How to fix our Attack?

[dogbone]

I think there are a couple things that we could do that would make immediate improvement to the way we attack:

1) Our ball players need to take the ball to the line when we shift it out the back. At the moment we don't engage the defence at all, which allows them to simply slide over and cover any potential overlap play we are trying to conjure up. That is why when Burton gets it he ends up stepping off his left foot and running it himself. There is simply no overlap being created by our runners on the inside.
2) Naden is not a centre and Burns is not a winger. Whilst i was happy to see Schoupp come back in for Okunbor, the end result of having Burns on the wing was a big mistake. He doesn't have the speed to play wing and has also shown that he looks very comfortable at centre. Meanwhile Naden doesn't look like he knows what to do with the footy at centre other than run. He has a big body and good speed. We know he can finish and would be handy on kick returns. For me this is a no-brainer.

Ok so these two are more controversial and issue's i would have hoped Barrett would have gotten right over the off-season and ready for round 1:
3) If he is fit I would be starting with Cook at dummy half. I can't fault JMK's effort but Cook looked good to me in the trial he played and looks a natural leader. I think our pack could benefit with another voice out there barking orders and I dont see anyone really filling that void at the moment.

4) If Averillo isn't the answer at 7 what an absolute waste of time this experiment has been. He should have been playing at centre for the last 2 seasons and putting his running game and footwork to good use... I've seen enough of Wakeham to know he is a backup at best and isnt the long term answer. We should have persisted with Averillo or brought in Flanagan. Personally i would have persisted with Averillo for another couple rounds at least and if that failed hopefully by then Flanagan would be more confident from good results in reserve grade and maybe ready for another crack. Otherwise move BBO to 7 and JMK keeps a place in the team on the bench.

We will absolutely do it tough the next month. We will be lucky to get 1 or 2 wins but if he can get his team selections right, and the team sticks together and doesnt fold we can come out the other side with some positves. If we can be 4 and 6 by round 10 we will be happy and that is possible. Anything more is a bonus but if not Barrett can pack his bags as far as im concerned.

 

[bulldogsmyte]

I never thought I’d every see that day where the dogs struggle to score more than 2 tries a game. And it’s been happening for years. Last couple of years under Des, Under Pay and under Barrett. What the hell is going on?

Comes down to low footy IQ and awareness in key positions such as the shite 9 and 7. Impacts on almost every play plus poor passing skills that has never been addressed for years.

 

[dogwhisperer]

Comes down to low footy IQ and awareness in key positions such as the shite 9 and 7. Impacts on almost every play plus poor passing skills that has never been addressed for years.

Yeh 9 & 7 for sure. A good hooker and halfback sure makes a coaches job so much easier.

 

[silverelvis69]

Easy

Drop jmk

Promote cook.

All attacks start there

He just kills me . So slo with his passing and never asks questions

Is he’s kpi only one line break ffs?

 

[wendog33]

So more positional changes needed.

What a pre-season.

What a coach.

 

[CBDoggies]

Five tries this season, three from kicks, one from dummy half and one a tip on down the short side

Not a single try scored from putting on a play and beating the defence… this was a response i read on Facebook which agrees with my previous comment!

I have no fucking idea what they do at training but you ain’t gona beat a Melbourne or south’s or panthers the way we play. To many game breakers in those sides.

Now this is the reason why I’m so adamant Baz isn’t the coach for us. We are playing exactly the same style of footy with better players hence why there isn’t a blow out yet. If they think they can play the same way against Melbourne then Goodluck we will get pumped by 30 even with our defence.

 

[Haddaway]

Best way to fix the attack, is stop trying to be penrith

 

[NovaScotiaDog]

SACK THE COACH!

I love a well constructed, intelligent and thought out post!

 

[NovaScotiaDog]

it is concerning the form of Burton, take away his kicking game and he hasnt offered alot.

Amazing, I don’t think there is one player or coach that the kennel hasn’t turned on.

 

[Haslerhasworms]

Our attack is fkn horrid but look at our defence...

 

[w00t]

Our attack is fkn horrid but look at our defence...

Basically if we fix our attack, we would challenge for not only Top 8 but Top 4.

Sheesh we've conceded less than 2012 and we were amazing that year

 

[Bazildog]

2012 and 2016 stats... but hey, defence is shit and attack is everything.

 

[gibbo2]

The other issue is we have no strike back rowers who run hard lines, Burton hasn't been able to use any one for short passes, can't run decoys either to make space for JAC either.

Agree with you here.
I actually think Okunbour could be that player.

 

[Bulldogsteve]

The other issue is we have no strike back rowers who run hard lines, Burton hasn't been able to use any one for short passes, can't run decoys either to make space for JAC either.

thats incorrect, waddell has the most running metres for the dogs, so therefore Burton is hitting him everytime or running himself. We need Dufty to float out the back on the left as well to give fox the space and the overlap.

 

[craigo]

We are all watching the same games unfold, so give me some analysis on what each of you think is the problem with our attack at the moment.

In summary last year we largely agreed we didn't have the attacking weapons to put on points. Since then we have acquired some of the comps top try scorers in Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Dufty, along with the likes of attacking weapons such as Tavita Pangai Junior and Brent Naden. So far in 2022 our attack remains pedestrian against two of the worst sides in the comp. What happens in Manly today remains to be seen, but what does it boil down to.

Well looking back at our first two games there have been a couple of things that are apparent issues with our current style of attack;

1. Jackson has been given the Yeo role and simply doesn't pose enough a threat to the defensive line, result = defence shifts left and shutdowns any impact had by Jackson engaging the line. Why did Barrett think giving Jackson a ball playing role would work?

2. Waddell in Kikau's role. Whilst his work rate has been remarkable he doesn't run the right lines. We actually had some space in Round 2 for him to take on the defence and either break the line or get a late offload away to Naden of JAC, he did neither on multiple occasions and actually ran Naden and JAC out of play. Why is Waddell being given so big a role in our attacking sets?

3. Okunbor lack of speed. This really cost us both offensively and defensively in Round 2. Hopefully we get some some speed put on that wing, his runs out of our half are valuable but we need both speed and size. Simply just a dud selection by Barrett, should never see first grade unless we have major injury crises in the backline.

I'm by no means a fan of Barrett, but I need to give some credit where it is due. He has clearly identified Burton and Dufty as the best two play makers in the side and from what I've seen in the first two rounds is setting up Burton to make the right plays on the left hand side of the field and Dufty on the right hand side of the field. I agree this is our best option to proceed with but the guys inside them simply aren't threats to the defence. We need to use guys like Pangai in the way we are trying to use the likes of Waddell in attack. We don't (currently anyway) have the luxury of a Kikau on the edge to be playing Pangai at prop.

Another success I think has been Hetherington on the right edge, he has only been really running decoys for Burns and Dufty in these early rounds but sooner or later will cause some damage there.

Let me know your thoughts..

More grubber kicks that is all.

 

[doggy bill]

Stop changing the team after good performances and narrow losses.
It was always going to take time with new combinations, dont destroy player confidence waiting for that to happen.
Poor coaching

 

[speedy2460]

Just need to get the key players more motivated. TPJ needs a rocket.
JMK is holding the attack back. Lack of a damaging prop.
Play people in their best positions.

 

[NQ Dog]

I saw enough last week to believe we've changed. We asked a lot of questions and with a bit of luck could've easily had a few more tries.

We're only going to get better in that department. We just need player consistency and for the to gel to ice those chances.

Luck my arse. We need blokes to back up and f#cken run angles. We've still got nothing after the initial break. Lazy fuc3s in attack. All they want to do is defend by looks.

 

[Dawain87]

Our attack as everyone has stated is very one dimensional at the moment.

There are at times some nice attacking shapes however our finishing or taking the right options seems to be letting us down.

Not sure if they worked on some attacking kicks for the Fox but things like this where we play to our strengths are lacking.

I'm also surprised at the lack of support running off TPJ for that mandatory offload he can produce.

 

[John Matrix]

Need the Para approach "score more points and win, who cares about defending".