Technical Coach
Bencher
The turning point in the game which showed the composure gap between Cronk and DCE started at 67:15 and ended with a poor set of six by Manly the following set.
Smart thinking by Cronk and Slater to use Slater to draw Stewart forward and kick long into space. Forwards struggle to retreat for basically the entire set of six Watmough being the only real hitup from a forward.
All hitups near to central or right side due to a lack of forward options allowing the Storm defence to compress. The 5th tackle short side play from DCE was a poor option as it removes himself from a last tackle option at an important time in the game and second it makes for a predictable clearing kick with an already compressed defensive line able to zoom in.
Now i can see DCE was trying to eat more metres on the soft short side and either generate a quick play the ball(which was the case) or create a small break off a hole running backrower but it was not the right play on the night.(might come off a few times in the year and you are a hero but it is still not a classy composed mature play)
Manly in the past have fatigued noticeably from around the 60-65 min mark due to a variety of reasons from too many overweight sluggish old school forwards unable to maintain the intensity but also from the high line speed and aggressive defence that takes it's toll on troops.
This squad is more streamlined less aggressive in defence, still maintaining good forward and back line speed and off the ball defensive efforts in getting near to the play show the attitude is good.
Opposition coaches do still have this theory that Manly will fade made evident by the comments from Trent Robinson during the Roosters game at half time earlier this year but i don't think this year it is a major concern.(You will see more effort to offload during this period and more risk taking on top of trying to hole run off the back of quick play the balls through the middle)
At times Manly do struggle to contain the offloads which will fatigue the defensive line combined with our line speed and overall effort/intensity plays taking it's toll but fitness wise we are fine. (sort of like a marathon runner trying to lead from the front and fading---does not mean he is not as fit as the other runners just empties the tank earlier due to higher intensity)
We do lack some explosive size and go forward grunt and we need to increase our offloads/second phase play at times to take advantage of fatigue and disjointed defensive lines.
There are a few other areas i would like to see improved also but i'm trying to keep this short lol and allow the coaches to ease my workload.
Smart thinking by Cronk and Slater to use Slater to draw Stewart forward and kick long into space. Forwards struggle to retreat for basically the entire set of six Watmough being the only real hitup from a forward.
All hitups near to central or right side due to a lack of forward options allowing the Storm defence to compress. The 5th tackle short side play from DCE was a poor option as it removes himself from a last tackle option at an important time in the game and second it makes for a predictable clearing kick with an already compressed defensive line able to zoom in.
Now i can see DCE was trying to eat more metres on the soft short side and either generate a quick play the ball(which was the case) or create a small break off a hole running backrower but it was not the right play on the night.(might come off a few times in the year and you are a hero but it is still not a classy composed mature play)
Manly in the past have fatigued noticeably from around the 60-65 min mark due to a variety of reasons from too many overweight sluggish old school forwards unable to maintain the intensity but also from the high line speed and aggressive defence that takes it's toll on troops.
This squad is more streamlined less aggressive in defence, still maintaining good forward and back line speed and off the ball defensive efforts in getting near to the play show the attitude is good.
Opposition coaches do still have this theory that Manly will fade made evident by the comments from Trent Robinson during the Roosters game at half time earlier this year but i don't think this year it is a major concern.(You will see more effort to offload during this period and more risk taking on top of trying to hole run off the back of quick play the balls through the middle)
At times Manly do struggle to contain the offloads which will fatigue the defensive line combined with our line speed and overall effort/intensity plays taking it's toll but fitness wise we are fine. (sort of like a marathon runner trying to lead from the front and fading---does not mean he is not as fit as the other runners just empties the tank earlier due to higher intensity)
We do lack some explosive size and go forward grunt and we need to increase our offloads/second phase play at times to take advantage of fatigue and disjointed defensive lines.
There are a few other areas i would like to see improved also but i'm trying to keep this short lol and allow the coaches to ease my workload.
