You do not need great expensive forwards to win in the modern NRL

We have a good 9, 1 and 7 now, we have some good punch through the middle especially when offloading and stringing passes together. And the Fox - Alamoti combo is great, we are looking far better this year than the last 4/5 etc, have a live wire in Kiraz. so definitely going to start making more of an impact this year and beyond.
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Disagree, the GRIND/WRESTLE is gone. You do not need to outmuscle the opposition.
Yardage is very very easy.
6 agains combined with penalties now means that getting out of your own area is easy.
Getting over the line is a different story.
This is what separates the good and bad teams.
Elite spine and you will be there regardless of the pack.
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I dare say that an elite hooker is even more important than an elite halfback.

But if you have 3 or 4 spine positions covered by elite (top 5) players (hooker just be one and of them), you are playing finals.

How far you go is where the rest of the team synergy kicks in
 
A good forward pack is essential to winning Rugby League games, always has been and always will be. It's not called the engine for no reason.

The term "Spine" in Rugby League hasn't been around for long and only came about due to the dominance of Queensland SOO side with legends playing 1,6,7 and 9.

SLATER, LOCKYER/THURSTON, CRONK AND CAMERON SMITH.

From then on, the importance of these positions has also proven to be vital for teams but without big name forwards they cannot provide the foundation to allow their backs to do their best in the latter part of the game.

Before my time, but I use to hear of older retired players, in the media, talk about the importance of a strong forward pack. Saints had it when they were dominant. Rex Mossop used to always say "defence wins games". By that he meant an attacking defence, which has been sorely lacking in our pack for a number of seasons now but we're heading in the right direction.

Peter Kelly and Peter Tunks laid the foundations for the Bulldogs to win premierships that allowed Ba Ba to run riot back in the '80's and in 2004 we had Mason and O'Meley destroying opposition defence.

Over the last 3-year Panthers have had Tamou and James Fisher-Harris in 2020 with Leota a substitute front row forward. Tamou moved on and Leota filled the void, and the rest is history.
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Just looking at the way the game is played, you do not need great expensive forwards.

The rules and speed of the game is such that getting to the opposition 20 is very very easy.

Yards are so easy to come by in the modern NRL

What you DO NEED is a GREAT spine. At least 3 of the 4 members of the spine need to be ELITE. The majority of the cap should be spent on this, like the Storm, Rabbits, Panthers and Roosters have done.

You just need workers, toilers in the pack and capable outside backs.

If you have at least 3 of the 4 members of the spine that are ELITE, you will be there at the pointy end of the season.

Gone are the days of expensive forwards. You do not need them

The game has changed. Its like the referees do anything and everything and find any reason for the game to be played on the try lines for the attacking teams.
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The job of the forwards is not just to get you to the opposition 20.. they are to put defences on the back foot that can then give the space to the spine players to create. That momentum can be created through PCM or quick play the balls or both. Kiraz has been saving our bacon last few weeks, he had more PCM than our three starting middles combined. Without him we would be toast.
 
I think Souths are missing Mark Nichols already, Tom Burgess is always going over the advantage line. We will be better with TPJ playing. Panthers have great pack and 2 in a row premierships to prove.
All top teams have good fowards. What a cuck thread.
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Outside NAS, the Storm pack is also MEH. They are just toilers.
There outside backs are also MEH.
The spine is crazy ELITE.
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Exactly, Melbourne lost the Bromwichs and Kaufusi and look where they are. The fact that 50% of their elite spine is absent can't be ignored.

That's the problem with elite spines, no team (not even the Chooks) can afford 2 of them, so when 1 or 2 get injured the team is farked.


Always a Bulldog
 
GoTheDoggies said:
The fact we're after Leniu is a great sign, Ciraldo knows we need some punch off the bench.

Our backrow looks strong, our prop rotation & halfback is the missing piece to being more dominant.
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He's signed with the chooks unless I'm mistaken.
 
In all honesty I think a hooker that can provide a crisppass with perfect timing can allow the forwards to play at a much higher level. Your halves will hopefully get the best out of support runners. The fullback these days will act as a support runner and ideally a bit of a playmaker who can spread the ball or take advantage of offloads.

So basically an elite spine will improve decent players. But a handful of elite players in the backs and forwards can often inject spark.

So for what it's worth, the spine quality can be instrumental in getting an average roster to play well above average.
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Just looking at the way the game is played, you do not need great expensive forwards.

The rules and speed of the game is such that getting to the opposition 20 is very very easy.

Yards are so easy to come by in the modern NRL

What you DO NEED is a GREAT spine. At least 3 of the 4 members of the spine need to be ELITE. The majority of the cap should be spent on this, like the Storm, Rabbits, Panthers and Roosters have done.

You just need workers, toilers in the pack and capable outside backs.

If you have at least 3 of the 4 members of the spine that are ELITE, you will be there at the pointy end of the season.

Gone are the days of expensive forwards. You do not need them

The game has changed. Its like the referees do anything and everything and find any reason for the game to be played on the try lines for the attacking teams.
Click to expand...

You actually need a decent set of wingers (IE Kiraz) that can get your kick return sets off to a strong start tbh.

The Cows, Bronco’s, Manly etc have always gotten decent field position off the back of big carries from their wingers
 
A good big fast mobile agile player will always be better than a small fast agile player - teams cant afford big forwards that are slow moving and lack agility.

I dint think teams need to play 6 big traditional middles - two on the field and one or two on the bench is more than enough - after about 25 minutes most yardage runs are from outside backs and others running from dummy half - a lot of forwards are saving energy for defence. At different points on the field a big body reqyiring three or four bodies to tackle does create time n space
 
Sadly I think you are right, the Game is nowhere near as tough as it used to be and it will eventually end up being glorified Oz tag.
 
I don't understand this thread
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Just looking at the way the game is played, you do not need great expensive forwards.

The rules and speed of the game is such that getting to the opposition 20 is very very easy.

Yards are so easy to come by in the modern NRL

What you DO NEED is a GREAT spine. At least 3 of the 4 members of the spine need to be ELITE. The majority of the cap should be spent on this, like the Storm, Rabbits, Panthers and Roosters have done.

You just need workers, toilers in the pack and capable outside backs.

If you have at least 3 of the 4 members of the spine that are ELITE, you will be there at the pointy end of the season.

Gone are the days of expensive forwards. You do not need them

The game has changed. Its like the referees do anything and everything and find any reason for the game to be played on the try lines for the attacking teams.
Click to expand...
Nasheed here,
I said the same a week ago and was made fun of.
Brace yo self.
 
Northern Beaches dog said:
Look at the dragons, there pack is absolutely PUTRID lol
Yet they are no where near as bad as they should be because of Hunt, he is ELITE.
If they had an ELITE FB and or hooker they would be knocking top 4.
Click to expand...
Also the dragons in the 2016 era had the best pack in the comp or close to it and didn’t go far.
 
Rod67 said:
A good forward pack is essential to winning Rugby League games, always has been and always will be. It's not called the engine for no reason.

The term "Spine" in Rugby League hasn't been around for long and only came about due to the dominance of Queensland SOO side with legends playing 1,6,7 and 9.

SLATER, LOCKYER/THURSTON, CRONK AND CAMERON SMITH.

From then on, the importance of these positions has also proven to be vital for teams but without big name forwards they cannot provide the foundation to allow their backs to do their best in the latter part of the game.

Before my time, but I use to hear of older retired players, in the media, talk about the importance of a strong forward pack. Saints had it when they were dominant. Rex Mossop used to always say "defence wins games". By that he meant an attacking defence, which has been sorely lacking in our pack for a number of seasons now but we're heading in the right direction.

Peter Kelly and Peter Tunks laid the foundations for the Bulldogs to win premierships that allowed Ba Ba to run riot back in the '80's and in 2004 we had Mason and O'Meley destroying opposition defence.

Over the last 3-year Panthers have had Tamou and James Fisher-Harris in 2020 with Leota a substitute front row forward. Tamou moved on and Leota filled the void, and the rest is history.
Click to expand...
Yesterdays thinking
 
Critta Magic said:
I don't understand this thread
Click to expand...
Understandable, my take is the poster thinks that "great expensive forwards" aren't necessary but "great expensive spines" are a necessity.

My view is that both being "great" is essential, but having local juniors avoids the "expensive" problem.


Always a Bulldog
 
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