Offloads

[Intercept]

Not a fan of Ferguson in recent years. However, I reckon he has been great this year, even allowing for a couple of bad mistakes.

That dropped ball happened right in front of where we were sitting. It was a tough catch, the ball was looping end-over-end and seemingly going away from him. He was also completely isolated. No help anywhere in sight. I'll forgive him for that.

In my opinion, we'd have a few less problems if some of the other blokes put in the same effort that Ferguson has been.

[Half time]

I think Fergo does way much more than the average winger plus forget his run meters how about the meters he does going to the other side to take a hit up .He does have a clanger in him but mostly its because of his high work rate.
Every one is bagging him on that missed bomb but no one here has said what a great kick it was it twirled in the air here and there turned him around - it was a great kick i said it at the ground when it happened.It was off the cuff and brilliant reminded me of Maloneys kick in the GF to toupo

You reckon his mistakes are from his high work rate? Well his fumble that gifted the dragons a try came in the first minute of the game. He has terrible hands and his errors are not worth his hit ups

[Intercept]

On topic, in defence we seem to be focused on holding up the attacking player, presumably to slow down the ruck. That tactic is ineffective if you allow the offload. It's bloody frustrating when three of them go in for a cuddle and somehow still fail to lock up the ball. I'd like to see them knock a few blokes over. They can always flop on the tackled player to slow down the ruck - I haven't seen a penalty given for the flop in a long, long time. Must not be on the refs' tip sheet anymore?

[Guest]

Offloads have become the new 'we need more repeat sets' we have finished in the top 2 for 4 out of the last 5 seasons without being a high offloading team, in fact we are usually closer to the bottom, so the new obsession with offloads doesn't really wash. We have proven that we don't need offloads to win the game.

Against the Knights we won the game 38-8 with 7 offloads but yesterday we made 8 offloads and came up with 1 try only. The Bulldogs offloaded 17 times against us last week and scored no points yet when we played them in round 2 we had 8 offloads and scored 30 points. Cronulla had 19 offloads to our 8 and we won the game 28-10 away from home. Offloads themselves aren't a guarantee to success

[Bondicigar]

Massive pressure on Robbo..
Funny thing is when Kent and Ikin asked him mid week about being under pressure he denied it and said they look at it more as excitement than pressure..

Thats gold robbo , if thats what gets him through the night hahaha
good old positive reinforcement

[liver1971]

Offloads have become the new 'we need more repeat sets' we have finished in the top 2 for 4 out of the last 5 seasons without being a high offloading team, in fact we are usually closer to the bottom, so the new obsession with offloads doesn't really wash. We have proven that we don't need offloads to win the game.

Against the Knights we won the game 38-8 with 7 offloads but yesterday we made 8 offloads and came up with 1 try only. The Bulldogs offloaded 17 times against us last week and scored no points yet when we played them in round 2 we had 8 offloads and scored 30 points. Cronulla had 19 offloads to our 8 and we won the game 28-10 away from home. Offloads themselves aren't a guarantee to success

Interesting stats however...
Comes down to effectiveness/quality and field position of the offload
Those stats alone can't answer that

[The Axe]

All should know the CO-Captain cannot pass or offload so why do the other forwards need too. i.e Cords played 80 minutes today for a grand pass/offload total of ZERO.

glad you qualified which Co-captain. The other bloke can’t pass either. If he ran, we’d know whether he could offload

[ism22]

Surely it’s not the case. Robbo can see how much teams progress through offloading. Surely he can’t be telling them not to do it. I refuse to believe this. Especially when a guy like Teddy is following them.

Its a desperate, ad-hoc tactic that can cost you badly if you lose possession, but most teams seem better at it than us.

IMO half the issue is how the ruck gets policed. Our timing seems to have been off for quite some time because we just dont get it. Like... we dont quite know when players have been tackled, so they seem to lug the ball out the back and get a free 10m while we are peeling off, assuming the player has been tackled.

Teams that have a better feel for how the ruck is being policed will:
- Hold on for longer than us (preventing offloads) and get away with it (remember, you risk giving them a free march down the field + 6 tackles if you hold on too long)
- Know when to offload. They pick the PRECISE moment to do it... while the opposition players are starting to peel off but before the ref has called that the tackle has been completed.
- The seem to milk a free offload and not get busted for what I would call a surrender tackle on the basis that they have stopped moving in a ruck. Essentially they go in and then freeze (without their shoulders touching the ground - blah blah blah no tackle if physical elements are not there ALTHOUGH it is a tackle regardless if they are not going anywhere in a ruck)... just before the ref decides they are tackled, they start moving again and offload the ball. POP! 20 Free metres.

This is not cheating or unfair, it is the rules!!! Apparentlyour coaching about the timing of the ruck is not as good as that of other teams.

I struggle with our tactic. IMO our tactic is to play positive footy rather than feigning anything. Like... you dont pretend you are injured to milk a penalty... you dont pretend you are tackled...etc. I get it! We just stand up, play the ball and focus on running forwards rather than trying to work the rules in our favour by trickery/deception.

Meanwhile, its a dog eats dog environment and EVERYBODY besides us is gonna be coached to do ANYTHING to get ahead. Honestly... if the NRL is gonna consistently apply its b*llshyte approach to selectively policing the ruck then you would be an IDIOT to not try and mess with their heads by feigning tackles/injuries. Its an old trick but a good on! Stop... grimace a little... look like you are hurt then BOOOOM hahahhaha gotcha... try time you fool!!!!

[Lydon]

Watching the Rabbits forwards offloading at will and quick play the balls is exactly what we have been calling out for..

[The Axe]

Watching the Rabbits forwards offloading at will and quick play the balls is exactly what we have been calling out for..

did you notice that last souffs try had a burgearse not even get his foot on the same postcode as the ball when playing it?
not a single ch 9 muppet picked it up and the replay excluded the ptb

i was praying for it to go upstairs and then discover this but didn’t happen. What are the odds

[Lydon]

did you notice that last souffs try had a burgearse not even get his foot on the same postcode as the ball when playing it?
not a single ch 9 muppet picked it up and the replay excluded the ptb

i was praying for it to go upstairs and then discover this but didn’t happen. What are the odds

Yeh I saw it too mate,so bloody frustrating...
Seems to me the Rabbits and Dragons always get away with those calls,whereas we always get pinned..
Bloody joke

[liver1971]

did you notice that last souffs try had a burgearse not even get his foot on the same postcode as the ball when playing it?
not a single ch 9 muppet picked it up and the replay excluded the ptb

i was praying for it to go upstairs and then discover this but didn’t happen. What are the odds

Watch tunnel ball action from the specialist Frizell. This enabled Hunt to waltz over for their second try

[RoosterFanNZ]

Watch tunnel ball action from the specialist Frizell. This enabled Hunt to waltz over for their second try

fergo and teddy never use their feet i clench every time they do it, but as predicted refs have basically stopped calling those 5 or 6 rounds in

[liver1971]

fergo and teddy never use their feet i clench every time they do it, but as predicted refs have basically stopped calling those 5 or 6 rounds in

True,Teddy is the worst !.As with everything with the nrl ,there is no consistency whatsoever . Its a lottery

[theGman]

We could probably afford both nathan rooos and aaron gray foor fergo's pay packet.

THROW THE CHEQUE BOOK @ COREY OATES.
He's off contract and the Bunnies were keen.
We've got some cashola up our sleeve. Add that plus what the Neanderthal on our wing won't get because he's shite and we land Oates. A cut above the rest.