AmericanHistoryX
Well-known member
in our case i think he has nailed it. Kudos (whatever that means) to him, i respect him a little today
Things have to change starting tonight if we are real premiership contenders. We have the team ….......
Matthew Johns everyone -
THE Wests Tigers have got a problem. It's themselves.
They are a side which gets bored playing winning football. Don't get me wrong, the Tigers don't get bored winning, who does?
No, they get bored playing a tough, gritty style of football which not only wins football games, but wins titles.
What is winning football?
Well, I don't want to bore you with talk of completion rates, the ability to control rucks and similar coaching soundbytes which are far too commonplace these days and give little insight into the game or the men who play it.
Winning football is about attitude and discipline. Winning football is when a side is willing to pour more energy into its defence than its attack.
is fun, defence is what you are paid to do.
Winning football is when you put your head where others won't dangle their feet, just to come up with that vital loose ball.
Winning football is when you run to the stats sheet to check tackles missed, rather than tries scored.
The Tigers are blessed. They have more attacking weaponry than any other side in the competition. I suppose that's part of the problem. They seem to judge themselves on what they can do with the ball, not what they can do without it.
Coaching godfather Warren Ryan defined winning football at the Bulldogs. Yes it was a long time ago, in the '80s in fact, but the principles stand the test of time. Ryan's "dogs of war" were tough, mean-spirited and prided themselves on dismantling opposition sides with physical, mental and verbal intimidation.
All good things stemmed from defence.
When Ryan came to the Knights in the '90s, he recognised in us a side capable of winning the premiership, but for one chink. We found winning football boring. He warned us that winning football was a discipline which needed much practice.
Often we would skip ahead by 20 points and spend the last 15 minutes of the contest entertaining the grandstand with flicks and tricks. We'd return to the sheds at fulltime to see Warren, head in hands. He saw what was coming.
Skip ahead to the grand final qualifier in season 2000\. We led the Roosters 16-2 at half-time and the mood in the shed suggested we were about to rattle up a cricket score. Ryan's half-time speech was simple "kick long, chase hard, defend like underdogs". That was winning football.
We went out in the second half and lost the contest. We didn't lose it in the second half, we lost it over the previous two seasons. We didn't practise winning football enough for it to become part of our make-up.
I see this in the Tigers.
In the previous couple of seasons the Tigers have had genuine opportunities to grab a title to sit alongside 2005's, but have been beaten by less talented sides who were willing to knuckle down harder, not just on the night but throughout the year.
The Tigers might be carrying the tag of competition favourites but last week's performance against a tough blue-collar Cronulla Sharks, the very type of team who gives them trouble, suggests to me that unless there is a major attitude adjustment, 2012 will deliver them a similar fate as the previous year.
Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport
Things have to change starting tonight if we are real premiership contenders. We have the team ….......
Matthew Johns everyone -
THE Wests Tigers have got a problem. It's themselves.
They are a side which gets bored playing winning football. Don't get me wrong, the Tigers don't get bored winning, who does?
No, they get bored playing a tough, gritty style of football which not only wins football games, but wins titles.
What is winning football?
Well, I don't want to bore you with talk of completion rates, the ability to control rucks and similar coaching soundbytes which are far too commonplace these days and give little insight into the game or the men who play it.
Winning football is about attitude and discipline. Winning football is when a side is willing to pour more energy into its defence than its attack.
is fun, defence is what you are paid to do.
Winning football is when you put your head where others won't dangle their feet, just to come up with that vital loose ball.
Winning football is when you run to the stats sheet to check tackles missed, rather than tries scored.
The Tigers are blessed. They have more attacking weaponry than any other side in the competition. I suppose that's part of the problem. They seem to judge themselves on what they can do with the ball, not what they can do without it.
Coaching godfather Warren Ryan defined winning football at the Bulldogs. Yes it was a long time ago, in the '80s in fact, but the principles stand the test of time. Ryan's "dogs of war" were tough, mean-spirited and prided themselves on dismantling opposition sides with physical, mental and verbal intimidation.
All good things stemmed from defence.
When Ryan came to the Knights in the '90s, he recognised in us a side capable of winning the premiership, but for one chink. We found winning football boring. He warned us that winning football was a discipline which needed much practice.
Often we would skip ahead by 20 points and spend the last 15 minutes of the contest entertaining the grandstand with flicks and tricks. We'd return to the sheds at fulltime to see Warren, head in hands. He saw what was coming.
Skip ahead to the grand final qualifier in season 2000\. We led the Roosters 16-2 at half-time and the mood in the shed suggested we were about to rattle up a cricket score. Ryan's half-time speech was simple "kick long, chase hard, defend like underdogs". That was winning football.
We went out in the second half and lost the contest. We didn't lose it in the second half, we lost it over the previous two seasons. We didn't practise winning football enough for it to become part of our make-up.
I see this in the Tigers.
In the previous couple of seasons the Tigers have had genuine opportunities to grab a title to sit alongside 2005's, but have been beaten by less talented sides who were willing to knuckle down harder, not just on the night but throughout the year.
The Tigers might be carrying the tag of competition favourites but last week's performance against a tough blue-collar Cronulla Sharks, the very type of team who gives them trouble, suggests to me that unless there is a major attitude adjustment, 2012 will deliver them a similar fate as the previous year.
Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport
