jirskyr
Well-known member
I thought it was a pretty good match. Roosters defended well but as others have said, Dogs were pretty pedestrian in attack. They only had two moves - forwards hitup and second-man play out back. With 40-odd tackles (or more?) inside the opp 20, they couldn't even manage a point… concerning for them.
But I enjoyed the spectacle of it, players getting tired and hurt, getting back up to make that last tackle, only ever being 6 points in it.
Roosters have a bigger problem IMO in the context of the season - they seem to be only able to defend or attack, not both. Obviously embarrassed after Souths waltzed through their middle all last week, they focused on the D and in turn became fairly conservative with their attack. A team like that only scoring 6 points is also a concern like for Dogs, because Roosters have recruited heavily in the attack KPIs, not the defensive ones.
I thought Tedesco was alright, but again I don't think the Dogs troubled them too much and Roosters didn't miss many tackles on their line. Tedesco isn't particularly good at defending line breaks, which is great, because Dogs didn't make any. Kicking-wise Dogs got repeat sets but they weren't super dangerous kicks, more like dints into a well-defended in-goal.
Tedesco in attack - well Dogs were all over him, it's almost become a bit obvious when they are setting him up, like what happened w Tigers last year, teams could see it coming a mile away. I don't know if I'm just used to watching Tedesco, but when he's sniffing around the middle, it's super obvious in the way he prepares to run, esp with his weird running style, you can just read that he's winding up.
Compared to Slater, who is a cat, but Slater just breezes around the paddock and inserts himself into the middle rather inconspicuously - he's suddenly there. Don't get me wrong, Rowdy knocked him off a few times in backline plays, but Slater is more evasive in a forward direction, whilst Tedesco loves to palm and stutter sideways until he gets his gap. So I feel that teams are sweating Tedesco any time he looks like touching the ball. I also think Tedesco has become too used to just being thrown early ball and asked to make something of it, and he is quite disjointed at the Roosters when being inserted into highly-structured plays, esp when he may not necessarily be receiving the ball.
I however don't see why Roosters don't go for more sweep plays on their left; I would be a super-worried defence if I had Keary running hard left, shaping to Latrell and with Tedesco shadowing on the inside. All 3 of them are fast, strong and can beat tacklers. Roosters just seem too conservative at the moment, and if not for Latrell's individual try-scoring brilliance, would be even worse off in these close wins.
But I enjoyed the spectacle of it, players getting tired and hurt, getting back up to make that last tackle, only ever being 6 points in it.
Roosters have a bigger problem IMO in the context of the season - they seem to be only able to defend or attack, not both. Obviously embarrassed after Souths waltzed through their middle all last week, they focused on the D and in turn became fairly conservative with their attack. A team like that only scoring 6 points is also a concern like for Dogs, because Roosters have recruited heavily in the attack KPIs, not the defensive ones.
I thought Tedesco was alright, but again I don't think the Dogs troubled them too much and Roosters didn't miss many tackles on their line. Tedesco isn't particularly good at defending line breaks, which is great, because Dogs didn't make any. Kicking-wise Dogs got repeat sets but they weren't super dangerous kicks, more like dints into a well-defended in-goal.
Tedesco in attack - well Dogs were all over him, it's almost become a bit obvious when they are setting him up, like what happened w Tigers last year, teams could see it coming a mile away. I don't know if I'm just used to watching Tedesco, but when he's sniffing around the middle, it's super obvious in the way he prepares to run, esp with his weird running style, you can just read that he's winding up.
Compared to Slater, who is a cat, but Slater just breezes around the paddock and inserts himself into the middle rather inconspicuously - he's suddenly there. Don't get me wrong, Rowdy knocked him off a few times in backline plays, but Slater is more evasive in a forward direction, whilst Tedesco loves to palm and stutter sideways until he gets his gap. So I feel that teams are sweating Tedesco any time he looks like touching the ball. I also think Tedesco has become too used to just being thrown early ball and asked to make something of it, and he is quite disjointed at the Roosters when being inserted into highly-structured plays, esp when he may not necessarily be receiving the ball.
I however don't see why Roosters don't go for more sweep plays on their left; I would be a super-worried defence if I had Keary running hard left, shaping to Latrell and with Tedesco shadowing on the inside. All 3 of them are fast, strong and can beat tacklers. Roosters just seem too conservative at the moment, and if not for Latrell's individual try-scoring brilliance, would be even worse off in these close wins.
