Sir Gregory ParsloeP wrote:
Sadly Jim I’m pretty certain that With Holroyd , mom and Fusitua back we would still have lost by plenty because we would have still played almost the entire game at the wrong end of the pitch.
We will likely lose the territory battle V Cas but may win if we make far fewer errors because Cas are nowhere near as good as Saints.
Yeah as we all keep saying, RL is a simple game at heart and if you lose possession/position metrics you're very likely to lose the game on the scoreboard. I'm not a huge Wilkin fan but one thing he said which I totally agreed with, was around us playing the game way, way too tough. We're putting so much pressure on ourselves it's like running through brick walls constantly.
Our lack of field position IMO is multi-factoral: i.e. we lack go-forward in the tackle which is partly a player issue, and partly systemic due to our poor ruck performance and lack of guile in attack. I also don't think the tactic of using three very light backs out of yardage works at all - they are consistently getting smashed which robs us of any momentum.
Also our general kicking from deep is poor - again against Saints we are hoofing the ball down a winger or FBs throat, they're not often even having to move far to collect the ball.
Also errors. I think this is the biggest single problem as I've said before. And this is again why I'm pointing the finger a bit at the players who are making these mistakes, sometimes consistently. Sides like Saints very rarely make these mistakes and we won't compete while we are. For me this is a quality of player issue: coaches do not coach players to drop the ball or miss a tackle. The odd mistake happens of course but for us it's systemic.
