Paul k#nt whipping roosters and storm

[ism22]

Paul who? I am too farking tired to read any of this. Goodnight!

[Johnny Tobin]

Herein is the reality according to Phil Lutton of SMH ON JULY 31ST which might show Paul Kents agenda...
End of rules crackdown only part of Melbourne Storm's success story

By Phil Lutton
The theory doing the rounds in rugby league circles at the moment is that Melbourne and the Roosters can directly thank the backlash to the early-season rules crackdown for their run of success.
It's all over social media and its proponents are garnering a great many retweets, therefore it must hold some water. Right? Right.
This NRL season has been split into two defined eras. To critics, it was like the Ice Age and the great thaw that came afterwards. A flood of penalties cracking down on the game's basics was met with derision from a rowdy bunch of players, coaches, fans and pundits, who feared for the spectacle of it all.
As a result, ahead of round 15, Todd Greenberg issued a wind-back or sorts, urging referees to continue to police the key areas but not go out of their way to look for penalties. The sin-bin was also back on the table for foul play.
The good news is the numbers show that it worked, to a degree. Figures compiled by Champion Data show that from rounds 1-14, there were an average of 8.8 penalties conceded per game. Since then, the past six rounds have seen the average drop by 1.5 penalties conceded per game. Voila!
It means referees have been getting the message, although for some teams the change has been more beneficial than others. Melbourne, as per the suggestion that the relaxed interpretations have helped their cause, are a good example.
For the first 14 rounds, they were the fifth most-penalised team in the NRL, conceding 9.1 penalties on average each game. For the past six rounds, they were the fifth least-penalised team, being stung for an average 6.7 infringements.
That all sits nicely with an eight-game winning streak that has them on top of the NRL ladder and looking every bit the premiership hope. But that is only part of the story for Melbourne, whose fortunes in another key penalty stat didn't change much at all.
During the penalty blitz, the Storm were experts at drawing penalties, being given an equal league-leading average of 9.1 over the opening 14 rounds of competition. For the past six rounds, with the foot off the officiating pedal to a degree, guess what? The Storm were still the best side at drawing penalties with an 8.8 average.
For all their skill at helping to control the speed of the other team's ruck, the Storm are masters of their own destiny with the ball in hand. They know how to contain the pace of rivals but also know how to combat those very same tactics when they are moving up the field.
The Roosters have been another team suggested to have been given a boost by the change in tack from referees, although the numbers are hardly compelling. The difference between penalties conceded pre and post round 14 was just 1 (8.6 to 7.6) and for penalties awarded, only 0.3 (8.1 to 7.8).
For others, the figures don't explain any seismic shift in performance. Over the opening 14 rounds, the impressive Dragons were the least-penalised team in the NRL, giving away just 7.6 in the midst of the crackdown.
Afterwards? They were still the best, now giving away just 5.5 per game over the past six rounds. For them, even better discipline hasn't resulted in even better form as top-eight rivals gather substantial amounts of steam.
For some teams in the top eight, the difference in refereeing has had no statistical impact whatsoever. For both Brisbane (8.0) and the Warriors (8.8), there wasn't any difference in the average amount of penalties they conceded when the first 14 rounds were compared to the past six.
But that change did see the Warriors go from being the ninth most-penalised team to the second most-penalised team in the latter stages of the year, with the Raiders (9.0 per game) now the worst offenders.
The team to benefit most out of the end of the penalty blitz? That would be the Gold Coast Titans, who have dropped three penalties per game from the stat sheet when the two parts of the season are compared.
In terms of teams earning penalties, the Raiders have suffered greatly, which would probably just add some fuel to Ricky Stuart's fire. His team was given 3.6 fewer penalties per game over the past six rounds when compared to their round 1-14 average of 9.6, which was the most in the game.
Like most things in rugby league, the perceptions only loosely match up to the reality. Yes, Melbourne have been helped by the officiating shake-up but it's their ability to take an iron-grip on the tempo of a contest that has been their biggest asset.

That's a great article. Thanks.

[Johnny Tobin]

No mention of the vermins club record winning streak because of same?

As a friend just pointed out to me, they haven't played a top eight side in that time. I think they are almost in the same category as Saints. It really is a two-horse race between us and Melbourne.

[The Skeez]

It’s very unlike a News journalist to use certain facts to create an agenda!
They’re not worried about selling newspapers about League in the eastern suburbs or Melbourne.

[Half time]

sometimes kent comes up with some good points but then he comes up with garbage like this and you wonder how he (and other similar idiots in the media) has a job.

[Johnny73]

I say yet again, I think of the loser Spiv Kent Paul from GTA: Vice City when I see him.

[Team Evil]

The difference between News LTD and SMH: one uses unbiased facts/statistics and one just wants to sensationalise and appeal to the mob in order to sell news papers!

[zac]

What Kent is saying is that over-refereeing helped the Dragons. They should consider themselves lucky that they got a leg up from an application of the rules that all commentators thought was killing the game.

But he's a bit selective in his use of evidence - the Dragons have been starting strong and finishing shit for years. That's not just because of the bloke blowing the whistle.

[Juggler]

I think people on here are reading too much into the article. I don’t think he’s bagging either team.

[Maxy Walker]

I think people on here are reading too much into the article. I don’t think he’s bagging either team.

Yeah, he is. He is suggesting that both teams bend the rules and get an unfair advantage from a less strict interpretation. That is the agenda and it’s probably being driven by a coach of one of the other teams.

[Bigchook]

Agree with everything Kent said. Penalties kill momentum and inhibit individual brilliance. It allows lower quality teams the time and space to execute their boring structures and set plays. We rely on speed, power and opposition fatigue that our brilliant tedescos and Mitchell's can capitalise on. He's hardly bagging us at all. The start of the year was not nrl and it certainly suited teams such as the tigers.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Yeah, he is. He is suggesting that both teams bend the rules and get an unfair advantage from a less strict interpretation. That is the agenda and it’s probably being driven by a coach of one of the other teams.

I don't often agree with you but I believe you are spot on about this. I tend to thing a coach who has a bit of a problem with alcohol has fed this story to Kent.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Agree with everything Kent said. Penalties kill momentum and inhibit individual brilliance. It allows lower quality teams the time and space to execute their boring structures and set plays. We rely on speed, power and opposition fatigue that our brilliant tedescos and Mitchell's can capitalise on. He's hardly bagging us at all. The start of the year was not nrl and it certainly suited teams such as the tigers.

I can only assume you didn't read the article, Kent wrote the below and he clearly wasn't inferring in anyway, shape or form that the reduced penalties were advantaging the Storm or Roosters attack, rather that we are coached to slow down the ruck which has helped our defense.

"(Since) round 11, both teams have improved significantly. Round 11 was when Todd Greenberg told the referees to stop nit-picking,’’ Kent told Fox Sports’ NRL 360.

‘’Since then, Melbourne are 8-0 (win record) and have stormed to the top of the premiership (ladder), and the Roosters are 7-1 – their only loss being a 9-8 loss to the Storm.

‘’Whether we want to admit to it or not, I think the way referees are refereeing games are influencing (games) or being an advantage to certain teams who tackle (and) defend certain ways.

‘’They are standout defensive teams, let’s make no mistake about that and it’s not their fault. Certainly the game has just gone back to a style that suits their style of footy."


You should read Phil Lutton's article which was posted in this thread, which shows that we received 8.1 penalties a game during the penalty crackdown and 7.8 penalties a game after it ended. A negligible difference and not one that could be attributed to improving our attack. As Max stated above, Kent either wrote the article on behalf of a coach who has a limited team and such limited coaching abilities that his gameplan was structured around milking penalties or he simply has no idea why both teams have improved.

I would say the improvement in the Storm has more to do with shifting Jahrome Hughes to halfback and the team gelling around his increased attacking threat there and the Roosters also from Robbo releasing the shackles and letting them play more what's in front of them in conjunction with the players improving their combinations.

[Bigchook]

I think people on here are reading too much into the article. I don’t think he’s bagging either team.

Agree. The game was officiated in two completely different ways this year. It is disgraceful. Kent has always backed the chooks on 360.

[Bigchook]

I can only assume you didn't read the article, Kent wrote the below and he clearly wasn't inferring in anyway, shape or form that the reduced penalties were advantaging the Storm or Roosters attack, rather that we are coached to slow down the ruck which has helped our defense.

"(Since) round 11, both teams have improved significantly. Round 11 was when Todd Greenberg told the referees to stop nit-picking,’’ Kent told Fox Sports’ NRL 360.

‘’Since then, Melbourne are 8-0 (win record) and have stormed to the top of the premiership (ladder), and the Roosters are 7-1 – their only loss being a 9-8 loss to the Storm.

‘’Whether we want to admit to it or not, I think the way referees are refereeing games are influencing (games) or being an advantage to certain teams who tackle (and) defend certain ways.

‘’They are standout defensive teams, let’s make no mistake about that and it’s not their fault. Certainly the game has just gone back to a style that suits their style of footy."


You should read Phil Lutton's article which was posted in this thread, which shows that we received 8.1 penalties a game during the penalty crackdown and 7.8 penalties a game after it ended. A negligible difference and not one that could be attributed to improving our attack. As Max stated above, Kent either wrote the article on behalf of a coach who has a limited team and such limited coaching abilities that his gameplan was structured around milking penalties or he simply has no idea why both teams have improved.

I would say the improvement in the Storm has more to do with shifting Jahrome Hughes to halfback and the team gelling around his increased attacking threat there and the Roosters also from Robbo releasing the shackles and letting them play more what's in front of them in conjunction with the players improving their combinations.

Mate is not about how many we received. It's about how many were awarded during this games and how this influenced the stop-start nature of the game. Be interested to see stat for the total penalties pre and post round 11.