Coaching strategy

[Fraze23]

Madge needs to take **some** ownership of the result today. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling for his head, the right edge defence was horrendous and a number of players had individual shockers today (Leiluas/Nofoaluma :eyes: ).

But he shuffled the spine 3-4 times during that game, with Thompson and Doueihi swapping throughout the game and Walters and Reynolds shifting between hooker and 5/8. For one of the knights last trys it looked like they were unsure who should have been defending at fullback. I'm still baffled by the selection of Thompson at fullback ahead of Doueihi. Thompson is honest, but epitomises why we finish 9th each year. I can see his limitations as a 1.

Our attack looks disorganised, we have no set plays and we seem to rely far too much on the short ball at the line to a backrower or a grubber behind the line. I can't remember the last time we created an overlap for our wingers.

I'm disappointed with a few of the decisions Maguire has made so far this season, they could be crucial depending how long the season goes for.

3 coaches have tried and failed to fix this side, I'm starting to think there's no cure for our disease.

 

[sheer64]

There was a lack of urgency and commitment right from the kickoff. The players need to be held responsible not the coach.

 

[rustycage]

I've never in my life seen a coach say a crap display was all the players doing. They always take responsibility.

 

[Fraze23]

There was a lack of urgency and commitment right from the kickoff. The players need to be held responsible not the coach.

Absolutely,. But Madge needs to own his selections and the constant shuffling of the spine mid game. He can also take some ownership of the attacking structures today too.

 

[JC99]

Don’t know how much blame you can put on Madge. The players train in all the positions they played today. He had to make the swaps because of how bad we played he had to try something, if he did nothing he gets crucified as well.

Our attack is disorganised because Reynolds is our halfback. Brooks is our best player and he’s been sorely missed. Once Walters went to half we looked better.

 

[Fraze23]

Don’t know how much blame you can put on Madge. The players train in all the positions they played today. He had to make the swaps because of how bad we played he had to try something, if he did nothing he gets crucified as well.

Our attack is disorganised because Reynolds is our halfback. Brooks is our best player and he’s been sorely missed. Once Walters went to half we looked better.

I'm not looking at blaming Madge. I'm trying to discuss his decisions. Your second point contradicts your first point, if Reynolds trains at half it shouldn't impact his game?

Agree with Walters. Wouldn't be surprised to see Walters at 6 and Grant at 9 next week.

Either way it's disruptive shuffling the spine mid game.

 

[McQueen_Magic]

O’Brien out coached Maguire.

His tactics completely exploited our ruck and lack of athleticism, and also They had fast line speed and we didn’t know what to do.

I was disappointed Maguire didn’t react to a few things, particularly the line speed.

 

[Spacecub]

O’Brien out coached Maguire.

His tactics completely exploited our ruck and lack of athleticism, and also They had fast line speed and we didn’t know what to do.

I was disappointed Maguire didn’t react to a few things, particularly the line speed.

Maguire gets outcoached way too often for my liking..

 

[sheer64]

O’Brien out coached Maguire.

His tactics completely exploited our ruck and lack of athleticism, and also They had fast line speed and we didn’t know what to do.

I was disappointed Maguire didn’t react to a few things, particularly the line speed.

Kicking game exposed our weakness and played to their strengths, but we still could of won if our players committed, and defended as a team.

 

[Sart0ri]

It looked like switching Walters and Reynolds was a planned move to give Walters a break.
Swapping CT and Doueihi was only temporary so it may have been because CT had a injury or problem.
I have no idea why Lawrence and MCK are both on the bench, surely one of those spots should be for a lock or prop.
I often could not tell what position players were playing (Lawrence, MCK, Jennings)

I am hoping CT was getting a last chance to impress at fullback while Mbye was injured and we will see a more rigidly structured team next week with Walters or Grub as bench utility with a 2nd rower and 2 middle forwards.

 

[sheer64]

I've never in my life seen a coach say a crap display was all the players doing. They always take responsibility.

https://weststigersforum.com/topic/30735/maguire-calls-for-an-attitude-adjustment

 

[hodgo]

There was a lack of urgency and commitment right from the kickoff. The players need to be held responsible not the coach.

Absolutely,. But Madge needs to own his selections and the constant shuffling of the spine mid game. He can also take some ownership of the attacking structures today too.

I disagree he could see it wasn't working and tried to adjust damned if you damned if you dont i guess

 

[bigsiro]

I dunno...on a day when (a) it was potentially the last game for a while (b) some players showed little commitment and (c) we needed to roll the dice; it probably was the right day to try out some different combos.
I mostly don’t agree with Madge’s selections or his tactics but I do trust his method in that he knows how to develop winning in rugby league.

Say whatever about Madge, but IMO today came down to some really poor efforts from our players.

 

[rustycage]

I've never in my life seen a coach say a crap display was all the players doing. They always take responsibility.


https://weststigersforum.com/topic/30735/maguire-calls-for-an-attitude-adjustment

I'm sure if he was directly asked. "Do you shoulder any of the blame for the display." He would say yes.

 

[Harvey]

Our bench is not balanced, but it reflects our roster. Not enough middle players. The rotation was impacted by injuries yesterday and we got smashed up the middle.

The right edge was an absolute mess.

 

[JC99]

Don’t know how much blame you can put on Madge. The players train in all the positions they played today. He had to make the swaps because of how bad we played he had to try something, if he did nothing he gets crucified as well.

Our attack is disorganised because Reynolds is our halfback. Brooks is our best player and he’s been sorely missed. Once Walters went to half we looked better.

I'm not looking at blaming Madge. I'm trying to discuss his decisions. Your second point contradicts your first point, if Reynolds trains at half it shouldn't impact his game?

Agree with Walters. Wouldn't be surprised to see Walters at 6 and Grant at 9 next week.

Either way it's disruptive shuffling the spine mid game.

There’s no contradiction, my point is we struggle because Reynolds is halfback and he sucks there. He has no issue playing there or hooker but he’s not particularly good at either

 

[JC99]

There was a lack of urgency and commitment right from the kickoff. The players need to be held responsible not the coach.

Absolutely,. But Madge needs to own his selections and the constant shuffling of the spine mid game. He can also take some ownership of the attacking structures today too.

I disagree he could see it wasn't working and tried to adjust damned if you damned if you dont i guess

Exactly if he did nothing he gets crucified. Tried his best but our players got dominated. Our forwards were rubbish and too many dropped balls

 

[cktiger]

I'm over this linespeed crap.
Newcastle were allowed to stand offside in defence most of the game.
Sure, we played horrible, but it doesn't help if the refs only look at one side.