Improving our forwards momentum

[magdog]

Our forward issues are not licchhas but we play flat and not just simple run hard from depth not flat

Running in numbers wouldn't hurt either

 

[coach]

Running in numbers wouldn't hurt either

Yup, our 1 out runs are ridiculous, not even asking questions of the defence when u have one player carting ball up with no support around him

 

[Izzy Forreal]

Lichaa shouldn't be completely blamed for the forwards getting creamed. Ennis didn't get the our forwards dominating, some of the critiques you gave lichaa have been said about ennis while he was here.

It's our flat footy structure as well and tolman being largely ineffective. When standing flat, opponents an rush up.

I'm not placing the blame on him completely. The forwards could time their runs better too. But I do often see them slow down to avoid over-running him. The flat style we play compounds this. At some point soon I'd like it sorted out.

Our pack is full of quality. They need to translate that to results. The first step is getting then running onto the ball better and I can't see how they're able to do that if they are getting the ball a metre before the line at half pace.

A combination of standing about a half metre further back for their (forwards) take off and waiting till they see him start running might solve it. But I really think this is detracting from the area where we have invested plenty of money.

Hi there bcmf and Alan79. The first thing I'll say is that I'm not posting here to teach or preach and I more or less agree with what you've both said.

When Ennis was our dummy half most of what happened was a disaster. There was no go forward, he threw forward passes (sometimes two a game) and our forwards got hammered. Basically I couldn't stand the bloke. I wanted his head on a stake. And I was very bloody wrong.

Then along came Lichaa... Yee Haa!! The first thing I did was look at his profile and saw the junior representative honors he had racked up and thought "How good is this bloke. He's already done this and he's gonna get better". Once again I was very bloody wrong.

So what happened? Ennis became a Shark and gave them an attack option with a kicking game that is near brilliant (Sharks are now level pegging with the Storm on top of the ladder). Lichaa became a Dog and had his attacking flair snuffed out in just a few weeks. And we still don't have a kicking game.

So the question that demands an answer is: "Who is responsible for the Bulldogs go forward, attacking structure and last tackle options going to shit"?

Answer: "Master coach Des Hasler".

 

[Izzy Forreal]

Tolman or Graham need to get out of the way and give ball to other players, They're 1 and 2 for hitups which is way to much.

I agree 100%.

Graham has definitely got ball skills. His problem is that the defending forwards know he is good and have structured their defence accordingly. But Graham also has speed so what he needs is a bit more room to strut his stuff. If he gets that bit of room he will be a good attacking weapon.

Tolman with the ball in his hands is a total waste of a play. Unfortunately he has gone past his expiry date.

 

[_G-Dog_]

We got way bigger issues than our forwards

 

[Minion]

I agree 100%.

Graham has definitely got ball skills. His problem is that the defending forwards know he is good and have structured their defence accordingly. But Graham also has speed so what he needs is a bit more room to strut his stuff. If he gets that bit of room he will be a good attacking weapon.

Tolman with the ball in his hands is a total waste of a play. Unfortunately he has gone past his expiry date.

Tolman makes a huge contribution to the team, especially in defence. He has limited skills is attack but every team needs at least one Tolman in their pack.

 

[Gabs]

Watching Cam Smith on the weekend and crispness of service from dummy half, the organisation of the forwards and the kicking game reminded me how far behind the top teams our present dummy half is. He may well end up a great player but he's barely a first grader at present.

 

[Chris Harding]

I see two issues with our go forward:

1. We are too slow to play the ball. Our forwards accept tackles, and are slow and ponderous getting up to pay the the ball, allowing the opposition to set their attack.

2. Lichaa takes much too long to pick up the ball and pass it. This means the opposition are virtually with our forwards when they receive the ball, and our forwards have to stand flat or risk overrunning the pass.

A combination of quick play the balls and speedy delivery would have our forwards hitting the ball at speed, and the opposition backtracking instead of being up in our face.

 

[DOGGIESSTYLE]

Hi there bcmf and Alan79. The first thing I'll say is that I'm not posting here to teach or preach and I more or less agree with what you've both said.

When Ennis was our dummy half most of what happened was a disaster. There was no go forward, he threw forward passes (sometimes two a game) and our forwards got hammered. Basically I couldn't stand the bloke. I wanted his head on a stake. And I was very bloody wrong.

Then along came Lichaa... Yee Haa!! The first thing I did was look at his profile and saw the junior representative honors he had racked up and thought "How good is this bloke. He's already done this and he's gonna get better". Once again I was very bloody wrong.

So what happened? Ennis became a Shark and gave them an attack option with a kicking game that is near brilliant (Sharks are now level pegging with the Storm on top of the ladder). Lichaa became a Dog and had his attacking flair snuffed out in just a few weeks. And we still don't have a kicking game.

So the question that demands an answer is: "Who is responsible for the Bulldogs go forward, attacking structure and last tackle options going to shit"?

Answer: "Master coach Des Hasler".

Could not agree more with this

Its really sad that there are dogs fans blaming lichaa for what is clearly des haslers structure!!

 

[D.O.W.]

To add, our strategy of going 4&5 tackles up the middle every set of six fatigues our forward pack and it becomes easier to be dominated as a result. Most other teams give the ball some air from the 3-4 tackles... We're adding an extra hit up per set of six and it's often Tolman or Graham carrying it twice. Those hit ups become ineffective. Our backs need to become more heavily involved, that's pretty obvious. It will give our forwards a bit of a breather and this would also demand more attention out wide.
If I'm coaching against the Bulldogs, i'd be telling the guys to compact the forward defensive line, arrive in numbers and meet the ball carrier early. And these are the tactics being used against us.. And they work because 1. We almost robotically produce hit ups every set of 6 especially when in our own half where we will almost certainly use up 5 up the middle. 2. Lichaa rarely runs from dummy half 3. Lichaa's service from dummy half lacks pace.

 

[D.O.W.]

Tolman or Graham need to get out of the way and give ball to other players, They're 1 and 2 for hitups which is way to much.

Agree, why the heck are they standing at first receiver in the rare instances the backs do get involved? Last time I checked they were wearing 8 & 10 not 6 & 7. Surely Reynolds and Mybe aren't that bad that Des thinks Tolman and Graham would do a better job? Yes, our forwards are our strength, but they can also be our weakness if they are to buggered to dominate like they should be.

 

[DaPingPongKing]

I would kill for just one conversation with Des, where I can ask him if he's aware of all the problems we're seeing and if he's doing anything about it

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Agree, why the heck are they standing at first receiver in the rare instances the backs do get involved? Last time I checked they were wearing 8 & 10 not 6 & 7. Surely Reynolds and Mybe aren't that bad that Des thinks Tolman and Graham would do a better job? Yes, our forwards are our strength, but they can also be our weakness if they are to buggered to dominate like they should be.

It is the style of footy Des wants. He wants to play around sides and not through them, so he places the props on either side of the ruck and our halves out on the edges. It has nothing to do with Des thinking our props are better first receivers, it is simply because he wants the halves to play another role to suit his style.

 

[Moedogg]

I would kill for just one conversation with Des, where I can ask him if he's aware of all the problems we're seeing and if he's doing anything about it

Hold a placard in front of the coaches box.

Tell him to log onto thekennel and he will find all the answers to his teams problems. Lol

 

[D.O.W.]

It is the style of footy Des wants. He wants to play around sides and not through them, so he places the props on either side of the ruck and our halves out on the edges. It has nothing to do with Des thinking our props are better first receivers, it is simply because he wants the halves to play another role to suit his style.

I don't disagree, though most would agree from the overall strategy Des emplores, I don't think he is 100% confident in the abilities of his 6 & 7... our 5th tackle options evidence this.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

I don't disagree, though most would agree from the overall strategy Des emplores, I don't think he is 100% confident in the abilities of his 6 & 7... our 5th tackle options evidence this.

Well he has stuck with Reynolds since 2012 and just re-signed Moses. If someone as big as a control freak as Des lacked confidence in them you would think he would of cut them by now...instead he just blew cap on forwards lol.

 

[hotdiggitydogs]

If you look back to the first round match against Manly, we played a hard running fast style with he forwards running at pace onto the ball from dummy half. Now I know Manly were a easy team due to the new faces etc. But we made easy meters up the field and where playing fast attack not this slow crap we are currently playing!

 

[D.O.W.]

Well he has stuck with Reynolds since 2012 and just re-signed Moses. If someone as big as a control freak as Des lacked confidence in them you would think he would of cut them by now...instead he just blew cap on forwards lol.

Yep, they sure did...
In my opinion, a guy like Cronk turns us into a serious contender. Still hopeful that Des will conjure up a Brilliant plan in the run into the finals..time will tell.

 

[CBDoggies]

Just thinking out loud might not make sense but what about a reshuffle in our bench rotation and backs do. For example have Brett back at full back and shift hoppa to the centres. Have Rona back at wing and pair josh with perret to maybe help his sliding defence. Personally I'd get rid of perret but just thinking logically as des doesn't do that lol.

Our rotation should have either graham or tolman on the bench not both at the same time. Have Klemmer as starting as he does but maybe also have Tony williams or another impact player with tolman. Having both tolman and Graham just stuffs our attack. We look so boring and unthreatening... I also would like to see Garvey play second half of first half and first half of second half and have licha also play total 40min either way. Wtf is with kas and last interchange for last 5min? I just don't understand that. Anyway if anyone agrees or doesn't let me know. I just think our back line gets caught out way to much and our players just ain't used the right way.

 

[Dogofwar]

The problem with our forwards is that they are standing still when they get the ball. Our forward are always standing flat and still on reception regardless of whether Lichaa steps out or passes flat. Another 5 meters deeper and running on to the ball harder will increase their depth and penetration.

The other side of the coin the majority of the time it's one out passing running into the middle of the ruck which any defence will eat up. The games where our forwards have been running hard as a second receive and changing angles we have had the most impact.

In saying that I do agree Lichaa hasn't had the impact we have needed but putting Moses as our hooker is a mistake. If we get Foran he and Mbye will make a good halves combination as Foran will control the game and allow Mbye to play naturally. I would like to see Cooke back in the side as hooker as he plays our style of football. Don't get me wrong I love Reynolds and love having grub in the side but Foran and Mbye need to be the halves with Reynolds or a replacement as a hooker