News (Yawn..) Cronk: Dogs spent $3m to become a contender but ignored one key issue. It spells ‘trouble’

[Marki]

That’s exactly right. We were bogged down in our own end for too long and got an average kick away at set end which kept us under pressure. Sure defensive wins games, Always has but you got to put pressure on the other team when you got the ball. Something we haven’t done well for a long time.

Correct. Our defence itself wasnt as turnstile as previous wooden spooners.
It was all due to the fact we couldnt maintain pressure, couldnt score and get the ball back, couldnt play to the new rules.

Im not convinced guys like TPJ, Kikau etc will improve the adjustment to the rules, but the other guys recruited will certainly get oir attack moving better, get us repeat sets and most of all, win games by scoring more than 2 or 3 tries a game.

 

[CAPZ]

Cooper gronk should shut his trap.. he has a history of talking down the dogs, last year he said some rubbish about our facilities not being up to scratch like the roosters and others. Cant wait to prove him wrong and be too dogs again.

 

[ricko_29]

Sick of Fox Sports not mentioning Flanagan, he was undoubtedly a big part as well, the guy could hardly gain 30 metres from a kick, is that one on the forward pack too mate?

 

[Chris Harding]

We needed to be able to keep the ball and apply scoreboard pressure. Defending back to back sets then making shit yardage followed by awful 5th tackle options is going to make any team tired. Fatigue plays such a massive role in defence, probably the most significant. So by fixing our attack our defence will improve.

Fatigue slows down our ability to get back on side, so we are penalised with repeat sets. If we can hold the ball, and keep play in our opponent's half, we are a good chance to win a few games.

If we start winning more repeat sets and penalties than we give away, the NRL will probably look at rule changes for 2023.

 

[Chris Harding]

I think we'll get better treatment from the WWE refs next year in terms of penalties and 6 agains because of their own confirmation bias of which team should win due to our stronger roster and having a strong media influence in our club in Gus. The top teams get better treatment particularly the 50-50 calls and laying on top of tackled players because the refs believe they should be winning the game. So the refs think nothing of it if they continually give tho top teams penalties during the game. A cellar dweller team rarely gets on top against a top side because the refs will cane them in the ruck knowing they won't get scrutinised. It's a self fulfilling prophecy from the refs.

It is the dominant teams that get those calls because they have the ball, and their opponents are fatigued. Fatigue causes players to tackle high, get caught off side, and drop the ball when they finally get possession.

 

[Ant2611]

Sick of Fox Sports not mentioning Flanagan, he was undoubtedly a big part as well, the guy could hardly gain 30 metres from a kick, is that one on the forward pack too mate?

Didn't Gronk talk up Flanigan and said he was going to be a world beater. Ended up just beating with him self this year....

 

[Alan79]

I know our defence was poor last year, but the six again bullshit meant that fatigue made every team lacking in quality look like amateur hour defensively. Seeing your team lose by 30 plus points two or three times a month really turns a lot of people off the game.

As a club our defence does need to improve a lot. But the NRL should scrap this fucking rule. Don't think they'll do that though. From my seat here at conspiracy theory central I think with a gambling sponsor heavily involved with the game that outcomes are rigged. And the repeat set rules give a scrutiny free way for refs to steer games to the desired outcomes.

 

[The DoggFather]

Gronk is a Cronk.

No shit a wooden spoon team has defensive issues you fucking genius.

Did you learn that at Harvard?

 

[ILiveForDib]

Attack is your best form of defence if your foward pack is dominating there’s when your in possession and your getting repeat sets your fatiguing the other side. However when you had a pack like ours last year which had little to no organisation in the halves, little strike power out wide and unfit fowards of course you going to leak in points because your not doing much when your in possession. Top sides control the game and field position through last tackle options and a thought out game plan. You also need to take into consideration set restarts and the notable impact that had on us. I vaguely remember some games would defend well until poor calls were made which inevitably led to us leaking in points. When your stuck in your own half as a result of poor refereeing as we were in half our games that means you need attacking flair and players which can be a game changer. We had a poor lineup undeniably which needed point scorers and that’s what we have now 2021 should be put in the past.

 

[Chris Harding]

I know our defence was poor last year, but the six again bullshit meant that fatigue made every team lacking in quality look like amateur hour defensively. Seeing your team lose by 30 plus points two or three times a month really turns a lot of people off the game.

As a club our defence does need to improve a lot. But the NRL should scrap this fucking rule. Don't think they'll do that though. From my seat here at conspiracy theory central I think with a gambling sponsor heavily involved with the game that outcomes are rigged. And the repeat set rules give a scrutiny free way for refs to steer games to the desired outcomes.

Don't think it's rigged, but I'd love to see us on the scoring side of a few blowout games, just to see what it feels like as a fan.

 

[Alan79]

Don't think it's rigged, but I'd love to see us on the scoring side of a few blowout games, just to see what it feels like as a fan.

I just can't help but see it that way. Lots of small things that gives one team a hell of an advantage over 80 minutes. Just little stuff like - timing of penalties and 6 again calls (1) late in tackle count for one team vs early for the other.
- (2) loads of penalties early in game which causes fatigue vs a string of penalties really late in games which balance the penalty count but doesn't help a side that had none for ,the first 60 minutes.
- I often think one team is getting a short 10m defensively which kills momentum for the opponent. Line speed defensively is easier if you only get back 8-9 metres.

I know many people don't want to believe it. I don't either. But as I said, I can't help but see these things frequently giving one team a huge advantage in games. It's not just games we're playing, but I'll see this when I watch 20 minutes of games I have no attachment to the teams in.

At the end of the day I'd love to be on the nice end of those 40 point winning margins. But if it comes down to being there due to biased referees it'd feel a touch hollow to me. I do hope Gould actually calls out the refereeing if we're getting lots of did calls next year though.

 

[Moedogg]

Don't think it's rigged, but I'd love to see us on the scoring side of a few blowout games, just to see what it feels like as a fan.

I just want us to beat the eels. I think the last time we beat them was 2 years ago round 23 2019..

 

[maroondog72]

wish cronk would "bite down on the mouth guard" and fuck off

 

[Psycho Doggie]

If we start winning more repeat sets and penalties than we give away, the NRL will probably look at rule changes for 2023.

This sounds sarcastic, but will probably be eerily correct.