Wigan attack

[Charriots Offiah]

Well I have just got back and I can’t believe how utter garbage the attack was.

Our only tactic was a bomb hoping Leeds would drop it but even when they did we had no idea what to do with it.

I can’t see where the improvement is going to come from either. Two forwards won’t fix it.

The new coach whoever he is needs to be a miracle worker.

It’s not hard to improve, a half decent coach will get 20% improvement without breaking sweat.

[DaveO]

Well I have just got back and I can’t believe how utter garbage the attack was.

Our only tactic was a bomb hoping Leeds would drop it but even when they did we had no idea what to do with it.

I can’t see where the improvement is going to come from either. Two forwards won’t fix it.

The new coach whoever he is needs to be a miracle worker.

It’s not hard to improve, a half decent coach will get 20% improvement without breaking sweat.

I’d like to think so but he’s going to be hamstrung. When he sees how bad Powell is in attack what’s his option? Play O’Neil and drop Powell?

We are going into another season with one specialist centre and that happens to be Thornley.

Unless they recruit a top half back we will seem Smith and Field there.

I am sure there are coaches out there who could coach the team in support play, dummy runners and get them up in the face of the opposition when defending as opposed to hanging back but you can’t coach natural ability and quality and our squad next season is seriously lacking in that.

[Charriots Offiah]

Well I have just got back and I can’t believe how utter garbage the attack was.

Our only tactic was a bomb hoping Leeds would drop it but even when they did we had no idea what to do with it.

I can’t see where the improvement is going to come from either. Two forwards won’t fix it.

The new coach whoever he is needs to be a miracle worker.

It’s not hard to improve, a half decent coach will get 20% improvement without breaking sweat.

I’d like to think so but he’s going to be hamstrung. When he sees how bad Powell is in attack what’s his option? Play O’Neil and drop Powell?

We are going into another season with one specialist centre and that happens to be Thornley.

Unless they recruit a top half back we will seem Smith and Field there.

I am sure there are coaches out there who could coach the team in support play, dummy runners and get them up in the face of the opposition when defending as opposed to hanging back but you can’t coach natural ability and quality and our squad next season is seriously lacking in that.

Get Wayne Bennett here and we will see a different team. We should be moving heaven and earth to get him here, there is talk about him coaching at reserve level in Australia!

[nathan_rugby]

Well I have just got back and I can’t believe how utter garbage the attack was.

Our only tactic was a bomb hoping Leeds would drop it but even when they did we had no idea what to do with it.

I can’t see where the improvement is going to come from either. Two forwards won’t fix it.

The new coach whoever he is needs to be a miracle worker.

It’s not hard to improve, a half decent coach will get 20% improvement without breaking sweat.

And the rest.

I genuinely think I could come up with a better game plan, some set plays and tactics.

It was like u7s rugby everyone just catching and passing. No dummy runners or different angles.

When was the last time Farrell hit a gap and made a break?

Last time we shifted it wide and our winger made a genuine break?

[pedro]

Well I have just got back and I can’t believe how utter garbage the attack was.

Our only tactic was a bomb hoping Leeds would drop it but even when they did we had no idea what to do with it.

I can’t see where the improvement is going to come from either. Two forwards won’t fix it.

The new coach whoever he is needs to be a miracle worker.

It’s not hard to improve, a half decent coach will get 20% improvement without breaking sweat.

And the rest.

I genuinely think I could come up with a better game plan, some set plays and tactics.

It was like u7s rugby everyone just catching and passing. No dummy runners or different angles.

When was the last time Farrell hit a gap and made a break?

Last time we shifted it wide and our winger made a genuine break?

Was explaining to my son last night and was showing the difference between the teams, we never have a dummy runner, support player or beat a man with a pass, Leeds we’re doing it all night

[Wintergreen]

It's so easy for the opposition to read.

Our threequarters/second rowers simply hang onto the ball instead of looking to put their outside players away.

Bateman
Gildart
Isa
Farrell

They are all as bad as each other.

[nathan_rugby]

It's so easy for the opposition to read.

Our threequarters/second rowers simply hang onto the ball instead of looking to put their outside players away.

Bateman
Gildart
Isa
Farrell

They are all as bad as each other.

A lot of the time there is the space to pass, everyone runs sideways and you end up in touch or passing to someone who gets tackled straight away.

You need to first suck players in before you can create the space and expect the passes.

[EagleEyePie]

Our attacking game is limited because we don't have enough players who create space and keep defenders occupied down the middle. We inexplicably think having one hooker with a limited attacking game is the right option when pretty much every single team in the competition plays two hookers. Teams who have a quality hooker may play them for 80 minutes or long minutes and have a young hooker on the bench. All the others who have decent or half decent hookers (like we do) will have another hooker at a similar level to compliment them (like we don't). Not trying to turn this into another Powell debate but for me it's pretty damn clear. What Powell offers us is absolutely fine, as long as we also have someone to give us something a little bit different. We don't and that's been an obvious weakness for years yet Radlinski seems to be of the opinion that because Powell can play 80 minutes that he must play 80 minutes and we don't need another option. How on earth did we end up at the point where we're playing Joe Shorrocks at interchange hooker in our strongest lineup.

We also don't have anyone down the middle who can make really dominant carries and contract the defensive line. Look at how many tries the likes of Saints, Wire and Catalans score off the back of a forward making a strong carry and then attacking a defence with slow retreating players or who have numbered up wrong in a rush. Rugby league can be so simple. So many tries from the top teams come down to one defender being pinpointed after a strong carry and the halves just doing the simple things from there. Well our halves so very rarely get that opportunity because most of the carries from our forwards result in a controlled ruck or a slow play the ball. A lot of top coaches don't spent too much time trying to coach players in attack, they get the team to do the basics right and empower the playmakers to make their own decisions on the field. Our halves can't even do that at the moment because the team doesn't get the basics right. We're trying to play rugby with small forwards - without dominant carries - without a threat around the play the ball. It's ineffective and predictable and never pulls any defenders out of position which is why most of our tries have been scored right in the corner, because the best we've been able to offer is to throw the ball wide through hands and just have one player manage to be on the outside shoulder of his man.

Harry Smith has come in for so much criticism this year but our attacking problems go far beyond a 21 year old halfback. They were evident last season when Smith was only a bit part player. They were evident when it was Hastings and Leuluai partnering each other in the halves. Even Hastings has struggled this year and this is a player who seems to like trying to do everything himself and has been pretty successful at it.

[moto748]

I was saying the pub after the game that Wigan only seem to have two modes of going forward. The main one is the very worst type of five drives and a kick. A player gets the ball, runs forward, the rest of the team sit back and watch as he makes his seven or eight metres (if he's lucky). The subsequent p-t-b is painfully slow (especially if you're playing Leeds ). Rinse and repeat.

Plan B is pass along the line from coast to coast, but without engaging the defence, which easily slides across. Sometimes we go coast to coast again, reversing the direction. On a good day this will make us 5-10 m of forward progress. On a bad day it won't take us forward at all, or someone drops it.

Also, things we never ever do: something a bit different. Short re-start (grubber?), optional re-start, 20/40 kick... Pat Richards used to restart by kicking towards the goalposts. There's a chance it can hit the woodwork and bounce back towards you. Wigan never do this. Wigan never surprise their opponents these days. On the contrary, they can see what we are going to do before we even do it, as Leeds demonstrated last night; they handled us with ease.

[DaveO]

Our attacking game is limited because we don't have enough players who create space and keep defenders occupied down the middle. We inexplicably think having one hooker with a limited attacking game is the right option when pretty much every single team in the competition plays two hookers. Teams who have a quality hooker may play them for 80 minutes or long minutes and have a young hooker on the bench. All the others who have decent or half decent hookers (like we do) will have another hooker at a similar level to compliment them (like we don't). Not trying to turn this into another Powell debate but for me it's pretty damn clear. What Powell offers us is absolutely fine, as long as we also have someone to give us something a little bit different. We don't and that's been an obvious weakness for years yet Radlinski seems to be of the opinion that because Powell can play 80 minutes that he must play 80 minutes and we don't need another option. How on earth did we end up at the point where we're playing Joe Shorrocks at interchange hooker in our strongest lineup.

So how many minutes should Powell play on average?

Keep in mind whenever he’s on the pitch there is no attacking threat from our no 9 so how many minutes per game is that acceptable for? How many minutes is it acceptable the opposition can be in the faces of our players due to his slow delivery from AHB?

This why what he offers is absolutely not fine. I don’t know of another team in the league who has a no 9 who offers so little on attack even if they play two hookers. Other hookers can attack and defend a prime example being our ex no 9 Micky Mac.

I just don’t get why people seem to feel the need to justify a place for Powell in the team by suggesting because he tackles a lot he’s worth his place.