Last week's kick off.......

[Spirit of 66]

I think you need to have instinctive off the cuff players to try risky plays mate.

I agree, but the prevailing culture of rugby league is to reward low risk robotic play, not instinctive, creative play. I wish we had more of the latter playing.

[BarnstormingBlockbustin']

Obviously the team has been doing their homework after they failed to nullify the short kick off last week that cost them the game.
And they were able to produce that on the field where it counts. Thats what its all about. Brilliant stuff.

I was thinking the same thing..

Obviously was planned.. The only reason I can think why they done it is because they lost a game the previous week because of one. Shouldn't happen again though.

The chookpens reaction to the short kick off as soon as it left Ananchors boot was priceless.

[stephenj]

i loved it, it also told the newcastle mob we were here to play and to win!

[stsae]

I agree, but the prevailing culture of rugby league is to reward low risk robotic play, not instinctive, creative play. I wish we had more of the latter playing.

I'm with you mate.

The change of culture from the footballer to the athlete is what has changed the game mate. We've eliminated any risk factor, stopping scrums being competitive, stopping the ruck being a mini scrum where the marker can strike for the ball, going to 10mtrs where athletes can wind up and roll over backpedaling defences instead of having to use skill to get thru defences, having interchange where forwards can rest and be fresh to line up at playmakers instead of smaller men dominating when fatigue sets in.

Coaches and reffs influencing rules for their own benefits and egos not for the benefit of the spectator or the game in general. Robots can be programmed, footballers are unpredictable and exciting.

I should stop now.

[Headless Chook]

There's a reason why all the top sides don't do it, and that is because it's extremely flukey.

I'd rather we don't try it and try a different ploy like more grubber and chip kicks in attack when we are 30+ m out, rather than a bomb which no one from our team can chase in time to catch.

It seems that everytime we bomb it from 30 m out,

Carney tried chip kicks very often and many times it would pay off.

The reason why the top sides don't do it is because they don't need to do it. We are not one of the top sides and for us to be successful we need to do things differently.

[Danish]

I'd actually like to see stats on short kicks offs on which team wins the ball more often.

Personally it feels like the team kicking off gets the ball back at least half the time, and that's based on a lot of short kicks where the receiving team knows its on and stacks the 40m line with players.

Taking one from the opening kick off when the opposition is absolutely not expecting it would stack the odds massively in your favour of getting it back IMO.

Would love to see us try this more often

[Chook Norris]

I loved it, great play (only of course when it comes off)

would love to see it more often. Teams need to compete for the ball more often instead of just handing it to the opposition

[chook 56]

Loved it.
I think you will see more coaches use it occasionally, to keep the defense guessing.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

The short kick-off is way too under-utilised by teams.

I would prefer my team to make each restart a contest for possession. (bit like Union). You would get a percentage of them (maybe 30-40%?) back. The advantages of that compared to losing say 20 metres in yardage and a guaranteed loss of possession is worth it IMO.

The current trend of the long high kickoff...back passes to forward who runs up to somewhere near the quarter line is too predictable and mechanical. The real achievers in the game use elements of surprise and have options. The short kick-off (as a standard for your team) would provide that as opposition teams would work to guard against losing the ball from the kickoff.

Rugby League is all about territory and possesion, with penalties and errors the variables that usually decide matches.

Credit to the coach that gives something like this a go...you would find that if a few did it the others would follow like sheep as with most trends in the game.

[Guest]

I thought it was brilliant. In more ways than one.

Got us on the ascendancy straight away and kept them guessing all game. And now when we play other teams they will also all be wondering if we will do it...

Out of the box and great to see.

[witty92]

What a ridiculous thread, that kick-off was nothing if not a statement. We'd come away from anzac day bruised and scarred and it was the short kick off that sunk us. People were doubting if our young team could regain the confidence lost in such a heart breaking finish, the entire team including smith answered those doubters definitively with that first kick off

[Guest]

I am surprised teams wait until 20 points with 5 minutes to play before attempting the short kick off. It took everybody in the stadium by surprise except the Roosters and it allowed us to build pressure that we never gave up.