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Fans here ( and elsewhere) are divided in placing the blame for our less than stellar start to the season. The MP and Friend brigade will say it's our high profile recruits ( Cronk and Tedesco) and are salivating at the prospect of us failing so that they can tell the rest of the world " we told you so".
Others say it's Friend's fault for providing such slow and mistimed service from dummy half, that by the time Cronk or Keary get the ball, the defense is on top of them and have little time to do anything worthwhile.
Let me state my observation on this, and I am not a Friend or Pearce hater, nor am I a Cronk or Tedesco lover. In fact I love every player that dons the RWB and gives his all for the Roosters, and Friend and Pearce have certainly done that year after year.
I see the problem emanating from the coach's box. We bought Cronk who played for a decade outside a hooker who is acclaimed to be the best ever of his generation, and he was so good that he was able to engage the markers and immediate defenders by running from dummy half and causing the defense to retreat. That minor hestation and confusion in the defensive line gave Cronk ample time to look around, size up the situation and on 9/10 times make the right plaay selection. He also had a running fullback ( Slater) running inside him through little gaps caused by the defense hesitation ( something we were hoping Tedesco will do). What Robinson has done is stick to the same structure we had used for the last 3-5 years, which is becoming more and more obsolete as the game evolves, and coaches are developing new structures to meet the new requirements. However our coach has not evolved at all, and expects us to compete against current Commodores supercars with a VN commodore!
Cronk has not adapted and is struggling. Tedesco looks lost and is unsure of his role. Cordner is running the same lines he has been running for years but the defenses are aware of it and bottle him easily. Friend who gives his all and plays with a lot of heart ( ala Pearce) has fallen behind the modern hooker ( look at McGuiness, cook, Korasau etc...) and needs to bite the bullet and knuckle down and be more creative. Mitchell does not get enough early clean ball becaue of advancing defenses ( we go back to slow dummy half service), and does not go looking for the ball often enough.
So come on Trent, mpve with times. You are a much better coach than you're showing right now. We have the talent to give the comp a big shake, and being 5/9 whilst running on E10 fuel, I can only imagine what we can achieve once we fill up with high octane .
Thank you for your indulgence, this is my longest ever post, and hopefully never to be repeated for years to come.
Others say it's Friend's fault for providing such slow and mistimed service from dummy half, that by the time Cronk or Keary get the ball, the defense is on top of them and have little time to do anything worthwhile.
Let me state my observation on this, and I am not a Friend or Pearce hater, nor am I a Cronk or Tedesco lover. In fact I love every player that dons the RWB and gives his all for the Roosters, and Friend and Pearce have certainly done that year after year.
I see the problem emanating from the coach's box. We bought Cronk who played for a decade outside a hooker who is acclaimed to be the best ever of his generation, and he was so good that he was able to engage the markers and immediate defenders by running from dummy half and causing the defense to retreat. That minor hestation and confusion in the defensive line gave Cronk ample time to look around, size up the situation and on 9/10 times make the right plaay selection. He also had a running fullback ( Slater) running inside him through little gaps caused by the defense hesitation ( something we were hoping Tedesco will do). What Robinson has done is stick to the same structure we had used for the last 3-5 years, which is becoming more and more obsolete as the game evolves, and coaches are developing new structures to meet the new requirements. However our coach has not evolved at all, and expects us to compete against current Commodores supercars with a VN commodore!
Cronk has not adapted and is struggling. Tedesco looks lost and is unsure of his role. Cordner is running the same lines he has been running for years but the defenses are aware of it and bottle him easily. Friend who gives his all and plays with a lot of heart ( ala Pearce) has fallen behind the modern hooker ( look at McGuiness, cook, Korasau etc...) and needs to bite the bullet and knuckle down and be more creative. Mitchell does not get enough early clean ball becaue of advancing defenses ( we go back to slow dummy half service), and does not go looking for the ball often enough.
So come on Trent, mpve with times. You are a much better coach than you're showing right now. We have the talent to give the comp a big shake, and being 5/9 whilst running on E10 fuel, I can only imagine what we can achieve once we fill up with high octane .
Thank you for your indulgence, this is my longest ever post, and hopefully never to be repeated for years to come.
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