Second worst defence in the league : Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:37 pm  

Says it all really. Don't care what people say about the number of close games lost, we rea just not at the races defencively The coach must bear some responsibility for this - it has been a failing during all his seasons with us but something that Noble has always done well

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:45 pm  

In the future we will have the best defence in the league.

[Bullseye]

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:48 pm  

It's been a problem since day one. Especially the right side which seems to be especially vulnerable. Players seem unaware of which way to move and are caught out by dummy runners. It's either down to poor decision making and technique or the players simply don't know what they're doing.

I never realised Sykes was so weak in defence until this year. When he connects he hits hard but he misses so many.

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:53 pm  

Bullseye wrote: It's been a problem since day one. Especially the right side which seems to be especially vulnerable. Players seem unaware of which way to move and are caught out by dummy runners. It's either down to poor decision making and technique or the players simply don't know what they're doing. I never realised Sykes was so weak in defence until this year. When he connects he hits hard but he misses so many. 3 a game. Keef just the one.

Bullseye wrote: It's been a problem since day one. Especially the right side which seems to be especially vulnerable. Players seem unaware of which way to move and are caught out by dummy runners. It's either down to poor decision making and technique or the players simply don't know what they're doing. I never realised Sykes was so weak in defence until this year. When he connects he hits hard but he misses so many. 3 a game. Keef just the one.

[Bullseye]

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:08 pm  

af wrote: 3 a game. Keef just the one. Indeed. And having just had a quick look I can't find a centre with a worse defensive record this season.

af wrote: 3 a game. Keef just the one. Indeed. And having just had a quick look I can't find a centre with a worse defensive record this season.

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:21 pm  

Oh and Keef has made seventy more tackles as well... Sykes is missing one in four...

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:26 pm  

On a more positive note, nice to see BJ still in second place for try assists. Not bad for a guy playing out of position

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:32 pm  

Nothus wrote:

On a more positive note, nice to see BJ still in second place for try assists. Not bad for a guy playing out of position

And a player some think we should offload

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:42 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

Indeed. And having just had a quick look I can't find a centre with a worse defensive record this season.

But I can find two other players in our team, who worryingly (and perhaps predictably) play down the same defensive side. If we go on missed tackles as a percentage of tackles made, then Sykes is at a 20% miss ratio (223 tackles, 46 missed.) We also have Paul Deacon missing 20% (50 missed from 245 made) and Sherriffe missing 35% (24 missed from 72 made). Jeffries also misses around 20% of tackles.

When you consider that the top of the missed takle count stat wise for the league is Scott Murrell on 76 missed tackles which looks bad, but we need to consider that this is from 689 made, meaning he only misses 11%. By the same measure Senior only misses 5% two of our top performers are Lynch who only misses 6% and Nero only misses 9%.

Having that much liablity down one flank is not sustainable, no wonder teams always seem to stroll in down that side. It needs addressing....but I'm not holding my breath.

: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:51 pm  

Although they may be getting used to their partnerships, maybe it would be good to try Nero + Sheriffe and Sykes + Tadulala. This way both sides have at least one good tackler.