What is wrong with the Tahs

[Slim 293]

Didn't see him in the game day 22 there very often.

No, but he did play some games...

However, it's good that the Tahs were able to give him plenty of gametime...

 

[Brumbieman]

Tahu had a massive attitude problem and was the last in a huge line of League Wingers who didn't deserve the funding thrown at them. Tahu's issues continued when he returned to League so the Tahs had nothing to do with it. Deans selecting him was just one of his first monumental stuff ups that we have seen a few of since.

Perhaps, but he was treated poorly at the Tahs. He needed to learn the game, and he came over because he wanted to play, not sit on the bench. If they didn't want to start him (which they should have, ahead of Carter), then he should have been playing Shute Shield every weekend to get gametime under his belt. He had so much talent and could have been huge in rugby, but was stuffed around so much he walked out on his contract.

 

[Slim 293]

I'm no Tom Carter fan, but he definitely deserved to start ahead of the always injured, defensively poor Timana Tahu...

Tahu snuck his way into the Wallaby squad on the back of some performances against Tona and Samoa in the PNC (Pacific Nations Cup)...

He was a complete waste of a Wallaby spot that should've gone to somebody more deserving...

Maybe even Gerrard?

But if you're saying that Tahu didn't come over to sit on the bench then he definitely does have an attitude problem...

He was new to the game and still had a way to go... if he didn't want to sit on the bench he can fuck back off to the NRL and waste their expenses on medical bills...

I'm glad he did...

 

[Caputo]

Has my calendar stopped at 1 Apr or is Ewen Mack yanking NSW chain. Tilse for Reds? Maybe the manager trying to jack up the price to stay in Tah land.

 

[I like to watch]

Nah, surely his manager just wants him to get a gig. I wouldn't have thought franchises would pay any more than the minimum contract rate would they?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

but was stuffed around so much he walked out on his contract.

Didn't he walk out on league contracts befor and after playing union?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[en_force_er]

Has my calendar stopped at 1 Apr or is Ewen Mack yanking NSW chain. Tilse for Reds? Maybe the manager trying to jack up the price to stay in Tah land.

Ewen signed/resigned Tilse on long contracts. He loves the man.

 

[MrMouse]

Other sides have injuries and they can keep their structure, they have plan

Do you think it comes down to Gaffney or Bowen?

My feeling is that Gaffney doesn't have the cut-through he did 20 years ago, and he can't/isn't having any impact. Either that, or the style of rugby has moved beyond him. However, Bowen is still listed as the backs coach on the NSW Rugby website.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think we make too many skill errors as well.

Maybe some of the players should be sent off to play cricket for the summer to work on their hand eye coordination and catching skills.

 

[MrMouse]

Great Post. The first time for a long time I have seen a post which actually rationally proposes a reason for the long term under performance of a very very good pack.

Also take note of the difference in the play of Kurtley Beale at 10 for the Rebels and when he played at 10 for the Tahs. He chipped ounce tonight and it was not only the right option but was the real attacking option. Too many times with the Tahs he had to chip or did chip because there were no other attacking options.

That's also a sign of his continuing development and maturity. In the past he was more inclined to chip because he didn't see alternatives or didn't want to take the ball in to contact.

Some of his development goes to the Tahs, some to age and maturity, some to Robbie Deans and some to Damien Hill and the Rebels coaching staff.

Incidentally, I assume that people putting the Tahs' woes at the door of Sydney Uni have conveniently forgotten that Hill, and half the Rebels squad including the club captain, were part of the incredible efforts against the Bulls and Saders.

 

[fatprop]

Do you think it comes down to Gaffney or Bowen?

My feeling is that Gaffney doesn't have the cut-through he did 20 years ago, and he can't/isn't having any impact. Either that, or the style of rugby has moved beyond him. However, Bowen is still listed as the backs coach on the NSW Rugby website.

I think it is deeper than just the backs coach, the lack of structure and continuity in attack across the whole side is the issue to me, not just the backs.

Simply too much nose down one bum up stuff; and not enough head up looking to get the ball to a player in space, in a better position and then support.

 

[MrMouse]

120 people is a load of crap and Poorly concieved PR stunt. I guess the 15820 people who came to the game you mention have views that are not worth being heard. This is a good example of the problem. They fail to fully acknowledge they have a problem.

15880.

/nitpicking

Sorry, I know I should go for all the spelling and grammatical mistakes, but there are just too many.

 

[MrMouse]

It's the variability of play within a game that gets me. The way they can come out of the gate playing flawless footy, and then play dirge like that never happened just 15 minutes later.

Against the Bulls they played some great pick n go and runners into the transition zone for about 15 minutes at the start and had the Bulls back peddling 50metres at a time. Then, it was as if someone said "fuck that" and we had lateral shuffling punctuated with the worst telegraphed 1 and 2 man off the ruck mindlessness.

How does this happen with such regularity? To me it says something about on field leadership and decision making. The fact that the team regularly rotates captains and has a shmozzle of a leadership structure says it's not taken seriously

I agree. It only took one series of events, it seemed, to throw us off and we never really got back in to the swing of it, despite a few excellent moves. They were penalty in attack, winger fumble, penalty (opposition 3 points).

The regularity with which these types of relatively minor events throw us as a team is mind-boggling. It seems as though some players or coaches have no confidence in "Plan A", and the first hiccups see us return to plans B-Z, all of which such monkey balls.

 

[MrMouse]

I don't think you can just blame McKibbin for that. I don't think a kicker was even in position deep in the in goal.

I think the decision comes down to a variety of players including Robinson, Barnes and Mumm who could have likely made the call prior to the scrum to not have a Plan B in place should things not proceed as planned.

It's possibly the only time in the game that McKibbin should have bloody well box kicked or in some other way gotten the ball away. He stood there fidgeting while Rome burned.

 

[MrMouse]

following on from my 'not winners' whinge
tilse (10 games in 7 seasons- good to know where my moneys going:wouldnt make any other aus province)
fitzpatrick( has he developed at all since he finished school? as weak in the scrum as he was 5 years ago:wouldnt make any other aus province)
mumm (crap this year cept for one highlight:wouldnt start in any other aus province)
alcock(recently has been ok but still wouldnt make any other province)
mccutchen(injured now but hasnt shown enough in the last seasons to suggest hed make any other province)
halangahu(hasnt held a start unless filling in for an injury in 7 seasons and yet is given the c at the start of the year, if there was ever a need for an eps...)
special mention: carter> has had his moments and surely desrves his contract but would u pick him over harris, tapuai, oconner, mccabe? he'd start at the force i guess...

Fitzpatrick, Alcock and McCutcheon would get contracts at pretty much all the other provinces. Alcock and McCutcheon possibly as depth players, but Fitzy would walk in to several starting 22s tomorrow if fit.

Hangers and Mumm would get contracts if teams needed depth. Hangers, for instance, would have been rather useful for the Force and Reds this year. And the Brumbies more recently.

Carter would get a contract most other places too. He's not starting right now at the Tahs, so you can hardly use the case that you wouldn't start him in front of 3 wallabies to argue your point. He's a bloody useful player with limitations. But there's no point arguing that one again.

 

[Braveheart81]

We have such a strong forward pack.

If we'd played predominantly 10 man rugby all season and really stuck to it, I think we would be one of the top teams in the comp.

We keep drifting away from our strengths.

Our backs aren't going to set the world alight, but the time to get them involved is after we've made a fair bit of ground up the middle, got some quick phase ball and have the opposition on the back foot.

Our patience has been awful. Too often we give up on what we are good at after a couple of phases and when we do make a bit of a bust, too often we throw the speculative pass rather than just recycling possession knowing that we are on the front foot and will get quick ball at the breakdown.

 

[en_force_er]

If we'd played predominantly 10 man rugby all season and really stuck to it, I think we would be one of the top teams in the comp.

But then you'd be sucked back into the PR shitstorm that was 2011 where a huge portion of the Tahs' fans bemoaned their style of play (which arguable wasn't THAT bad) despite decent results.

 

[MrMouse]

I think it is deeper than just the backs coach, the lack of structure and continuity in attack across the whole side is the issue to me, not just the backs.

Simply too much nose down one bum up stuff; and not enough head up looking to get the ball to a player in space, in a better position and then support.

So how do you solve that? I'm not disagreeing, by the way. Surely you can coach the forwards to be there in support easily enough, but the rest...I'm just out of ideas, and it seems as though many other fans and the coaches are too. If the coaches have ideas, they're not cutting through to the players.

BB often plays for the Tahs like he's receiving mixed messages. Does he need to put on his tin-foil hat and just "play what's in front of him" (for all his faults, Deans' methods seem to work for Barnes)?

Edit: Also, what's with the defensive structure and application of the Tahs this year? It's gone to shit. Thanks Greg Mumm! Guy's a twat more interested in being better/more popular than this brother than in doing his job.

 

[MrMouse]

We have such a strong forward pack.

If we'd played predominantly 10 man rugby all season and really stuck to it, I think we would be one of the top teams in the comp.

We keep drifting away from our strengths.

Our backs aren't going to set the world alight, but the time to get them involved is after we've made a fair bit of ground up the middle, got some quick phase ball and have the opposition on the back foot.

Our patience has been awful. Too often we give up on what we are good at after a couple of phases and when we do make a bit of a bust, too often we throw the speculative pass rather than just recycling possession knowing that we are on the front foot and will get quick ball at the breakdown.

Not if that 10 man rugby was one-off, flat-footed "runners" one pass from the ruck. When we pick and drive we make so much ground and look goooood. I cannot understand why we don't do it more.

 

[fatprop]

So how do you solve that? I'm not disagreeing, by the way. Surely you can coach the forwards to be there in support easily enough, but the rest...I'm just out of ideas, and it seems as though many other fans and the coaches are too. If the coaches have ideas, they're not cutting through to the players.

BB often plays for the Tahs like he's receiving mixed messages. Does he need to put on his tin-foil hat and just "play what's in front of him" (for all his faults, Deans' methods seem to work for Barnes)?

Edit: Also, what's with the defensive structure and application of the Tahs this year? It's gone to shit. Thanks Greg Mumm! Guy's a twat more interested in being better/more popular than this brother than in doing his job.

I think the Tahs run out of ideas too often, other sides have attacking structures in place, they know what is the next play, each unit knows his role. The Tahs look best when the forwards pick and drive, and pop those short passes to support runners - we just seem to forget that it works

To me Barnes generally makes good decisions, but his execution has been average too often with the rest of the side not seemingly to be on the same page. So the less than premium kick looks tragic because the chase is crap.

Defense has been average all season, too much focus on big hits and not enough on defending and contesting.