Short Sharp and Flat at Speed

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One of my big pet hates over the years that i have harped on to death is the "over-use" of deep wide distribution from Dummy Half, usually behind lazy lead runners. It can kill go forward, it will cause sideways attack that does not engage the defensive line and reduces/cramps the outside attacking options allowing the inside defense to slide making it easy to flood the edges and ball carrier with defensive numbers.

I've stated before fix our go forward momentum and it will take a load of pressure off the defense and the attack will look more straight and sharp.

Short passing from dummy half to hard running straight runners or hitting against the grain stepping back in with numbers, always surrounding the lead runner for the option play/spread to mix it up---piling up around the play the ball ready for the next hit up over and over at speed.

This is what Barrett has envisioned from day 1 and the players are starting to have confidence, backing themselves to hit a line and go for it, drilling between defenders at pace and either bending or half coming through with momentum.

The improved go forward numbers from the back coming from Tom and Taufua,(even Brayden is starting to play harder and coming through tackles) leading into Lussick(the aggressive leadership we so needed with high effort,intensity and consistency this past month or so), Taupau, Jake, Buhrer and Green is allowing Manly to gain good field position and defend against more exhausted bigger forwards, reducing the penalties against us in the process at the critical times (we are now "starting" to be seen as the enforcer/momentum leaders in the contest in the grind.)

Loving DCE positioning short, flat and ahead of the attacking line when receiving the ball from dummy half, it helps offer more options off either hip and keeps the attack straight.

Nice to see Manly get out of autopilot structured spreads and look off the inside hip, coming back in with plays against lazy central defenders who are so used to switching off when the ball heads right staying right, heads left stays left with second man spreads.

I've mentioned in the past the inside hip and playing through the middle with options is under-used, you can even telegraph the play to Lyon or Tom using them as decoys for another explosive runner on the inside for variation.

I mentioned when the decision was made to switch Walker back to centre i would like to see Walker being used at times as a third floating ball-playing option to take advantage of his skill-set.(keeps Dylan interested and challenged at Manly beyond just playing as a conventional limited centre) With less pressure to organize and create Walker can chime in with quality not quantity.

It appears Barrett is allowing this third ball-playing/runner option to unfold as seen before Walker's hand injury there were times where Walker has chimed in on the left or offered the outside inside ball play, great to see.

Next year is starting to take shape add another 1-2 power forwards to keep the momentum going off the bench for longer periods and Manly is starting to look dangerous again.

Some fans here really lack a little patience and respect, comparing Barrett's performance against Tooves(in our real bad patch) who worked with the squad and coaching staff years beforehand was a poor comparison.(on top of having an extra ball-playing option in Foran at the time)

Barrett is in a rebuilding stage with the sqaud along with a new coaching/rehab staff, bring Toovey into that kind of role and you would get results no better than what has been on offer, as would 95% of new Coaches, not picking on Tooves just illustrating the point to some fans.
 
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Love your analysis TC. Keep it up.
I agree... But I miss the old "simple" days... We had three rules..

1) forwards go forward.

2) backs do fancy, pretty stuff whilst hanging out with footballers.

3) anyone not wearing your colours, or holding a flag/whistle was fair game in a stink.

3a) you can't run without a head.

Hehe ;)

Edit: there may have been more, but us front rowers struggle after counting past "3" ;)
 
Hang on did we win or lose on the Monday night?


Lol!
Fair call mate esp about building for next year with more power forwards.
More building from within our stocks, you can't just buy every ready made power forward on the market and have flexibility and breathing space in the cap.

Vave showed some sharpness in some of his carries on Monday and running straight not side on like early in the season,(looks to have trimmed down a touch more) it does help and made easier to run straight and front on against a retreating defensive line.----( in relation to all forwards) The problem with Vave is when you need that second round of effort in the backs to the wall periods he is huffing and puffing way too quickly.

SFS is a fast deck and most players look sharp playing on this surface, Manly in top form always play well at this location.

I would love to see Lyon or Matai go around again next year to lead a team that has a better than even chance to make the semi's before departing---sort of like Ben Kennedy---you need that senior calm leadership as you move up or back into the 8.

Both will play well behind a performing pack,(unfortunately now only one can remain if we have this option) we have seen this year when the team half performs and competes in the forwards they still look good and sharp at the right times---well except Brett Stewart.

I have no preference, if Matai is fit and not looking to protect himself too much he offers power and aggression(his go forward numbers this year are still very good in a poor performing outfit even doing some tough one out hit-ups playing injured) and Lyon is all class.

Older players look tired when the team is not competing but as seen with Lyon lately when the team is competing they start to look and feel fresh again.
 
I can vouch for all this being true, in fact I'm sure you've said it many times!
Appearing to be jumping on the bandwagon of observing the positives from our recent performances and displaying them in the context of "always thought this was the case" was not my intention but i must admit i felt like editing this pathetic style/tone out. (i'm anonymous, who cares how i come across, that is what the net is for right lol---- to display the negatives of high fiving ones self for pointless ego stroking then lead a contrasting life in person)
 
Good accurate summary TC....option runners....the back 3 starting sets on the front foot...hitting the ball at speed with commitment in tight to give some decent room wide on the shifts....
 
Good accurate summary TC....option runners....the back 3 starting sets on the front foot...hitting the ball at speed with commitment in tight to give some decent room wide on the shifts....
Manly are starting to be able to hold the tight fast uptempo intensity long enough to drain the opposition in the grind and even able to go again after a back to the wall effort in defense at times.

Manly now have several players from the backs to the forwards willing to dig in which keeps the momentum going, not just pockets of effort plays as it was early in the season.

Obviously harder to remain sharp and sustain this into the second half which will inevitably show fading periods and points against us but we are now tougher and grinding out more during this period and remaining competitive somewhat.

2013 Manly exhibited the same kind of sharpness and direct go forward in some elements which Toovey encouraged, even our attack that year looked better than previous GF winning years.
 
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I really respect your opinion TC and you make plenty of valid points in your summary. Although I think you give Barrett far too much credit. Yes we have improved slightly and tightened up the defence, however the fact remains that we are playing teams that are absolutely woeful. You are correct when you say we need to improve our 2nd tier forward stocks. Buhrer, Jake, Tapau, Myles, Lussick are fantastic but we really need to develop some young blokes or sign a couple of Shane Rodney/Glen Hall style blokes to back up the big names. Green is not a first grader and I am stumped on why Barrett insists on trying to turn him into one. Leary looked to be a great prospect early, however the lack of confidence shown in him by the coaching staff is reflected in his performances.

I am happy that we are finally starting to pull it together however I am not quite ready to eat humble pie and sing kumbaya around the campfire with Barrett and Carty. I don't believe that Toovey was the long term answer however I do believe Toovey earned the right to see out the year he had left on his contract and we could have let him know this season and targeted a better credentialed coach for the rebuild. Toovey deserved and earned that much and we as a club should have afforded him that. I am still not sure why if we were going down the rookie coach road, we didn't target a 20's coach that had a couple of premierships under his belt in 20's like Cameron Ciraldo.

Anyways, thank you for your insights, I do enjoy how you break it down.
 
I'm sure we'll look like world beaters again on Sunday against the Knoughts. Let's see how this new "style" goes against a decent team. Round 23 and Round 24 will be the test of Barrett's coaching ability. I expect Walker will be back by then so he can start floating.
 
I'm sure we'll look like world beaters again on Sunday against the Knoughts. Let's see how this new "style" goes against a decent team. Round 23 and Round 24 will be the test of Barrett's coaching ability. I expect Walker will be back by then so he can start floating.
We have performed poorly against a range of teams all year, even the games we won earlier this year, so the consistency of improvement over the past month still holds up compared to what was being dished out previously.

We will get found out again and probably suffer a slump after the next loss when the season is basically over. This last few weeks have shown the team is moving forward not stagnating which is what we wanted to see second half of this year.

Even the line speed and energy in defense has "improved", we are still easy to bend and crack but playing with more resolve and unity now.
 
All of this @Technical Coach love is very disappointing

I thought I was the only one on his band wagon?!?!

That's all good tho - one piece of negative feedback from TC and everyone will disagree again

:)

And NO, I'm not TC

Can a mod plz confirm this?!?! Thx!!!
 
I thought we went well, really well against a full strength cowboys team, only just lost and have not lost since.
 
So TC is Baz! Nice puff piece coach ;)

I feel the test will be this week as it reminds me of last year when we strung a few gutsy wins together but then lost that crucial Parra game at home that we really should have won. Similar situation with the Knights. Looks a gimme but will be a very good test of where they are at mentally. And it's the same talk in the media about keeping the finals alive, plus it's the Sunday arvo + Brookie, combo - yada, yada.

Let's see what the boys have got.
 
I still think our attack inside the opposition 20 leaves a hell if a lot to be desired. We had a few nice set plays against the bunnies but once again we should've finished more opportunities. Too many times dce was handing it to a flat footed forward or getting caught with the ball. Our play inside their 20 needs to be much faster, and we still had our classic "let the opposition back into the game" 20 minutes on Monday night.
I'm glad you're so optimistic about Barrett, I don't think I am.
 
I feel the test will be this week as it reminds me of last year when we strung a few gutsy wins together but then lost that crucial Parra game at home that we really should have won. Similar situation with the Knights. Looks a gimme but will be a very good test of where they are at mentally. And it's the same talk in the media about keeping the finals alive, plus it's the Sunday arvo + Brookie, combo - yada, yada.

Let's see what the boys have got.
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Surely TC would be a better coach than the blokes we have for our lower grades.

Agreed - maybe they should all sit front of class & hand TC an apple & take some notes.....the performances from these grades lack the meat of the original thread that are the catalyst to make any team compete, in a game of rugby league.....
 

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