Uncontested bombs

[flamebouyant]

What is your point. Trial or not the bomb kick is all
The bulldogs have down for the last 10 years and it isn’t working. Burton bombs are so over rated he makes one good one out of 10. Bring back the grubber

I thought that was obvious! It was a trial. We won. Footy is back. And people are still criticising Burton.

 

[InGusWeTrust]

It was obvious to me the players were asked to focus on tackling the kick receiver as he’s catching the ball rather than contest the kick…. This strategy does my head in.

Thoughts?

I don’t like the tactic but if you don’t have players that the coach thinks have a good chance of catching them it’s probably the right thing to do. I always thought that if it’s the 5th tackle, what have you got to lose?

I reckon Burton was just lobbing kicks up there casually as it was just a trial. You can tell by him not going for a big windup. They were probably focusing on other aspects and didn’t want to get injuries for trying hail mary plays. This is why I don’t take trials too seriously. We all know he can kick massive bombs, but the only real threat of those is if you can cause the opposition to make an error.

 

[TwinTurbo]

The way I see it there are multiple reasons for high kicks (not just hoping for a mistake by the opposition catcher);

The longer the hang time the longer you have to get to the opposition catcher and any support players, extra time to get your defensive line set. With the new down town ruling that's even more important than previously. Fullback and wingers these days are pretty good at catching the traditional end over end kicks, so kickers are aiming more getting their defensive line set, trap the opposition deep in their own territory. Obviously this relies on everyone being on the same page, fast line speed whilst maintaining a strict defensive structure. This was one of the contributing reasons why we dominated possession in the Trial 1, we had something like 65% possession in the first half and prominent field position.

The floating bomb also has the above tactical advantage, but it is much harder to execute, with a correspondingly smaller margin for error. The advantage is it is much harder to catch as its landing zone is more unpredictable. Plus even the slightest breeze moves it around making it even more difficult to get into a catching position. That's unpredictable for the catcher but also unpredictable for the kicker, much harder to get it into a small target zone. You don't really aim for the corners with a belly kick. The advantage of a floating bomb is the higher chance of the catcher misjudging it, dropping it, knocking on or simply letting it bounce from the fear of dropping it. In that it is more of an attacking weapon, but it does have a higher risk profile.

Watching Trial 1 it was pretty obvious that the Coaching Team wanted to see and test the "teamwork". Particularly maintaining the defensive structure that they have spent the off season drilling into the players. Hence the dominance of the high end over end kicks for field position, trap the bastards in their own red zone, fast line speed. straight line, no rushing, no lagging, no one out of line, maintaining contact with you closest team mate. Which is hard to argue wasn't extremely effective and impressive.


Always a Bulldog

 

[D.O.W.]

I don’t like the tactic but if you don’t have players that the coach thinks have a good chance of catching them it’s probably the right thing to do. I always thought that if it’s the 5th tackle, what have you got to lose?

I reckon Burton was just lobbing kicks up there casually as it was just a trial. You can tell by him not going for a big windup. They were probably focusing on other aspects and didn’t want to get injuries for trying hail mary plays. This is why I don’t take trials too seriously. We all know he can kick massive bombs, but the only real threat of those is if you can cause the opposition to make an error.

I agree, that was my think ing as well (nothing to lose contesting the ball) - worst case scenario, we knock on and that forces a scrum at the spot of the knock on…. But then, the ensuing scrum play is tackle one whereas tackling the kick receiver on receipt burns a tackle - probably some science and metrics behind it

 

[T-Rocket]

Our kick chase has been pathetic for years. Have really needed a forward to lead the pack in chasing.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Our kick chase has been pathetic for years. Have really needed a forward to lead the pack in chasing.

Our kick chase in Trial 1 was very impressive, let's see how it goes in Trial 2.


Always a Bulldog

 

[D0GMATIC]

Our kick chase has been pathetic for years. Have really needed a forward to lead the pack in chasing.

I was I.pressed with Poasa's kick chase

 

[InGusWeTrust]

I agree, that was my think ing as well (nothing to lose contesting the ball) - worst case scenario, we knock on and that forces a scrum at the spot of the knock on…. But then, the ensuing scrum play is tackle one whereas tackling the kick receiver on receipt burns a tackle - probably some science and metrics behind it

Yeah I just don’t see kicking being as much of a tactic as it once was. Don’t get me wrong it can still be effective when done well, but I guess not many of those kickers exist.

The thing affecting it most is the 7 tackle set when kicked dead and turnovers when you find touch, instead of a scrum. Fullbacks are also generally very good at positioning. Look at Taffy the other night, that was the most impressive thing about his game is he is right on the spot to catch the kick.

A very high bomb can be useful in hang time as you say, but I wish we did more attacking kicks with actual purpose. As I said before, we may just have lacked the players to utilise this tactic, but iirc Critta goes alright in the air, so we may look to adopt it. You also need good placement though, like a metre from the tryline. Sexton has a very good short kicking game. I remember when he came up at the Titans, he was seemingly forcing a dropout every time he got the opportunity.

While it’s not as popular a tactic as it once was, accurate and long kicks still can help your game a lot, so it would be good to see improvement there.

 

[D.O.W.]

I thought that was obvious! It was a trial. We won. Footy is back. And people are still criticising Burton.

For the record, this thread was based on a tactic Ciro looks like adopting for the looming season….. kick chase but no contesting the ball, it’s interesting, they may have some good analytics that indicates a few positives on the approach - but yeah, good win and as you stated, it’s just a trial, equally, it’s just an observation.

 

[D.O.W.]

Our kick chase in Trial 1 was very impressive, let's see how it goes in Trial 2.


Always a Bulldog

Agree, definitely stood…there’s a conscious effort there for sure.

 

[flamebouyant]

For the record, this thread was based on a tactic Ciro looks like adopting for the looming season….. kick chase but no contesting the ball, it’s interesting, they may have some good analytics that indicates a few positives on the approach - but yeah, good win and as you stated, it’s just a trial, equally, it’s just an observation.

Sure. But just because this is what we saw in half a trial, im not expecting this to be a season long tactic.

 

[D.O.W.]

Sure. But just because this is what we saw in half a trial, im not expecting this to be a season long tactic.

Fair call and agree

 

[Baseball Furies]

It’s purely just a high percentage play, time the kick (that’s our problem atm) so defence can aim up quickly, hope for a turnover or at least trap them in the corner and make them earn the yardage and again hope for the turnover.

 

[TwinTurbo]

It’s purely just a high percentage play, time the kick (that’s our problem atm) so defence can aim up quickly, hope for a turnover or at least trap them in the corner and make them earn the yardage and again hope for the turnover.

It's a stock in trade Penrith tactic, which does require all 17 players to be fully committed, straight line, no rushing, no lagging and staying in contact with the teammates around you. I saw strong, consistent, passages of that in Trial 1 starved Melbourne of any good ball. Even when the youngsters came on it continued.


Always a Bulldog

 

[Baseball Furies]

It's a stock in trade Penrith tactic, which does require all 17 players to be fully committed, straight line, no rushing, no lagging and staying in contact with the teammates around you. I saw strong, consistent, passages of that in Trial 1 starved Melbourne of any good ball. Even when the youngsters came on it continued.


Always a Bulldog

It’s boring as all hell but that’s how the good teams smother you and pressure you into errors.

 

[DogsOfWar1704]

Been saying this for a couple years now. It’s a weakness we have. We never contest kicks

 

[flamebouyant]

Fair call and agree

Im not too concerned about our tactics, so long as we are winning tbh.

 

[Bulldogsteve]

It's a stock in trade Penrith tactic, which does require all 17 players to be fully committed, straight line, no rushing, no lagging and staying in contact with the teammates around you. I saw strong, consistent, passages of that in Trial 1 starved Melbourne of any good ball. Even when the youngsters came on it continued.


Always a Bulldog

agree TT, it is purely a defensive decision make the opposing team come out of their red zone all day.
I agree the kicks could have been deeper and we could have applied more pressure in a catch and carry situation, but overall their line was very good.
Our attacking kicks IE from 10-15 metres out, we always contend for those.