left side attack

[cookieman909]

hey guys. this isn't a bring back Roberts thread. I look at our left side. Pritchard, Morris n lett. there is skill n speed to burn. but to use that I jus don't think keating is the answer. Pritchard n Morris are at their best wen given early ball. they get room to move n get sum speed up. Roberts can throw a pass n giv them early ball. keating, as good as he's gone, mayb he's not the answer. Roberts brings so much more, adds that flair, n I think he's the missing link to that left side. this year whenever Pritchard n Morris get the ball, they get it jus as there bout to get tackled. thoughts?

 

[Pa-28]

Can't disagree with anything you have said. Our backline is non existent without Roberts. The only attack we have is a Pritchard / Payne offload to Barba. But what can you expect when we just run one out and give inside balls to forwards to get smacked. Not entirely the halves fault, Kev has to change our structure and start using our backs a bit more early on in the tackle count. Another thing I have noticed is every other team uses set plays and spreads the ball to their strike players to get one on one with the opposition off scrum plays, i.e an Idris, Barba or Morris. We use a one out run from Ryan, Stagg or Halatau. I don't know if it's a gameplan used by Kev when it is wet, or if we just give too much respect to top 4 teams but we play the most basic football ever which does not suit us!

 

[Moe]

Agree 100% with the OP.

I love Keating, but Roberts needs to be in there somewhere, anywhere. Either that, or Kris needs to learn how to give Frank and Josh good early ball.

 

[Book]

I agree. I was thinking over some things earlier and I think Roberts definitely needs to be in there somewhere, or at least be given a chance.

 

[cookieman909]

I jus think in 09. we spread the ball n our left side ripped it up. a big part of that was Roberts. lik I think keating is goin great. but jus imagine if early ball was given!!! with our recruitment I'm sure that from 2012-2015 we'll b genuine contenders. this year I dunno, wen we throw the ball around we look good!!!

 

[Aristidiz]

lol 2015

 

[Old Bulldog]

I think Keating is a very good player. But I'm starting to agree that maybe Roberts gives us more in attack.

 

[dedezy]

last 2 weeks ball has been really slow on the left side but i think it was heaps better when Lafai was in the centres maybe Josh Morris needs a few weeks to ease back into it because in all honesty he doesn't look like himself out there

 

[BaYry Ward]

One of the main problems is that we seem to persist in going with Pritchard the first 5 or 6 times in an effort to set up some space for Morris out the back. I don't see why we don't go out the back to Morris early in an effort to get Pritchard one on one later in the game. There is no variation and it's killing us at the moment.

The defense is just doubling up and hammering Pritchard early in the game because they know we're going to hit him with the short ball 10 times in a row. It's little wonder we're down 14-0 after 10 mins every week..

 

[gazza]

Idris is going to get the most over rated player tag this year. With him going bye bye next year, he should be rotated as a forward and bring Lafai in the centres. WE would then have two centres who run straight and hard on both sides of the field and the right side defence would be improved. Jamal can then be used on the fringe of the rucks to help drag defenders inside and creating gaps outside and offload to supports. Ryan used to serve this purpose but he has slowed down considerably and now usually loses the ball if he tries to offload because the decrease in momentum means his arms are no longer clear of the defenders bodies.

 

[Doga]

Our left side attack was going well when Lafai was playing there

 

[WestieDog]

Idris has been too hot and cold. He'd be a nightmare to play against most times, but some games he just doesn't appear focused. When he gets consistency into his game, he will be awesome, but right now I think your idea is worth a go.

 

[boggie23]

You can not fit keating and roberts into the same team (well I am of this opinion anyways). If roberts is on the bench he will get 10 mins at the end of the game (which is a total waste considering he will take Halatau's position and Dene has provided great spark when coming on with hard hitting defense and hard running hit ups).

Now I dont really want to turn this into another Keating vs Roberts debate cause it has been done to death but overall I think keating is a more solid player (he ticks more boxes so to say). Roberts does favour the left side attack and provides quality ball to them. But he also makes silly mistakes, puts through rubbish grubbers that come off one time out of 8, and is really hit and miss in defense.

Keating is a great running 5/8 but I agreee his distribution of the ball is a little suspect, and when he does go on a sweeping move looking for runners he often picks the wrong player to pass it too.

The problem with the left side attack probably started when Morris returned. He is 2 games back from a knee injury. Also factoring in it was p1ssing down at stages on friday night so lateral movement of the ball was hard. And also we were not in decent field position to use our outside backs (often bringing it out of our 10 meter line). Morris will get better with time meaning our left side attack will be more potent (attack on the left was great with lafai who carved up a few sides). The missing piece is Prichard who has been missing. He only seems to go goods in spurts, spurtability is what I like to call it (a line from nba 2k11 ). He needs to get involved more, run harder and he needs to work on consistency (which has been a deficiency in prichards game since he first started in first grade)

 

[S4Sonny]

[video=youtube;16QjMIeW9Ug]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16QjMIeW9Ug[/video]

 

[Moey]

Against the Broncos. especially on the 4th tackle, both The Broncos wingers dropped back leavin us space outwide, but not once did Our halves have the vision to give the ball out. They were hell bent on just one out stuff. Pritchard wasnt missing at all, he tried his heart out, but he had to come in and look for the ball and when he did there was no room for him to be destructive. If our Halves actually had given Morris or Idris early ball and gave them room to move then it would have been a different ball game. I was at the game and you could see the frustrated look on Morris face when ever we had the ball in attack.
Ps Lafai killed the Broncos in the under 20s.

 

[chipandchase]

lmao at all you niff nuffs that want roberts back in the team. You constantly blame Keating, who again is the city 5/8, yet you fail to realise the half back, who has been dropped by city, is supposed to lead the team around the park, to put us in a position to use the left or right hand sides of attack.
but no, lets all bring in Roberts , he will change everything

 

[Ahecee]

lmao at all you niff nuffs that want roberts back in the team. You constantly blame Keating, who again is the city 5/8, yet you fail to realise the half back, who has been dropped by city, is supposed to lead the team around the park, to put us in a position to use the left or right hand sides of attack.
but no, lets all bring in Roberts , he will change everything

How many threads do you need to use to bang on your agenda? you created your own thread to debate your point, why don't you let someone else put there's forward.

For the record, I disageed with your point on Hodkinson, but I agree with the point made here.

 

[rwalker999]

Our left side attack was going well when Lafai was playing there

That it was Doga - bring him back I reckon

 

[Chris Harding]

I'm concerned about Jamal's habit of running back inside when he gets the ball. I'd like to see him run a straight line, draw the outside defence, and set up his winger instead of running away from him.

 

[BaYry Ward]

I'm concerned about Jamal's habit of running back inside when he gets the ball. I'd like to see him run a straight line, draw the outside defence, and set up his winger instead of running away from him.

Jamal's problem is that his size is an advantage but also a hindrance. Because he's the size of the QEII once his momentum starts heading toward the sideline, it's almost impossible for him to change direction. The winger also runs out of room in the blink of an eye as soon as Jamal heads that direction.

You are absolutely right about it taking away from an essential part of centre play but unfortunately this aspect of his game is unlikely to change.

Usually the only time you will see him attack the outside shoulder of his opposing centre is when we are attacking the tryline very late in the tackle count and it's basically a make or break play. Once he starts that move, it's the point of no return.