Round 11. KNIGHTS vs TITANS (2023)

[lonegull]

Great Point HS, your spot on about passive D. Another thing I did notice I cant remember which try it was but in the in goal half the titans players were on the left side of the post and the other players were standing to the right, not something you normally see.

Looks to me as though Klese and Isaac are a bit timid I know this comes with their age and experience but it like they are frightened to do anything out of the ordinary or at least try.

Also our blue shirt trainer is hardly on the field compare that to other teams, where as soon as the team gets the ball the blue shirt trainer is on helping set the attacking plays up and pinpointing weaknesses on the opposite defence, I hate this and it shouldn't be allowed for the trainer to run the plays but it something that the titans must do better and take advantage of like other teams

[MaroonTitan]

Pretty easy loss to diagnose really. We completed at only 69%, had moments lacking urgency and focus and our right edge got torched on D, mostly for being too passive. Neither team was particuarly good at earning field position but they were much better at finding points from a distance. Did anyone else think it looked like our spine didn't have much fluidity at times? Is Foz able to train during the week or is this injury going to see us just roll him out on gameday without any reps during the week and hope for the best? Either way, our D is the bigger concern. We were miles away from the weekend before.

On our work with the ball - For the most part Newy were over-committing to shutting down our left edge shifts from the inside (and pushing up outside Foz) and the one time we turned Fifita underneath early on he went through and scored. I would've liked to have seen some more of that or some variations in our angles at to scramble their numbers around the ruck a bit at the very least - we made it easy for them to defend against us but still scored 26 points. They've also got the worst defensive winger in the NRL on the left (sorry Marz but it's true) and we threw little to no shape at that edge to force him to make decisions.

46 is a big number to concede and when you look at their tries, there's a few consistencies and things that just shouldn't be happening at this level. I wouldn't usually bother with this but the way they sliced us up without even really building pressure is just U20's stuff:

-Dom Young catches ball in air and grounds it in one motion. Fair play there, pretty impressive.
-KP under zero pressure puts in a grubber that anyone can see Frizelle steaming onto it from a mile away but our left edge is caught napping. Lofi reacts far too late. BK sees it but instead of competing just subtly tries to run him off the ball. Big ask for JC to get to that ball even if he was slightly caught out of pos IMO. Can't help but think there was little communcation or awareness happening out there given the reaction.
-Marzhew's ball carrying arm is held up by Jojo and the high IQ Phil Sami gives Marz the assist by dragging him off Jojo and helping him to plant the ball.
-Klese Haas overcommits on a decoy runner forcing Tanah to be caught too far in and KP strolls through, passes to best who scores
-KP spots the mismatch and just 1v1's Iszac, made easier by Jojo/Sami being passive and already taking backwards steps outside him, so there's some space created there that he strolls through.
-Foran believes he's obstructed but it's inside shoulder and called a defensive decision. It's not easy for BK there but it's still a piss poor effort to try and solve it.
-Tanah drops it in the in-goal and they score
-Dom Young intercepts Foran's pass

Concentration, communication, urgency and intent all issues. Edge D is about understanding your role in the system, being connected with your inside and outside man and working hard within that. If you're a centre or winger, throw in knowing when to be passive or jam on shape. We're a fair way off with all of that on the right edge at the moment. I've been sulking about Schoupp being dropped for weeks and I think now it's pretty clear he needs to be back in at right centre. Jojo is a favourite of mine but he's struggling on that edge with his defensive decision making and I think he'd be better off on the left with Foran and Fifita on his inside.

Really interesting observation from indo about being at the game and the level of communication compared to what he'd seen previously, and that aligns with what I saw at the Manly game too. It's impossible to tell watching it on the TV so really appreciate the insight. Says a lot I think.

Always insightful HS. I'm very happy for Schoupp to come back and Jojo on the left. Do we give Foran another game to see how the wheeling out on gameday plan stands up? Probably wise before the bye and if needed, JC and Kini can come in afterwards. It might make it harder for Jojo with JC on the left but how long do we persist with BK when we know he's just not it?

I got the feeling that Klese and Jojo were doing a lot of learning on the job yesterday and will be better for it. The other thing is that Stimson looks like he needs a rest. Does he have another game in him before the bye? Alick was apparently very good on the weekend again and could be a handy bench player if Klese starts.