Solutions

[NTT]

Our attitude towards our defensive collisions is the first area i think we need to address. Almost 30 missed tackles last night. Thats pretty horrible plus our defensive shape was off too. Guys not holding any sort of line or structure giving the Canes plenty of weak points to attack. The attack will come but for me we need to put some focus on our defensive structures, systems and detail.

[palitu]

absolutely!

it seems we have lost the starch in defense. The was a lot of falling off and not in position. I also thought the winger defense was woeful, there were quite a few times where the communication wasn't there for an effective drift defence

[NTT]

Yeah our drift defense suffered because we couldnt hold our shape, something we were very good at in round 1 vs Waratahs. You can do all the drills in the world to practice your defense but if the attitude and enthusiasm isnt present defense becomes very hard and tiring.
On attack the main thing i would look at for starters is who cleans which ruck for which ball runner. From the stats provided from andrewg in the other thread it showed that Rasolea hit more rucks than most of our tight 5 forwards. This kills our structure on second and third phase ball when we should be starting to create miss matches and weak points to attack in their defense. I know that Rasolea has instructions to play the floating centre/flanker role but we need the balance back towards him being a centre. This will allow for combinations between 9,10,12,13 to grow when we have ball in hand. Too often it was 10 to 13 then contact or 10 going one out usually with 12 cleaning the ruck leaving us with no option other than using a forward hit up on the next 2 or 3 phases to free them back up. This became so predictable for the opposition you could see them almost smiling when we got these starter phases so wrong. It also kills any moentum you are trying to gain.

[sevenmile]

No need for mass sackings or panic
There is no one to replace them with otherwise you would sack them
I'm not panicking as I don't follow the force
If mccalman and cot roll are off there game I'm the forwards then the force don't Fire they are the go forward men and the 2 genuine hard workers the rest are followers
Goodwin is lost at centre and has no one inside him to give direction
Rose lea is not the answer
Sias is inconsistent and can't take the ball to the line and gives his outside backs no room and kicks for position are very ordinary
Zac Holmes should swap his boots with his old man and then maybe there would be some creativity
They look lost and definitely need to find a 10 12 13 15 that can counter attack and create something from broken play or penetrate from set piece
As I stated from past post
Mccallman the only player worth his pay check
As I predicted in another previous post this could be a cricket score and could of been if some decisions and luck went the canes way
They are trained in the same way and have a skill set as all other s15 teams.
They have no charisma that can create something from nothing they have no will to create opportunities and to back a player that has a go .
They are all good players but they are not good enough and they look lost and out of there Leage
Mccallams game will deteriorate over coming weeks as you can onlly lean on a wall for so long before it falls over
The badger is not the answer as he is one dimensional and what is inside him has no vision or the right attitude to create enough opportunities
They need to stop sticking to there systems and structures and start playing what is front of them enjoying themselves which will create 50/50 opportunities and then they can loosen up and start to create there own brand of rugby playing for each other instead of trying to stick to systems which they are obviously no capable of at this stage and with this particular player group and management
Honestly the play with the passion of the lion from the wizard of oz and the backline runs like the tin man


0 Thumbs Down! Thumbs Up!

[GIGS20]

I'm not sure that there's any point in shuffling positions until the attitude has been fixed.

If that imperative has been sorted, I'd (at the very least) get Junior back to 13. He was starting to show some promise there last year and he has been suspiciously missing in attack the entire year. Kyle doesn't seem to be coping any better, I'd suggest the experiment hasn't worked and move on.

We obviously need a genuine seven, and we need to start getting the right side of the scrum penalties. With the quality of our scrum last year, I can't believe that the lost of longbum is the entire problem, Tets has played Wallaby footy, so he's no mug, but our starting scrum is getting pushed around in ways it hasn't been for years. I think we need to concentrate on pushing hard in every scrum until other teams respect the weight we can apply.

But all of that will mean nothing until we get over the celebration from beating the tahs.

[sevenmile]

The posting of stats showing the impact of a player on the field in relation to attending breakdowns and ther impact is crap
You can lead a horse to water but .........
The score reflects your impact on th game 95% of the time so to say they are having an impact is crap
A player himself should know wether he has put in and be honest with himself and his team mates if he is contributing to the game
You don't need stats to see that Mccallman is making ground with the ball and making an impact in defence and works well with cottrell who left the field and it showed
Sykes is not to blame they all are
The impact in defence of Shields Vito and Broadhurst don't need stats to show the outcome
Koteka had a solid start to his S15 career but the talk of his stats and impact are way of the mark and should be left there to see if he is up to it.
Shields is only 21 but was a major contributor at the breakdown and bone haring defence that help create scoring opprotunities
Didn't need stats to know that.
They need to let this team relax and enjoy themselves on the field by blooding players that want to have ago
The only stat that really means anything is the scoreboard

[westies man]

The Canes identified very early on that the holes were close in and went there all day. Defence by the Force posters was passive and just rolled with them instead of attempting to blow them backwards. Have to hit runners with the intent that you are going to put their ribcage back through their spine.
All the drills in the world mean SFA if the top 2 inches isn't there.
Defence is attitude.

[GIGS20]

The Canes identified very early on that the holes were close in and went there all day. Defence by the Force posters was passive and just rolled with them instead of attempting to blow them backwards. Have to hit runners with the intent that you are going to put their ribcage back through their spine.
All the drills in the world mean SFA if the top 2 inches isn't there.
Defence is attitude.

Hear hear and again hear.

Until we start winning some collisions we will be on the Ned of drubbings like this from all and sundry. The rebels will post a cricket score on us if we don't get our heads right. Grumpy GIGS will take a long time to go away if that happens.

I always said we want forwards who can run like backs and pass like flyhalves and backs who can hit the breakdown like a flanker. That's how the Kiwi teams are so successful (ps the forwards still need to be able to play like forwards)

[jono]

the underlying problem is that we just don't have the cattle to play that game.

whether it's no support for the juniors or just picking the wrong teams/offering the wrong players contracts.
I think it's a bigger issue than we're going to be able to solve on here...

[Rex Messup]

As usual, Rex will provide the voice of reason.
1. Asolutely nothing wrong with the attitude. The Canes will win most games this year. 3 wins on the road and 2 in Africa suggests something pretty special is happening in that franchise. That team has allblack firepower across the park and were playing against a young backline, many of which were out of position.
2. Backline selections...serious questions here. WTF is coaching team thinking?
3. Morahan to 15...speed, great rugby brain, safe. Burton at fullback was a coaching brainfart.
4 If they want Burton in the starting side, pick him in his favoured position with Godwin at 12...back the future...home grown. They could become a great home grown centre pairing.
4. Mitch Scott has plus speed, athleticism and was a junior allblack. That will dead set do me. The kid starts on the wing. He was a ray of sunshine on a dark day for the Force.
5. HB back on the wing....a no brainer.
6. Drop Wykes, he isnt a smart man and is ineffective on the field. How he is in the starting team is a mystery and his selection as captain requires an enquiry.
7. If you dont play an openside flanker, you are going to get beaten at the breakdown....Foley please explain.
8. Injuries have upset the gameplan in both losses. With no 7 losing Cottrel was a big blow.
9. Sias is the answer at 10. He cant do much with shite centres and an ineffective back 3. Fix the farking backline.
10. The centre situation needs fixing. Godwin got picked for the wallabies based on his form at 12...so lets move him wider thinks Foley...fark me.
Rasolea is a winger. The end. He has no rugby nouse and cant pass. If he isnt good enough to play on the wing, dont pick him.
11. I likes Brache at 13 because he is a very good defender. He isnt a winger. Have to choose Burton for the future or Brache to sort out the defence nightmare through the Farce backline.
12. Sack Wykes.
13. Who can play lock? When is Coleman back? Steincamp isnt the answer. Do we have an up and comer.
14. Did I say sack Wykes?

[AndyS]

Not many solutions out there, but if the problem with Rasolea at 13 is his defence perhaps HB should have a shot and run Junior on the wing?

[Rex Messup]

There's lots of solutions

[AndyS]

There's lots of theories and guesses. Remains to be seen whether there is anything like a solution in any of them.

[brokendown gunfighter]

There's lots of solutions

including getting blotto?

[Rex Messup]

One must not give up sober