2020: What tactical changes would you like to see?
Oct 15, 2019 16:00:22 GMT
earlybath and salford1961 like this
Post by BDD on Oct 15, 2019 16:00:22 GMT
I’ve been mulling since the Grand Final. There’s a bitter taste due to the performance of the referee which left me feeling much more disappointed than I should have been. The team achieved something amazing. It got me thinking about how we can take a step forward. I know that’s difficult given the loss of several players, most notably Jacko and Jones, and the restrictions we have financially. But we’ve shown what team spirit, belief, confidence and the Salford crowd can achieve. After the first Wigan game, Watto pointed out how the lack of composure, which led to small mistakes cost us. We didn’t make those mistake in the second game. I’m sure we’ll learn from the Saints game too. They may not be the best team Super League has seen but they have been the most consistent over a season during the Super League era. There are tactical lessons to be learned, small percentages, and so I was thinking what changes would you like to see tactically next season?
Kicking (I think this is our biggest weakness):
• Smarter close to the line. Don’t need to score every set.
Defence (we improved massively towards the end of the year—credit to out fitness and overall team health):
• Our wingers seem to come in too quickly too often when teams are attacking our edge—mostly in our own 20. This allow the ball to go to their winger for a score in the corner. The winger needs to have more confidence in his centre to slide and make the tackle. So long as you are not on your own line the winger can even just back away a few metres which means their centre will run out of room to make the pass to the winger, while also giving the cover more time to get across
• Faster play the balls. This is easier said than done, but too often our forwards seem to get stood up without momentum taking them forward for extra metres. If the player is going to win collision and push forward for metres, great. If you are running into a wall it is more important to enter the collision in a way that allows you to get down on your front and fight to play the ball. This limits to opportunity for a third or fourth tackler and the opportunity to rotate you on to your back. I’d like to see some of the forwards run with a little more aggression too
• Additional runners. Quite a lot of our set plays, especially those where a player comes back inside and looks at the offload only have one (serious) runner as an option. Similarly, when swinging the ball wide, we often have the guy going through as an option, the FB out the back, centre and winger to his outside; pretty standard. These moves with Saints, Wigan when going to the left, Cas when they had Gale and Hardaker, Leeds in their heyday, have additional running options. Whether that be a second player going through slightly after the first, and additional player around the back of the FB who enters the line on either side of the centre, or a player inside the FB, or some other variation. It creates complexity. It’s harder to defend and plan for. We also have the move we’ve done a few times where the ball is past in to Jacko and he flips it back the opposite direction to Evalds, but then Evalds has no option. We need to build on some of the concepts that have worked for us. We’ve also seen the success of additional runners close to the line (1/2m out). In such a compressed space, defenders usually focus on a specific player. If the hooker picks the right runner it’s usually a try. Somebody like Pauli Pauli would be a great decoy or pass option for this type of play.
I’ll start:
• All kicks from penalties should take us at least 20m forward. There is no excuse for not being better at this. When you are close to the side-line kicking it 30m should be no problem (extreme weather permitting)
- Need to be better at grubber kicks. Too often the ball goes out the back. It’s better for the ball to fall a bit short of the line and tackle them at the 1/2m mark then for it to roll out the back. If we don’t score or get a repeat set, use the kick to win the territory battle. Bringing the ball out from the 5 is a tough ask for any team
- Make use of angled kicks better. I’ve pointed this out for years, but we don’t see it often. Saints used it masterfully against Wigan. With these kicks their FB is already heading in the opposite direction
• We must start finding the ground with kicks downfield. Too often the ball goes straight into the hands of the FB or winger. If you watch recent games back, you’ll see even against Wigan and Cas (games we dominated) they started on the 25/30m mark far too often. Giving teams free territory makes it easier for them to make meters, spread their attack and be in a position to put in an attacking kick
- If we can’t look up and find space, kick it on the early before the winger drops. I’d rather sacrifice a tackle and make their winger run back to collect the ball from within the 10, than given them the ball on the 30. If their winger then starts dropping a tackle earlier, it gives use space to exploit outside, before we reach the last tackle
- Fits in with the above. Stop kicking the ball as high as you can and having the ball come down on the 20/30m mark. There are better options. Players don’t often drop the ball. An opponent doesn’t have much incentive to attempt to catch the ball that far out from their line and often let the attacker take it. If we collect the ball, it’s unlikely we score from that far out with a knockback. More often than not, it’s free territory
- I saw a comment recently where somebody thought it was a good tactic to boot the ball to a particular player who gets it on the 20/30 because it can tire them out. I’m wondering what the thoughts of other are about this. Thinking about it. When the ball is kicked deep the three-quarters almost always take the first three carries up, meaning said player is carrying the ball either way, therefore no additional use of energy. They also get plenty of time to rest out-wide between carries, it’s not like they are in the middle making tackle after tackle. Kicking past them, making them turn, run to get the ball, turn and run it back would use up more energy
• More attempts at 40/20s. I’m not sure of the stats regarding our attempts, but these are game changers and are best attempted earlier in the tackle count when not expected and the wingers are not back. I’m often watching the game and see opportunities for a 40/20 but it doesn’t seem to enter a player’s mind unless chasing a game. If you have the ball at the 40 on the 3rd tackle, why not kick it with a low and deep trajectory. I think 40/20s are underutilised throughout Super League. You may not always nail them, but by attempting them, you likely win the territory battle as you will be turning them around and could force their wingers to drop back earlier leaving space out wide
• Smarter use of the drop goal—see the Wigan game. Teams seem to wait and wait before putting a drop goal over. If you think about it, if you are in a situation where if you get a penalty 20/25m out and you’d take the 2 points, you should also be willing to put the 1 point over. I know it’s more difficult and I’m not saying do it all the time. Just consider it as an option before the 75th minute
• Utilise Lussick kicking out of acting half more often
• Try and replicate what Saints (and others do, but Saints are the best at it) and get a third or fourth man in the tackle so the ref gives you more time to peel off. It controls the pace of the game. They did it to perfection in their drubbing of Wigan in the semi-final playoff
Play-the-ball
• More runs from dummy half. I loved Tomkins’ work ethic, but this was not a strong area of his game. The best teams make plenty of yards out of acting half. Sometimes through breaks, other times from penalties (catching players offside, not square, or trying to slow the game by holding the player down). For me this is an important part of the wrestle for territory. Jacko made a lot of metres from acting half this year
Offence:
• We score some great tries. I’d like to see us a little more willing to play from deep, more often. I don’t mean silly offloads or other low percentage plays. More along the lines of being willing to shift the ball when between our own 15 and 30 when the opportunity is there. When we get on a roll in games (Hull away, Catalan away etc.) we are confident and score from all over the field. The quality is there
