Quote: Wigg'n "Well we had Tomkins and Green in 2013 so he was always 3rd playmaker. I'm not suggesting he was carried but he's never been a dominant half and never will be.
The worst thing is that he hasn't improved at all even following an England tour and playing in numerous finals and big games. If anything he's regressed a lot. Compare his kicking in the CCF 2013 to last night for example. I don't get how a player can just lose a skill set like that.'"
In 2013 you have a kicking option in Tomkins and a kicking option in Green. In 2015 Smith made 121 attacking kicks, Williams 67 and Bowen 22. In 2013 Smith made 109 attacking kicks, Green made 80 and Tomkins made 32.
This has a couple of effects. For a start, Smith this year has been more likely to receive the ball for a kick even if not necessarily the best placed of the 3 to put a kick in. On top of that, more kicking options mean it's harder to pressure.
It also makes it much harder for the fullback. If you kick across your body there's a higher chance of a charge down, so kickers will [igenerally [/itry to avoid it. If Smith is a kicker who's right footed, he's generally gonna look to kick to the right. Without alternative kicking options, the fullback can position himself in accordance with this.
Quote: Wigg'n "Aside from the dropped ball neither of our halves stood out. No movement and nothing for the Leeds defenders to second guess, one man rugby all game with the same predictable people attempting to hit gaps with no dummy runners to take defenders out. Our halves were on a hiding to nothing, for which I lay the blame with Wane, his game plan and his problem to fix. We scored from a kick that wasn't planned out, it was on the back of a poor last play and then a moment of brilliance from Bowen. No great attacking play to create any doubt, the Leeds defenders could see what was coming every play and it was easy to defend.'"
Williams stood out, found quick PTBs and consistently looked dangerous. 25 tackles and 15 carries is a very high work rate for a halfback too. You have loads of option runners - there's no such thing as a dummy runner anymore. The problem is you always just string together a couple of second man plays.
The problem with your spine is that you've kept the style of play Maguire brought over, but your personnel has changed. Your spine are probably slightly less effective runners (Tomkins & Green vs Bowen & Williams), and with Bateman in the centres, your only second rower who is capable of hitting an effective 'in' line is Farrell. With the likes of Sarginson, Bateman, J Tomkins and Gelling, they're the sort of players who IMO rather than playing right at the line, need the ball earlier and be given time and space to use their footwork and hand off. Strikes me as trying to fit your players into a playing style rather than finding the right playing style for your players.
