The Big DDDDDDD

[WTDiehard]

Our defense has been suspect for some years now but with the arrival of David Kidwell and Mick Potter now forcing the team to play a more direct style of footy its interesting to see the pickup in defense from the like to Boden T and Adam Blair…..both of these guys are playing really well this year and are holding their spots on form alone now. Also interesting to see big Woodsie just smiling away now during games...think he really likes the hard stuff.

Our bench has also done the job but my moment of last week was Big Akoula with a boots and all tackle on a speeding parra player through the middle of the park/ruck.....well done Akoula and all forwards.

 

[claws]

Question, if our defence is so good, why did Parra score more tries than us & why have we conceded so many points compared to other teams? Go Weststigers!

 

[Tigger8]

Its the contact in defense that has significantly improved as well!

And Sita's round-the-ankles tackle on Chris Sandow was amazing!

 

[pHyR3]

defence still needs a lot of work, we're only 2nd cause of how many points we scored. we're not getting trampled anymore but we're not a defensive powerhouse either.

 

[Ryde_tiger]

Whilst our defence is better than last year (it would need to be) it is still not rock solid. 5th or 6th worst defence our point scoring ability has helped us along. I see the big difference in attitude, we don't drop our heads and when a break is made we have chased and covered. We don't look soft anymore and opposition packs are feeling it which works in our favour. We are still a work in progress. Sort out the 5th tackle option for more repeat sets. Patty's dropouts work great for us. Sita was a revelation for me and Blair is finally worth having in the team. Thompson going great guns, like his versatility.

 

[Ryde_tiger]

Whilst our defence is better than last year (it would need to be) it is still not rock solid. 5th or 6th worst defence our point scoring ability has helped us along. I see the big difference in attitude, we don't drop our heads and when a break is made we have chased and covered. We don't look soft anymore and opposition packs are feeling it which works in our favour. We are still a work in progress. Sort out the 5th tackle option for more repeat sets. Patty's dropouts work great for us.

 

[WTDiehard]

Take away the 44 points the dragons scored and 42 points the warriors scored against us and we have conceded 68 points in total in the other 5 games ( 13.6 points per game average )

IMO thats a huge improvement on last year…....we always knew we would get blown away in a few games this year due to the team still being a bit of a work in progress. But take away our two bad losses and our defense is as good as any other side this year.

 

[Guest]

We concede the most line breaks in the comp at the moment. Our scramble is very good however but there are some defensive issues when you take a closer look. Our left edge defence is quite suspect with Brooks and Lawrence defending out there. Lawrences' lateral movement is terrible and Brooks is still adjusting to life in FG and having 100kg players running at him at speed constantly.

Good news is, there's room for improvement.

 

[WTDiehard]

Willow…you make a good point, our left edge does need alot more work and I have also noticed how poor lawrence's lateral movement is. ATM I donot see lawrence as being any better than keith L, in fact keiths defence might be a little better.
I haven't looked at the indiv stats such as line breaks conceded and that being said we are obviously scrambling very well at the moment but will be better when we lower the line breaks & missed tackles.

 

[happy_tiger]

Our defence has certainly been rocks or diamond this season and that's to be expected with a young and inexperienced side

I'm guessing we will let in a couple more 30 and 40 point games but as long as the normal is keeping sides to under 18 points we will win more than we lose at full strength

And then if we make the Top 8 it becomes a different ballgame altogether and if we can find the same formula we found about 9 years ago anything can happen

 

[boonboon]

I know the stats aren't the be all and end all but Chris Lawrence has played 6 games and only missed 5 tackles this year. His defence might not always have looked that flash from positioning wise but his missed tackles are probably the best of our whole side

 

[larrycorowa]

Our defence is heading in the right direction. We have been hurt in some games by injuries which have led to some structural issues and poor completion rates. I am confident our best 17 with its fair share of the ball will be able to defend a score of 18-20.

Question is can we score >18-20pts and my answer would be no with Anasta at 6 but yes with Austin.

 

[larrycorowa]

Our defence is heading in the right direction. We have been hurt in some games by injuries which have led to some structural issues and poor completion rates. I am confident our best 17 with its fair share of the ball will be able to defend a score of 18-20.

Question is can we score >18-20pts and my answer would be no with Anasta at 6 but yes with Austin.

 

[Doc_Tiger]

Yeah, we got flogged in one half of two games which has dragged us backwards in the stats, but all in all, we're doing really well. Every one still wants us down the left side though. That's where we struggle.