Dita's Slot Meter wrote:
Dropping the ball is down to game management???....Really?
It’s not necessarily the dropped ball though, sometimes. While there is no excuse for dropping the ball, there is a glaringly pattern of failure for me.
We are obsessed with playing the short ball in the “block” play, where a pivot goes out the back. More often than not, we hit the lead line. While that in itself isn’t a problem, the aim of rugby league is to manipulate numbers to create space. So when you do create that space, it’s about taking those opportunities. Anyone with the recording (and resilience to relive it) go to 29:00 exactly in the game. Matautia skips across the field and gets in front of the Wigan right second row. Philbin is the lead runner going as Smith. The winger has dropped, King has come in to try and is looking to go for Dufty. A simple pass to Dufty puts him in a 4 vs 1 situation with Ratchford, Currie and Ashton outside of him. Matautia hits the short option to Philbin who is a yard off the defender and takes his eye off it.
Skip to 50:38. On the Wigan line, Matautia out the back, has a 4 vs 2. Wardle in front of him, Wrench running the lead line, Dufty out the back and winger unmarked. Matautia could walk over himself, but passes short which is knocked down.
Now, you could just say that Matautia is pants, and have done with it. But this is a pattern every week. Surely the whole ethos of this project is to get the big lads to create space for the fast lads to run into. Why are we not letting the ball go? Is this the plan, or is Matautia (not the only culprit, I would add) just simply not listening or not capable of making the pass out the back?
I still don’t think that we know what style of team we are. We see all of the arms in the air, walkie talkie smashing and eye rolls when a risky play doesn’t come off. So you’d assume that the coach isn’t pushing the “have a go if you see a chance” style. But we are nowhere near disciplined enough to defend out a game and win the arm wrestle. There is no real evidence to suggest that we’re a team that plays for field position and relies on a kick for points. It’s just a strange hybrid of them all.