bendy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 8:28 am
Ilione looked the business last night. Liked what I saw of Basset, but the highlight was definitely Kelly back in the shirt and looking menacing!
I couldn't believe the physique on Ilione to be honest. He had definitely added bulk
Inhuman shoulders! He's like a triangle!
Powell looked good and crucially maybe means we can be less reliant on box kicking, as his isn't in the same league as most Tigers 9s of the past 5 years, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
That Olowofela chap looked useful in the first half!
His kicking was really poor, and box kicking or kicking in general isn't suddenly going to become less important to the game.
I'd be motivated if I was Sam Edwards. That starting spot for the Premiership games is wide open on the displays shown by Whiteley at the end of last season & Powell on Friday plus for Irish. He's got a great chance to push past those players as they are not Youngs or JvP type quality. More similar to Snyman giving Chessum & Martin a target to push past as an example.
Disagree entirely. Thought Powell was very good and one of the standout players. Quick to the breakdown and got the ball away. Edwards did more box kicking and Meerkating and has no chance of first team appearance on that form.
ay2oh wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 1:37 pm
Disagree entirely. Thought Powell was very good and one of the standout players. Quick to the breakdown and got the ball away. Edwards did more box kicking and Meerkating and has no chance of first team appearance on that form.
I've not seen the game but it's worth remembering that Powell got a strong first team pack that was in ascendency whilst Edwards got a younger less experienced pack that had nowhere near the momentum Powell had in the first half. Ditto the backline went from strong Prem level backline to mostly academy prospects.
Edwards is a young guy with huge potential. Great kicking and passing game, solid in defence and seems happy barking instructions. His weakness is his speed from the breakdown and sniping game. Hopefully Powell will act as a good mentor in this as these are his strengths, bring Edwards out of his shell.
I suspect Whiteley may find himself struggling for game time and swiftly down the pecking order.
Powell's distribution and passing was very strong on Friday night. Under the new system 9 & 10 become even more important in terms of setting the pace high and directing the backs to make sure the pace stays at such a high level. With that in mind, Powell was very strong and impressed. However having a strong kicking game is still really important for a 9 and for us, and at that facet of the game he struggled and needs to improve.
Edwards needs to work with Powell on improving his distribution and getting the ball away quickly, Powell needs to work on his kicking.
Hopefully the further away from Wigglesworth our 9's get the better...it will genuinely be interesting to see how YBY plays post RWC..if he plays of course.
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:04 pm
Hopefully the further away from Wigglesworth our 9's get the better...it will genuinely be interesting to see how YBY plays post RWC..if he plays of course.
That's the Wigglesworth who's superb performance who helped us win the final. That's the Wigglesworth who was resepcted by pretty much every 9 in the country and elsewhere for how he played the game.
The idea that our 9's can now ditch all kicking is just ludicrous. They need to kick, and they need to kick well.
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:04 pm
Hopefully the further away from Wigglesworth our 9's get the better...it will genuinely be interesting to see how YBY plays post RWC..if he plays of course.
That's the Wigglesworth who's superb performance who helped us win the final. That's the Wigglesworth who was resepcted by pretty much every 9 in the country and elsewhere for how he played the game.
The idea that our 9's can now ditch all kicking is just ludicrous. They need to kick, and they need to kick well.
Yes the same bloke who has made 2 instinctive 9's afraid of their own vision, the coach who devised an attacking plan that fitted his style of play, so he could still play. It's not the kicking per se it's the kick first mindset.
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:04 pm
Hopefully the further away from Wigglesworth our 9's get the better...it will genuinely be interesting to see how YBY plays post RWC..if he plays of course.
That's the Wigglesworth who's superb performance who helped us win the final. That's the Wigglesworth who was resepcted by pretty much every 9 in the country and elsewhere for how he played the game.
The idea that our 9's can now ditch all kicking is just ludicrous. They need to kick, and they need to kick well.
Yes the same bloke who has made 2 instinctive 9's afraid of their own vision, the coach who devised an attacking plan that fitted his style of play, so he could still play. It's not the kicking per se it's the kick first mindset.
If Wiggy was such a boring coach, why did we play more rugby as soon as Steve was out the door and Wiggy was in charge? If Wiggy is the genius behind the kicking strategy, why has Steve been doing that with England without Wiggy? You talk of our 9's - JVP credits Wiggy for making him a better SH, and Lenny played some of his best rugby the back half of last season when Wiggy was Head Coach.
The rewriting of history regarding our title win is extraordinary. You don't win 20/24 games by kicking the leather off the ball all the time. We played some good rugby throughout that season, and at times we played some brilliant rugby. Bristol at home was superb to watch for everyone there. For all the talk that Leicester just play boring rugby, our wingers have been some of our top try scorers in the last two seasons.
400 odd professional appearances, and respected by colleagues, opponents and coaches. That's a very good record by anyone's standards. His record as Head Coach also shows that he's a good coach, and without Steve being around, wants to play more rugby. The kick first mentality comes from Steve more than it does anyone else, Wiggy was just very good at executing it as a player.
Our change of style/success last season happened with Pollard being fit & Wilson in the "coaching dugout", no clear evidence of WW being the catalyst, I said at the time we would see who was holding the team back SB or WW we are still no nearer knowing for certain.
At no point have I belittled our League Success, it was a remarkable achievement.
The obsession with Tigers DNA & it being forward based only applies post Professionalism.
I am hopeful we will evolve this season as we should have last summer.
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:56 pm
Our change of style/success last season happened with Pollard being fit & Wilson in the "coaching dugout", no clear evidence of WW being the catalyst, I said at the time we would see who was holding the team back SB or WW we are still no nearer knowing for certain.
At no point have I belittled our League Success, it was a remarkable achievement.
The obsession with Tigers DNA & it being forward based only applies post Professionalism.
I am hopeful we will evolve this season as we should have last summer.
The change in approach was evident in the Gloucester game straight after Steve left, where we went back to the game plan that had served us well the year before. Wilson coming in tightened up our forward work and got our line out back on track again. The players all credited Wiggy for the setting of the game plan, so are they all lying?
In the professional era, the league titles are won in the majority of cases by the team with the best pack. Tigers, Wasps, Saracens all have had packs that were dominant and could deliver front foot ball from their work up front (albeit some more legally acquired than others). McKeller is one of the best Forwards Coaches about, that is why he is here and I am delighted that he is. Friday night saw our forwards play very well in delivering front foot ball for us to play with.
I am also delighted that we are looking to play more and play at a higher tempo, it suits us well. But we play a winter sport, so we need to have a kicking game up our sleeves for when it rains and we have to play tough, pragmatic rugby. Having 9's with a kicking game as good as what Wiggy had will be valuable to us, despite the bashing he gets from some quarters.
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:56 pm
Our change of style/success last season happened with Pollard being fit & Wilson in the "coaching dugout", no clear evidence of WW being the catalyst, I said at the time we would see who was holding the team back SB or WW we are still no nearer knowing for certain.
At no point have I belittled our League Success, it was a remarkable achievement.
The obsession with Tigers DNA & it being forward based only applies post Professionalism.
I am hopeful we will evolve this season as we should have last summer.
The change in approach was evident in the Gloucester game straight after Steve left, where we went back to the game plan that had served us well the year before. Wilson coming in tightened up our forward work and got our line out back on track again. The players all credited Wiggy for the setting of the game plan, so are they all lying?
In the professional era, the league titles are won in the majority of cases by the team with the best pack. Tigers, Wasps, Saracens all have had packs that were dominant and could deliver front foot ball from their work up front (albeit some more legally acquired than others). McKeller is one of the best Forwards Coaches about, that is why he is here and I am delighted that he is. Friday night saw our forwards play very well in delivering front foot ball for us to play with.
I am also delighted that we are looking to play more and play at a higher tempo, it suits us well. But we play a winter sport, so we need to have a kicking game up our sleeves for when it rains and we have to play tough, pragmatic rugby. Having 9's with a kicking game as good as what Wiggy had will be valuable to us, despite the bashing he gets from some quarters.
The games after Gloc we were crushed by Sale and Newcastle! Looked good again back in Europe against Clermont but were then awful at home against Ospreys and Saints. We starting turning the corner then when Pollard was back fully fit. WW start was very poor bar Gloc so no we didn’t turn it immediately around post SB
"Rugby isn't a contact sport,ballroom dancing is a contact sport. Rugby is a collision sport" Heyneke Meyer
Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 3:56 pm
Our change of style/success last season happened with Pollard being fit & Wilson in the "coaching dugout", no clear evidence of WW being the catalyst, I said at the time we would see who was holding the team back SB or WW we are still no nearer knowing for certain.
At no point have I belittled our League Success, it was a remarkable achievement.
The obsession with Tigers DNA & it being forward based only applies post Professionalism.
I am hopeful we will evolve this season as we should have last summer.
The change in approach was evident in the Gloucester game straight after Steve left, where we went back to the game plan that had served us well the year before. Wilson coming in tightened up our forward work and got our line out back on track again. The players all credited Wiggy for the setting of the game plan, so are they all lying?
In the professional era, the league titles are won in the majority of cases by the team with the best pack. Tigers, Wasps, Saracens all have had packs that were dominant and could deliver front foot ball from their work up front (albeit some more legally acquired than others). McKeller is one of the best Forwards Coaches about, that is why he is here and I am delighted that he is. Friday night saw our forwards play very well in delivering front foot ball for us to play with.
I am also delighted that we are looking to play more and play at a higher tempo, it suits us well. But we play a winter sport, so we need to have a kicking game up our sleeves for when it rains and we have to play tough, pragmatic rugby. Having 9's with a kicking game as good as what Wiggy had will be valuable to us, despite the bashing he gets from some quarters.
The games after Gloc we were crushed by Sale and Newcastle! Looked good again back in Europe against Clermont but were then awful at home against Ospreys and Saints. We starting turning the corner then when Pollard was back fully fit. WW start was very poor bar Gloc so no we didn’t turn it immediately around post SB
The style of play was immediately different in those games, going back to how we had played in the title winning season, which is the point I had made. So yes, we did immediately change post Borthwick, even if we did not get the results.
The change in approach was evident in the Gloucester game straight after Steve left, where we went back to the game plan that had served us well the year before. Wilson coming in tightened up our forward work and got our line out back on track again. The players all credited Wiggy for the setting of the game plan, so are they all lying?
In the professional era, the league titles are won in the majority of cases by the team with the best pack. Tigers, Wasps, Saracens all have had packs that were dominant and could deliver front foot ball from their work up front (albeit some more legally acquired than others). McKeller is one of the best Forwards Coaches about, that is why he is here and I am delighted that he is. Friday night saw our forwards play very well in delivering front foot ball for us to play with.
I am also delighted that we are looking to play more and play at a higher tempo, it suits us well. But we play a winter sport, so we need to have a kicking game up our sleeves for when it rains and we have to play tough, pragmatic rugby. Having 9's with a kicking game as good as what Wiggy had will be valuable to us, despite the bashing he gets from some quarters.
The games after Gloc we were crushed by Sale and Newcastle! Looked good again back in Europe against Clermont but were then awful at home against Ospreys and Saints. We starting turning the corner then when Pollard was back fully fit. WW start was very poor bar Gloc so no we didn’t turn it immediately around post SB
The style of play was immediately different in those games, going back to how we had played in the title winning season, which is the point I had made. So yes, we did immediately change post Borthwick, even if we did not get the results.
My point being id owe it more to Pollard than WW as WRFC posted
"Rugby isn't a contact sport,ballroom dancing is a contact sport. Rugby is a collision sport" Heyneke Meyer
SB had a whole season of awful performances before it was a brilliant turn around.
Wigglesworth took over and turned it round after 3-4 games. Up until SB and Sinfield left we put in some really inept performances such as Sale at home and Saracens away.
We won the Premiership with great tactics on the day and brave selection choices but that style of play is now outmoded!
Now it’s time not only to get behind our new coaches and players but also to be patient. World Cup years have never been good for us so it will be an interesting few months ahead.
