I read exactly what you posted as above and don't agree.
The 3 - 4 man tackles create more fatigue is a farce.
The main reason Manly are juiced with these 1 - 2 man tackles, is the opposition attackers winning the quick play ball while the 1-2 players who made the tackle are still getting off the canvas - meanwhile with the markers often out of play and the ref screaming "offside" at the other middle defenders who are still backpeddling, the tackles get flimsy with grabs and the attack making 15m a carry....this happens again...again...till the kick where there is zero pressure as again (the defence is retreating), landing the kick 5m - 10m out from Manly's line (as had all day to place it), winger gets smashed...players coming back on side, breathing so hard with hands on hips and struggle to get back till tackle 3 or 4....and yes - they again hit in numbers slowing the play and bashing our runners....we then kick from our 40m line and prey DCE finds space, otherswise they start from their 30m - 40m line and its the same set again.
Yet these other Top sides with big men like Solomona, Jess Bromwich, Kamikamica, Burgess, Tatola, Nicholls, Leota, Fisher Harris and many more, get more mileage from "controlling" the ruck and game tempo and benefit from this defensive structure - then have more vigour and energy when running the footy as a result also.
These 3 - 4 man tackles do more than just help the defence maintain energy, but actually zap the attacker who has been dominated on their back and are struggling to find feet, taking seconds longer as the defence gets an easy reset and off the line with vigour, as opposed to backpeddling and struggling for air, also ensuring the defence has the option to get off the line and shut down a potential shift or have time to adjust and slide.
Anyways, will see what happens in coming games, I reckon Manly will start applying more of this style defence and maybe as early as Friday vs Roosters.
You are still not getting it Maxta, it's not a simple case of just adding numbers to the tackle to slow it down, you have to have the correct tackling techniques, wrestling techniques and good fitness levels to continously add numbers to the tackle then get back the 10mtrs more often.
You can add numbers to the tackle but if you don't wrestle effectively and in a manner that is dominant and the ref is willing to allow a slow peel off the tackled player you wont slow down the ruck at all and compound your issues with a thin defensive line and fatigued players coming back into the defensive line off the previous tackle.
You are thinking in simple terms of "add more numbers and gang tackle will slow the play the ball down and everything is resolved".
Mentioning lazy replies like "top sides have big men and get more milage from controlling the ruck" is not looking at the whole picture and what is required in terms of overall team balance from a player physique perspective, general fitness levels and training targeted for more aerobic performances along with rehearsed numbers into the tackle to make it a more efficient process.(ask G.Rose the difference between Melbourne training and Manly, George could barely last a year under the Melb system)
There are benefits in both systems, i agree that we need to slow down the ruck with more aggressive numbers but you make it out like it is a simple overnight fix and it isn't, i am stating "some" of the issues that will be encountered.
I was willing to switch off the game after the first try last night as i knew it was the same low quality crap being dished up but gave it till the second try this time at 8mins or so before i made better use of my time.
The defensive spacing from our slow middles when fatigue is not an issue was appalling to see from a fulltime level squad and evident basically in every try from the highlights vid i watched later on. The second try with not much space down the short side to help and work in our favour is under 7's level and is caused by lazy slow inside defenders causing a chain reaction along the line with not trusting your inside shoulder defender from the outside backs.
I can see a few of those inside forwards getting a massive lambasting this week two in particular, while another two are safe for other reasons but deserve a dressing down and reality check eventually if things don't improve.
On top of that as usual our ineffective, predictable go forward at the start that is lacking confidence is where it all starts, let's not go down the road of the simple "blame it from dummy half" as you can work around that as has been on display last year.(that is not to say a great sharp hooker doesn't make a difference but it is heavily over stated)
One issue i feel Manly suffer on early in the season is playing against fresh new season outfits that are injury free and full of energy, we can't keep up speed wise until the grind of the season kicks in.
Also our crisp early lateral spreads require more time to gain confidence and much more difficult on a dewy night especially after a long off season and we play with slow hesitancy causing predictability and easy to read sets.
