Our Attack About to Click.

E

Eddie

New member
As long as we keep that defensive mindset and don't get carried away I see some really good signs in attack. I know we only scored 11 last week but we went close a few times and generally looked a lot more dangerous then Melbourne I thought.

We have played on 3 slippery night games so whilst I think our defence has been excellent its perhaps slightly over rated despite deservedly being the best in the competent. On the flip side I think our attack might relish a hot day at Brook vale. I think this could be a pretty open game of football. Dont get me wrong i will great D over great attack however would be awesome to have both!

I love the fact Liddle is at 9 and Brooks is in career best form. Thats a bucket load of speed at 7 and 9 that hopefully can form a potent combination. Reynolds will add some unstructured stuff which could be good given Benji has looked tired I thought in period son the past few weeks.

Thompson I think will be far more potent when Lolihea at this stage sniffing up the middle- Plus Nofa hopefully can help drive us out of the our territory. Then you have some of our edge forwards I think Aloia is about to explode and even Lawrence looked dangerous last week.

Unlike In previous years were going to need a really team effort in attack this year to put point on. However Im starting to see some good signs that we can be a good attacking unit to go with the strong defence. Hopefully this week against a Manly side that has leaked a bit this year we can bring the resolve and then capitalise on those half opportunities.
 
I said we lack talent Geo at the start of the year I Know- well done for reminding me for the 3rd or 4th time with your subtle reminders.

No one is happier then mw that it is being proved wrong - which it is. Be have collective talent as a team. We are gelling fantastically and some of the key signings are going great guns which i doubted.

Trying to be the funny man and taking little shots with cryptic or subtle one liners in most threads is fine but I would love to see people debate the actual attack and whether they think it is about to really click or whether we will continue to sort of try but struggle.
 
My apologies Eddie ,,sometimes the dig is hard to resist..

I think it was obvious from the trials and early rounds the major focus in the off season was defence …god knows it was needed...

I also think that losing Reynolds just before Round 1 and Benji not playing any trials through them a bit as the plan was to have the halves playing both sides of the field in attack..a plan that was put on hold with Brooks back to controlling the left and Benji the right in the first few rounds so the attack looked a little clunky..it was also based on getting second phase play with offloads to break up the opposition defence as we do lack speed in certain areas ....the game in Melbourne was an example but a few errors started to creep in so they put it away in the second half and just got into a grind and guts it out...

The Broncos game similar to Melbourne where the started making some errors in attack ..put the offloads away...went back to basic metre making the old 5 hit ups and kick chase and back the defence to keep us in the contest..

Against Parra we had a lot more ball movement and Brooks and Benji combining a lot more on both sides as well offloads and second phase play to move Parra around...and the points came....you are right the re-introduction of Liddle is making a massive difference as well..

Melbourne last week saw a combination of the Parra game and the previous rounds and whilst point didn't flow we went close on a few occasions MWZ short Marsters held up Benji just short all from well worked plays...

What is clear is that as well as Cleary being a good motivator as a coach as has the whole team focussed and playing for each other he is also a smart coach in developing plans based on who we are playing...we have also played 3 of the better defensive sides in the comp who are hard to break down at the best of times..

Are we going to see length of the field flashy licence to thrill attack from Wests Tigers 2018 ...probably not...but as long as the defence in maintained to the standards set so far we will see attack that is well thought out and planned to use the strengths we do have..
 
Well the early forecast for Sunday is 22 degrees, so no scorcher. Brookvale always looks like a heavy ground to play on at the best of times but all we really need is to keep turning up in defence like we have been, and focusing on getting to our 5th tackle kick. If we defend as well as we have, it will frustrate Manly into errors and give us opportunities which we should be good enough to capitalise on.
 
I just thought looking at the team yesterday all the additions will add speed and attitude.
We just need to be consistent and keep the belief in what Ivan's doing.
Twal and JL starting surprised me a bit… I hope we have plenty of possession in the opening 20
 
@ said:
I said we lack talent Geo at the start of the year I Know- well done for reminding me for the 3rd or 4th time with your subtle reminders.

No one is happier then mw that it is being proved wrong - which it is. Be have collective talent as a team. We are gelling fantastically and some of the key signings are going great guns which i doubted.

Trying to be the funny man and taking little shots with cryptic or subtle one liners in most threads is fine but I would love to see people debate the actual attack and whether they think it is about to really click or whether we will continue to sort of try but struggle.
Click to expand...

Hope youre not wrong this time Eddie… We really do need to start putting some tries on and quick
 
Liddle is the key.

Brooks is not as heavily marked if Liddle is a threat. Reynolds will also work well off the back of those two.

It gives us the shape and centre field direction we have missed at times.

Benji will also look sharper with less minutes.

Aloiai coming good is another important factor.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing Thompson & Reynolds back up Liddle through the middle as well as the 2nd phase play. This weekend will also be a good test of our depth with both Packer & ET out.
 
I think we'll contain Manly up the middle quite well, I am more worried if they chuck a Pawwa and start throwing it wide and try to expose the edges when the bash and barge doesn't work for them.

Limiting Tom Turbo will go a long way.
 
I have faith in our spine now! Plenty of speed there!

We looked pretty good with the ball last week.even if it didn't convert to points.

Should be heaps more space against manly.

Carn tiggers!
 
It’s clear the off season was spent mainly on defence and its paying dividends for us. Injuries to key players stifled our attack. I think with Reynolds and liddle coming back, combinations building and confidence growing, we will see our attack come good.
 
My thinking is the key is our running game. The more Brooks, and to some extent Benji, run the ball, it takes pressure off our outside options and puts the defense in two minds.

Last weekend we all agree Brooks had one of his best games, and part of the success were the runs he took. We've always been talking about him taking more running, because he is quick and stocky, but one feature of last week I thought was not just the run selection, but the quarterback-style mindset where he was just happy sometimes to take the yards on offer and not specifically plan to pass.

Now Reynolds comes back to the side and he definitely likes to run, and with Tigers generally finishing strongly in 80 mins each week, the run options become more and more viable.

It then takes the pressure off the kick and pass options etc. etc.
 
I actually like the idea of having Liddle in the team, he is more creative dummy half than Godinet and MM. Having Liddle dart out of dummy half and having run means they have to protect the area behind the marks a lot more, which in turn will create more space a little wider for Brooks and Marshall and Reynolds, then the knock on effect (pardon the pun) will happed out wider for our outside backs. If Liddle keeps getting those line breaks out of dummy half, we're going to be a far better attacking side .. aka Melb when sides had to mark up on Smith - Cronk - Slater .. we'll have Liddle - Brooks - Marshall/Reynolds - Lolo/Thompson .
 
@ said:
My thinking is the key is our running game. The more Brooks, and to some extent Benji, run the ball, it takes pressure off our outside options and puts the defense in two minds.

Last weekend we all agree Brooks had one of his best games, and part of the success were the runs he took. We've always been talking about him taking more running, because he is quick and stocky, but one feature of last week I thought was not just the run selection, but the quarterback-style mindset where he was just happy sometimes to take the yards on offer and not specifically plan to pass.

Now Reynolds comes back to the side and he definitely likes to run, and with Tigers generally finishing strongly in 80 mins each week, the run options become more and more viable.

It then takes the pressure off the kick and pass options etc. etc.
Click to expand...

It kind of makes up for our lack of speed. Our small blokes like to run and can get the opposition up the middle so we don't need to rely on speedsters out wide.
 
We could have easily scored 2 or 3 more tries against the Storm if their defence wasn't as good as it is. Esan got held up over the line, MWZ got tackled by Vunivalu just before the line and then Benji gets tackled just before the line after the Brooks break.
 
The second phase needs to develop. It's budding but to many passes hitting the ground.
Hopefully Liddle and Reynolds loitering around ruck will give forwards options and Thompson coming through the middle. Prefer Brooks not to be the support player unless a try looks brewing so he can set up attack the following play.
This game will show whether at this stage we are a top 4 or top 8 team.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Staff online

Members online

Total: 712 (members: 19, guests: 693)
Back
Top