Do they make Souths vooddoo dolls? That's our only chance.
Actually our best chance is it pisses down rain and prevents them putting on a high score.
I recall this game last year...Cook carved us up. So first thing is mark him closely...any time he runs SMASH HIM.
All Suffs attack comes off Cook going forward so nullifying him makes them look very ordinary.
Secondly if Suffs get close to our line Meaney must be fully aware of Reynolds short kicking game...he will target the posts to get richochets and odd bounces.
In D we need line speed to get in their faces and cut down Cooks time to pick his runner. This will be tiring so our bench rotation is critical. Smith and Ogden MUST see bigger minutes to share the workload. Be prepared to wrestle too...dont peel off so quick...if the refs want to penalise us out of the game SO BE IT. Slow down Suffs ruck.
We must move up in a straight line....do not come out of the line attempting an intercept Holland.
At end of our sets in attack Lewis and Cogger must kick...if they get the ball...dont pass it to a centre or 2nd rower who are marked...kick it. Lewis and Cogger must also stand deeper to receive the ball...not so shallow that they have no time to put a proper kick in.
In attack look to attack Souths edges early. Like he did with Brisbane,Bennett employs a very compressed D line for the first 3 tackles...so dont simply go one out...look to shift on early tackles....if a kick to a wide winger is on...try it. Dont die wondering. Dont be so robotic in A...try things and if they dont come off...then D with commitment to make up for it.
Dont be impatient or hang your heads if we get behind. Keep believing in the virtue of a good aggressive moving line in D....hitting hard and slowing them down. Look forward to getting into a grinding match...compete on all plays.