Glaring weakness

[TigerBlood93]

I agree we need to help brooks more with defence on his side, few times he’s left to himself. Parra will take full advantage of this. Defence needs to communicate and help brooks. I back brooks to make straight on tackles. I think we also overlook L.Leilu in defence, he needs to be better because he is a gun in attack. Give him and the jet early ball too. Also hope he’s been working on his passing game, none of this behind the attacker in momentum

 

[BAGNF05]

Couldn't really blame Brooks for his tackles last week in my opinion.

When he had that 1 on 1 tackle it was due to his outside man already going in for a tackle, it was just a good quick pass that got him going.

Although I really did not like when Connor Watson and Frizell broke through.. who were the people making them tackles?

to be fair even tho he fell off watson and frizell, his effort to get up after missing watson and then chase after frizell was good to see. wouldve been better if he completed, but also wouldve been better if he had proper support

brooks really does put in the effort, and often doesnt get recognised for it

When Frizell scored his try, he initially missed Tex Hoy. But he was there to make the tackle again. Then he tried to get to Frizell as well. The dude busts his ass.

Some small analysis:
**Tex Hoy try:** Leilua doesn't communicate with Brooks to tell him to slide. Brooks comes in, Talau doesn't follow. Yes Brooks shouldn't have come in, but Talau needed to follow him as soon as he did. This is everyone's fault. All three of Leilua, Brooks and Talau need to communicate better.

**Mitch Barnett try:** This is actually good work from Brailey. He sells our entire defensive line on a feign right. This creates a 2 on 2 - Brailey vs Garner, Barnett vs Douiehi.

**Tyson Frizell try:** Leilua jumps out of the line on Connor Watson when he didn't need to. This leaves Brooks with no one on his inside. Brooks initially misses the tackle on Hoy, but to his credit he comes again to make the tackle on Hoy. He falls over, gets up again and tries to tackle Frizell.
 

Screenshots from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utRKoS_p6Q8


Nice analysis. On the Barnett try, Garner needs to be sliding as soon as the hooker releases the ball and only commit if he dummies. It’s a split second decision and far from easy but he committed too soon and gave Barnett the saloon passage.

Edit: also LL hasn’t moved up on the Tex Hoy try, I also noticed him out of position on Teddy’s try last week. If he’s not playing to the defensive structure I’d imagine he’d be doing some extra video this week.

There's no way Garner could have covered both Brailey and Barnett there. He had Brailey. Brailey did his job of taking Garner out of the play. Sometimes, teams score and there's not much you can do.

Agree to disagree when it comes to marker defense on the try line. That’s a structure you practice every week. Our defensive structure broke down badly there off the back of a late tackle six again.

 

[izotope]

You realise AD is 6'3", the biggest half in the comp.

I also don’t remember him being exposed yet in defence .

Mitch Barnett says hi..

1on1, 1m from the tryline.

Not many are saving that

 

[BAGNF05]

You realise AD is 6'3", the biggest half in the comp.

I also don’t remember him being exposed yet in defence .

Mitch Barnett says hi..

1on1, 1m from the tryline.

Not many are saving that

Agree, gotta get 2 bodies in the frame

 

[Deleted member 3518]

I agree we need to help brooks more with defence on his side, few times he’s left to himself. Parra will take full advantage of this. Defence needs to communicate and help brooks. I back brooks to make straight on tackles. I think we also overlook L.Leilu in defence, he needs to be better because he is a gun in attack. Give him and the jet early ball too. Also hope he’s been working on his passing game, none of this behind the attacker in momentum

It happened last year too . I remember plenty of times Brooks having a barnstorming second rower try and run over him , for Brooks to sit him on his backside . But really that is covering up the fact that the back rower should be in there helping the half .

 

[Russell]

You realise AD is 6'3", the biggest half in the comp.

Still couldn’t stop Barnett on his own when Garner over committed to the marker. The gaps between our halves and their edge forwards are very concerning. I’ve counted 5 or 6 tries conceded through these gaps in 3 games. Hopefully a focus this wk.

know what youre saying but caught wrong footed and 1on1 doesnt make it easier

doueihi could prob work on his tackling a bit, was concerned last year that he opted for a shoulder charge on multiple occaision when running towards maika sivo (as opposed to legs tackle or wrapping his arms)

You do realise that Sivo scores easily if AD tackles him around the legs don't you.

Maybe you should watch the Newcastle game again because on second viewing I saw AD stop Barnett cold after running out of the line, yes he got some help but I only counted one off load after he grabbed him.

Maybe there was a gap in the three games but it wasn't AD against the Raiders - he didn't play.

 

[Russell]

Oh! and by the way guys - people were saying Brooks missed Frizell twice, when he scored that try.

Incorrect, Brooks grabbed at Watson, was pushed off momentarily before tackling him around the legs, jumped up in one motion as Watson had off loaded. After Brooks jumped up he took off after Frizell and almost got to him but wasn't close enough to effect the tackle.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

Oh! and by the way guys - people were saying Brooks missed Frizell twice, when he scored that try.

Incorrect, Brooks grabbed at Watson, was pushed off momentarily before tackling him around the legs, jumped up in one motion as Watson had off loaded. After Brooks jumped up he took off after Frizell and almost got to him but wasn't close enough to effect the tackle.

Got no heart ! He’s a pea heart ...

 

[BAGNF05]

I agree we need to help brooks more with defence on his side, few times he’s left to himself. Parra will take full advantage of this. Defence needs to communicate and help brooks. I back brooks to make straight on tackles. I think we also overlook L.Leilu in defence, he needs to be better because he is a gun in attack. Give him and the jet early ball too. Also hope he’s been working on his passing game, none of this behind the attacker in momentum

It happened last year too . I remember plenty of times Brooks having a barnstorming second rower try and run over him , for Brooks to sit him on his backside . But really that is covering up the fact that the back rower should be in there helping the half .

Young Cleary has bodyguards all around him, rarely gets caught one on one. That’s the blueprint.

 

[BAGNF05]

I get the OP's point but protecting the halves is an eternal struggle for all sides. It's not just about having an enforcer, it's about having a synchronised defensive structure that moves together, gets off the line quickly and knows how to judge attacking structures. It's very difficult for any backrower or such to support the halfback if the fundamental weakenesses of the defence permit the halfback to be regularly isolated.

I think Souths are one of the better sides at this defensive work, because Reynolds and Walker are hardly defensive powerhouses, but Souths are very good at not being drawn out of shape. This was particularly evidenced in the Roosters game last week, even if the Roosters' execution was substantially poorer than against Tigers, Souths were very solid at holding their line and letting Roosters play out their trick shots without over-committing.

Once you have maintained your shape, it's much easier to support the halfback because the opponent hasn't dragged your players out of place. The backrower can have confidence to provide extra commitment to the space that the halfback is covering, because they themselves are being supported in the middle.

If the opposition is actually dominating your middle, then the backrowers tend to defend towards the centre and that's when your halves get isolated.

I agree with @Kazoo-Kid's analysis, although I think more emphasis needs to be made that Brooks' miss on Hoy was technically very poor, and yes the inside defenders didn't help him, but it was a poor miss regardless of any further effort he put in, and, at the time, a crucial miss.

Difficulty for the coach is we don't have that consistent defensive shape worked out yet - we are easily stretched and goaded into defensive mis-reads. We have periods where we battle and work hard for one another, but I wouldn't call it smart defence; there's a lot of scrap and small judgement errors.

You need to get the basic defensive movement down pat before you can start worrying about having specific enforcers to cover your halves.

Nice analysis and I definitely agree with the point you make. We need to get better at our defensive structures for sure. The moments that are killing us in defense are where we lose that structure and for mine it’s been around Garner and both Leiluas mainly , often leaving our halves with too big a task for ‘smaller’ men.

I have faith Madge can improve the structural but not sure about the work ethic of the individuals mentioned. I’d be looking for someone (at market) to give Luciano a bit more of a spell.

 

[southerntiger]

Oh! and by the way guys - people were saying Brooks missed Frizell twice, when he scored that try.

Incorrect, Brooks grabbed at Watson, was pushed off momentarily before tackling him around the legs, jumped up in one motion as Watson had off loaded. After Brooks jumped up he took off after Frizell and almost got to him but wasn't close enough to effect the tackle.

I was confused by that as well. Put it down to usual Brooks haters. How anyone can blame Brooks for tackling his man and then getting up to tackle a second bigger man whilst the boys around him did nothing will do me