It's called bragging rights. Once you get that right you can take on the World

Like the Dobbins have you mean

It's bragging rights in one town, lasting only to the next meeting. I'd sooner we concentrate on getting bragging rights over the entire SL that last for at least a year. On the day, yes, derbies seem like more than just one game (although the shine is starting to come off now we seem to play 6 a season), but the truth is that they are still only worth 2 points each. Simply beating Rovers is not the be all and end all.

A proper kicking game would be good!

For too long we have been content with kicking the ball straight to the opposing Full Back. Little variation, not making the ball bounce and no turning the defender.



Other teams are also good at creating a repeat set with a grubber in-goal. Finally, at least one 40-20 in 2012 would be an improvement!

Very well structured and thought out post, but i don't agree with point 1 or 2. In fairness to Agar i think our defence has been very much improved during his tenure, and is a large part of the reason we succeeded in games during last season and the season before. Don't think this is one of our weaker areas at all.

Small-minded nonsense. I'd happily lose to Rovers twice a season if we were reaching finals on a regular basis.

Kicking game.

Passing the ball to the right centre more than once a game.

Other than that with a good coach I think we have a team capable of top 5, Seymour, Heremaia and Lynch will seriously improve us.

Kicking game is the main one for me.

Long kicking game = worst in the league.

Last tackle plays near opponents line = worst in the league.

Number of trys scored from kicks must be one of the worst in league also.

Meaningless when you're struggling to scrape into the top 8

in my opinion i think we need to change the following if we are to improve:-

(1). we must increase our defensive line speed to put more pressure on opposing teams attack.

(2). we must have a much better organised sliding defence so that our wingers are not hung out to dry.

(3). we must have a vastly improved kicking game both long and short.

(4). we must provide more variety in attack which should see us turn close losses into wins.

if we do all of the above we will see a great improvement and with this an increase in confidence which will see us win far more games than we lose.

I'm not asking for a lot, I'm asking for the basics to be done like,

Support Play - we have had only one support player and that's Horne since Briscoe left.

Quicker play of the ball - one of the slowest in the league.

Accurate Passing - our passing from dummy half and in general play has been horrendous.

Defensive line speed - we need to show urgency in defence.

Long Kicking game - needs real improvement.

I agree with most of what's been said (specially the kicking side of things).
For me two of the main subjects should be "motivation and commitment" sometimes players have been half asleep when they are passed to! One of the worst sights for me was watching players partying in France after a defeat, it's soul destroying knowing they don't seem to care when we lose.
Agars motivational skills were low to say the least.

Quick play the ball has to be one of the main things as its shockingly slow

A plan B in attack. We play exactly the same way be it we're winning by 20 points or losing by 20.

Agreed but so is our passing in general, it's laboured and inaccurate.

That really is down to the e coaching they've been receiving over the last few years, no doubt straight out of the "you shouldn't have to coach professionals the basics" school.

Provided Gentle is what we think he is, it should be one of the easiest things to change.

Pay off kingys bar tabs then move forward

Not only Plan B, but what I am always screaming about is our players settling for the tackle rather then wanting to keep the ball alive and play more off the cuff. Often a player has been looking to offload, but there are either no support runners or the line has been set for the next drive/play.

For me it's the confidence and support play which has to improve.

Spot on....id sooner be shining a big silver trophy than shining my c0ck with my right hand with a box of asda smart price tissues because they beat us.

Need to be fitter and stronger.

Must have a better and more varied kicking game.

Must have improved defensive line speed and technique on the floor.

More players pushing and on more plays.

Support play has to improve.

Mentality has to change, need a winning culture instilled and inner strength.

I was being sarcastic.

Lowest form of wit. No place for sarcasm on these boards

Thanks for the compliment.

Whilst I think that our defence got marginally better over the years with Agar I don't ever think it's been good enough.

If you look at what sets the top teams apart from the rest in SL (and the NRL for that matter) it's their aggressive defence.

Phil Larder in his seminal RL Coaching Manual of the mid 90s identified that adopting the principles of American Football and looking to gain yardage from defence as well as offence was the way to go. It's a lesson that some of the old school (and I count Agar in that camp) have still not learned.

If you get the chance have a look at some of the games this season. The teams with the best records are always quick off the line and aggressively push back opposition players to gain ground. When you couple our lack of agressive defence with our awful kick and chase game it's no coincidence that we seemed to play nearly all the game in our own half last season.

You're definitely knowledgeable in the subject. However i think our defence is sufficient to win the league in its current state. Other areas of our game which i feel need to be improved much more would have a positive effect on our defence anyway, such as a better territorial kicking game which would put our defence under less pressure, along with things such as quicker play the balls which should in turn tire out opposition. And of course being smarter with the ball in hand, allowing the opposition as little ball as possible reducing the amount of tackles our team should have to make.
As a supporters selfish view, i would prefer to see a higher scoring game, in which both teams focus less on defence and more on scoring tries and playing expansive rugby!

Need a much better defensive structure. Sick of death of constantly conceding soft tries out wide.