Conditioning

[SeaEagleRock8]

Yeah he avoids being tackled !

One of the most annoying and ridiculous urban myths around here! Foxsports stats:

 

[Cliffymagic]

it’s a mental issue

no heart, passion or pride at all when the chips are down

we have zero hard nuts

Yeah i agree. Ive mentioned before we need tony Robbins to pyske em up

 

[SeaEagle007]

our issue is not fitness, its injuries and combinations our back line has shuffled so many times already this year, if we have all players fit we are one of the better teams.. Our boys are fit . However in saying that we are also missing players with mongeral like Watmough and Matai used to be -- attitude...we need more players to be in your face type players

 

[Dion Johnson]

If we get 70% of the possession in the first half tonight ... we will look like a very fit team ... and Parra will look gassed and ready to sack their conditioner.

“ IF “ what’s the likelihood?

 

[Woodsie]

“ IF “ what’s the likelihood?

Didn't we get it against Canberra first half ?

 

[Dion Johnson]

Didn't we get it against Canberra first half ?

My memory ain’t that good, still suffering palpitations from last week..

 

[Karshy]

“ IF “ what’s the likelihood?

From what I have seen, The refs have been happy to ping us for the most minor of ruck infringements this year and ignore obvious ones against us. Watch the first 20 minutes tonight. We will get pinged 4+ times and get nothing. Then everyone will be saying how "gassed" we look again.

Maybe we are "unfit" but we are certainly not getting a fair go from the men with the whistle and Des isnt willing to front up 10k to put them in their places.

 

[The Royal Soup]

Yeah i agree. Ive mentioned before we need tony Robbins to pyske em up

we are a soft joke

 

[Scorpio]

DCE should be head trainer and use his regime.

He has been the fittest guy in the club the past 10 years and never gets injured. He must be doing something very right.

I imagine that not (or not having to be) running up to the opposition line every week and getting belted has a lot to do with it...

Same reason Cam Smith played until he was 37 as a forward... hardly got tackled and was often 3rd man into a tackle when defending. Not a luxury most players have

 

[niccipops]

From what I have seen, The refs have been happy to ping us for the most minor of ruck infringements this year and ignore obvious ones against us. Watch the first 20 minutes tonight. We will get pinged 4+ times and get nothing. Then everyone will be saying how "gassed" we look again.

Maybe we are "unfit" but we are certainly not getting a fair go from the men with the whistle and Des isnt willing to front up 10k to put them in their places.

Totally agree. Discipline is ref dependent. Donkeys perfect last week. Not one ruck infringement. Bullsh*t!

 

[joeboy]

Been saying for years we look unfit, we start games sluggishly and with no urgency, If things go against us early, we suck even more under fatigue

Donny’s gotta go I reckon, Gibbs and rahme leaving and our current conditioning speaks volumes.

We are playing and training like it was 10 years ago, what may have been cutting edge is now blunt as ****

 

[XV-1]

Yeah he avoids being tackled !

I imagine that not (or not having to be) running up to the opposition line every week and getting belted has a lot to do with it...

Same reason Cam Smith played until he was 37 as a forward... hardly got tackled and was often 3rd man into a tackle when defending. Not a luxury most players have

The fact is DCE is the fittest guy in the club. He wins all the pre season fitness tests. No disputing that.

The smart arse and snide remarks don't change this.

Surely the team overall could learn and be better by looking and researching the best?

 

[XV-1]

Yeah he avoids being tackled !

I imagine that not (or not having to be) running up to the opposition line every week and getting belted has a lot to do with it...

Same reason Cam Smith played until he was 37 as a forward... hardly got tackled and was often 3rd man into a tackle when defending. Not a luxury most players have

The fact is DCE is the fittest guy in the club. He wins all the pre season fitness tests. No disputing that.

The smart arse and snide remarks don't change this.

Surely the team overall could learn and be better by looking and researching the best

 

[madmax]

dessie does like to time his run. many teams like the dragons fly out of the blocks every season only to drift. there are many reasons for this but until the season is dusted it will be hard to tell if this was a plan. his best seasons have had timing all over them and he has been on record many times mentioning it

no doubt we look off the pace in many areas. our line speed for sure which is also a symptom of controlling or losing the ruck

I think we have been a bit prop heavy for a while and our back row doesnt have the same effectiveness as other teams and always seems in balanced. there are no destructive runs from oku who seems to be able to beat men in traffic but rarely gets the opportunity to wind up in space

jake slows our middle and cramps our edges as we stack halves, backrower, centre and wing into tight spaces too often and still want tom to chime in between. its a short ball tactic with quick hands but only foran and parker execute this . our back row work very hard and are great players but we get little out of them in attack

our starts can be diabolical and not just kick offs and too often heaps pressure on the defence and team, which is mentally brittle to begin with. the players in this side have been subjected to very little footy that could be considered " the grind" so mentally havnt tested themselves in prolonged defence and still won the game. this is pretty important in all sports to absorb and win, we are kings of absorb and lose but havnt found the other path enough to consider it part of the teams make up

My observation is that our forwards are flat footed most times due to poor delivery from our Hooker. As much as I admire Croker for his toughness he’s not Cook or Mahoney or Grant. When they’re at dummy half they scoot forward & create space between themselves & the forwards who then follow which in turn has them running onto the ball not running from a stop start situation….momentum then carries on & meters are made. If we had either of those 3 we’d be carving teams up! If Fainu was available he’d be carving up also lolololol…..

 

[Snake]

If we get 70% of the possession in the first half tonight ... we will look like a very fit team ... and Parra will look gassed and ready to sack their conditioner.

That’s so short sighted. Possession is not a lottery. When you let the opposition march down field so easily, they kick in good field position and turn the screws and that’s when they start to get on top.

 

[mave]

Thought we hung in pretty well defensively tonight.
Line speed seemed good all game.


I would suggest that we are fit, but lack attitude/fortitude at certain times, for whatever reason.

 

[Remy]

They need to do a few army camps.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Nathan Gibbs and Rahme left in the offseason because they disagreed with Donny's proposed strength and training program for this year

They were correct as we don't look fit or strong enough compared to other teams

A heap of injuries and 3 AC joint injuries this year already suggests something is not right

Yeah, and that’s just Tom

 

[Woodsie]

That’s so short sighted. Possession is not a lottery. When you let the opposition march down field so easily, they kick in good field position and turn the screws and that’s when they start to get on top.

And that has nothing to do with your point about conditioning ...

Telling us how a team gets to dominate possession is irrelevant to your point ... Unless you are suggesting it is their condition that is the cause ....

 

[Snake]

And that has nothing to do with your point about conditioning ...

Telling us how a team gets to dominate possession is irrelevant to your point ... Unless you are suggesting it is their condition that is the cause

Poor line speed can inadvertently lead to all sorts of problems. Possession is not won and lost in a vacuum. Now this a hypothetical, but I’ll use it to explain what I mean - Take the Gutherson no try early in last night’s game for example. The Eels marched down field and were given an opportunity to kick from good field position. If it wasn’t for the push in the back, it would have been a try. We kick off and the Eels get another set that they wouldn’t have got if we’d stayed in the yardage battle with them. They March up over halfway and again kick to good field position and turn the forwards around; they fatigue some more. This fatigue leads to sloppy passing and/or a drop ball or incorrect play-the-ball.

Because it’s not a computer game, you can’t see an energy battery above each player’s head, but often (not always) the circumstances around one side having more possession are the result of fatigue and field position. Defending your own line saps heaps of energy. The opposition are also in position to earn repeat sets. The fatigue from defending impacts on the fluidity of the attack.
It’s all cyclical.

In saying all that, I was merely asking a question. I don’t know for certain if we have a conditioning problem or a tactical problem or an attitude problem...just curious.

Last night was obviously better but the number of offloads that the Eels were able to generate, suggests that our contact wasn’t consistently strong.