Quote: BullCharge "...But we just didn't turn up on the day. Their ruck speed and their aggression in the pack killed us in the first 10 minutes, and we gave Tim Smith far too much time on the ball. Whether that was down to poor tactics, or whether we were shell-shocked from the way Wakefield started, I don't know. If there was one thing we couldn't handle, it was the speed at which Wakefield were playing. The step up in ruck speed and energy compared to the first 23 rounds of the season was evident, and we were 30-0 down before we knew what was happening.
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I finally made myself watch the first half again, and this just confirms my impression that it was nothing much to do with any great Wakey ruck speed at all. Wakey played good but not great, the overwhelmingly biggest issue was that we came out for whatever reason not ready to do the work. They played with urgency and determination, but we stood about. Our defence has developed into a pretty good unit in the second half of the regular season for the most part, but against Wakey, all that was forgotten and critically we showed no great desire to get the man halted and on the ground. I am talking about our pack. It may as well not have been on the field.
It was certainly a case of the Bulls being slow, lazy, lethargic and disorganised. We allowed them to play. We should have been in their faces and aggressive and we simply weren't. Our pack was simply overrun, and it shouldn't have been, but if you won't make the effort to muscle up and hit them, instead stand back and watch, then you'll see exactly what we saw. Against anybody.
Do the same as me and watch it again. It looks as if we were playing to a new rule not to get within 20 metres of Tim Smith. It is dire.
I simply don't understand how we could have descended to that mode.
