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@Love the WestsTigers said:oh shut up Taylor
Just deliver the results you have been hired for
Keep out of the media and focus more on getting the team to win some more games
@innsaneink said:@Eddie said:All this attack v defence is complete garbage.
Players and Taylor are responsible for winning games.
If they score 8 and we score 0 thats a failure for me
If we score 2 and they score 0 thats a triumph
If we score 36 and they score 30 thats a triumph.
If they score 40 and we score 38 thats a failure.
Maybe im an idiot but thats the way i look at it.
Simplistic
@stevetiger said:@jirskyr said:@stryker said:One thing I would like to see mentioned is how this side and it's coaching staff struggle to get the balance right.
Game 1 = Brilliant attack but poor defence
Game 2 = Brilliant attack but average defence
Game 3 = Poor attack but average defence with good patches
Game 4 = Putrid attack but great defence.
The two main aspects of our game are inversely related and until this evens out we are in trouble. Looking at the pattern this year I'd suggest we will revert to how we played in weeks 1&2 and attack well against the sharks but defend poorly.
I agree and disagree.
Your review of the first rounds is perfect and how we've been for a very long time. It's like the players can only concentrate on one aspect of the game at once - either they click in attack, or in defence.
Problem is, it is PROVEN over several years that attacking well and defending poorly will jag some early games, but you end up getting worn down by the better sides running into the finals and you miss the 8\. Write that up as the Tigers Template, to win early games, get everyone excited, some wobblies mid-season then a gradual downhill slide the backend of the season when the opposition has worked us out and our momentum has faltered.
JT says in order to be a consistent Top 8 side, we need to consistently have games with great defence, even if that kills off the attack a little. Plenty of people say this is wrong, but the point JT is making is he doesn't need to teach this team how to attack well and defend like wet tissues, they already have it in spades.
He's trying to teach them to defend well and keep some semblance of attack, then bring the attack back into focus once the defence is regularly good. This is why he always crows about good defensive games, even if we lose. Some supporters lose their mind that a coach can be so optimistic after a loss, but he's trying to change the culture from one that falls back on attack in tight games, to one that falls back on strong defence in tight games.
We saw it yesterday, when Tigers get rattled by committed defence, the attack goes to pot. We saw it Rds 1-3 that if opposition builds attacking momentum we can leak huge amounts of tries.
I think JT wants us to be the Andre Agassi of rugby league - low mistakes, tight defence, always and consistently difficult to beat. That is what the fans want too, not this up and down side, but a team that always goes within 4-8 points of a win. Agassi started off as such a loose player, long hair and jewellery and girlfriends, mentally fragile. Then he shaved his head, got married, toned down the glamour and worked hard on his way up to #1 based on a gameplan of super low errors. Simple and dedicated, not crushing a winner every shot, but staying in every point and punishing the opponent's errors.
I am definitely not saying JT is the man who can make this happen. I'm saying he has the right ideas, but maybe it's up to someone else to get it to work. Taylor has always been known as a savvy tactician and commendable reader of the game, he used to do it as a media gig, and he has been quite successful as an assistant coach, but maybe he just can't turn that analytical mind into a successful head coach.
I sort of agree with all of this but I don't think Taylor really gets it or at least he doesn't portray that in the media. He has improved this year but articles like this one show that he still can't get it right before he opens his mouth.
The point is that it's not as clear cut as the spin that Taylor keeps putting out there.
He had all last year to change the team and he failed. He can still turn it around this year but I reckon we have a good team if the halves play well and possibly Siro turns into a gun forward. I hate to say it but maybe if those players don't step up Taylor is gonski's. It's really a key part of his job to get these players playing good solid footy and if they aren't up to it putting someone there who can do the job.
I don't know why he doesn't just say "we had some poor individual performances out there amongst good solid defence" and "our attack needs to improve a lot because we won't win games with that effort". If he said that I'd have a lot more confidence in the guy.
I don't think anyone including Sheens ever wanted this team to go for the hail mary play on every play.
@happy tiger said:Last comment you made before this comment you weren't blaming Taylor
@stevetiger said:@happy tiger said:Last comment you made before this comment you weren't blaming Taylor
Taylor is the coach and has to take some of the blame. I don't think he is completely to blame unlike last season's debacle. I think he has realized you need to attack. I just think our halves were terrible. Maybe he made some mistakes as well in the team that he selected and how Robbie was played but I think overall he has chosen good teams. I think when it comes to Robbie though JT goes on power trips that aren't in the interest of this club winning games.
In stating all of that it's obvious it was the halves that stuffed us but Taylor talking like he does in the media is crazy. The guys on here supporting him all over the place are also nutters. He has to get results. You can't keep blaming the team or the past or go on and on about defence and structures and how winning games was really bad for us and all this sort of dribble. I ain't buying it and unless we start winning games consistently Taylor will be gone. On the positive I won't have to listen to the dribble on here backing up the dribble that Taylor goes on with.
Here is the kicker - if Taylor had come out and made sensible rational comments then he looks a lot more competent. He puts himself in it time and time again.
@happy tiger said:What Taylor is trying to say , you can play that footy all you like , but when it doesn't come off you need to be able to defend your lack of attack
@stevetiger said:@happy tiger said:What Taylor is trying to say , you can play that footy all you like , but when it doesn't come off you need to be able to defend your lack of attack
Thanks for that. How is that at all relevant to the loss against Parra ? We defended pretty well and lost the game. Is that a fair statement ? Assuming that it is a fair statement doesn't that show you how out of touch Taylor is ? His comments make no sense in the context of the loss against Parra.
Why can he (and you) not see the clear issue in that game ?
@Eddie said:When have I ever said go throw the ball around, do whatever you like, kick on the 3rd play???
All I have EVR said is play a style of football that suits the rosters of players you have.
We don't have a Giant pack that can steamroll sides.
W dont have a team of tall wingers that you can bomb too every set.
Aim to play balanced football like the Broncos and Cowboys, but adjust to the roster at your disposal.
5 hits up and a Bomb was a proven failure last year resulting in 15th spot.
This year maybe the attack needs to be reigned in at certain times. The last 2 completions rates suggest they have taken it too far or just have not executed it well resulting in losses.
I have never wanted defence marginalised. Of course it is very important.
The quicker we find the balance between using our players flair, grinding defence, building pressure etc the better we will be.
@Chadman's Ghost said:Illogical is probably the way I'd describe it too.
There are just some things said about him that leave me staring at the screen wondering if people ACTUALLY believe what they are typing.
I mean, really, someone questioned if JT understands that to win we need more points than the opposition? Really? You need to point that out?