Force focus shifts to attack

[The InnFORCEr]

Nick Taylor The West Australian
May 13, 2014, 7:35 am


Fixing a leaky defence was a priority for Western Force coach Michael Foley when he first arrived.

That box has been ticked with the help of defence specialist and assistant coach David Wessels.

They have also ticked the breakdown box by dominating opponents and they have gone a long way to ticking off the kicking box as they showed in the 23-16 win over the Cheetahs in South Africa on Saturday.

If a team wants to get into a kick-for-kick duel with the Force it will need patience because they have shown they are prepared to wait for the opposition to slip up.

Now the attention is turning to attack in order to add to their tally of 23 tries for the season.

They scored only two tries against the Cheetahs, but there were signs Foley and attack coach Kevin Foote were mixing things up.

The Force breached the Cheetahs' defensive line several times and produced more offloads than seen previously.

"Some of the rugby was good," Foley said.

"We've worked hard on a few aspects of our attacking game and I thought a few of those came through on Saturday.

"There were little glimpses that were positive. In the last two weeks we have focused on how we play the game in the opposition half and do a little bit more with ball in hand.

"That was something we always felt we would do coming into the second half of the season.

"I was pleased how the guys applied themselves in that area. They really do believe they can find a way."

Foley said there were still areas that needed polishing.

"There were things we did on Saturday that we have to work on," he said. "Some of the play in our own half made life hard for ourselves.

"Exiting from our half, we had to do more defence and more scrambling.

"You can have all the plans in the world but a plan is only as good as the moment that comes to execute it. Our guys are very resilient. They just keep going. There is a belief that they can find a way."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...fts-to-attack/

[MI5_Dog]

Most of our penalties in the first half of the Cheetahs game came from good attacking rugby.
It was that and the patience and obvious belief in themselves that really impressed me Saturday night.
There was no panic, no doubt, just self belief and belief in the team.
What really showed that was when the reserves came on the team was just as good.

[GIGS20]

I think it's great that Foles isn't resting on his laurels of the first half of the season and giving teams time to work us out. He's evolving the game plan and making sure that we're staying ahead of the video analysis.

[The InnFORCEr]

Yeah sounds like a very well planned season, start with the major problem areas and work through to the least.

What have liked most about the season to date is the teams ability to carry out a game plan, regardless of which game plan it is. The Bulls was obviously far different from the Cheetahs, mainly due to conditions, however for the week leading up to Bulls they may have had something else in mind until the day or day before the match the weather really turned. It's not the same plan week in week out although the fundamentals are similar, as in the rock solid defence and breakdown execution. And so based on this, they should be able to switch plans in the event that plan A is not working, which is something that did not happen in game 1, but the signs showed by game 2 and have not looked back since compared to most others.

[shasta]

Dotto all above. Plus the other pleasing aspect is that the coach has not tried to re-invent the wheel. His games exploit the strengths they players have. Importantly he has earned the respect of the squad and they carry out his plans exactly. I think, providing the intensity is maintained, we'll see a bit more of the flair they showed here against the Rabble

[palitu]

one thing i loved to see was a break away from the cheetahs, we managed to pull him down at about the 5m line, not one of the defenders tried to challenge for the ball.

Tackle, get up, get into the line, set up defence then attack the breakdown when we are not at risk of an over lap. It was great to see the right decisions being made in defence when it is a pressure situation. That is their defensive structure coming to play. Good job defense coach!

[chibi]

I actually wonder whether we've hit form yet? We've been winning through great intelligence. I'm curious to know what we would be like if we started to really click in attack. I like the fact that we can build pressure against a set defence by mauling/driving or recycling in phases; that's something the Wallabies haven't been able to do in over a decade.

[DazloT]

Dotto all above. Plus the other pleasing aspect is that the coach has not tried to re-invent the wheel. His games exploit the strengths they players have. Importantly he has earned the respect of the squad and they carry out his plans exactly. I think, providing the intensity is maintained, we'll see a bit more of the flair they showed here against the Rabble

Exactly this has made me wonder if Foley is bringing the three year plan forward. Defence sorted, basic attack sorted, now bringing more structured attack to the game plan.

Missed the cheetahs game but everything I've read and watched indicated we had a couple of almost tries from well worked plans of attack.

[GIGS20]

Exactly this has made me wonder if Foley is bringing the three year plan forward. Defence sorted, basic attack sorted, now bringing more structured attack to the game plan.

let's not get the cart before the horse mate.

Let the pressure to play finals footy stay in 2015 I'll be happy with a simple number of wins this year.

If we win our last game of the season I will be ecstatic.

(having a quick think about it, winning against the Brums will almost certainly lock us into the finals and therefore make it not our last game. From there, the only way we can win our last game is to play in the final)

[DazloT]

let's not get the cart before the horse mate.

Let the pressure to play finals footy stay in 2015 I'll be happy with a simple number of wins this year.

If we win our last game of the season I will be ecstatic.

(having a quick think about it, winning against the Brums will almost certainly lock us into the finals and therefore make it not our last game. From there, the only way we can win our last game is to play in the final)

Agree on the finals and 2015 Gigs. But some of the skill works could be brought forward, given more practice before next year.

[GIGS20]

Oh, sorry daz, missed the point. I thought the three year plan was a decent tilt at finals footy.

[DazloT]

Oh, sorry daz, missed the point. I thought the three year plan was a decent tilt at finals footy.

No worries,I should have said bring some of the plan steps\phases forward but keep the end goal the same.

[hertryk]

The Line Out still needs work...and unfortunately I haven't got a direct line to Sir Nathan..