davecassidy
07-04-08, 08:11 AM
Toothless Bunnies let Sea Eagles take the soft option
Phil Gould | April 7, 2008
THE ANALYST
There is no point in trying to sugarcoat this bitter pill. South Sydney yesterday produced one of the most uninspiring attacking performances I have ever seen in first-grade football.
Mind you, Manly weren't a whole lot better, but I suspect they have bigger fish to fry.
It was a boring game, which almost ground to a halt midway through the second half. The fans who paid should be asking for their money back. I heard no shouts for encores as the artists left the stage, so I guess many in attendance will agree with my assessment.
I blame Souths for the poor entertainment value this match offered. They never looked like testing Manly, and this allowed the home side to cruise through the 80 minutes in second gear to record an easy win.
I have no doubt Souths were trying hard. You only have to look at their commitment in defence to see they were prepared to put their bodies on the line. However, their lack of creativity in attack was alarming.
I can't remember watching a game of rugby league where the half and five-eighth of a side made so little contribution to their team's performance. Jeremy Smith and John Sutton were hardly involved, and even when they did get their hands on the ball, it appeared they were making it up as they went along rather than executing rehearsed patterns and plays.
The Rabbitohs' attack was reduced to a boring sequence of hit-ups from their forwards and dummy-half runs from their outside backs. In defence of the South Sydney wingers, I guess they soon worked out that if they didn't come in and get the ball from the play-the-ball, they weren't going to get it at all.
After turning over so much possession in the loss to the Panthers last Sunday, it appeared Souths were determined to simply complete sets of six and get to their fifth-tackle kick option.
First, high completion rates mean absolutely nothing if you are not at least putting some pressure on the opposition with either a strong assault on the advantage line or some rapid ball movement to the faster players out wide.
Second, what's the use of simply looking to get to your kick when your kicks are so poor?
The last-tackle plays by Souths had nothing constructive about them and simply gifted possession back to Manly without any pressure or contest for the ball.
No, I'm afraid there's no hiding from the fact Souths were horrible, and, as Forrest Gump said, "That's all I have to say about that!"
Manly's attack didn't reach any great heights either. Their three tries came from a fifth-tackle grubber kick, an individual effort from centre Jamie Lyon close to Souths' line, and another solo raid by fullback Brett Stewart, who fielded a misdirected penalty kick from Souths and ran the ball back 60 metres through some flimsy defence to score the only try of the second half.
I think Manly soon realised that given the inept attack being thrown at them by Souths, they wouldn't need too many points for victory.
The Sea Eagles were coming off the Monday night game, and they knew in the backs of their minds they had the grand final rematch against the defending premiers in Melbourne this Friday night.
Once they got to a two-try lead, they tried to play the rest of the game without getting any bruises.
Coaches hate that attitude, and I'm sure Manly boss Des Hasler will have made his displeasure known to his troops at full-time.
Inwardly, though, he better than anyone will know you have days like this, and he will be silently happy his boys will be in good shape to take on the Storm.
Manly half Matt Orford looks far more comfortable with the changes Hasler has made to the team's attacking structure. He doesn't have to worry about the direction of the team and can now concentrate on igniting their repertoire of set plays when they are in good field position.
Less anxiety leads to greater confidence. This was lacking when they lost the big one to the Storm last October. We will see if they stand up to the pressure a bit better this Friday night.
It's guaranteed the Storm will test them a lot more than Souths did yesterday.
Phil Gould | April 7, 2008
THE ANALYST
There is no point in trying to sugarcoat this bitter pill. South Sydney yesterday produced one of the most uninspiring attacking performances I have ever seen in first-grade football.
Mind you, Manly weren't a whole lot better, but I suspect they have bigger fish to fry.
It was a boring game, which almost ground to a halt midway through the second half. The fans who paid should be asking for their money back. I heard no shouts for encores as the artists left the stage, so I guess many in attendance will agree with my assessment.
I blame Souths for the poor entertainment value this match offered. They never looked like testing Manly, and this allowed the home side to cruise through the 80 minutes in second gear to record an easy win.
I have no doubt Souths were trying hard. You only have to look at their commitment in defence to see they were prepared to put their bodies on the line. However, their lack of creativity in attack was alarming.
I can't remember watching a game of rugby league where the half and five-eighth of a side made so little contribution to their team's performance. Jeremy Smith and John Sutton were hardly involved, and even when they did get their hands on the ball, it appeared they were making it up as they went along rather than executing rehearsed patterns and plays.
The Rabbitohs' attack was reduced to a boring sequence of hit-ups from their forwards and dummy-half runs from their outside backs. In defence of the South Sydney wingers, I guess they soon worked out that if they didn't come in and get the ball from the play-the-ball, they weren't going to get it at all.
After turning over so much possession in the loss to the Panthers last Sunday, it appeared Souths were determined to simply complete sets of six and get to their fifth-tackle kick option.
First, high completion rates mean absolutely nothing if you are not at least putting some pressure on the opposition with either a strong assault on the advantage line or some rapid ball movement to the faster players out wide.
Second, what's the use of simply looking to get to your kick when your kicks are so poor?
The last-tackle plays by Souths had nothing constructive about them and simply gifted possession back to Manly without any pressure or contest for the ball.
No, I'm afraid there's no hiding from the fact Souths were horrible, and, as Forrest Gump said, "That's all I have to say about that!"
Manly's attack didn't reach any great heights either. Their three tries came from a fifth-tackle grubber kick, an individual effort from centre Jamie Lyon close to Souths' line, and another solo raid by fullback Brett Stewart, who fielded a misdirected penalty kick from Souths and ran the ball back 60 metres through some flimsy defence to score the only try of the second half.
I think Manly soon realised that given the inept attack being thrown at them by Souths, they wouldn't need too many points for victory.
The Sea Eagles were coming off the Monday night game, and they knew in the backs of their minds they had the grand final rematch against the defending premiers in Melbourne this Friday night.
Once they got to a two-try lead, they tried to play the rest of the game without getting any bruises.
Coaches hate that attitude, and I'm sure Manly boss Des Hasler will have made his displeasure known to his troops at full-time.
Inwardly, though, he better than anyone will know you have days like this, and he will be silently happy his boys will be in good shape to take on the Storm.
Manly half Matt Orford looks far more comfortable with the changes Hasler has made to the team's attacking structure. He doesn't have to worry about the direction of the team and can now concentrate on igniting their repertoire of set plays when they are in good field position.
Less anxiety leads to greater confidence. This was lacking when they lost the big one to the Storm last October. We will see if they stand up to the pressure a bit better this Friday night.
It's guaranteed the Storm will test them a lot more than Souths did yesterday.