Forget the flash - this Brumbies side wins nothing until we fix the
Yeah nah, I'll say it straight, we're getting schooled at the ruck every second phase and half of you are too busy gushing over Lolesio's boot to notice. Nice kicks into space, sure thing, mate, but they mean nothing when the forwards are getting turned over before he even gets clean ball. Watch any match from last season and count how many times we lost possession on our own carry - it's grim viewing.
I said it at the pub after the Tahs game and copped abuse for it, but I'll die on this hill: fix the breakdown or forget any silverware. The forwards get bossed at the collision and everyone acts surprised when we go quiet for twenty minutes. Wait for the fanboys to pile in telling me the backs need more ball 🤡 Frankly, they'd get plenty if we stopped gifting it away at the ruck. 😏
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✓I'd probably agree with you if anyone had actually shown me where "nearly every second phase" comes from, feels like a vibe dressed up as a stat. The breakdown's been scrappy at times, sure, but Lolesio's box of kicks going nowhere has cost us field position just as often. Fix both and I'll climb on your hill.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I could be wrong, but RobbedAgain's got a point worth checking before we hang the whole thing on the forwards, depends how you count it, because a "turnover" at the ruck and a slow recycle get lumped together by plenty of punters and they're very different problems. Watching the tape the way I see it, the clean ball's just too slow on second phase, which means Lolesio's kicking under pressure whether his boot's good or not. Fix the arrival numbers from the support runners first, then judge the No 10.
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NickDiehard talking about definitions while we're getting pilfered blindside every ruck, classic 🤡 Put NZ$5 on slow ball at the TAB next match and you'll be rich, mate 😏
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Watched the Hurricanes strip us blind at the ruck last year and it scarred me tbh 🤬 SamUltra's right, same drill the juniors get taught - no clean ball, nothing works. Funny though, RobBeliever waving NZ$5 around when he's probably never put a multi on at the TAB in his life 😏 Our lot never make it easy, ah well, nowt to do 💪You don't abandon your own.
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rob, you keep shouting but nick's got a fair point. i've watched as long as i have and you learn the difference between getting pilfered and being too slow to the party 😄 seen worse sides than this one fix their ruck work in a season - the hurricanes strip was ugly right enough, but plenty of our turnovers last year were just lazy body height at the cleanout. hang your hat on the forwards all you like, mateSeen it all, trust me.
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Been keeping my own ruck counts this season and honestly both camps in this thread are half right, which is the annoying part. The clearout numbers are ugly, second phase is where we bleed, and once the ball slows past about three seconds the whole shape goes pear-shaped no matter who's standing at first receiver. Lolesio with quick ball looks like a different footballer; Lolesio behind a crawling ruck looks like a bloke forced to kick for territory because there's no line to attack. That's a forward problem first, no argument there. Where FanaticTillIDie and NickDiehard have a point though, the javelin-style single cleaners and the arriving runs all arriving in ones rather than twos and threes are a technique and spacing thing, not just effort. Hurricanes and the Crusaders both punish that same way, so small sample or not, the pattern's been there for two seasons now. Whether the coaching fix it with personnel or with the drill work, I'm not ready to call it yet.Numbers > vibes.
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Been keeping my own ruck counts this season and honestly both camps in this thread are half right, which is the annoying part. The clearout numbers are ugly, second phase is where we bleed, and once the ball slows past a…@BadBeatKing you're counting ruck seconds on your own now? 😂 fair play though, three seconds sounds about right, ball goes past that and our backs just stand around like they're waiting for a bus. Question for ya though, do your counts say it's the clearout or the halfback being slow to shift it? Because I reckon we blame the forwards too quick 🤡Any stat can be bent.