Off Loads will beat us

[Rooster_6]

Offloads aren't about necessarily gaining more metres. They are about forcing a team to make another tackle. Every 6 offloads is effectively forcing your opponent through an extra defensive set. That increases exhaustion, and in turn can lead to a defensive mistake they otherwise wouldn't have made.

Our defensive structure is generally rock solid, but when teams manage to throw a few offloads in the middle of the field, thats really the only time you'll see us get tired enough to have an inside defender not sliding like they should, or rushing up too quickly and creating a hole.

Offloads get spoken about too much in being some sort of x factor attacking weapon, but they are most certainly a tactic for teams to chip away at sides that normally build a brick wall in defence.

Sure but there isn’t a side out there who are averaging even 6 more offloads than their opposition per game.

We average 9.9 offloads per game and concede 10.5 offloads per game so the net effect is every 2nd game our opposition get 1 extra tackle than us.

Top of the ladder Panthers throw 7.7 offloads per game and concede 8.4 offloads so in every 2 games out of 3 their opposition will get 1 extra tackle than them.

The difference is just so insignificant it’s irrelevant. Set restarts, errors, penalties, tries scored & forced drop outs weigh so much more heavily when you talk about forcing teams to make extra tackles.

[Rooster_6]

There's offloads and there's offloads. The difference between SBW to Maloney in the 2013 GF, and some big blob flopping it out the back to a bloke who then gets tackled 3m behind him are enormous. The stats alone will never tell you the value of the offload, and you therefore can't read anything of value out of those stats.

Offloads that lead to line breaks and tries are 100% recorded and measured as line break assists(offload) & try assists(offload) however this data isn’t available to the public. The discussion though is not about quality of offloading it is about pure number of offloads and its something that’s been a hot discussion on here for a number of years that we allow opposition sides to get away too many offloads and thus they are getting extra yards/ extra plays/ staggered defensive line.

[ism22]

Offloads that lead to line breaks and tries are 100% recorded and measured as line break assists(offload) & try assists(offload) however this data isn’t available to the public. The discussion though is not about quality of offloading it is about pure number of offloads and its something that’s been a hot discussion on here for a number of years that we allow opposition sides to get away too many offloads and thus they are getting extra yards/ extra plays/ staggered defensive line.

You can always look at stats and try to trivialise things but I think it's the overall picture that's important.

Against us (a top notch team - not the 'average' team they play), the Faders will definitely do a lot of sneaky offloads. One of the most damaging is when for all intents and purposes the tackle's over... then they pop a ball our the back while we're starting to peel off. This then gives them a gratuitous 7-tackle set. Two things to add to this:
- Guys like Papalii are masters of this. He's so big (and fat so hard to wrap around properly) so he just tucks that ball away, locks & loads then if the ref doesn't say 'HEEEELD' before we peel off, he's allowed to just randomly lob it backwards to somebody. This isn't a James Tedesco hail mary offload to Morris/Tupou that'll win you 50m. It's a slow, calculated offload that will force you to defend another tackle at a key moment. I mean sure they are uncommon but Papalii will stand up in every tackle then lock and load the ball EVERY TIME. Maybe the stats say he only does is 2-3 times a game against us but it's the THREAT that damages us. We know we can't rely on our instincts of when the tackle is 'over'... we need to wait for the ref to say 'heeeeld' which is particularly annoying because he's just as likely to blow his whistle and say 'penalty... Roosters you took way too long to peel off that tackle... nup... not having it Jake, it's a penalty from right in front! Are you gonna take the 2 Jack?'
- As discussed, we then cop the opposite with the Faders trying to strip the ball on every tackle. Again, you'll only see 2-3 actual strips per game but EVERY TACKLE they're slowing us down by 2 seconds.

In aggregate the above two tactics hurt because we're a very skillful, automatic team. We play quicker than other teams because EVERYTHING is automatic to us. What this does is (quite intentionally) spoil our tempo so that instead of us stringing together our usual line of passes, we're a little bit slower... somebody goes too fast... somebody goes too slow... and we lose the pill! That or we get penalised because EVERY FRIGGING TACKLE is played according to the Faders' interpretation of when it has finished (rather than ours which is... 'you were going nowhere, we're gonna peel off now and let you play it ASAP').

They're a bogey team that's good at upsetting our tempo. It's always frustrating to watch us play them. However, sport's always been like that. Anybody who played as a kid will recall fukking annoying teams that always tried to jig the rules + waste time rather than playing the game. I don't find it enjoyable to watch such games because there's no free flowing footy or amazing skills. However, it's extremely satisfying when we put them to bed...

[Tommy Smith]

We probably concede so many offloads because teams are often behind against us and chasing points.

We also seem to have coped just fine the past couple of years anyway.

Non-issue.

[The Brain]

0ffloads are good when you have a talented team like our that has great set plays and move the ball around not so important..but lets say for a team like Canberra depend on it .Easts are not a one trick pony.
In case you havnt noticed most of the teams in the top 8 are copying our sets and plays ..only problem for them is we can read them easily in defense and Robbo I am certain will unleash some new moves...keep on dancing Maria!!!!

[ChookMaster]

0ffloads are good when you have a talented team like our that has great set plays and move the ball around not so important..but lets say for a team like Canberra depend on it .Easts are not a one trick pony.
In case you havnt noticed most of the teams in the top 8 are copying our sets and plays ..only problem for them is we can read them easily in defense and Robbo I am certain will unleash some new moves...keep on dancing Maria!!!!

Last season during the final few regular games left of the season i remember someone mentioning that we had some tricks up our sleeves for finals.. it might have been after the loss to souffs in rd 24?? Anyway when the finals started we were throwing set pieces and moves that we didnt do all year.. and well look at how the rest panned out.. we thrashed the bunnies a week later. Hoping with the inclusion of SBW robbo has something up our sleeves for this season as well, with also our bondi wall returning.

[NorfolkStreetKid]

Offloads usually create unstructured play, and thats when Canberra are the most dangerous, they also put more pressure and fatigue into defenders. But they can also go wrong big time. Putting a ball carrier on the ground is a big advantage, giving the defence more time to set. Certainly stopping offloads will be an aim of ours, but without committing too many defenders to one tackle, it's a fine line. Winning at this time of year will be more about maintaining possession and maintaining pressure with a good kicking game and a moving defence. We have the team and the coach to handle this.

[Thirteen]

We have players with great ability to offload. Toops, Jarred, SST, SBW and Butch.

[Thirteen]

Don’t worry Turk was the same the last 2 years. It’s no worse this year. And we comp the comp the last 2 years.

[stringaz]

Matthew Elliot did a video earlier in the year about our defense and he covered how we defend offloads, worth a watch if you can find it on NRL.com

[roosterproud]

Tricky usually sends his team out with set instructions to either have one half to strip the ball and and fiddle with the ball during the tackle and the second half to keep the ball alive. Both require additional players around the ball. The strips have eased for a reason. They over used it last year and every team was awake to it. hasn't been done to the same extent this year compared to last year. Papali is their key. if he's on, theyre on. We need to shut them down trap the ball in the tackle and control the ruck.
When they off load the faiders have an advantage as my guess Sticky trains broken play/live play. He knows that the c defender (first one next to the tacklers not taking part in the tackle) is either passive or retreating back to the defence line, which gives room around that area. A quick shift out wide where there is a broken unstructured wall with heaps of hole appearing. If for example they strip the ball in the centre of the field they will move toward the passive defenders encouraging them out (draw n pass) Getting the ball out wide out wide is the key as the wingers and centres dont have to move up a great deal compared to the infield. Some defenders back 10 meters, some at 5 meters and some backs turned. Trickys tricky but beatable. Trents way more cleverera

[Mickie Lane]

Tricky usually sends his team out with set instructions to either have one half to strip the ball and and fiddle with the ball during the tackle and the second half to keep the ball alive. Both require additional players around the ball. The strips have eased for a reason. They over used it last year and every team was awake to it. hasn't been done to the same extent this year compared to last year. Papali is their key. if he's on, theyre on. We need to shut them down trap the ball in the tackle and control the ruck.
When they off load the faiders have an advantage as my guess Sticky trains broken play/live play. He knows that the c defender (first one next to the tacklers not taking part in the tackle) is either passive or retreating back to the defence line, which gives room around that area. A quick shift out wide where there is a broken unstructured wall with heaps of hole appearing. If for example they strip the ball in the centre of the field they will move toward the passive defenders encouraging them out (draw n pass) Getting the ball out wide out wide is the key as the wingers and centres dont have to move up a great deal compared to the infield. Some defenders back 10 meters, some at 5 meters and some backs turned. Trickys tricky but beatable. Trents way more cleverera

The main stripper was Josh Hodgson & he’s out.

[ROC181]

Last season during the final few regular games left of the season i remember someone mentioning that we had some tricks up our sleeves for finals.. it might have been after the loss to souffs in rd 24?? Anyway when the finals started we were throwing set pieces and moves that we didnt do all year.. and well look at how the rest panned out.. we thrashed the bunnies a week later. Hoping with the inclusion of SBW robbo has something up our sleeves for this season as well, with also our bondi wall returning.

I noticed last week SST or Jared playing first receivers with success and most surprisingly JMOZ & Manu switching sides at the same time. More surprises to come!

[ROC181]

The main stripper was Josh Hodgson & he’s out.

Apparently the current best stripper in the comp is Havili who’s playing hooker for the raiders but only for the first half when that little French bulldog Starling comes on the second half.

[ism22]

Apparently the current best stripper in the comp is Havili who’s playing hooker for the raiders but only for the first half when that little French bulldog Starling comes on the second half.

Good to know there's gonna be hookers and strippers at the game.