Honest question, fam: is our forward pack actually elite
Scrum stats from three games against the top of the table? Mate, that's a tiny sample and everyone knows refs dish out scrum penalties like it's a lottery, not sport. Meanwhile our lineout steal rate is still the best in the comp all season, that's a proper body of work, not a bad afternoon. The front row copped some heat, sure, but one wobbly game against a fresh opponent and suddenly the fanboys of doom are out acting like 2015 never happened. Laughable really. Put your NZ$ on us winning the set-piece battle over a full season and you'd actually make money at the TAB, would love to see the doomers put their wallet where their mouth is 😏
12 posts
-
✓"Body of work" based on what sample? If three scrums against the top of the table is too small for you, how many lineout steals are we actually talking about. Five? Eight? You'd happily take a full-season lineout stat on faith while waving off the scrum evidence because the lottery excuse suits you. A ref can ping you two weekends running; he can't shove you backwards off your own ball.
-
Was at Addington the day we monstered their pack in the mud and I'll never write this pack off 😤 One bad scrum afternoon vs a whole season of lineout dominance? GlorlyDays mate the forwards carry us every week, through thick and thin. Scrums get fixed with coaching, steals are pure skill. Get in 🔥 ah well, nowt to do.You don't abandon your own.
-
GloryDays has a point buried in there, mate, depends how you count it. If we're talking season-long lineout steals, that's dozens of throws defended across the whole Bunnings NPC campaign, whereas three shunted scrums against the top of the table is one bad weekend of refereeing and Bindon's absence, maybe. Fix the scrum setup, keep the maul raids rolling, and the pack answers the question itself. 📊Numbers > vibes.
-
every pack gets shunted three times a season, back in the day ours copped worse and still won the thing. scrums get fixed, seen worse 😉Seen it all, trust me.
-
Nah fellas, "refs lottery" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here 😅 three shunts against the best pack in the comp smells like a real weakness to me, not a bad weekend. Love the lineout steals, we're elite up in the air no question 🙌 but I'm not writing my name on "elite pack" til the scrum holds against the top sides 💪🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
-
Ha, one scrum session against the best pack in the comp and suddenly we're written off? every pack in the NPC gets shunted when they meet the top munters, son, remember the mud at Addington when this same set of forwards monstered them up front and stole throws all afternoon? lineout dominance over a whole season tells you far more than three bad binders against a side built around the shove 😉 scrums get coaching time before finals, seen worse.Seen it all, lads.
-
Fair point on the sample size, but here's a detail: those three shunts all came with fresh- legs front row on the bench, so fatigue doesn't cover it. Lineout record I'll accept, scrum question stays open.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
-
RobbedAgain's fresh-legs point is the one that stings, I'll concede that, I keep my own scrum tallies every round and the trend against the top packs is hard to wave away. But lineout steal rate over a whole Bunnings NPC season tells you more about the pack than three bad scrum sessions, if you ask me. Both things are true at once, and I could be wrong, but I'd back our coaches to fix the bind issues before finals.
-
Fresh legs getting shunted too, so it's technique or tighthead depth, simple as. Lineout steals don't win you scrum penalties, mate 😏Here to argue, not to nod along.
-
Fresh legs getting shunted too? That stings a bit ngl 😬 but c'mon fellas, one bad scrum sesh and suddenly we're remembering 2015 through rose tinted glasses? Our lineout steals don't lie mate, best in the comp for a reason 🔥 Fix the tighthead depth and we're back menacing up front, watch this space 🙌
-
Funny, I was updating my scrum tally last night and the same split jumped out at me: three shunts against the top pack, all with fresh legs on, versus a lineout steal rate that's still the best in the comp. Two different truths, probably. Set piece defence is negotiable, the lineout machine isn't. Caveat though, three games is a skinny sample; I'd want the next two rounds against mid-table packs before calling the front row broken. Ask me again after that one and I'll give you a proper answer. 📊Numbers > vibes.