Round 23: TITANS vs STORM

[DIEHARD]

TITANS vs STORM

[shamus]

Titans by 20

[JunctionBlock]

Titans by 20

Are you taking bets?

[coreythompson]

Can someone ask Bellamy to rest some players

[lonegull]

Storm could trot out their third grade side and still beat the the titans

[willhelm]

Can someone ask Bellamy to rest some players

Corey Harawira-Naera is already on it

[RavShamrock]

Corey Harawira-Naera is already on it

[JunctionBlock]

Corey Harawira-Naera is already on it

Hahahahaha brutal

I think Smith is asking for the week off as he got nutted too.

[Mr Bods]

This will be worse than today which in time will be a good thing because a top 8 finish would see our club not confront the issues in coaching and player roster that needs addressing.

[Titanic]

Strangely I think we will just sneak in on for and against.

[Menoitios]

This game will blow our for and against to bits and we'll finish outside the 8. It's a pity really. With all the games up here...I thought we'd really lift and make the most of it.

We aren't even close to the top sides, and we weren't last year. I made the comment earlier this year in another thread that those five in a row last year were against weak opposition (Newcastle included who were busted at the time)

We are middle field which is not too bad, but there are a few teams here with us. The broncos seem to be improving and the dogs might lift next year as well...so I trust the club/coaches have a plan.

For me, step one would be to get JC into the gym all off season and have AJ train in the 6 jersey.

One more thing...I doubt that putting Brandon Smith in the 9 jersey yesterday would have made much difference (and I can't see why anyone still thinks he might leave the storm anyway) Perhaps his energy and effort might have lifted some players around him...but we need to keep in mind that we are not the storm or anywhere near their level. BS plays well there because he's a cog in their system. Drop him into our systems and apart from the occasional bit of individual brilliance...I think he'd struggle to be at the same level he is now.

We are still quite a way off solving our problems with one or two key position signings IMO. Some days we're on and play like a solid unit, and some days we play like we don't know each other and have no confidence. It's no coincidence that those days are usually against the top sides.

[Titanic Believer]

The Storm struggled this week. Unfortunately it won't happen again any more than thinking we would ambush the Rabbits again following our last game with them.

[Whats Doing]

The big difference between the top 3 sides and the rest is that they can continually have line speed for the full 80 minutes.

They meet the attack always on the advantage line thus nullifying the attacking team’s time to make decisions and meeting the attack when they are not at top speed which reduces both the metres and post contact metres gained.

The Titans take 3 steps forward and then hold which allows the attack options to attack and the extra 7 metres per tackle allows to attacking team to gain more ground and post contact metres.

Even when we won the last 3 games our defence allowed the opposition to gain good ground.

Our defensive system might be ok against the lesser sides because they do not have the attack to capitalise on the ground they make but it will always fail against the top tier teams.

This is a coaching flaw which I cannot understand why we persist with such an outdated defensive system. Unless we move with the top teams defensive systems we will continually get smashed by the top sides

[Hail Sezer]

The big difference between the top 3 sides and the rest is that they can continually have line speed for the full 80 minutes.

They meet the attack always at the advantage thus nullifying the attacking tea’s time to make decisions and meeting the attack when they are not at top speed which reduces the post contact metres that is gained.

The Titans take 3 steps forward and then hold which allows the attack options and the extra 7 metres per tackle allows to gain more ground and post contact metres.

Even when we won the last 3 games our defence allowed the opposition to gain good ground.

Our defensive system might be ok against the lesser sides because they do not have the attack to capitalise on the ground they make but it will always fail against the top tier teams.

This is a coaching flaw which I cannot understand why we persist with such an outdated defensive system. Unless we move with the top teams defensive systems we will continually get smashed by the top sides

I don't think its as simple as the top teams have a certain defensive system w/ regard to line speed and the rest of the comp doesn't and it's a coaching flaw. If it was that obvious I think we'd all be NRL coaches. The top teams are better at executing parts of defensive systems absolutely, but to coach a team to just increase their line speed for 80 minutes isn't that simple - e.g. you need certain players to lead that, a high 1 on 1 tackle % and high effort defensive middle, and comes with some collateral if your squad isn't up to it or doesn't execute it properly.

I don't think you're wrong, but I wouldn't say its as simple as our coaches aren't coaching the line-speed to be quick enough. Every coach wants good line speed from their team, it's one of the fundamental KPI's of any defensive structure. Unfortunately we, along with 3/4 of the comp, just aren't able to get even close with it especially against good teams. We look like boys against men.

[Whats Doing]

Agreed HS and to meet the attack on the advantage line takes a lot of effort however the top teams have recruited accordingly (and have their conditioners specifically train for this)

If you look at the Titans particularly when the play is outside the attacking teams 20, the Titans take 3 steps forward and then hold. This was a defensive system that was used widely when i coached some 20 years ago so it has been around along time. It has it benefits by not increasing fatigue as much but the clear downside is that you give up so much ground in a set of 6.

The top teams don't have this system and have the aerobic capacity to be able to handle the load of a defensive system of defending at the advantage line which gains them much better field position for most of the game resulting in such one sided contests. This is not the only reason and there are several factors that go into such dominance but field position based on minimizing metres gained by the attacking side is one of the important factors.