bloke truck it up' stuff. We have to be creative with our forward running. Gal and Woods can handle it but no one else can. Run the forwards off a combination of Farah @ dummy half and Miller @ 1st reciever to mix it up and keep them guessing.

2\. Downtown kicks - These must find the turf regularly. Uate and Boyd are dangerous broken field runners and to nullify their impact they can not continually recieve the ball on the full at speed.

3\. Pressure their halves - Gidley missed most of last year and Mullen can crack under pressure. I want to see Blair get in their faces constantly and cut their decision times in half.

4\. Centres. We have the better pairing but only when they have the space. Good clean and fast balls must hit our centres regularly. The Knights pairing are a bit suss defensively and should be targetted.

5\. Marshal - Bennett highly rates Benji and will be looking to send a heap of traffic his way to nullify his attack. He must have support in defence.

6\. Anasta - As the Knights forwards will be looking to play an aggressive and tough game, Braith should be used as another ball player. They have some hot heads amongst them and no doubt he will be taken out late occasionally...so be it. That will result in easy field positioning for us through repeated penalties.

7\. Defence - Especially in the middle of the park, this must be tight as a drum. The forwards need to hunt as a pack and get multiple bodies into tackles. The backs need to move up as one and not leave a staggered line that Gidley or Boyd can expose.

All in all, this will be a huge test for the first game. Newwie look like a good side this year and we will have to match it with them in the forwards if we are to be any chance. Bennett has laid down the challenge to his pigs and they will come out firing. We have to contain the initial onslaught and then counter through crafty running and correct decisions. If our forwards get hammered, the score could be quite embarrassing.

i think Newcastle have better centers.

& the game plan should be to stick to Potters plan.

 

[stryker]

On current form I agree X. If our two can recapture the form that saw them ripping sides apart in 2011 though they are superior.

This will be a forwards battle though and the more I think about it, without Woods, the Newcastle forward pack is very dangerous. There is some tough, hard hitting footballers amongst them…I dont envy our blokes at all.

Having said that, they can match it and I am excited to see whether they have improved their attitude from last year.