Chaps, neither Michael nor I will be at this game due to a late change in travel plans.

I trust that you won't miss our presence too much!

We need a ref for the game, unless anyone fancies doing it??? PJ????? Pete?????????? Bob????????????????????????

Didn't Andy G say he'd be up for reffing again?

Lads, just a couple of comments from last monday to take forward to next week and beyond.

We did OK Monday - A few heads were down at full time and the match definitely got away from us in the last quarter. Maybe people felt it was a game we could have won. I guess at 11 - 10 down at half time it was still anyone's game.... but still, they were as good a team as we'll encounter. No weak links and skill and pace to spare, combined with good cohesion and understanding through the team and perhaps better drilled to the match scenario. All said though, we acquited ourselves well and although a bit one dimensional at times, played with a lot of heart and did score some good tries and put some good moves together in the end. And it was great to see lots of chat and an extra bit of zip that was absent against York.

The big frustration I think we all felt was that we still didn't play as well as we do on a normal Monday. It was almost like we tried a bit too hard and it got a bit ragged and we lost a bit of shape. People so keen to get their hands on the ball that we were clustered around the ruck area, badly aligned and with not much depth.

With a view to progressing as a team I'd like to propose a couple of basic things to work on this Monday in attack and defence that everyone should try and work on:

::ATTACK::

> Everyone around the play of the ball to take responsibility for making themself available as runners. If you are one man to the left or one to the right of 1st receiver, the onus is on you to make yourself an option - come from depth and shout for the ball, so 1st receiver - whoever it is - has the option to go himself or pass left or right.

> Where one of our nominated playmakers is at 1st receiver the onus is on them to call a move: 1/2/3 drops offs, a call to put a player into a gap in the opposition defence etc. This is the case when any of Gareth, Gregor or Mark are at first receiver. I guess one or two other players might call the odd move too.

We can work on getting more people doing this over time but for now lets focus on getting the key playmakers calling some shots and giving everyone else options. The aim is to mix it up a bit more and change the angle of attack to find those gaps in the defence.

:icon_biggrin.gifEFENCE::

> The main area where we were leaking tries is down the middle. If you are marker don't scoot - you are primarily responsible for covering the inside ball. If you are one man either side of marker don't just follow the ball - be conscious to mark the space / defensive channel. if you drift too far with the ball carrier you'll leave a gaping hole that'll be too big for the marker to cover. If you stick with this and they do work their way across the pitch they might end up with a man or two over but they'll have no space left to work in!

> We need to talk more. If we're not stacked up right defensively, call men over.



...that's it. probably a bit wordy but what I'm suggesting is pretty basic that everyone should be able to get a handle on and could make quite a difference I hope.

Do people agree / disagree?

Under normal circumstances John I would, but I'm not available Monday I'm afraid - already committed to playing five-a-side with work.

You're bob on with the bit about defending btw - you've got three jobs when you're defending, and I tend to use the acronym ICE

Identify - where is the ball going, how are you for numbers, who are the runners, can you see/hear what call the first man has put on?

Communicate - make sure those around you know who your man is and by extension who they are covering. The loudest voice should be the full back, he has the best view where the gaps in the line are and how you match up.

Execute - as soon as the ball is played get a good first couple of strides in and get moving forward, don't fly out of the line like a loon leaving gaps, but don't sit on your heels waiting for the runner either.

Arguably it's the part of the game where you have to be most mentally switched on.

In attack we need grabbing by the scruff of the neck and taking around the park by a pair of half backs, and with the best will in the world this is possibly where we miss the likes of Curtis and Danny. It needs someone nipping at the ankles of the forwards early in the set, getting runners organised and then putting on the calls on later tackles.

A lot of the lads we have playing up front have limited experience of the game either full contact or tag and maybe need leading by the hand a little bit rather than being expected to know exactly where they should be all the time.

Agreed chaps.
FYI the few Hull lads who stayed for a drink and food (most disappeared at final whistle!) were saying that they were the strongest 9 players in the whole squad! One said that if he had the whole squad to choose from he would not have picked anyone else.
They were fast, fit and nimble so we were always going to struggle late on, particularly without PJ and John (injured).
We did well to score as many times as we did. Good luck Monday!

I thought we went very well at times versus Hull. Had we got PJ lurking at fullback we'd have stopped a few more tries too.

A thing that was apparent to me was that there were too many people clustering around the PTB but nobody running off each other. There were plenty of people ready to take the ball in tight but not much support - it's easy to defend against a single runner without support, especially if he's coming from a standing start.

Lets run form deep at speed where possible on the drives. The only reason to do a drive is to gain momentum for a quick PTB. If the drive has a support runner then that'll help too.

When we're ready to spread the ball we need to get people out of the line who aren't part of the move to ensure quick ball. Too often people get in the way. If you're a playmaker don't be afraid to call the moves, get people out of the way etc. Be assertive and if that doesn't work shout at us!

In defence what's been said covers it all. It's all about communication really. If someone drifts too far you need to shout at them to bring them back into place. Staying in a line is key. If you rush out of defence then you leave a big hole behind.

Agreed with most of what has been put but would like to add my two penneth.

Defence,

we need to listen to the guy behind you (besty/pj) as they are the best to organise the defence,

listening to both either side of you calling the direction if a drift is needed.

maybe shouldnt be said on here, but fronting up in tackles is a must. Maybe not my style of round the neck, but definetly not letting him get on your side before attempting a tackle.

Attack

We are seriously lacking in playmakers (Curtis, if your reading this..all is forgiven ). But again its down to communication, telling the 1st reciever your available for a run or you want to ball for something planned is much easier than them assuming.

Noted from John and sam about calling plays a lot earlier, I'll try that if picked at 7 again on monday.



Its been very basic in attack last few weeks but we havent struggled to score points, We are losing games by defence which can easily be solved by communication and being switched on.

And can someone remind me on monday about happy faces?

Scoring 14 tries against the best 9 Hull players is actually quite good but we are leaking a lot of tries. Lock up this defence and we will give ourselves a chance.

What's all this talk of Curtis? Have any of you EVER had a pass of him rl

Somebody tell me this guy isn't posting whilst on holiday...

I can't make it for the next couple of weeks, but I'll be back in around 3 weeks (or whenver not out of the country with work).

ps, if we need a defensive talker, I'm the man...

is it 13 a side tonight or am I not needed again???

I'll be down anyway

actually I am now out tonight

So, what was the score?

not worth asking

The beauty of staying at rlhttp://www.casalajolla.comrl is that amongst the other fantastic facilities is a PC and free wireless internet.

So, whilst the family are in bed you can surf for porn or even log on here whilst waiting for the women to get showered and ready!

You definitely need a conscience!!