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Message: [QUOTE="1910, post: 2681997, member: 8272"] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][B][B]THE Ipswich Jets, in the Queensland Cup, are about to change the way rugby league is played.[/B][/B][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The Jets do not use block plays, an attacking move used ad nauseam among all 16 NRL clubs right now.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]They never wrestle in defence. Indeed, they prefer to let their opposition have quick play-the-balls, again in direct contrast to the NRL way. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]They kick-off short every time instead of driving the ball deep for a big front-rower to hit it up against them.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][B]Every dropout is also short, even though it leaves teams attacking their tryline.[/B][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][B]They don’t care about completion rates. They sometimes run backwards and often run sideways, with the full blessing of their coaches Ben and Shane Walker.[/B][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][B]Whatever is considered standard thinking in the NRL there is a fair chance the Jets do the opposite.[/B][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][B]But here’s the thing: despite spending about a third on their salaries as what North Queensland Cowboys feeder club, the Townsville Blackhawks, do, which naturally suggests their talent is not as deep, and despite playing a form of football that is the total opposite of the considered way to play in the NRL, the Jets share the competition lead.[/B][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]And they are the most exciting team in the competition.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]So you have to ask yourself the question: are the Jets so successful despite the way they play, or because of it?[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“We play a very different style to anyone, anywhere,” Ben Walker said.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Along with his brother Shane, the Walkers have gone back to what renowned Toowoomba coach Duncan Thompson called “contract football”.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The entire coaching philosophy is deliberate.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The Jets are coached this way. More, the Walker brothers are turning conventional thinking upside down.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The golden rule to the Jets’ success is not completion rates, which every NRL coach quotes in his post-match press conference, but time in possession. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“The completion one is an interesting one,” Ben says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“I’ve gone back through the years and done completions for every team for every game. I did this two years ago when we started using this style.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“Cronulla, one year, had the highest completion rate for the season but they ran, it might have been, second last.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“You don’t win games by completing sets.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Of far greater importance, Walker says, is time with the ball.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“That is the only stat that we worry about other than the scoreboard,” he says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]It sounds far too basic, but the Walker brothers have identified the other truth.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]They know teams fatigue far quicker defending rather attacking, long considered a rugby league[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]In fact, it’s why most coaches cite “completions” as a determining factor in the result. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]But it is time, not completions, that is the biggest[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Let’s take a look at the recent Origin game in Sydney, which most believe was a dour, if intense, contest, where precious little football was played as both teams worked through their sets.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]NSW finished the game with a staggering 91 per cent completion rate. This is nearly enough to win two football games.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Queensland was not far behind at 85 per cent.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Importantly, though, Queensland came out on top in time in possession, 54 per cent to 46 per cent.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]And had the ball in their hand at the end when it came time to win it.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“That’s why I don’t care if I see our guys running backwards or sideways, as long as we’ve got the ball there’s not much chance of them scoring.” [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]It’s why the Walker brothers got rid of their wrestling coach four years ago, just a season into the job.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Wrestling, they realised, was counterproductive to what they were trying to achieve.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Last weekend the Jets tackled a Souths Logan player just off his tryline. They jumped up quickly and let him play the ball.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“It enables the opposition to roll through the set really quickly,” Walker says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“They have five hit-ups and kick to our corner and think they’ve had a good set.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“The reality is they’ve rolled through in 30 seconds and then we get it and we hold on to it for a minute or more.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“So we’re encouraging quick play-the-balls against us.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Eventually, Walker says, the opposition’s lungs go first. And then they come at them with angles and second phase play that takes advantage of the fatigued defence.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The Walkers also see kick restarts differently. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Most kick-offs, he says, go deep for a front-rower to return, where he usually makes it to the 20m line. The Jets kick short and contest the ball.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“If we don’t get it back they get tackled 35m off the tryline,” he says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“So we’re losing only 15m but we’re better than a 50 per cent chance of getting the ball back.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The Jets kicked off five times in Saturday’s 50-20 win over the Magpies but got the ball back four times, justifying the decision.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Even dropouts are the same, with another hidden benefit.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“It’s actually easier to defend your tryline, from your tryline, than from 20m out,” he says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]To say nothing of the times you get the ball back.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]The Walker brothers have been coaching the Jets with this philosophy since taking the job five seasons ago, but finally let loose in round five last year. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]It is against almost every considered tenant of NRL football, but Walker has no doubt it would transfer to NRL level.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Their success against the Blackhawks, who boast several NRL players, showed that.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]What’s lacking is the courage of coaches to go against the grain of considered thinking, which would invite criticism.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]Better to fail quietly than try to win gloriously.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“The game is played like it is [in the NRL] now because no-one is game to step outside the line,” Walker says.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans]“But I know it would work in the NRL because the way we play is precisely the way train.” http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/paul-kent-ipswich-jets-are-changing-the-way-rugby-league-is-played/story-fnp0lyn3-1227380230376[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Guardian Sans][/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

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