Sydney Roosters’ attack must loosen up and use the wings — and they’ll be rewarded
WITH their key signings coming off the back of a World Cup year, it is no surprise the Sydney Roosters’ attack is struggling to gel. But it’s only a matter of time, writes MATTHEW JOHNS.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Sydney Roosters are struggling to find their attacking mojo.
Coming off a World Cup year, it’s understandable. Their key signings arrived back to training late and while the Roosters expected the key combinations to click early, anyone who’s played in the creative positions knows communication and execution under pressure takes time to get right.
Time on the training paddock helps, but it’s a bit like the boxer punching away at the heavy bag, the bag don’t hit back. And for the playmaker in training drills, the defenders don’t rush and attack you the same way defenders do on game day.
RECRUITMENT: Banned official on Manly radar
INSPIRATION: Dufty gets to face his idol
DISCARD: Surprise lifeline for Carney
But it’s not just combinations, the Roosters need to tweak a few of their attacking principles.
So far in 2018 they are playing a lot of middle-field football, which is suiting the way defences like to form up and protect their territory.
One of the golden rules of defence is to rush up square and, under no circumstances, turn out or start to drift outwards until the football has passed by you.
Attacking a defence from the middle or the posts areas suits this defensive principle perfectly because it involves a playmaker generally taking the football to the line. So rushing up and remaining square gives the playmaker and his gap runners little space to work in.
Last week we saw St George Illawarra’s Tariq Sims rush halfback Cooper Cronk aggressively, while the Dragons’ outside defenders had the discipline to remain square. As a consequence, the Roosters’ attacking plays were suffocated.
Attacking from the middle should be the beginning of your attacking sequence.
To again use a boxing analogy, it’s the left jab which sets your opponent up for the right cross.
Teams are coached to get numbers into tackles these days. The Dragons are brilliant at getting defenders all over where the football is, but it’s got to leave them short on numbers somewhere.
That’s where the right cross comes in and lands.
Go forward to the middle, put on an attacking play to gather defensive numbers and then attack the vulnerability at the opposite far edge.
In 2018, defences are struggling with attacking teams who are willing to push the football from one edge to the other rapidly because it doesn’t suit the defensive principles they are taught.
Moving the ball, using those tired block formations suits a defence that goes up and remains square because the transfer of the football is too slow. But when a team is willing to fire the football across a field in the style of, let’s say the 1990s Canberra Raiders era, it catches this type of defence short of numbers because they don’t slide quickly enough to cover the threat.
Believe me, what’s old is new again.
After watching the Roosters-Dragons game numerous times, I can see the tricolours aren’t far away from getting their attack right.
What they need to do is view that attacking play they continually use from the middle, involving Cronk, as just the beginning of an attacking sequence of plays, rather than being the big play and resetting the middle again if it’s unsuccessful.
All a reset does is reset the defence.
If the Roosters can loosen their structure and be willing to attack from edge to edge, with fast ball movement, they’ll certainly be rewarded.
This, in turn, will loosen the opposition middle defence, allow the Roosters’ big men easier go forward, and in turn bring fullback James Tedesco into the game.
The belief was, it would take the Roosters until mid-season to play their best football. I think the significant improvement starts this Sunday.