'Skipping' runs - Koula Garrick Saab and others

[Jay Eagle]

Ok I'm not a former player just an observer of the game before I might be howled down (do your best).

The skipping while you are carrying the ball up to me infuriates the hell out of me. It never seems to help you break the line, result in a tackle bust . To me it stops your momentum. Is it a trained thing going on here?

Garrick is the King of the skip before the line.. I have no idea why he does this and honestly I don't think he even knows why.. and your correct it has Zero impact and makes it easier for the defence.. and I've now noticed it's contagious through out our become..total BS.. just f@#king Run hard and put on a step at the line.. if our coaching staff can't see this then F##K them off too

 

[silvereagle]

I worry more when player show a lack commitment and/or don’t put their bodies on the line at crucial moments. I can’t say Garrick falls under that category but Saab avoids hard contact and Koula is about 50-50.

NYEagle

I agree with Garrick and Saab but definitely don't see Tolu in this category. Quite the opposite actually. In fact I think Tolu runs way too often straight into defences rather than focusing on stepping around them and trying to out run them. Mind you he often gets the ball with 2-3 defenders already over him so not sure he has much choice. That's a really poor reflection on the coaching and his inside men.

 

[manlyfan76]

They have been watching MLB

 

[themanwithnoname]

I am OK with backs that want to skip/step/change direction etc. I do get annoyed watching Sipley and Josh A (sometimes) skipping before the line, rather than running hard. The problem is they inevitably have a slow play the ball after getting pushed back and wrestled to the ground, and we lose the ruck.

 

[Stuey Davis’s Socks]

Debutant Aitasi James was skipping on every run too. It’s catching.

 

[LeonardCohen]

It's coached in junior football and is a strategy employed by most outside backs in the competition. The actual motivation is not to make a line break, rather it is the runner looking for the space between two defenders. When you run straight and hard, you're easy pickings to (a) get smashed and (b) lose the contact, resulting a slower play-the-ball. If you 'prop' and wedge between defenders, you can find your front, win momentum and get a quick play-the-ball. Most middle forwards are a different matter and they can use their size to win contact. That's something substantially harder for many outside backs.

That's the theory of it. As Clint Eastwood suggests, it's often to varying degrees of success.

 

[Chunkytuna]

I don’t see it succeeding at all and it pisses me off as much as everyone else. Unfortunately hamole tends to do it a bit too just run hard. Yeah it’ll hurt, but that’s your job.

 

[Rackets]

Run the ball back like DWZ, 100 miles an hour...simple. It's like they're playing hopscotch sometimes.