Playmaker relationships

[guyofthetiger]

Obviously, there's an element of luck with injuries. But it seems to me that the workload the entire team continues to do in defence as they get rolled by bigger teams, week in week out, must lead to burn out and increased risk of injuries. We certainly seem to get the lion's share of injuries of late and injured players rarely seem to be back sooner rather than later. The continued lack of grunt in the forward pack has me most concerned that we are not going to be able to see our spine consolidate and find their groove because of ongoing injuries. The teams already looking likely to dominate have had a majority of their team, especially their spine, playing most weeks, for at least the last 1-3 years. With that on-the-field experience, the instinct factor is alive, even under pressure, whereas for us I'm afraid we need too many things to luckily go our way to allow the spine to even start to find that spark, let alone consolidate those playmaking relationships.
Having said that I'll still hold out on that luck, no doubt, week in, week out.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[Justo]

I dont think you need a history of playing together. Look at the Titans spine for example. All playing very well together and not even a full season shared among them. Sure experience together certainly helps. But I really think it comes down to players knowing their jobs, respecting and trusting each others abilities. Melbourne have all those aspects. Yes, Cooper, Billy & Cameron have played together forever and a bit. But I recon these guys could also play just as well without having the tenure together.

I really think we have a lack of trust in the team at the moment. And thats why some key players are over doing their roles. Time will tell.

 

[Shooshmeister]

Agree, evrybody nned to do their bit, not expect other to cover their weakness.

 

[guyofthetiger]

That's actually my point that each player needs to master their respective roles. But a context of forward momentum, allowing players to build confidence and master their roles, needs to occur to facilitate this and players starting sync - especially the playmakers. Getting rolled every week, a sense of backward momentum, and burn out from unnecessary amounts of defence due to low % of possession does not facilitate this. I trust and respect the teams capacity but we need to build over the next 2 years to be a Manly or Melbourne and what I'm suggesting is what appears to be needed to build.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_