Prompted by am paper article. A big change this year. Which more likely to win the premiership? I will watch with interest tomorrow and undecided. Would be good to get an analysis from janus.
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FTFY... Would be good to get an analyst for janus.
I wasn't a huge fan of the WALL we used to run 70-80m back from the ball. As soon as it was breached we were cooked, also compounded forward 50 congestion.
Nor was I. Too rigid. Far better to be more elastic, to bend...like tentacles wrapping around prey. Give the opposition the wings, then have the high forwards and high backs collapse around them.
Sun Tzu: "When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard."
The reason for this is pretty clear - in any tactical battle, a good general is seeking to direct the flow of the fight - where it is happening, how many soldiers are fighting etc. If you don't give an outlet free, the opposition can do things that are unpredictable, the same way a cornered animal will fight to the death. "The object, as Tu Mu puts it, is "to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." Tu Mu adds pleasantly: "After that, you may crush him."" The last thing we want is opposition taking risks that have the opportunity to succeed in a game where the bounce of the ball is difficult to predict. Expect the unexpected.
At the moment we are ranked 17th for tackles per game and 13th for clearances per game. Those are rookie numbers in this racket. But have no illusions on just how important the likes of Butters and Duursma are in executing the style we want. Ditto with Powell-Pepper, who was just below Rockliff when it came to the amount of pressure and tackles he put on the opposition last year.
Theoretically, we should be turning the ball over on centre wing or at half back against teams that play a possession style out of defence, and then turn it over in the forward half against teams that play a surge style.