What we are seeing is a form of structured defense. Want a tip? It's complete crap.
Don't worry about TC. He'd agree.
No point having structure if you can't compete at the advantage line be it in defence or go forward.
Too many bracing for a tackle moments and not initiating contact, not enough running with straight hard running intent from the forwards.
All this talk in the past about speedy hookers who put the defensive line around the ruck in two minds to generate go forward all last year is not the be all and end all of creating go forward----it has some merit but you still need good simple powerful forwards to create a conducive environment for such a hooker to flourish.
Now the above are overly simplistic observations to keep it simple but until we address the above, structure is pointless because we are not competing in the grind anyway.
I'm the biggest fan of attacking structure where each player knows their role and allowing individual flair to flourish from structured plays or is secondary to structure to break the shackles when things are tight.
The teams that win comps have power, controlled aggression and structure, a good attitude goes a long way in solving defensive issues along with winning the middle.
The majority of the last GF winners over the past 5 years or so Cowboys,Souths,Roosters,Manly all incorporated the above along with Melbourne obviously having the structure but falling behind in the forwards as the years have gone by.
Once we start competing up the middle and in the grind we can then move on to developing more open structured ballplaying in each set to generate softer go forward metres---for now we have to focus on intensity and intent in all areas just to get to the competing level.
Top 8 requires a good mix of the above attributes, top 4 has enhanced structures and power with a touch of classy individual flair to separate them from the pack.
Until we compete at the grind and up the middle we are wasting our time as the consistency in performance will not hold up. The odd flourish of wins to get the hopes up then back to earth again when you have no foundation or the right forward mix to generate confident repetitive consistency.