force best defending team

[jazza93]

The force are the best defending team so far this year with only letting 99 points through in 7 games. why do you think we have gone from one of the worst defending to the best? i rekon its ryan crosses great defence he makes heaps of takles.

[The Lone Hydrangea]

John Mitchell

[.X.]

To place all of our defensive success on the shoulders of one person is foolish.

I am sure that Burgs could put his fingers on the tackling statistics of all the Force players.

If we were to point to one area that has improved from last year I would have to say the Forward Pack, from 1 - 8. But in particular the Loose Forwards. their improvement in comparison to last year is huge.

[Shaun]

An average of only 14 point scored against us. That's really good let's hospe we can keep it up.

[Sagerian]

When were the force one of the worst defensive teams? Apart from a few second half collapses, the defense was what was keeping the Force in most games last year, it was the offense that needed to catch up.

This year both sides of play have improved, but the defense was never crap from the Force.

[travelling_gerry]

It was a key point that John Wellborn made in the pre-season build up that the Force conceded an average of just over 28 points per match last year while the Crusaders notched up just over 30 points per match. He made the simple plan....defend to keep the points against at lowest possible (currently 14.14) and aim to score 30 a game (currently 22.14)

[shasta]

The force are the best defending team so far this year with only letting 99 points through in 7 games. why do you think we have gone from one of the worst defending to the best? i rekon its ryan crosses great defence he makes heaps of takles.

" Best Defending Team" is a very loose term.

Does it only relate to the least points conceded?

Why not the least missed tackles?

Or the least time spent in own half?

Pretty sure The Force stacks up on all these but I'd rate the back row being much more aggressive and disciplined at the breakdown as the central reason for them being rated the best defensive outfit.

[Happy]

they've all beefed up during the offseason! oh and Mr Mitchell! We had a few player change overs from last year!!

[AndyS]

They've always defended well, but this year it has developed along Kiwi lines (big surprise) where it is almost a form of attack - tackle hard with some real snap to the impact, put the opposition on the back foot and nick their ball. The whole team tackling well is at least part of the reason McCaw is so successful.

[Burgs]

I think the key areas have been ball retention (ie if you have it you don't have to defend it) and Backrow pilfers at the breakdown, especially by Bam-Bam.
They are two areas that had much to improve on from last season and it is apparent that so far the improvements have been made.
TLH's is the easy answer but I think probably also reflects the actual answer.
The Coaching team has matured along with the playing Squad and has learnt what combination of players works best together.
While he has many fans on here and in the crowd, it concerns me greatly that Ioane continues to either score or get penalised, much in the mold of Tuqiri & Rathbone. It would seem he either doesn't read the play well enough to offload or maintain his feet until the Forwards arrive or he simply doesn't have confidence in his own skill to complete a pass under pressure.
The O'Young try had two brilliant examples of off loading under pressure with Shepherd back to Fava and then Fava to O'Young. I doubt Ioane could have managed either.
Drew Mitchell can also be a little errant in his passing however I would prefer to give away a forward pass than a penalty.
I'll try and meet your challenge directly Ex, having some pute dramas at the moment, but I think the answers will lay in ball retention and pilfers.