Red Alert: Navigating life in the red zone

Unless you've not watched rugby league for a few years, you will have heard of a relatively new term from our TV commentators.

The term ‘Red Zone' and the commercial branding of the ‘Westpac Red Zone' has made its way into the rugby league vernacular.

It appears to refer to the attacking team having possession in the opposition 20-metre zone or closer. Finding a definition of what this zone actually is, is quite hard.

Coaches call this area ‘Good Ball' and our definitions of this vary from coach to coach.

Some teams I have coached have been under strict instructions to take no risks until ‘Good Ball' and I have defined that area as anything in advance of 30 metres from the opposition try line, to as far back as 20 metres from our own goal line, depending on the qualities and calibre of the players I have had!

What we can agree on here, for the purpose of this piece, is the ‘Red Zone' or ‘Good Ball' (as we will refer to it) as the area of play where we need to get some outcomes.

At best, points! At worst, a repeat set or good field position at the end of a set.

What we will also make clear is that it is characterised by ball movement.

As a team moves ‘up' the field, towards the opposition try line, play becomes somewhat more complicated, with several players running different angles either with or without the ball; the ball changing hands more than once.

If you read part one of this series, you'll be aware that this can be a pressure area for halves. It's where they are judged most harshly, the margin for error is smaller and depending on the style of their coach, they could be forced to play, on one hand, a pre-programmed style, or on the other hand, given free rein to make their own decisions.

Most common, is to have coaching instructions that sit somewhere between those two concepts.

One of the difficulties of trying to score points in Good Ball, is that the opposition is (excuse the pun) on ‘red alert'! One defensive slip-up here by them could result in points conceded.

Also, if you happen to be playing the ball within ten metres from the try-line, they don't even have to go back the usual full distance in defence.

For the top line players that don't have great attacking vision, this can be a frustrating time for spectators willing a team on to score.

We've all been at a match and wondered why our team didn't pass left or right at a particular time. I have been known to take a screenshot of a top-level game where there are glaring holes or spaces in defensive lines, yet the attack doesn't go there, often because they're not even looking.

Quite often, a team might quickly set play up near one of the ‘scrum lines' (20 metres in from each touchline) or even closer to the posts. When attacking the opposition's try line, it can sometimes take one or two plays for a team to get to a point from which they choose to launch an attack.

From there, they might throw three long passes to the opposite side of the field, or two long passes, followed by a short pass. They can keep rotating around the different permutations here, including just one pass, one long pass for one short pass or a change of direction to surprise the opposition.

Explaining these sets further, let's now consider what each individual might do within that passing framework, particularly the halves, which are our focus of attention.

If we see the hooker and the halves as ‘pivots' that control where the ball goes and often do that with passes that run horizontally across the defensive line, the ‘runners' attack the ball and bring it towards the defensive line rather directly!

Second rowers and props tend to bring it forward in heavily populated defensive areas with a mixture of force, guile and toughness in an attempt to find holes in the opposition, whilst centres and wings tend to use their speed, evasive abilities and agility to beat their opponents in one-on-one situations.

Locks and full backs can often be a mixture between being a pivot and a runner. The lock having more of the prop and second row characteristics and the full back resembling wings, centres and sometimes the halves themselves, a lot more.

It is common for teams to employ attacking ‘shapes' amongst their ‘running' players. This involves players forming what looks like an attacking pod in the attacking line, providing a half with a variety of attacking options.

There is a myriad of attacking shapes out there, but without doubt, the most common that even the untrained eye can see, is a ‘front and back' shape made by running players.

This can involve a prop or second row being positioned at the ‘front'(known in the coaching ranks as a ‘lead') and a full back or centre sweeping around the ‘back'.

These shapes can be employed anywhere along the passing chain. In Good Ball, they are most commonly employed around the half that receives the first long pass from the play the ball, or the half that receives the second long pass a little wider. Well-organised teams have shapes around both halves and are ready for every eventuality.

With a typical ‘front and back person' shape, the halves might play to the front lead for a few repetitions to condition the defence to that, before hitting the sweeper around the back, or vice versa.

Halves also often have the freedom to put on any plays or formation shapes in this framework too. If three long passes are delivered with each passer of the football (hooker and two halves) performing a shape or play as a way of getting the ball to the next in the line, then we have a very convoluted attacking play that the defence has to read very carefully.

These examples are the basic mechanics of what happens very often in the NRL. But unlike machines that are programmed, these attacking raids are fully controlled by humans with football jerseys on, often numbered ‘seven'.

These people have instincts, reactions and feelings. Some have football-related instincts that help them instinctively decode what is happening to the defence, sometimes two or three plays before it actually happens.

Other traits are what we would associate more with generic human behaviour, such as adrenaline, excitement, confidence or conversely, a lack of it, with some nerves and pressure thrown in. All these traits, and others, can override logic, delivering outcomes that are sometimes positive, sometimes negative.

A lot of the success of the work of the halves depends on attacking momentum created by the team. Without strong forwards and outside backs that create attacking momentum, halves have a very tough challenge making things work.

They also have to consider the game situation, the scoreboard at the time, the weather conditions, the crowd, the pressure and the quality of the opponents, to name just a few.

If the team hasn't trained by doing the right kind of repetitions of these convoluted attacking plays, or there have been late changes to a team, meaning players haven't spent enough time together practising these combinations, things can break down further.

The halves can call the action and direct what needs to happen, but the 'runners' might get their role in the play slightly wrong. It's often the half that gets the blame by supporters and media in this instance.

Next week, we will investigate the ‘what, when and where' of the movements the halves need to construct during the course of a game, and why getting it right over the course of the 80 minutes is a lot harder than we think.

Lee Addison is a former Sea Eagles and Panthers coach and the founder of rugbyleaguecoach.com.au. His recently published book ‘Rugby League Coach' is available now on Amazon and www.rugbyleaguecoach.com.au