Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:36 am  

hatty wrote:

Spot on, not sure what game Wigg'n has been watching over the years but it can't have been rugby league!

I remember a story about one of the younger aussie coaches taking criticism from an older fan once who thought he had superior knowledge of the game because he had been watching it for so long. His response was "Well I've been watching TV all my life, it doesn't mean I understand how it works."

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:08 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

I had to read it again, #6 not a key roll??
along with #1,#7,#9 and #13 they are the spine of the team, and generally the ones who get paid the big money.

You think all 5 players are calling plays and organising at the same time?
My point is, like I said in my other post, if you have 3 or 4 decent players at 1, 9, 13 and half you can afford to carry someone in one of those positions and most of the time teams will have a dominant half. E.g. Saints - do you think Fages is an irreplaceable player for them? Or do Roby, Lomax and Coote do 90% of the organising and play calling?

If you have a half with a great kicking game like Sneyd or Gale, do you think it matters as much that your other half has a poor kicking game?

If we signed Cameron Smith and Nathan Cleary, I'd let my nan play in the other half position.

How many decent 6's are there in SL now? Hastings, Lomax and Maloney. Occasionally Austin too.

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:09 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

I remember a story about one of the younger aussie coaches taking criticism from an older fan once who thought he had superior knowledge of the game because he had been watching it for so long. His response was "Well I've been watching TV all my life, it doesn't mean I understand how it works."

Yeah almost like posting you know someone can't play a position "because you have eyes".

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:15 pm  

Wigg'n wrote:

Yeah almost like posting you know someone can't play a position "because you have eyes".

It’s just the most ridiculous concept. That French is a 6 because Henry Paul could play 6 and 1 etc.

2 totally different players.

Then to chip in with Hardaker playing 6 and even better 6 isn’t a key position is baffling to say the least!

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:31 pm  

Wigg'n wrote:

You think all 5 players are calling plays and organising at the same time?
My point is, like I said in my other post, if you have 3 or 4 decent players at 1, 9, 13 and half you can afford to carry someone in one of those positions and most of the time teams will have a dominant half. E.g. Saints - do you think Fages is an irreplaceable player for them? Or do Roby, Lomax and Coote do 90% of the organising and play calling?

If you have a half with a great kicking game like Sneyd or Gale, do you think it matters as much that your other half has a poor kicking game?

If we signed Cameron Smith and Nathan Cleary, I'd let my nan play in the other half position.

How many decent 6's are there in SL now? Hastings, Lomax and Maloney. Occasionally Austin too.

Yes 5 players tend to organise at the same time in different phases of the game.

A key role for a 6 & 7 is to organise the attack on their side if the pitch.

Gone are the days of a scrum half being the organiser and a 6 being the pretty boy strike runner (which arguably in that respect French could play) but it is outdated concept that generally teams on longer employ as it was easy to defend against that 1 dimensional system.

The 6 and 7 are more or less interchangeable these days both doing similar jobs on their respective sides of the pitch. While the attack is focussed on one side of the field the other half tends to be organising the strike play getting the shape right for when the link play comes.

If you have been watching the NRL it is very clear given the lack of crowds at the moment how vocal all the players are but in particular the halves.

French tried to play the 6 role off the bench at Wakefield and it simply didn’t work. The plays went down our left side in attack, then when we tried to get the link to the right side that he was controlling he caught the ball and generally just tried to take the line on.

I’ve absolutely no problem with a half taking the line on but they also must provide the link and organise the plays, that is not his game.

He is an illusive broken field runner who thrives in space. That is his strength so why would you take that away from him by asking him to organise, provide the link in attack and reduce the space available to him.

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:32 pm  

True, also 13 isn’t key anymore not been key for years, lockers is the last of that breed, plus Zak isn’t a ball playing 1 either

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:52 am  

Grimmy wrote:

I remember a story about one of the younger aussie coaches taking criticism from an older fan once who thought he had superior knowledge of the game because he had been watching it for so long. His response was "Well I've been watching TV all my life, it doesn't mean I understand how it works."

And I bet there have been occasions when a older and more knowledgeable Coach or Supporter has had to put some of the younger supporters straight about what they know about the game and who is capable of playing in what position.

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:17 pm  

jonh wrote:

He is an illusive broken field runner who thrives in space.

Elusive, unless he's just a fantasy of yours!

But srsly, fully agree with your post. I often think people bang on about scrum-halves and stand-offs where it really hasn't got a lot of relevance to the way most sides, both here and in the NRL, are organised nowadays. Most teams play split halves. Of course, that doesn't alter the fact that some players have a better long kicking game, and some a better running game. So, for example, in the case of George Williams and Matty Smith, you'd tag GW as the stand-off, and MS as the scrum-half. But what happens when you look at George Williams and Jack Wighton? The picture there is not as clear. Williams and Wighton are, in fact, players not dissimilar in style. So in effect they both combine the roles.

Re: 2021 Squad & Balance : Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:35 pm  

With it being confirmed there's no reserve grade next season there are going to be an awful lot of players throughout the league who are going to get very little or even no game time.
Must be incredibly worrying times for these fringe players. Not hard to imagine a lot of these players are going to be lost to the game for good.