‘Small ball’ and a rugby league revolution: Are the Bulldogs back?

[GoTeamRaRaFunky]

Only concern is if we can sustain this for 26 rounds.

in theory they could get better and better at it

 

[alwaysthesun]

It's nice just to watch a team who turn up every week tbh.. that's all we ask for.. I've watched most of our games over the past 6-7 years just enjoying the odd moment from individuals but hardly ever saw a full squad committed to the bigger picture. Ciraldo is really pioneering new ways to approach the six again game, but nothing works without player buy in.

 

[silva]

Those metres conceded stats are very impressive. In 95 the dogs won a premiership off this swarming defence. Manly had no answer in the GF and ran out of steam in the 2nd half .

 

[Bullfrog2]

Only concern is if we can sustain this for 26 rounds.

I had this concern as well but reserves are killing it, we have plenty of depth. Blokes are breaking bones and returning 3 weeks later.
It appears CC has turned our boys into men.
2 x players we cannot afford to lose is Burton and Kikau. Funnily enough I suspect we would struggle without Hutchinson as well. A lot of people here would disagree. His defense is outstanding, he is a big part in keeping our opponents to less than 30 in every game this year. Something no other team in the competition can match! Congratulations men!

 

[Yougra]

Yeah I really like the look of young Todd, he has got the goods.

Agree, he has stepped up from Flegg to NSW Cup no problem

After watching him play lock on the weekend he was reminding me of a Pat Carrigan style player.

Makes plenty of metres through the middle, is a workhorse in defence and has an offload to his game

Hopefully he might debut at some stage towards the back of the year to get a taste of NRL, and with another pre season under his belt to add a bit more muscle to his frame, he should be good to go next year

Very excited about Todd

 

[bcmf]

Too early to tell both from an overall effectiveness perspective as well as a sustainability one. I’m saying we could finish outside the 8 or our boys just can’t keep pushing it all season

 

[bricktamland]

For years and years I've watched my team allowing opposition sides to just march up and make 70m a set. To see us way ahead now in that stat alone fucking gives me a hard on and much happiness.

In saying all this, queue all the offside penalties we'll probably get now for rushing up. lol

The kennel is back to jizzing. Officially jizzing season

 

[maroondog72]

Agree, he has stepped up from Flegg to NSW Cup no problem

After watching him play lock on the weekend he was reminding me of a Pat Carrigan style player.

Makes plenty of metres through the middle, is a workhorse in defence and has an offload to his game

Hopefully he might debut at some stage towards the back of the year to get a taste of NRL, and with another pre season under his belt to add a bit more muscle to his frame, he should be good to go next year

Very excited about Todd

Yeah he seems to have a high work rate and seems pretty strong for a a 21 yo . Going to be so good to have forwards just coming into their prime rather than on the downhill slide. That kid has the potential to e anything in a year or two in FG.

 

[senshidog]

Absolute amazing insight as there are so many metrics and datasets that you probably would never think play into the game of Rugby League (or make such a big difference).

This is another masterstroke having a CEO who owns a data driven business at the helm.

The club and coaching staff are able to see how the game is evolving by evaluating certain aspects and datasets, and then shaping the team based on that.

So whilst oldschool coaches might be focussing on "big mobile forwards", instead the Dogs might be focussing in "how can we quickly get to attacking line, and so what if we miss a few tackles in the process".

Based on this article it's interesting to see that there are (commonly thought of as) negative statistics in the game, that we are actually turning into positives on the field.

 

[ILiveForDib]

Stats like this, accompanied by a decent halfback we would be flying.

 

[childofglossop]

We have been playing “small ball” for the last 10 years but it was more a general description of the physical attributes of our players. Now we are playing “big Balls’ with smaller players. lol
But seriously the mobility of our pack on both sides of the ball and the fact we can sustain it for Eighty minutes has revolutionised our team quicker than I thought possible.

For those old enough to remember….
There’s a lot of similarities between our current smaller mobile pack and the underrated pack we had in 1979. Hughes brothers, Folkes, Cassiles, Robinson and Coveney. Way smaller than our opposition. We scraped into the finals that year, but in a blueprint for the next 25 years we marched straight through to the GF.

Yes it was a very long time ago…but the more things change…

 

[bulldogsmyte]

For those old enough to remember….
There’s a lot of similarities between our current smaller mobile pack and the underrated pack we had in 1979. Hughes brothers, Folkes, Cassiles, Robinson and Coveney. Way smaller than our opposition. We scraped into the finals that year, but in a blueprint for the next 25 years we marched straight through to the GF.

Yes it was a very long time ago…but the more things change…

Yes but in 79 we had the great Steve Mortimer at his peak who ran riot in the months leading into the play offs to get the Dogs into 5th place and then went up another gear in the finals. He scored two brilliant long range solo tries against Cronulla in the knock out semi and then another magical solo try to put the Dogs in front against Parra in the GF qualifier and saved several tries in the GF with his iconic cover tackles. There is certainly no Turvey in our team this year.

 

[luke.thmpsn]

I would like to take my victory lap now:

We just don’t have the team

Rephrase the title to we just don’t have the halfback. Couple of players are punching above their weight unequivocally doesn’t take prime Thurston to run hard and tackle hard. It’s the sense of comradery Ciraldos built, use to be few heads drop they all do. Now if one drops were unphased and...

www.thekennel.net.au

I called this weeks ago. I think it holds merit with the game currently being so fast. The biggest teams like Eels and Raiders are very patchy but we've been defensively very good all year.

 

[Moedogg]

Didn't the Tigpies have a relatively smaller pack when they won the comp in 05?

 

[maroondog72]

This is exactly why forwards like Morrin and cotter are becoming important, leg speed and endurance are key.

 

[The DoggFather]

Didn't the Tigpies have a relatively smaller pack when they won the comp in 05?

They were the Bradbury Premiers, they won because everyone else got injured lol

 

[Cantabrian35]

They were the Bradbury Premiers, they won because everyone else got injured lol

It was also because the two best teams in 2005 (Parramatta and St. George) did what they did best in the 2000's, crumbled under pressure.

Unfortunately, the likes of Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters are not likely to be so accommodating this year. Brisbane is probably the only top tier team with a question mark after last year's grand final collapse but I get a feeling that will serve to strengthen them if they get that far this year (although without Reynolds it will be tough).

 

[luke.thmpsn]

It was also because the two best teams in 2005 (Parramatta and St. George) did what they did best in the 2000's, crumbled under pressure.

Unfortunately, the likes of Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters are not likely to be so accommodating this year. Brisbane is probably the only top tier team with a question mark after last year's grand final collapse but I get a feeling that will serve to strengthen them if they get that far this year (although without Reynolds it will be tough).

That was before the 6 again rule and I think there were more interchanges. The game has changed.

 

[Dogs4EVA-1]

Toddy, Hopoi, Hayes, Underhill, Seve and Marshall.

We are set with forwards... just need to make sure we keep them.

Hopoi looks good and might be ready for a taste this year, the others are too young.. Marshall seems to have stalled a bit as he never gets picked in Cup and is in his second (or possibly 3rd) season in Flegg.. That's a slight concern, is he too small? Ive watched Poasa the last 2 weeks and he is too good for reserve grade, hes that other big body we need in the middle in NRL..

 

[Powerslide]

Yeah he seems to have a high work rate and seems pretty strong for a a 21 yo . Going to be so good to have forwards just coming into their prime rather than on the downhill slide. That kid has the potential to e anything in a year or two in FG.

I have read some comments somewhere saying that he is a smaller type of forward but when I watched him in Cup didn't seem to lose much in height to opposition players. Anyone know what his height and weight is?