Quote: Him "The attack had to become more one dimensional and essentially percentage based because of the improved defence.
Slowing the play the ball and faster line speed is definitely a sign of better defences.
It’s not just a case of them appearing better, they definitely are better.'"
There was a period where holding a player up then putting 3-4 bodies into a pile on became fashionable and it killed any momentum the attack could generate. I just don't see better defences, I don't see better tacklers and it's easier to have better line speed when the PTB is so slow - you are always set. Also, I definitely think defences "appear" better because we don't have enough players with genuine attacking skills. One prop who offloads came over from Australia to Leeds and caused total havoc in his first couple of seasons.
Any lump can wrestle and charge up and down the 10 metres to lie on a tackled player for 5 minutes while his mates get set. It's not pleasant to watch and it's eventually going to bore the sport to bankruptcy.
I do agree with what Christopher posted, pre 2000 ish the game was "ragged" and you can see the mistake count is high, but the 2000 decade was fantastic. Good balance between attacking skills and tough defence. There were some very good players in that era.
