austin looked great because we let him play and didn't put any pressure on him all game whereas sneyd was hammered every time he put a kick in

Absolutely right Jake that was the whole difference we gave him all the time in the world which gave him the confidence to dictate. No complaints the best team won but with 3 minutes to go I thought we were goint to nick it.

wire were definitely the best team and it's amazing we were only 2 points behind with 3 minutes to play

I’m starting to think, that our defensive tactic is to let the opposition come to us, rather then moving up and nailing them. That’s what it’s looked like this season anyway. Get away with it against some teams, but not the better opposition

On topic - Widdop

I've thought the same for a while now and maybe it's about energy conservation and hoping we stay fresher for longer in games

Every time we get up there and at them, we concede a pen for a high shot or offside.

Now can I say that your comment is spot on for me, I've been saying for weeks, we seem happy to let most teams put 60 odd yards on us in any given set of six so they are ending their sets every time with a dangerous up and under rather than forcing them to make a much safer kick for distance because we have restricted their yards. Good point!

Let’s hope the team sat down together and watched the Melbourne v Manly game, perfect example how to defend with intensity, absolutely brutal, loved it

I appreciate you're only hypothesising but I don't think any coach worth their salt could possibly think you will conserve energy by hanging back in defence.

Giving up ground like that you'll simply spend a disproportionate amount of time defending your own line and consume more energy defending the repeat sets the opposition will inevitably force.

What's your theory then?

I don't think it's a deliberate strategy. I just don't think they've been coached to be aggressive in defence.