Quote: Michigan red "Your take on it is?
I think the coaching is wrong, not just at Salford but more RL in general. I remember at school (back when pictures where black & white) that if someone ran at you the technique was go low and wrap the legs up and they fall over the top of you. That way there was less gang tackling and less likelihood of infringement.
Today it seems less about the tackle and more about slowing the play the ball down, with 2 less tacklers committed for me the speed would matter less and create a better spectacle for fans.
I also think there is a chronic issue at Salford with fitness, I suspect we are concentrating more on power than cardio fitness, it's all well and good being able to lift the heaviest weights, but if you can only do it once it's kind of redundant for a rugby player.'"
I think it's definitely a technique problem, although sometimes I'm unsure as to whether or not it's an effort problem as well. The amount of tackles you see the opposition bounce out of, or just skip past, is scary. There were plenty of 'tackles' on Friday that just didn't happen, as well, as defenders stood back and watched. Whether that's down to the lack of effort or poor technique meaning they can't get into a proper position in time, I don't know. Judging by the amount of offloads we give up, it's probably as much technical as anything else.
Good point about the fitness, too. We don't seem to have the legs for 80 minutes a lot of the time.