Short Kick-offs

[HK_Eagle]

I've often pondered this for as long as I've been watching footy, and it came up again after watching Matai's short kick-off attempts today... Why don't NRL teams incorporate shorter high kick-offs and the relevant contesting skills into their game? The kicks don't need to be just over the required 10m, but also mid-distance. The key would be to get enough height to allow the kicking team to genuinely compete.

It's used with fair success in yawnion, and if a team were to jump on this early and develop the skill and confidence before other teams developed the ability to defend it, it could be a genuine advantage.

I also wonder if the lifting from yawnion could also be utilised to defend some of the shallow high bombs when defending the goal line? It took footy a long long time to start incorporating the over-head marking skill-set from AFL, and now it's a huge skill set advantage for wingers. I just wonder if there may be other skill sets we could pinch that could give slight advantages to footy players.

Yeah, yeah, I'm probably rambling and I'm sure there are good reasons this stuff doesn't happen, but it helps take my mind off that game today.

 

[silvertail]

Agree. It's a skillset that should be able to turn every kick off into a 50/50 contest. Sure, you lose metres if it backfires but the reward is well worth the risk.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Agree. It's a skillset that should be able to turn every kick off into a 50/50 contest. Sure, you lose metres if it backfires but the reward is well worth the risk.

Yeah, the most obvious concern is the risk of giving up meters in the strategic battle for field position. Nevertheless, if a team were to really nail that skill set before it became a common ploy in the NRL then I would imagine it would turn it into more than a 50/50 proposition? And as other teams begin to work on combatting it, say, by bringing more players forward, you just alternate back into deep kicks and potentially catch them a bit thinner down the back? Always good to keep the opposition in two minds I think.

 

[Chip and Chase]

We can't defend against them nor can we execute them in attack it seems.

Needs work all round.

 

[RiverEagle]

Pat Richards at the Tigs uses a very high kick off all the time...and it gives their chasers time, and the opposition headaches, too.

The short kick off is a low percentage play, unless it's desperation stakes at the death (or you've got nothing left to lose).

Mostly, field position is a better option.

And a lot of the restarts in yawnion are from drop kicks, allowing far better height and accuracy.

Skivi could use a little practice in both after yesterday... lol.

 

[mozgrame]

I hate the short kick off. I have never been a fan of it. The long and high kick off however should be adopted by all teams. It just makes sense to give the ball as much hang time in the air as possible to allow your attackers to put ultimate pressure on the catchers.

I also liked the way Tricky had his Roosters team drilled well enough at kick off that they would be on their own 40m mark and start running as the kicker moved in for the kick off. By the time the kicker struck the ball, the attackers were almost at full stride, chasing it downfield. Combine that tactic with the high kick off and you will force many mistakes form catchers and find it easier to pin them in their own 20.

Again, it needs plenty of practice and discipline....but far from impossible to perfect.

 

[COMMANDER]

We can't defend against them nor can we execute them in attack it seems.

Needs work all round.

This. We are hopeless at both.

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

If leaping for the ball with the assistance of a 'lifting' team mate can be practised, perfected, why not? But where does that leave the defender ? They wouldn't be able to tackle either player. The lifter is not in possession and the catcher is 'in the air' !

 

[HK_Eagle]

If leaping for the ball with the assistance of a 'lifting' team mate can be practised, perfected, why not? But where does that leave the defender ? They wouldn't be able to tackle either player. The lifter is not in possession and the catcher is 'in the air' !

I would imagine the defending team would have to adopt the same lifting technique to defend eventually?

 

[rosco]

I am all for varying the kickoff. League is all about posession. I can never understand how all teams leave trying to get the ball back from the kick off until they are 18 points down with time running out. High kickoffs that go 20 meters with your quickest, tallest players running through with players following to get the tap back, hard grubbers that may bounce over the head of defenders into touch or force a knock on trying to pick it up and grubbers into the gap between the players standing on the 40 metre line and the rest waiting back on the goal line should all be practised and used in games. With practise you have a 50/50 chance of getting the ball back and being on the attack. If it doesn't work you have given up maybe 15 meters of ground.
In both the Broncos and Tigers games we had no ball in the first 20 minutes and just kept kicking it back to them from the kick offs. Need something to change the momentum.

 

[caspersparks]

We can't defend against them nor can we execute them in attack it seems.

Needs work all round.

This. We are hopeless at both.

my god i hate manly when it comes to this.. they NEVER catch the short kick off.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Hmm... and there was one this evening which the Dogs won possession from.

 

[COMMANDER]

Thought we were bad until I saw the cowboys tonight.

 

[Eagles2nv]

Yeah we don't have alot of luck with short kick offs.

If I remember correctly, we used one to start the second half vs souffs which led to a try. We got praised for using that tactic.

 

[HK_Eagle]

And there was that memorable short drop out by DCE to Foz a couple of years ago... only to be followed up by two shockers in that horrendous Storm semi debacle. But I think they were shot mentally by the time those two efforts plopped out.