Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sack the Coach
The Warriors aren't up to scratch and until they a) get a playmaker, b) get a general field kicker and c) get a clue how to organise an attack they will be merely competitive losers rather than actual winners.
Their attack was so bad it was laughable. When we were inside the Bulldogs 20 metre zone it was like watching a club side trying to work plays against a brick wall.
You can really only blame the halves for that and possibly the coach for not having them more organised. A coach has to design plays with the players,a nd tell the team what options they should have when in those positions. That is their job along with motivating the team.
The Warriors were running one out too close to the ruck and when they weren't doing that they were passing to a stationary first receiver (ie. Faumuina, Ropati) who would run a few steps sideways and shovel it on to a stationary player (ie. Toopi, Martin, Webb).
The first try we got was an absolute league classic. A half running to the line and a forward running on a slight angle into a hole. Result = 6 points. Why oh why we don't have runners 10-20 metres wide of the ruck hitting holes constantly is beyond me. Look at the way the Bulldogs basically played SBW out in the centres. He was a constant menace out there in a bit of space.
In the second half though we had half a dozen sets hot on attack and it was horrible as mentioned. One play summed it up, we were charging to the line in the left corner and Faumuina (I think) was running off Fien and a 50/50 chance to cross but instead he gets a dummy thrown to him and we go sideways, crap pass to heavily marked player with no room. Result = knock on end of game.
Gee didn't Toopi have an absolute shocker? We should have gone to the sheds 12-8 down but instead he throws an idiotic pass 20 out from our line with nothing on, the Bulldogs pick it and a few moments later Tonga strolls over... or as the match report puts it "the Bulldogs went further ahead after Warriors centre Clinton Toopi offloaded a fancy pass to no-one in the second tackle around his 20-metre line".
Other players who had shitters. Byrne was pretty pisspoor. Did a few good things though. Once again his lack of pace and the Warriors in general was exposed. About 10 players in the comp would have scorched the earth and scored when in his position but alas we have no length of the field speed which costs us crucial points weekly. Mannering was shit. Faumuina was tits on a bull with the ball. He looks like he's playing touch when he gets the ball and THEN decides to take on the line. He has no variation to his game. Sometimes it's OK to pass the ball immediately when you receive it mate. His defence is good though. Taulapapa didn't do much aside from making a couple of errors. he doesn't look too bad though. Gatis doesn't offer much. He's fairly plain out of dummy half.
Positives from the game? Webb was fantastic. Martin was also bloody good. Fien has his moments. Luck also had a very good game. Hey, they are all Aussies (OK Webb is a Kiwi). Koopu was decent. And the forward pack were generally OK apart from lack of direction everytime Price was off the field. Guys like koopu and Guttenbiel need to step up when that happens. How many games have they played now? Step up in the leadership department guys. They say players get reall good after 100 games. Well not that I've seen.
Next week we have a blessed bye so will get two points. They don't matter much thought because we wouldn't have made the top 8 even starting the season on 0 with these guys. No top quality half and an average side all round sees to that.
But fuck it I'll be watching next time out.
Their attack was so bad it was laughable. When we were inside the Bulldogs 20 metre zone it was like watching a club side trying to work plays against a brick wall.
You can really only blame the halves for that and possibly the coach for not having them more organised. A coach has to design plays with the players,a nd tell the team what options they should have when in those positions. That is their job along with motivating the team.
The Warriors were running one out too close to the ruck and when they weren't doing that they were passing to a stationary first receiver (ie. Faumuina, Ropati) who would run a few steps sideways and shovel it on to a stationary player (ie. Toopi, Martin, Webb).
The first try we got was an absolute league classic. A half running to the line and a forward running on a slight angle into a hole. Result = 6 points. Why oh why we don't have runners 10-20 metres wide of the ruck hitting holes constantly is beyond me. Look at the way the Bulldogs basically played SBW out in the centres. He was a constant menace out there in a bit of space.
In the second half though we had half a dozen sets hot on attack and it was horrible as mentioned. One play summed it up, we were charging to the line in the left corner and Faumuina (I think) was running off Fien and a 50/50 chance to cross but instead he gets a dummy thrown to him and we go sideways, crap pass to heavily marked player with no room. Result = knock on end of game.
Gee didn't Toopi have an absolute shocker? We should have gone to the sheds 12-8 down but instead he throws an idiotic pass 20 out from our line with nothing on, the Bulldogs pick it and a few moments later Tonga strolls over... or as the match report puts it "the Bulldogs went further ahead after Warriors centre Clinton Toopi offloaded a fancy pass to no-one in the second tackle around his 20-metre line".
Other players who had shitters. Byrne was pretty pisspoor. Did a few good things though. Once again his lack of pace and the Warriors in general was exposed. About 10 players in the comp would have scorched the earth and scored when in his position but alas we have no length of the field speed which costs us crucial points weekly. Mannering was shit. Faumuina was tits on a bull with the ball. He looks like he's playing touch when he gets the ball and THEN decides to take on the line. He has no variation to his game. Sometimes it's OK to pass the ball immediately when you receive it mate. His defence is good though. Taulapapa didn't do much aside from making a couple of errors. he doesn't look too bad though. Gatis doesn't offer much. He's fairly plain out of dummy half.
Positives from the game? Webb was fantastic. Martin was also bloody good. Fien has his moments. Luck also had a very good game. Hey, they are all Aussies (OK Webb is a Kiwi). Koopu was decent. And the forward pack were generally OK apart from lack of direction everytime Price was off the field. Guys like koopu and Guttenbiel need to step up when that happens. How many games have they played now? Step up in the leadership department guys. They say players get reall good after 100 games. Well not that I've seen.
Next week we have a blessed bye so will get two points. They don't matter much thought because we wouldn't have made the top 8 even starting the season on 0 with these guys. No top quality half and an average side all round sees to that.
But fuck it I'll be watching next time out.
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