Last week some Cowboys fans took exception to my comments on the terrible footy played in that horrible match between North Queensland and the Tigers at Campbelltown.
Jason Taylor must have taken exception too, ringing in to a radio station to set the record straight on what the Tigers are trying to achieve in this rebuild season.
Back to the Cows fans, I stand by what I wrote 100 per cent, but understand those who pointed out they were happy with the win.
It’s been a breakthrough season for the Cowboys where winning away from home, and in Sydney particularly, is happening. I also understand that the Cows were understaffed in the halves, with no Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan or Robert Lui.
However the reasons I am sticking to my point about the lack of intent in the attacking play of both teams remain. A modern day rugby league team doesn’t need a superstar at 7 or 6 to play a decent, winning brand of footy.
>>>Read more from Brian Smith on Smithy Speaks.
Example one: Parramatta won a truckload of consecutive games in 2009 to go all the way to the grand final from nowhere, all while playing a non-conventional brand of attack featuring no superstar halves. It was offloads and ‘get it to Jarryd Hayne’ footy.
These are coach-driven tactics to find a way to win, rather than shutting up shop and hoping you can grind your way to victory.
Example two: the Dogs since Des Hasler has been coaching there. Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson play a secondary role in the way the Dogs attack.
That’s all at a team level. At a match level, or just in sections of matches, there are hundreds of examples of how teams without genius players plan their attack.
I loved the way Parra went about their much-needed win over Panthers last weekend. The way they set out to move the ball right from the outset, even at their own end, was bold. It unsettled their opponents. They found weak spots just by passing – simple, conventional pass and catch from player to player. At times there were five or even six transfers running at half speed, but eventually they found weaknesses.
They really only got into trouble when they made it complex by passing out the back, or when they lost their rhythm a bit and stopped moving the ball.
The best example from the weekend was in yet another Cows match. This match saw two teams trying to win – as opposed to trying not to lose, as was my criticism last week.
Manly play smart, sensible, but still attacking footy, and have done so almost every week for many seasons. They scored some great tries in the match against the Cowboys and were a trifle unlucky to lose.
But I would rather say the Cowboys won. They did it from their own end with the clock almost out. Check it out on replay if you can. It was a classic piece of winning play; it’s a secret between you Roar readers and me, a format that works at every level of footy.
The Cows strung three or four simple but effective plays together on their right side. It really moved the defence laterally at a time where Manly wanted to contain North Queensland in their own end by moving up fast, tackling hard in multiples to run that clock out.
By moving the ball wide, even without making a break or a lot of ground, the Cowboys created a problem in their opponents’ defence. The little shift play got the outside defenders into the tackle and then at marker. Big middle players hate to go over to the short side, but at the end of the game it’s double tough to get them there.
Jake Granville felt it and read it. He kept the movement going to that short side by running with support. He also ignored the opportunity to pass the ball to the NRL’s greatest go-to man, Thurston. With electric pace, the North Queensland dummy half turned the next play into a speed event when his nearest rivals were undermanned and over tired.
What a pass it was from Granville to Lachlan Coote, and of course by JT to provide the money ball finish for victory.
But the genesis for that magic moment and victory was in those two simple plays. A shift on an early play across the middle of the field to get edge defenders into marker. The dummy half read the ‘keep going to that side’ for a mismatch and play what you see from there!
Junior coaches have 12 and 14-year-olds performing this with some level of expertise.
Meanwhile, head coaches in the NRL are telling gifted dummy halves to pass off the ground – don’t mess about, don’t go down short sides!
In Jason Taylor’s case, he, like plenty of other coaches, is limiting good attacking players with no-mistake, kick-chase footy and a focus on defence.
The point is the defensive levels they need to perform at are so much higher, because they take nothing out of their opponents in attack.
For Tigers fans out there, JT (‘The original but maybe not the best JT’, as he now calls himself) rang this week to say the Tiges have not only been practising passing this week but catching too.
You gotta have a laugh or you go crazy in coaching you know! No chance of JT going crazy.
Alexandria Kellett
Roar Rookie
The cowboys isn't hard to say though. Kimmerrn.
Griffo
Guest
Yeah it's not great, is it? Then again South Sydney get called the Rabbits and sometimes Brisbane and Wests are called the Broncs and the Tiges. If they did it with every team then we might get to hear people say "the Pants" and "the Tits"
The Barry
Roar Guru
Of course you can play attacking footy without superstar halves. Often - like Parramatta in 09 - you have no alternative because the halves can't guide a team around the park. Parra's style was born out if desperation of a season going nowhere. It wasn't a pre-conceived tactical approach to the season. You might be able to play attacking footy but you rarely win comps without top shelf halves.
steveng
Roar Rookie
And you can include Maguire and the Rabbits onto that list of 'defence is everything', since A. Reynolds has been injured Keary has been trying to do both jobs as 5/8 and 1/2. The Rabbits have become robotic with very few attacking plays and their outside defence has suffered from that and that is where most of the tries have been scored against them.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
North Queensland Toyota Cowboys? Doesn't really roll off the tongue.
Eden
Guest
Another great tactics based article. Well done
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
Jamieson, Smith has just recently taken up a job with Wakefield in the Super League.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
Ah, the once great Halifax. All but forgotten and now stuck in the Championship. Currently sitting at sixth on the table two points clear of London, the 'Blue Sox' haven't achieved anything since winning the Challenge Cup in 1987 and backing it up with a spot in the final a year later. Apart from winning the second-tier competition in 2010, the club has struggled since relegation at the end of the 2003 season. What about the proposed merger with Bradford Northern in 1996?
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Cheers Bails, I don't think they have ever been in this position before. Without putting the mocker on them, things are looking great this year.
Alexandria Kellett
Roar Rookie
Does anyone else really detest being called the Cows? It can't just be me.
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
Smithy this is great stuff! When are you going to get back to coaching attacking footy in the NRL?
Alexandria Kellett
Roar Rookie
Rory is so strong in his defense it makes up for what he lacks in attack. Unlike Ray Thompson who offers little in either department.
Bails
Guest
I think JT is having a bit of a mental rest, to perform at his lofty standard, the intensity and concentration with physical expenditure is amazing and only gifted to a few. I think JT knows he has the team around him now where he can clock off a bit. He got the cows through the first couple of wins they needed and has been on cruze control since. Granville, Morgs and Coote have allowed this, all haveing man of the match performances and individual brilliances to get the cows over the line in several games and last week it was big Matty Scott to put his hand up.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
They are in a spot of bother, aren't they? Will be very interesting to see how this pans out for Wakefield.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Very well said. What's really pleasing me from the current win streak by the Cowbies is that they are playing for the entire 80 minutes. They should have dropped a couple of games during that period but Paul Green has them in a great head space. Even though JT is slightly down on his usual lofty standard, the other playmakers are making an impact that wasn't evident in the past. Good times indeed.
Niall
Guest
100% agree nerval In British rugby league I think the name transformations have been pretty poor. Only Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos seem to fit Since the formation of Super League so many clubs have lost their identities. Anyone remember Halifax Blue Sox?
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Hi Brian, Next time the original JT rings can you ask him why he played his his chief player Brooks as a hooker?
nerval
Guest
I too want to wish Brian all the best at Wakefield. He'll need it! If, however, Brian can do for this great club what he did with Bradford then he'll have accomplished something really special. Wakefield Trinity is one of the truly great English clubs with a proud history. Helping them to stay in the Super League will be difficult enough, but helping them to rise out of the mire of dwindling attendances and a ramshackle Belle Vue that is no longer fit for purpose might prove beyond even him. One thing that I hope he does is to encourage the club's directors to drop the horrible, utterly redundant suffix of "Wildcats." Wakefield Trinity can stand on its own as one of the most evocative names in British sport. The transformation of Bradford Northern to the Bulls made sense and works - "Wakefield Trinity Wildcats" makes no sense on any level and is embarrassing. Help get rid of it Brian. And good luck.
Desert Qlder
Roar Rookie
You are like a dog with a bone aren't you Smith? You can make all the points you like about playing attacking football without your best players. But the simple fact remains that Paul Green had no time to prepare for anything. Morgan and Lui were taken from the side half a week out from the game. You can bang on about attacking football, but Kostjasyn and Thompson have almost no ability to carry that out. Green was left in the most difficult of circumstances, and was absolutely correct in putting up the ramparts and holding the fort on this one. I am not sure why one game has offended your sensibilities so much. NQ have provided the Rugby League world with some of the best attack over the last decade and what do we have to show for it? Certainly not a premiership. Sometimes circumstances call for a change of tactics and the likes of you cannot argue otherwise because it does not satisfy your Saturday night TV habits. One thing the Manly game actually proved, is that even with our best players in the side, the attack is far from at its best. The Cowboys are somewhat clunky in the opposition twenty and Thurston is not at his normal brilliant self at present. We as fans though are certain that things will click into gear as the season wears on. It is possible that Cameron King will at some point join the first grade side and he will add another dimension to the attack. So I think our club will be just fine as far as producing attractive football. Look, I am footy fan also and enjoy seeing expansive and entertaining play. We are in agreement on this. But using this game and game plan from Paul Green on this one highly unusual occasion is not the example to be proving your point. Take up your arguments with the rules committee about reducing interchange and removing ridiculous rules like the seven tackle rule, or even clubs like the Roosters or Storm who produce some of the most cynical and negative football the game has seen.