Quote: Once were Loiners "I rewatched the Leigh game in cold blood last night. I agree with Kaeru that we lack quality, and our forwards are just outgunned as a set in terms of size (actually most noticeably in the back row against Leigh) but also aggression.
However, there were lots of occasions where our lack of line speed in defence was just awful. You can call it passive defence or any term you like, but there were multiple sets throughout the game where the line just stood still and watched Leigh play. This gifts easy yardage, and at times our defence would drift across following the ball, not pressuring playmakers at all. Its so static that even if they messed up a move Leigh could make 10 yards with a player getting the ball from a standing start. There were a couple of times where we also managed to leave huge gaps right up the middle as there was no urgency in players moving across to fill gaps as the defence moved to the other side following the ball.
Combine that with the lack of size and aggression in the tackle and we lose the collision a heck of a lot. It compounds - the defence is static, we lose the collision and the opposition get a quick PTB. Rinse and repeat. Good scrambling goal line defence saved us, but it's going to keep losing us games unless its fixed. We start sets further back than the opposition, who generally try hard to pin us back on our line with aggressive defence while we let them get away far too easily.
I'm not sure we have the personalities who can play a more aggressive defence, or whether its just lack of oomph, but some of those Leigh forwards were loving it. Be very interesting to see what a new coach would look to do, but for me addressing linespeed would be a major priority.'"
Excellent posting, I make no apologies for once again pointing out the devastation smith has caused . All this is entirely down to smith , the next incoming coach has an enormous job to sort out this mess.
