- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
There’s nothing more comical than a massive overreaction from rugby league fans who call for the sacking of their club’s coach after the team – without their starting halfback – loses a mid-season game against the current premiership leaders.
When said coach is also recognised as one of the best in the competition, has led his team to two of the last three NRL grand finals, and still has them in the top eight and therefore on-track of a finals berth this season, it’s actually bordering on insanity to suggest he should lose his job.
Fear not, for despite the headline, I’m not suggesting the Bulldogs should fire Des Hasler.
However, at some point – and I suggest it’s now – some questions need to be asked about why the Bulldogs often look like the worst coached team in the NRL.
Look no further than the team’s loss to the Brisbane Broncos on Saturday night for evidence of that line of thinking.
With the Dogs down by eight points with three minutes to go, the ball found its way to prop Sam Kasiano on the left-hand side early in the tackle count. The front-rower inexplicably put in a short grubber kick, Brisbane forced it dead for a line dropout, which in-turn wasted more than a minute of play.
With the Dogs needing to score twice, the kick essentially ended the game.
Not exactly intelligent football.
Moments later, the Dogs were attacking Brisbane’s line on the fifth tackle. After some scrappy play the ball found its way to Brett Morris near the sideline, who then proceeded to charge into three Broncos defenders like it was a hit-up on the first tackle of a set. Whistle. Changeover. Brisbane ball. Game over.
Not exactly intelligent football.
Just before all of this had occurred, Tim Lafai ran sideways towards the sideline, where he was gang-tackled by a number of Brisbane defenders, who forced him into a touch – greatly assisted by the wet conditions that every player on the ground was aware of. Apart from the Bulldogs centre, it seems.
Not exactly intelligent football.
Though these three incidents stood out because they came in the dying minutes when the Dogs were desperately trying to score a try to get back into the game, they were hardly isolated moments of questionable play.
In the first half, with the Dogs in good field position attacking Brisbane’s line, Dave Klemmer suddenly believed he was Joey Johns and attempted a long cut-out ball… to no one.
Likewise, with the Dogs 10 metres out from Brisbane’s line, and the chance to put some pressure on the Broncos’ defence, Josh Reynolds kicked the ball back towards the previous ruck, where his teammates were naturally offside.
Not exactly intelligent football.
To be honest, I could list a number of similar plays from Saturday night, but my concern isn’t confined to the loss to the Broncos. Every sporting team is allowed one poor game, or one night where they seem prone to making silly mistakes. It’s sport, it happens.
The issue is that such mental errors are the hallmark of the Dogs’ 2015 campaign; they’ve been doing it all season long. The team seems to lack direction, or the ability to make the right play at the right time, to the point where the Dogs’ fifth tackle options have become a source of amusement for opposing team’s fans.
A lot of the blame has been laid with the halves, and the criticism is fair enough, considering the primary roles of the halfback and five-eighth are fifth tackle plays and general leadership of the team.
Trent Hodkinson can be a passenger in attack, and lacks the creativity and ball skills of other halfbacks in the competition. Reynolds gives maximum effort and is always in the thick of the action, but he’s not what one would call a ‘cerebral player’.
Lastly, Moses Mbye is an exciting young talent, but he’s still finding his feet in first grade.
Together, the trio have a lot of ability, but lack the maturity, level-heads and overall nous that a premiership contender ideally would like from their halves combination.
However, none of this is new news. I’ve been making similar comments about the Bulldogs’ playmaking for nearly three years now, and while it’s easy to blame the players, this is the team that Des wanted. It’s therefore incumbent upon him to address the worst kept secret in rugby league: the Dogs are a joke in attack.
This isn’t a Hasler witch-hunt, and I’m not suggesting he be fired. Far from it. As a Doggies fan, I want him at the club for a very long time, because I believe him to be a great coach. He’s probably forgotten more about rugby league than I’ll ever know.
However, just as with any highly paid position in life, there needs to be accountability, and in this instance someone needs to be accountable for the fact that the Dogs have not played smart footy this year.
Are the players not executing Hasler’s plans? Or do the players not have the required plans in the first place? Which is it?
Either way, with 18 rounds of football now in the rear-view mirror, it’s well overdue for these questions to be answered. And it’s the coach who should be answering them.