Kicking duties

[LKC29]

I know the conditions were crap on friday but has any body else got a sinking feeling about richards doing the kicking - that we are destined to 4 point scores unless they are under the sticks? He was crap on friday the only good aspect about his game was the length that he can boot a drop out.

[DaveO]

LKC29 posted:
I know the conditions were crap on friday but has any body else got a sinking feeling about richards doing the kicking - that we are destined to 4 point scores unless they are under the sticks?

Lack of a recognised goal kicker was, along with the prop situation, why I don't think we will do as well as many think this season. We will lose games in which we score more tries than the opposition on occasion is my prediction. When was the last time that happened on a regular basis? We have always had a recognised goal kicker for as long as I can remember.

A good goal kicker is worth a league point due to the difference it can make to your points difference. We actually won a title in front of Bradford one season on points difference and had we not had a decent goal kicker that would not have happened. That is how important they are.

Dave

[Mike]

DaveO posted:
We have always had a recognised goal kicker for as long as I can remember.

Before we got Frano Botica we went through a phase where whoever scored the try used to take a shot at goal! Admittedly the team were usually miles in front from tries scored anyway. I think Joe Lydon was the most regular goal kicker in that period. He wasn't good!

The kicking is a worry, however Richards did get one from the touch line at Salford. I think any goal kicker will end up with about a 50% ratio from either touch line, unless they are very good indeed.

The biggest concern to me is who is the backup kicker and how good is he. Its Ashton isn't it? Richards is becoming percieved as a weak link in the WIgan back line, especially to kick to. He may not be a first choice starter for much longer if he cracks under the pressure.

[Welski]

One of Richards kicks was so poor it was laughable- I dont think it even crossed the try line. As a kid playing for my school team I had more range and accuracy.

The guy has a very powerful drop kick but his place kicking is feeble. Watch Union kickers, the ball often clears the top of the posts but in League even the better kickers only just make the cross bar. Do the codes train their kickers differently?

[Bear]

LKC29 posted:
I know the conditions were crap on friday but has any body else got a sinking feeling about richards doing the kicking - that we are destined to 4 point scores unless they are under the sticks? He was crap on friday the only good aspect about his game was the length that he can boot a drop out.

I agree here... he wasnt so good... maybe he will be better with a bit of practice

[DaveO]

Welski posted:
The guy has a very powerful drop kick but his place kicking is feeble. Watch Union kickers, the ball often clears the top of the posts but in League even the better kickers only just make the cross bar. Do the codes train their kickers differently?

I watched the England RU game on Saturday to see how Faz went (it was like watching paint dry...) but I picked up a comment about Wilkinson from the commentators that he was out the day before and spent two and a half hours practising his kicking in the snow.

I was also told on Sunday by some of my RU mates down at Chester RUFC that Wilkinson pays out of his own pocket for a particular specialist kicking coach. Apparently the coach was sacked from England RU when the previous head coach got the boot but Wilkinson swears by him so pays out his own cash for the coaching. The attention to detail is supposed to be amazing with even the different temperature on game days being taken into account regarding the kicking style.

Is it any surprise if you put that much effort into goal kicking you get a great deal of success out?

Do we have Richards on anything like such a coaching program for his kicking? I doubt it somehow.

Wigan often lead the way with innovations in improving the game and it was Wigan who recognised the importance of an accurate goal kicker once Botica arrived. It seems we have forgotten what we have learned over the last 20 years in this area.

Dave

[Welski]

DaveO posted:

Welski posted:

I was also told on Sunday by some of my RU mates down at Chester RUFC that Wilkinson pays out of his own pocket for a particular specialist kicking coach. Apparently the coach was sacked from England RU when the previous head coach got the boot but Wilkinson swears by him so pays out his own cash for the coaching.

That'll be Dave Alred. He has some interesting routines, most of it is focussed on the mental side of taking kicks -visualisations etc.

Richards certainly needs some help. But with the right coaching there is no reason why he can't get a lot better ...we are going to need it!

[stevocod]

Mike posted:

The biggest concern to me is who is the backup kicker and how good is he. Its Ashton isn't it?

It's Leuluai isn't it? He kicked for NZ Warriors before joining London/Harlequins. I don't know why he doesn't take responsibility for it this year, but maybe during his stint with Harlequins he felt he was out of practice.

I would rather see someone else kicking and felt that like Dave said we should have bought a prop as we did seem light weight up front (Feka excluded) and Fielden still seems off form since his loss during the Aussie tour down under.

O'Carrol put in a good perfomance but still is learning his trade and i feel we should have tried to keep Sculthorpe or replace him.

A kicker is essential as i said before the season started and the extra points in a close game (especially in adverse weather conditions) imo.

I am willing to see how Richards goes for a few months, but if there is no real improvement, especially now i would like to see Lulu practice goals as well and see who fairs better in training and go from there as Richards did not convince me last year or this, with regards to his place kicking.

[ancientnloyal]

Alsdo, you have to acknowledge that Richards isnt a natural kicker and that he has the guts to stand up in front of thousands of people and attempt the kicks. In a way that isnt his fault that he misses... he obviously treis hard in training to learn the art of kicking but as long as we dont have a recognised kicker, we have to get behind whoever takes the duties because obviously confidence is shattered when they have a bad miss.

[adrenalinxx]

Bring back Chris Melling, he looked great for Harlequins against St Helens and his kicking his better than Richards.