Legendary American Football coach Bear Bryant once said, “offence sells tickets, but defence wins games.” That saying rings true in the NRL as well.
As I previously wrote, in the last 10 years only one team has won the premiership without being ranked first or second in the league in defence.
But can a player’s attacking prowess outweigh poor defence? Let’s take a look at a key position that personifies attacking football – the halves.
The main responsibilities of a five-eighth and halfback is to direct the team’s attack and put points on the board – either by doing it themselves or setting up their teammates.
Check out the combined stats of two halves pairings from teams who play completely different brands of football – the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm.
The Eels often play free-flowing football that is just as likely to produce a 90-metre try as it is an intercept going the other way, while the Storm are the masters of grinding their opponents out of the game.
Eels halves combined stats: 102 metres per game, 19 try assists, 11 line breaks, 20 line break assists, 42 tackle breaks, 17 offloads, 4 tries, 5.5 missed tackles per game, 24.2 tackles per game.
Storm halves combined stats: 77 metres per game, 11 try assists, 7 line breaks, 11 line break assists, 29 tackle breaks, 7 offloads, 6 tries, 2.7 missed tackles per game, 34.7 tackles per game.
Surprisingly, Corey Norman and Chris Sandow outrank their Melbourne Storm counterparts in almost every attacking stat. But defensively, Cooper Cronk and Blake Green are far more solid than the Eels’ pair – they miss fewer tackles, despite making more of them.
Sandow alone misses more tackles (3.4) than Cronk (1.3) and Green (1.4) do together.
So can a player’s attacking flair make up for poor defensive? Parramatta and the Storm are at opposite ends of the table and while there are dozens of reasons why, this is one of them.
But there are always exceptions to the rule. Can you think of a player whose ability to find the try line outweighs the risk they pose in defence? My pick would be Aku Uate.
Russell Johnson
Guest
Mine too ! The "perenillier" the better!
Andrew
Guest
The 2012 dogs were attacking (although a different, untraditional kind of attack through their forwards along with barba and Morris ) orientated team. I myself prefer attack over defense. Afterall the best defense is a good offense
Eden
Guest
It is a common point in all sports, but I think nrl has become quite conservative in its attacking philosophy for the last 15 years. The tigers in 2005 were the only exception. Parramatta almost in 2009. The problem sits in the rules to some extent - the punishment for a penalty is massive, and grinding teams give a little and extract a lot. Also defence is easier to train and easier to rely on. For the good of the fans I hope our coaches become more adventurous in future but can't see why they would want to. Imagine if every kick off and drop out the mentality was go short and h a contest
Joe
Roar Rookie
Interesting stats between those two teams who play this weekend. I think Brad Arthurs comment on Sandows revelation says it all, the problem with Parramatta is not their attack...its their defence. If they were more like the Raiders, score a lot of points but also put in a decent effort in defence they would be higher up the table. Top teams have struck a good balance of both. Someone I'd have in the team for his attack only would be Konrad Hurrell. Tackle busting game changer.
Bilbo Baggins
Guest
It's suprising to see the Eels halves with more try assists than the Storm. If you have asked me to guess which pair had more try assists I definitely would have gone with the Storm
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
It almost unfair to compare other halves to JT. The man is in a league of his own.
Up the Wahs
Roar Guru
or stand behind the ruck when his team's on the attack, seriously if you're looking for a halve with both flair and defense i think the obvious is JT the stuff he's come up with this year is nothing short of miraculous
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
Hahahaha, his way is chip on the second from inside his own half!
Up the Wahs
Roar Guru
Did you see sandows interview with the herald, basically saying we will win more games if I play my way? This begs the question: who's way has he been playing over the last seven or so seasons?
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
Perennial arguments are my forte.
Charles NSW
Guest
While you have the ball in hand that is the best defence!
Russell Johnson
Guest
This is a good article about a perenial and largely insubstantial argument, however interesting. Of course the answer lies in the balance of a team between one kind of player and another. It's how we would define the difference between good and great coaches for making it work in the most effective way. Apparently Wally Lewis was a dreadful trainer but dropping him for lack of effort on the training paddock doesn't seem to have been an option! ( I have no personal experience or evidence here so if it's wrong Wally sorry!) But there will be plenty of other examples of players for whom this was/is true. And any way who would cynical coaches tell their players to aim for if everybody was a good defender?