NRL Round 1 - Knights Vs Cowboys - 1:15pm Sunday 1st March (AEDT) - Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

HarVeeGee13 said:
Surely no one thinks the side of the field a half plays on means that they’re permanently fixed on that side, right? Got a lot more to do with where they line up in defence and what the sort of “base” actions are in attack. Like the Plan A for teams that have a 6 like Cody Walker or Luke Keary has been about getting them the ball in their preferred spots on the left, but there are all sorts of variation with them swinging around to the other side.
Click to expand...
I assume you’re having a go at me. It was hard to tell what the base actions were but Smith and Brown were playing both sides of the field and it was hard to tell from an attacking point of view where the were stationed. It was good seeing them link up so much and it looked quite fluent (obviously only a training session but it gave me some optimism).
 
mozza said:
I assume you’re having a go at me. It was hard to tell what the base actions were but Smith and Brown were playing both sides of the field and it was hard to tell from an attacking point of view where the were stationed. It was good seeing them link up so much and it looked quite fluent (obviously only a training session but it gave me some optimism).
Click to expand...
Not having a go at you mate, just observed that the debate you were responding to was about which side Brown & Smith should line up on was pretty intense and I was just thinking... yeah I'd lean towards playing Dylan on the left but I don't think it matters thaaaaat much. Who actually gets picked in the halves matters a lot more. Cronulla could have Trindall and Hynes swap sides and that would impact the team less than dropping Trindall and replacing him with Niwhai Puru would, if you get me.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Not having a go at you mate, just observed that the debate you were responding to was about which side Brown & Smith should line up on was pretty intense and I was just thinking... yeah I'd lean towards playing Dylan on the left but I don't think it matters thaaaaat much. Who actually gets picked in the halves matters a lot more. Cronulla could have Trindall and Hynes swap sides and that would impact the team less than dropping Trindall and replacing him with Niwhai Puru would, if you get me.
Click to expand...
All good. Sorry mate I’m very defensive today. I’m with you there. My preference is Smith to play as a classic first receiver and give Brown and Ponga a licence to roam and pick their spots. Just pick Sharpe on the wing.
 
Grandpa Joe said:
I get the feeling that Peter O'Sullivan pulls the strings recruitment wise, I'd be blaming him for $1.8 million a season for Sandon and Brown.
Click to expand...
He definitely pulls the strings recruitment wise as he is the highest profile recruitment manager in the game. I wonder if he also has a say with selections and coaching staff. He’s been in the box for both trials travelled with the team at times last year. If we do go Brown 7, Sharpe 6, Smith back up hooker that is a team signed in his (reported) vision.
 
mozza said:
All good. Sorry mate I’m very defensive today. I’m with you there. My preference is Smith to play as a classic first receiver and give Brown and Ponga a licence to roam and pick their spots. Just pick Sharpe on the wing.
Click to expand...
I agree, but how would you resolve the long kicking dilemma?
 
mozza said:
All good. Sorry mate I’m very defensive today. I’m with you there. My preference is Smith to play as a classic first receiver and give Brown and Ponga a licence to roam and pick their spots. Just pick Sharpe on the wing.
Click to expand...
All good mate, I know that I come off pretty arrogant a lot on here lol.

And yeah I was hoping that's exactly what Holbrook would bring. Streamline the attack, focus on principles, fewer moving parts. No more just mechanically working to a spot before putting on a block play. I feel like more than half of tries that are scored these days, the actual scoring play was very simple or involved something off the cuff - the actual reason the team scored is what they did in the plays leading up to that opportunity.

I believe if we put Smith on the ball at 7 that gives us more opportunities, better leadup, because he has a stronger grounding in the principles of halfback play than anyone else we've got. But no matter what happens with that, we can't go back to the slow, methodical style AOB shackled us to. It just doesn't work anymore.

If it's Sharpe in the halves with Smith playing a lot of hooker, we all know I don't love it, but whatever. Just move the ball quick! Offload! Change angles! That's where footy is now unless you have a 7 you can burden your entire game plan with like Cleary. We're so much closer to the way footy was played in the 90's than we are to how it was played in 2015 at the moment.
 
IMG_1885.jpeg
 
Newygirl said:
View attachment 7955
Click to expand...
Let's be honest, this was likely set in stone the day Holbrook signed. Holbrook wasnt born yesterday, he's coached Smith as s 7. Sharpe isn't really a half. Its almost that simple

The whole charade was probably largely player management, keep them honest, while also instilling in Sharpe that the clubs expects a lot from him (thinks of him as more than just a starting outside back and a backup spine player, which is exactly all that he is in this team)
 
Just saw the news story from the airport and if Holbrook did say that they chose to include a much less interesting sound bite instead. The only quote they show from Holbrook is him saying Smith can play half or hooker. The bloke doing the story mentions Smith starting but without hearing it from Holbrook himself it could just as easily be another journo guessing/assuming and it being mistaken as reporting.

Confirmation would be nice either way but not sure we're out of the woods yet.
 
mullenmagic said:
Just saw the news story from the airport and if Holbrook did say that they chose to include a much less interesting sound bite instead. The only quote they show from Holbrook is him saying Smith can play half or hooker. The bloke doing the story mentions Smith starting but without hearing it from Holbrook himself it could just as easily be another journo guessing/assuming and it being mistaken as reporting.

Confirmation would be nice either way but not sure we're out of the woods yet.
Click to expand...
It will be great to see the game played.
Bring it on!
 
Please hurry up and play the game, put us out of our misery, win, lose or draw.
Doesn’t matter who plays where most of us will winge about poor selection, poor Coaching, poor effort and where did the decision to play Sharpe as ??????? Come from, let’s sack Holbrook
GOD I FEEL BETTER!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top