Kurriboy
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Yep, 2020 season just finished and the build up to 2021 starts now.
I typed this out initially as a reply to the game thread but it turned more in to a expectation of next years improvement post.
Pearce should get next year and cut loose regardless. We have to spend next season planning for his replacement.
With the game going the way it has with repeat sets etc the teams that will thrive are the teams that play ad lib style, play what you see attack. We have a master at that in KP already and we really need to recruit well targeting that sort of attack.
Pearce is not a player that tends to be good in high speed, intense situations and our 5/8 options are not 5/8's bar Crossland. Hoy I still haven't seen anything from that suggests he is going to be the answer at 5/8.
We simply cannot run with a running 5/8 style player whilst Pearce is at the club. Next season I would hope we have recruited a good quick thinking crafty 5/8 or decided that that is Crossland if he is up to it. Let them gain the experience with Pearce still there and 2022 recruit a half that isn't winding down their career. We have gone from Hodkinson which was a complete nuffy for us and at the back end of his career to Pearce who whilst better than Hodkinson, is still not performing at NRL standard and at the back end of his career when recruited.
The defensive structure needs to be worked on and I'd be simplifying it down to move up as a unit, slide as a unit, nobody bolts out of the line and make them have to break through the line or get around it.
The kicking game has to improve out of sight. Hopefully the new 5/8 can help with that but Ponga needs to help out here also. We can't just give it to Pearce on the last every set and hope he gets a decent kick in at some point.
Goal kicking, employ halligan or el masri to get Ponga up in conversion percentage as we are probably the worst team in the comp at conversion percentage. I'd be surprised if there were lower. And we are not likely to recruit a goal kicker unless we get them at 5/8. Lino is going to be cut from the roster no doubt.
Professionalism - has to be a big improvement here. Both off the field in training and bringing that in to game day. OB simply can't allow mediocre performances from players putting in poor efforts and lacking intensity. Our biggest problem this year was our win/loss/win/loss record and the fact we didn't win a game away from home for months on end. That suggests we are turning up to games not up for the simple challenge of defeating and dominating an opponent. If a player turns in a poor effort performance, they need to be dropped and replaced with someone else and that will set the expectation. Rewarding poor performance with continued NRL selection just re-enforces the behaviour.
Kick pressure - I am sick and tired of our kick pressure being soft. I'm sick of seeing the player get to the kicker in time to put on a good shot, but gives them a cuddle instead. We need to be punishing their kickers at every opportunity and it's not good enough to have a front rower putting on the kick chase. This is that lack of mongrel, the lack of will to win and dominate an opponent.
Support play, another effort area we lack. Sick of watching a half break made, or a break and nobody there in support to pass to. The rest of the squad has clocked off and is prepping for the next set. Yet the good teams have forwards charging through to back up a break.
Effort areas in general. I don't know if it's fatigue, mental softness or what it is, but we tend to clock off in games and commit stupid mistakes. Things like passes gone astray and little effort shown to recover the ball, expecting a decision to come from the ref and stopping play to watch the opposition score, letting line drop outs bounce, players completely clocking off on the play once the ball has gone past them, cleaning up opposition dropped balls because we assume it's going to be a knock on etc. There is a bunch of areas where we do not come with 100% effort.
Recruitment. Club is saying they are looking at 5/8 for recruitment with the rest going to forwards. I don't know what that says about Hoy/Crossland. Our pack is still quality and we need another guerra, glasby style old head, tough player to come off the bench and a good honest toiler in the King mould if not king himself.
Get mad Monday out of the way, leave the bubble and see their families etc, get some R&R and get back to training with a new attitude in the squad that nothing less than 100% effort is good enough and some fire in the belly to better 2020.
I typed this out initially as a reply to the game thread but it turned more in to a expectation of next years improvement post.
Pearce should get next year and cut loose regardless. We have to spend next season planning for his replacement.
With the game going the way it has with repeat sets etc the teams that will thrive are the teams that play ad lib style, play what you see attack. We have a master at that in KP already and we really need to recruit well targeting that sort of attack.
Pearce is not a player that tends to be good in high speed, intense situations and our 5/8 options are not 5/8's bar Crossland. Hoy I still haven't seen anything from that suggests he is going to be the answer at 5/8.
We simply cannot run with a running 5/8 style player whilst Pearce is at the club. Next season I would hope we have recruited a good quick thinking crafty 5/8 or decided that that is Crossland if he is up to it. Let them gain the experience with Pearce still there and 2022 recruit a half that isn't winding down their career. We have gone from Hodkinson which was a complete nuffy for us and at the back end of his career to Pearce who whilst better than Hodkinson, is still not performing at NRL standard and at the back end of his career when recruited.
The defensive structure needs to be worked on and I'd be simplifying it down to move up as a unit, slide as a unit, nobody bolts out of the line and make them have to break through the line or get around it.
The kicking game has to improve out of sight. Hopefully the new 5/8 can help with that but Ponga needs to help out here also. We can't just give it to Pearce on the last every set and hope he gets a decent kick in at some point.
Goal kicking, employ halligan or el masri to get Ponga up in conversion percentage as we are probably the worst team in the comp at conversion percentage. I'd be surprised if there were lower. And we are not likely to recruit a goal kicker unless we get them at 5/8. Lino is going to be cut from the roster no doubt.
Professionalism - has to be a big improvement here. Both off the field in training and bringing that in to game day. OB simply can't allow mediocre performances from players putting in poor efforts and lacking intensity. Our biggest problem this year was our win/loss/win/loss record and the fact we didn't win a game away from home for months on end. That suggests we are turning up to games not up for the simple challenge of defeating and dominating an opponent. If a player turns in a poor effort performance, they need to be dropped and replaced with someone else and that will set the expectation. Rewarding poor performance with continued NRL selection just re-enforces the behaviour.
Kick pressure - I am sick and tired of our kick pressure being soft. I'm sick of seeing the player get to the kicker in time to put on a good shot, but gives them a cuddle instead. We need to be punishing their kickers at every opportunity and it's not good enough to have a front rower putting on the kick chase. This is that lack of mongrel, the lack of will to win and dominate an opponent.
Support play, another effort area we lack. Sick of watching a half break made, or a break and nobody there in support to pass to. The rest of the squad has clocked off and is prepping for the next set. Yet the good teams have forwards charging through to back up a break.
Effort areas in general. I don't know if it's fatigue, mental softness or what it is, but we tend to clock off in games and commit stupid mistakes. Things like passes gone astray and little effort shown to recover the ball, expecting a decision to come from the ref and stopping play to watch the opposition score, letting line drop outs bounce, players completely clocking off on the play once the ball has gone past them, cleaning up opposition dropped balls because we assume it's going to be a knock on etc. There is a bunch of areas where we do not come with 100% effort.
Recruitment. Club is saying they are looking at 5/8 for recruitment with the rest going to forwards. I don't know what that says about Hoy/Crossland. Our pack is still quality and we need another guerra, glasby style old head, tough player to come off the bench and a good honest toiler in the King mould if not king himself.
Get mad Monday out of the way, leave the bubble and see their families etc, get some R&R and get back to training with a new attitude in the squad that nothing less than 100% effort is good enough and some fire in the belly to better 2020.
