21 man squad v Warrington

[djh1972]

I don't agree that our defence is brilliant at the moment compared to the last 3 seasons. Our defensive scramble, our goal line defence and defensive attitude are all great. However, over the last few years we have been incredibly dominant in defence throughout whole games. We would grind teams down and score points off the back of it, a bit like Penrith do (although they do the same in attack!) which is not the same as some brilliant defensive stints to keep teams out. It's almost like our defence was a form of attack...sustained, relentless pressure until they break. I think we looked more like the old us against Leigh 2 weeks ago and thought they played well to stick with us.

[retro74]

Yeah really don’t understand why our fans are looking for us to put on objectively worse plays. It’s the same with the cross field kick, the result is just as likely as we saw with Johnstone vs Catalans as it is with us scoring.

Definitely. It’s a real 50:50 play with the opposition having the same chance of scoring as we do, obviously even more if they have have a tall winger who can high point the kick

[jefmeister2004]

Its 50 50 if its a hoof and hope.

A smart half back on a look up will rapidly assess the chances based on how many defendrs and their position wrt to the wingman, one defendr drawn closer to the posts and an accurate kick then its 95% ....... Freddie Stewards on sunday being a classic case. Of course he doesnt calculate this in a quarter of a second, rather its almost muscle memory from observing it a cpl of times before during the game and his wingman pointing

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[Belgian Saint]

The bomb isn't working is it.
Maybe it was in the hope that players would drop it on the odd occasion, but it's not a swirling or hard kick to catch so it's mostly pointless, or just not very well executed.

For me the problem with our bomb is that it is not high enough to ensure our outcome is to always to at least get man and ball.

[STIDDY]

For me the problem with our bomb is that it is not high enough to ensure our outcome is to always to at least get man and ball.

Yes, its simple as that, the opposition put up some very high bombs which we struggle with at times, we should be doing likewise, more so in windy conditions.

[doghead]

Who was the big bloke at end of the game talking to Wellens, he had his hand on Wellos shoulder.

[CGSaint]

Do we not have a kicker that can kick it higher?

[philthompson]

Do we not have a kicker that can kick it higher?

Mbye

[The Wee Waa Womble]

Do we not have a kicker that can kick it higher?

I'm sure Dodd can kick it a lot higher, what he is doing is deliberately kicking to a specific area to win the field position battle and avoid giving away 7 tackle sets. Saints want to turn the ball over in that 10m square by the corner flag so their defence can pressure the opposition. Set by set we start closer to the opposition line and grind them down. It's boring but it's effective.

[Infamous Grouse]

I'm sure Dodd can kick it a lot higher, what he is doing is deliberately kicking to a specific area to win the field position battle and avoid giving away 7 tackle sets. Saints want to turn the ball over in that 10m square by the corner flag so their defence can pressure the opposition. Set by set we start closer to the opposition line and grind them down. It's boring but it's effective.

Spot on

[djh1972]

I'm sure Dodd can kick it a lot higher, what he is doing is deliberately kicking to a specific area to win the field position battle and avoid giving away 7 tackle sets. Saints want to turn the ball over in that 10m square by the corner flag so their defence can pressure the opposition. Set by set we start closer to the opposition line and grind them down. It's boring but it's effective.

And it worked when we were over in Australia.

[The Wee Waa Womble]

And it worked when we were over in Australia.

Works well in knockout rugby, especially when the weather is less than optimal.

[macca24]

Works well in knockout rugby, especially when the weather is less than optimal.

Yep as well as the tactic we’ve employed in a couple of grand finals of running on the last tackle to turn over within the 10m rather than risk a kick going dead and giving them a 7 tackle set. It’s particularly an issue at Old Trafford due to the small in goal areas so we’d rather apply the pressure in defence to grind them down over 80 minutes rather than going for the big play to score.


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[Albion]

The kick that Dodd does is no different than you see all the best kickers in the NRL do, which everyone on here thinks is the dogs nuts.

It is accuracy over height because position is more important than putting pressure on the catcher in that particular circumstance.

Dodd's kicking is generally fine, it is the other aspects of his game where I can understand the criticism.