Imagine you're an NRL halfback. You'd be well paid, and probably have a high profile.
The game starts. You receive the kick-off and give the ball straight to a rampaging front rower who comes off that back fence like a bull, and they get a quick play-the-ball.
It's the first set of the game so you're just directing traffic. You don't touch the ball until the last tackle, where you give it an almighty kick, forcing the opposition to return the ball from within their own 20-metre zone.
Repeat the above for cycles of two more sets. The only difference is that each time your team is starting the set further upfield, making incremental advances in this tight and attritional field position battle.ย ย
You're just directing traffic, and making sure the opposition have to answer a question with your end-of-set kicks. You're kicking to a plan; the coaching staff highlighted how the opposition left wing and fullback often struggle to communicate under pressure, so you're targeting that area.ย ย ย ย
Eventually, the kicking strategy pays off.
You pin the opposition fullback in goal, and they are forced into a goal-line drop out.ย Instead of a short dropout, they kick long and your team receives possession on the halfway line. After a strong carry from a big prop (again), you're now up the other end of the field, in an attacking position with five more tackles to play with. Bingo!ย
We will call this โGood Ball' as, well, that's what it's called by coaches. More about this later.
It's in this kind of area that the media, and often, coaches, believe you need to earn your big salary. They want you to direct the team around, structuring a set that achieves an outcome such as a try or maybe another forced dropout.ย ย
Unfortunately, they might not have recognised the excellent work you've done in the previous sets. Because you didn't touch the ball apart from kicking it!ย ย
Yes, they might suggest you kicked well, but you'll get a lot less credit than if you touched the ball a few times, maybe bringing a forward โback inside' to test the mettle and agility of the opposition defence, shifting the ball to the five-eighth occasionally so that they can do something that catches the eye or, simply pushing the ball wider to an oncoming runner.ย
If you did that a little bit, the commentators would start to say you are pulling the strings of your team and lavish praise on you.
Yet - the reality is - you've just done exactly what your team NEEDED from you. You are now playing for a coach who doesn't put pressure on you to hold the ball or run if you don't NEED to.ย ย
You have been instructed that when you do get your hands on the footy, you should always carry the ball, whilst keeping yourself as an OPTION to run, rather than it being a premeditated choice.ย
You regularly bring forward attacking shape in the form of teammates to your left and right. You keep your hips square, or at a 45-degree angle when carrying the ball. This allows you to be the โoption' that you are instructed to be, because if space opens up in defence, you can then go yourself towards that gap.ย
But you've not needed to... yet.
Fundamental to your attitude is that you are primarily there to make your teammates look good, not yourself.ย ย ย
You are taught that rugby league is a sport of โmotion and emotion'.
The motion element refers to how attacking teams attempt to generate momentum with fast play-the-balls. The emotional aspect concerns how we deal with that momentum.ย
It's your primary job to decide what to do with that momentum, or lack of it. This skill is called โruck-recognition'. And, in an NRL era where six-again penalties, shot clocks and super keen ball boys and girls are commonplace, this is more important than ever.ย ย ย
With all your momentum, it's getting easier and easier to march up the field for your team because the opposition are clinging on for dear life, and giving away penalties and six-again infringements in the process! This is beyond your wildest dreams as a team because it's a top-of-the-table clash, and your forwards are blowing the opposition off the park for much of the first quarter of the game.
You are staying patient in this game rather than trying to force things to happen. You are waiting patiently for your chance to run.
The game is only 15 minutes old, or so, after all.ย
But the problem is, the media has been suggesting you need more involvement as a half in each game. You're in the Origin discussion, but there's another half at another club getting huge write-ups. Their coach asks them to play very differently.ย ย
They are playing in a team where the coach treats the half like an NFL coach would treat their Quarterback. They want EVERYTHING to come through the halfback.ย ย
That halfback was a childhood prodigy who had clubs banging his (or her) door down as soon as they were of signing age.ย
They had an agent before it was legal for them to drive. You are more of a manufactured half who used to play as a wing or fullback.
They are at their third club, whereas you are on your second, as they gave you a chance to play in the halves.ย
They play Origin and have been dropped from Origin before. They steered their last club to a Grand Final but lost. The media are clamouring for that player.ย ย
You see, much of the media and the other player's coach don't see rugby league as a game of โmotion and emotion'. Instead, they give their half a series of structured set plays that they carry out to the letter. Their way of playing sees their half touching the ball up to three times a set!
They are pre-programmed a lot of the time and very good at carrying out their programming. They have a premeditated intention to run the ball - to keep their coaches and media happy that they're running!ย ย
When they run, they run directly - like a prop! This works because once the defence thinks they're going to run as a half, they'll stand back a bit more and wait to see what they will do, and that can only be a good thing.
They are the favourite to get that Origin jumper again - the one that you want, and have never had. And this is the last game before the team is announced, and the media darling is in the opposition today!ย
You're in Good Ball for the third time, after your forwards have rolled you down the field again. We are approaching a quarter of the game gone, the score is currently 10-0 to your team.ย
The opposition halfback has been active with the ball when their team has had possession, and they've definitely touched the ball and been in the action more than you have. You've either just passed the ball on to someone in a better position than you, or kicked the ball, well.
The opposition are also starting to read your attack a little better, too, and making defensive adjustments to cater for that. The team is getting less go-forward, and you have less space to play. They are also reading what your halves partner is doing and starting to cut off the wide passing options.ย ย
It's at this point that you will earn your money, and hopefully, your Origin jumper.ย ย
Get this period right, and your team could be even further ahead on the scoreboard.ย ย
Get this period wrong, and your coach and the media may accuse you of failing to execute.ย ย ย
You see, the opposition is going to come back into this game at some point. They will get some momentum, too. It's the NRL and they're a strong team.
The media have been saying you've not had enough involvement, but your coach instructs you only to come in when you need to, to give the team direction, not just when you have the ball but when you don't have the ball, too.
If you mess things up on this occasion and maybe the next one, the pressure will build. If the opposite half conjures up a few tricks when they have some momentum and possession, the pressure of the game and the race for the Origin number seven jersey will mount.ย ย
You love the freedom and choice that your coach gives you, but not everyone sees the game the same way as you and your coach do.
A lot of the mainstream media - and the current coaches - played and grew up in an era when the game was VERY structured. The older ones would have grown up in an era when the attacking and defensive teams were separated by five yards or metres (depending on the ref!), and the slightly younger ones may have similar views to their predecessors.
The game has evolved, yet much of the recognised and respected intelligence still sees a game that has been heavily influenced by American Football. A process that started in the 1970's when one of our greatest coaches made regular forays to the USA and brought such methods back.
Your coach and you see a game of โmotion and emotion' because the teams go back in defence ten metres now, not five. Because of the speed of the game, you are coached to use your instincts more and to recognise what's going on with the rucks before deciding.ย ย
Your opponent is coached by someone who sees the game somewhat like an NFL coach.ย And it's a style most of the media seem to recognise more.ย ย
Game principles are colliding. The coaching styles are colliding.ย The halves are colliding.ย Whoever comes out on top will get the spoils, the headlines and likely a rep jumper too...ย ย
... STAY TUNED FOR PART II NEXT WEEK!
Lee Addison is a former Sea Eagles and Panthers coach and the founder ofย rugbyleaguecoach.com.au. His recently published book โRugby League Coach' is available now on Amazon and www.rugbyleaguecoach.com.au
