Same tactics from NSW, same result
Roar Guru By mushi, 8 Jul 2011 mushi is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- NRL, NSW Blues, NSW State of Origin, Ricky Stuart, Rugby League, State Of Origin, State of Origin 2011
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The talk coming into Origin III was how Ricky Stuart had unlocked the secret of new rugby league. No more props, it was going to be Dutch total football forward packs with a slew of back rowers capable of offloads and wearing down the opposing big guys with angled runs.
Never mind that NSW has arguably had a more mobile pack in each of the six series, this time it was different. This time it was 2011 the 2010 model of Queensland props was as out dated as leg warmers and head bands.
It seemed so simple and so effective in Origin II and a blueprint for certain success, provided you rule out the possibility that NSW just executed better or that out of the box tactics are built somewhat on the element of unknown.
It was clear that Queensland were more prepared this time around, but more importantly ,it became obvious that the tactic put control of the game into the hands of the Queensland play makers.
Watch the NSW defence early; they swarmed fast to get to the larger Queensland ball carriers before they gained momentum and they did a stellar job early on. This takes commitment and speed, but most of all it takes precious energy to rush forward, wrestle a behemoth and rush back tackle after tackle.
This isn’t as much of a problem when in five tackles time, you get a chance to throw angled runs and inside balls to keep the big guys moving. You’re both using your petrol but you know you’ve got the bigger tank.
But here is the rub. This only works if you’ve got roughly equal opportunity to wear down your opponent before the scoreboard becomes a 14th man.
In the opening exchanges the NSW forwards were always going to be losing the battle of field position, as the steam trains are going straight ahead whilst the hybrid hatch backs run at angles or look for offloads. What this gave Queensland was attacking field position where the ball players take more of the load and give the big guys a rest.
If Queensland turns that into points or more possession then they are in trouble. NSW did the part that was in their control with an admirable job of restricting points, but the ability to recycle possession rested on the shoulders of the Queenslanders execution.
We all saw the result. Tired back rowers trying to tackle fresh behemoth forwards led to so much time in attack for Queensland that Matt Scott just lodged a claim for squatters rights on the NSW goal line.
The score line may give NSW some false hope that they weren’t that far off the pace, but in reality Queensland could have kept the same tactics rolling and put the shutters up on the game. But 34 guys got white line fever and it descended into touch football scrappiness.
To be clear, this isn’t a criticism of Sticky’s tactics; he played the hand he was dealt. Without the props at his disposal he tried something out of the box, but it was always a big gamble going back to the well a second time.
He might have been better placed in game three putting a bit more starch in the pack and then turning to Soward and saying, “Your kicking game, that is our third prop – make sure he shows up.” At least that way he puts the game into his players hands rather than the best half back, five eighth, fullback and hooker in the world.
But, hey, as a rugby league community, we get pulled in by one match and ironically the same tactic every year.
Sure hindsight is 20/20, but this is a storyline more predictable than a Sandra Bullock rom-com, the pundits always shout from the roof tops after a win in which “mobile Blues pack runs ragged the aging Queenslanders” – and yet here we are, six series on the trot, as NSW continues to reinvent the square wheel.
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July 8th 2011 @ 9:37am
Hoy said | July 8th 2011 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Ricky played the hand he dealt. He was the dealer don’t forget.
July 8th 2011 @ 10:07am
mushi said | July 8th 2011 @ 10:07am | Report comment
You’re right I meant more in regards to the players he can select from versus the team he was going to face, rather than him getting lumped with 17 blokes (or was it 19?) he didn’t want.
July 8th 2011 @ 11:48am
ScottWoodward.me said | July 8th 2011 @ 11:48am | Report comment
mushi
I will dedicate a story to it but in short the Blues problem was simply the spine Ricky selected and started. I rated the Maroon spine 8 points better than the Blues prior to the game and that is how it was played out. Ennis and Mini especially were out of their depth and both Pearce and Soward are borderline at that level.
July 8th 2011 @ 3:17pm
mushi said | July 8th 2011 @ 3:17pm | Report comment
Sure the spine was overmatched but I don’t know if you can say it was simply the spine. The differential in forward metres early only was massive and the spine could do little about that.
Also if you’ve got a weak 1,6,7,9 I’m not sure how appropriate surrendering the advantage line for the first 20 minutes is.
July 8th 2011 @ 12:35pm
Gareth said | July 8th 2011 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
A big part of the problem is NSW seem to believe every time they win that they’ve actually got the upper hand, when in reality, there’s probably about 30 points difference between a QLD team that *needs* to win and one that doesn’t. They should treat every win as though it was against a team that was out until 6am the night before on the Stilnox.
July 9th 2011 @ 6:12pm
Kim Hart said | July 9th 2011 @ 6:12pm | Report comment
I thought the media did a superb job of relaying the concept that game III was already won as NSW ‘should’ have won game i and did win game II. A great deal of pressure must have been on the shoulders of the blues players and they either a) believed they were a far superior team and that they only had to turn up and collect the shield or b) got the jitters at so much expectation heaped upon them.
So as a Queenslander I say thank you Daily Telegraph, SMH and especially Gus Gould for assisting the Maroons in winning their 6th straight!
July 8th 2011 @ 2:43pm
Chris said | July 8th 2011 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
At the end of the day, if both teams play to the maximum of their ability, Queensland win. They’re simply a better side. NSW just played really badly in Game 3. I don’t buy all this hype about the first 30 minutes was the most perfect football played by Queensland – NSW handed that game to them on a platter. Why would you get someone like Ennis to kick onthe 3rd tackle from a poor field position. Shocking coaching really. Mitchell Pearce isn’t up to Origin – that much is clear. He may well develop into an origin player some time in the future, but he isn’t there now. And if you’re halfback isn’t up to scratch then the team is going to struggle. Of course, Stuart won’t admit he’s made a selection mistake…
So at the end of the day, NSW was a poorly selected, badly coached team that had too many players out of form (e.g. Minichello, Gasnier, et al). The only surprise was that the scoreboard was relatively close in the end. And that’s mainly due to Queensland doiong what they had to do to ensure a win, rather than going all out for a shellacking.
July 8th 2011 @ 3:26pm
MyGeneration said | July 8th 2011 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
But who replaces Pearce, that’s the problem. How many Origin standard halfbacks does NSW have? Finished counting yet? Or started?
July 11th 2011 @ 9:27am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:27am | Report comment
No sympathy we ahd to trot out Lam as a half back and Ben Ikin as a 5/8
Our only saving grace is they didn’t have to live with the pressure of being yanked from the side for an equally over matched candidate.
July 9th 2011 @ 6:13pm
Kim Hart said | July 9th 2011 @ 6:13pm | Report comment
No no no Mitchell Pearce is the best halfback in the world remember…good one ricky
July 8th 2011 @ 11:09pm
Johnno said | July 8th 2011 @ 11:09pm | Report comment
NSW had a front row just they were not up to it , we only had one world class prop Paul Gallen. Paul gallen is like willie mason in his prime used to be he could step up to the front row for 1 off big matches and holds his own and be top quality world class. QLD had 3 top class props to NSW 1, in the rotation system so it is a myth to say sticky didn’t play 3 props. KIng, Tim mannah, Galloway, Trent Merinio, not up to Origin.
WOuld loved to of seen Paul Gallen, and a fully fit TTL leading he blues it would of made a huge difference and a decent half back i don’t think micheal tennis was the problem he rattled cam smith in game 2 and game 3 he had to come off injured, but 7 we really lacked direction. Hindsight is a powerful thing, and 7 was glaring problems, oh how NSW would love to have kieran foran or benji marshall, or nathan fine who i thinks underrated he is class and a big match performer form what i have seen. Actually wait he has played origin when he was much younger and the class player he is today,just jogged my memory he is part of that illustrious group who have played origin and for another country other than Aust. Joining Adrian lam and tonie carroll on that list.
July 9th 2011 @ 12:09pm
allblackfan said | July 9th 2011 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
I watched the game with some mates and two things struck me as odd.
One. Everytime Soward did a line goal restart (is that what it’s called?), he’d kick deep and send the ball straight down the throat of Billy Slater, which to me seemed foolish. According to my mates, if he were to kick the ball out from restart, a scrum would have to be formed.
I think the Blues need to control the pace of the game more (a favourite NZ RU tactic); going flat out all the time is not necessarily the best strategy. I say sacrifice some distance and put the ball out from the restart thereby negating Slater’s influence and slowing the game down. Qld has the players to handle a frenetic style, Blues largely don’t, which brings me to the second point:
Two. Akuila Uate was wasted taking the ball constantly up into traffic. If you have speed then you should use it. I noticed that the Blues achieved more penetration when Uate and Hayne began running the ball out wide courtesy of a couple of wide, skipout passes.
As a shock tactic, I’d also reintroduce the contest back into the scrum. I assume (and correct me if I’m wrong) the halfback is meant to feed the ball into the scrum down the middle. If so, ask the ref before the game to police this area. Then when Qld feed the ball in, the Blues scrum puts on a 1-2 step shove. You could win the feed but more likely you’d disrupt the ball coming out on Qld’s side and make the Maroon’s halfback job more of a nightmare than a dream!
July 11th 2011 @ 9:10am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:10am | Report comment
You have to kick it out on the bounce though so:
- you need to be more precise, meaning you can’t just try to kick the cover off it
- if Queensland are able to stop that then they start with the ball it greatly improves their field position.
So you are probably looking at a 40-45 metre kick so instead of having first tackle around the 40 metre mark after the hit up you are giving them the ball on the 20-30 metre mark before the hit up so probably the 15-25 after the first tackle.
July 11th 2011 @ 9:29am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Also on the scrum – clearly you’re a rugby guy so I’d give you one peice fo advice – forget everything you’ve believed about a scrum. It is not a contest for the ball it is a chance to play 7 on 7.
July 11th 2011 @ 9:42am
allblackfan said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:42am | Report comment
I’ve read a lot of RL posters who’d like to see scrums being recontested.
Scrums are not just about sucking forwards out of the backline; it can be used to control the pace of the game. By creating the need to scrum down, the pace of play slows down, gives you time to think not just about the next play coming up but the four or five after that as well.
July 11th 2011 @ 11:32am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 11:32am | Report comment
Sure they’d love to see them contested but it is a nostalgic pipe dream for days gone by which never existed in the first place.
Look at a league pack. Now look at a union one. A union referee would never in a million years let a pack consisting of rugby league forwards contest a scrum for the safety issue.
If we had truly contested scrums then either you would have a wheelchair manufacturer sponsoring League or you would have to change the entire face of the game as you remove the mobility of the forward packs. Then the same people would be screaming why are these guys so slow and fat, I remember in my day when we had ball runners at prop not these overweight lay abouts.
As to the ability to control pace, sure – to an extent. But it still doesn’t make sense for the drop out. The probability of pulling it off isn’t worth ensuring the opposition begins their set one half break away from scoring. As an occasional shock tactic maybe but as a standard approach you’re just applying pressure to yourself.
July 11th 2011 @ 12:47pm
allblackfan said | July 11th 2011 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
agreed.
July 11th 2011 @ 12:57pm
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
sorry just to clarify – not having a crack at union Props – they have a different job to do and require a different body type.
July 9th 2011 @ 6:16pm
Kim Hart said | July 9th 2011 @ 6:16pm | Report comment
I did identify a issue with Gallens captaincy. It is a captains job to communicate with the referees but to whine at them about every decision that doesn’t go your way is like arguing with a copper over a speeding ticket, keep it up and eventually they are going to notice your bald tyre and dark window tint.
Gal needs to learn to keep the debate for opportune times or line ball decisions will continue to go against them (an example is the ‘late’ hit on Lockyer which the tackler was committed to – no penalty and I am a QLDer)
July 11th 2011 @ 9:13am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:13am | Report comment
It’s cause he hit the legs kim rather than necessarily late. They’ve tried to do more to protect the kicker now because even with a legitimately timed hit if you go through someone’s leg you are going to turn their various CLs into angel hair pasta
July 11th 2011 @ 9:13am
mushi said | July 11th 2011 @ 9:13am | Report comment
But yep i did notice a bit of Gregan in his captaincy.
July 11th 2011 @ 8:53am
turbodewd said | July 11th 2011 @ 8:53am | Report comment
Why didnt they try Idris off the bench for that X-factor. He cleary has potential, he’ll never live up to it if not given a chance. NSW badly lacked offensive potency.
July 11th 2011 @ 1:14pm
Charles said | July 11th 2011 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
NSW needs to use old props such as Kite and Bailey if needed, who have been there before, then start adding players who show potential. They could also manufacture some such as what they did with Gallen. Nathan Hindmarsh is a thought, not so great at breaking the line but he can offload and his marker defence is superb.
NSW will have Stuart again next year much to my horror; I think Andrew Johns should be given the job. It is absolutely crazy, to put Mitchell Pearce into such a crucial game, with pain killing injections. All he had to do was call in Ben Hornby who has played Origin and works with Soward in club football.
This is the team to build from in 2012;
Kurt Giddley, Luke Lewis, Anthony Watmough, Glen Stewart, Beau Scott, Ben Creagh, Paul Gallen, Mark Gasnier, Jarrod Hayne, Akuila Uate, Brett Morris, Jamie Soward