How bad is our 10 situation

[baldpaul101]

How bad is our 10 situation

Its fine, not sure what the fuss is about.
yes the back line aren't firing reliably, but equally they are doing some good stuff intermittently.
Personally I don't see any real reason to panic as yet

[NellyWellyWaspy]

How bad is our 10 situation

Its fine, not sure what the fuss is about.
yes the back line aren't firing reliably, but equally they are doing some good stuff intermittently.
Personally I don't see any real reason to panic as yet

+1

[hopwood]

How bad is our 10 situation

Its fine, not sure what the fuss is about.
yes the back line aren't firing reliably, but equally they are doing some good stuff intermittently.
Personally I don't see any real reason to panic as yet

+1

I don’t think we have bad players.
I just think the coaching staff are introducing new ideas this season and either they’re taking time to bed in, or they’re not the right ideas for this specific group of players.

[Sliminator]

Plus we had a new attack coach at the start of the season and then swapped attack and defence coaches half way through.

[baldpaul101]

I think the more important question is what is up with Dobby? He has gone from one of the best 9s in the prem to being average, with glimpses of very good. Did he come back from injury too early? Is he not fully fit?
For me (and not knowing any details of his situation) he's trying too hard. So, yet again, I would suggest the players need some psychological help to work on their minds rather than their bodies. Get his, and some other players, minds right and the good play on the pitch will flow. IMO

[DGP Wasp]

Top four is a red herring at the best of times. Thus season doubly so. Back in November we were close to selecting the crowd so bereft of players were we.
We lost matches we should have won.

We have top 4 form since Jan. That does not mean all is well as many issues plague the team, and top 4, as I have said repeatedly, is miles off top of the pile.  We won the other day but were brain dead. I will take that over losing and playing  like a dog's arse. Issues remain, but our league position reflects the whole year, not the last 4 months, where we have lost 4 or 5 games in all events, one a month on average.

Last 5 rounds (since Wasps' off week at the start of March) table looks like this:

Saints    P5  Pts 25
Sarries   P5  Pts 23
Wasps    P5  Pts 17
Quins     P4  Pts 16
Tigers     P4  Pts 15
Glouc      P5  Pts 15 (5 of those from a cancelled fixture)
Sale        P4  Pts 14

So despite frustrations with some of what we see happening on the pitch, current form suggests we are there or thereabouts in terms of top 4.

The first half of the season has left us playing catch up in the league, but with everyone back fit and available, and if we can eliminate aberrations like the final 20 minutes at Irish then we can count ourselves among those teams with genuine aspirations of top 4.  Sadly too late for this season, but the future really doesn't look as bleak as some suggest.

[Westy68]

I look at our squad and think hell our pack is brilliant. especially next season. Therefore we should make a serious challenge next season. What I don't want next season are any excuses, which we shouldn't have as we will be challenge next season

[Peej]

I think the 'oh we have lots of injuries' excuse was trotted out a little too frequently this year. Yes it was bad, and yes it was valid for a time, but other teams have had bad patches too and done alright.

That form table is interesting. Maybe come back to me when all the teams below us have played their game in hand.

[wasps]

I think the more important question is what is up with Dobby? He has gone from one of the best 9s in the prem to being average, with glimpses of very good. Did he come back from injury too early? Is he not fully fit?
For me (and not knowing any details of his situation) he's trying too hard. So, yet again, I would suggest the players need some psychological help to work on their minds rather than their bodies. Get his, and some other players, minds right and the good play on the pitch will flow. IMO

His form was similar when he was co-Captain with Thomas young (or whatever their role was)


If he's now being asked to run the show from 9, then maybe that's not his natural game, the same way that captaincy responsibility wasn't.


That's not a major criticism of him. The same was sometimes said of Wilkinson, and his career went ok.






It could just be that he's not playing his natural game, either due to game plan, lack of confidence in those around him, confused messages from England, or something else.




I suspect that it he can be allowed to get on with what he does best, then we'll see him back to his best again very quickly....
Or maybe he just needs more time to adapt to this new style.
I hope for the former

[HDAWG]

I think the more important question is what is up with Dobby? He has gone from one of the best 9s in the prem to being average, with glimpses of very good. Did he come back from injury too early? Is he not fully fit?
For me (and not knowing any details of his situation) he's trying too hard. So, yet again, I would suggest the players need some psychological help to work on their minds rather than their bodies. Get his, and some other players, minds right and the good play on the pitch will flow. IMO

His form was similar when he was co-Captain with Thomas young (or whatever their role was)


If he's now being asked to run the show from 9, then maybe that's not his natural game, the same way that captaincy responsibility wasn't.

We've been playing off nine since post lockdown when he was in the form of his life. Playing off of 9 is not a problem. Perhaps the attacking system or how we use him is.

[baldpaul101]

Indeed, he has played exceptionally well as the lynch pin of the attack spraying passes, pushing through little grubber kicks and scoring a few tries running support lines.
At the moment something is wrong with either Dobby himself, or the structure of the attack which is causing him & the rest of the back line to miss-fire.

That is what coaches get paid to fix either by changing game plan or personnel. Without a really strong back up 9 (Porter, despite much support on here, still hasn't shown enough IMO) its hard to drop Robson. With Hougard fit I wonder if they might be tempted to try him at 9? Might be a bit late for this season I guess. Which leaves changing the game plan. Which they may have tried to do, with Jacob going to 15 & then the bench, still not really working but maybe some further tweaks to be tried? We'll see.

[Neils]

Could it be that with Alfie at 8 (and wanting the ball) Dan is hesitant about if it is coming to him. That would be a communication breakdown. He seems more certain with Tom at 8.

[baldpaul101]

Could it be that with Alfie at 8 (and wanting the ball) Dan is hesitant about if it is coming to him. That would be a communication breakdown. He seems more certain with Tom at 8.

There could be something in that Neils. Although the 9 should be telling the 8 what to do, rather than the other way round!   

[Beasties]

Indeed, he has played exceptionally well as the lynch pin of the attack spraying passes, pushing through little grubber kicks and scoring a few tries running support lines.
At the moment something is wrong with either Dobby himself, or the structure of the attack which is causing him & the rest of the back line to miss-fire.

That is what coaches get paid to fix either by changing game plan or personnel. Without a really strong back up 9 (Porter, despite much support on here, still hasn't shown enough IMO) its hard to drop Robson. With Hougard fit I wonder if they might be tempted to try him at 9? Might be a bit late for this season I guess. Which leaves changing the game plan. Which they may have tried to do, with Jacob going to 15 & then the bench, still not really working but maybe some further tweaks to be tried? We'll see.

Players seem to be moving around the backline an awful lot at the moment which could be part of the problem. None of them know whether they’re coming or going. We seem to be doing more fiddling with positions than appears necessary from the outside.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Could it be that with Alfie at 8 (and wanting the ball) Dan is hesitant about if it is coming to him. That would be a communication breakdown. He seems more certain with Tom at 8.

Even worse, is a mentality of "all we need to do is give the ball to Alfie" developing? I'm sure the coaches guard against that and that Alfie has his feet on the ground, but its difficult to ignore all the hype that can build up in the press.