Simon Mannering reacts to the Warriors' latest defeat. Photo / Getty
Simon Mannering reacts to the Warriors' latest defeat. Photo / Getty
It was a bitter pill for coach Andrew McFadden to swallow on Saturday night, as his Warriors went down to the Roosters in the final moments of the game.
They had got themselves in a position to win but sadly, didn't know how to do it.
Cappy's dilemma as coach of the Warriors is that his team play exactly the same type of footy as most of the other teams in the NRL, so it's predictable, very predictable. That's not a criticism, that's just how it is in the NRL today.
But I want to share something a bit different for you to think about.
There is a game plan, or style of play sitting in the history books of rugby league just waiting to be used and it's called 'contract football.'
The Broncos and Cowboys are playing a contract football type of game and their positions on the ladder speak for themselves.
In the 1930's and 40's the late Duncan Thompson coached what he called 'Contract Football' and it is the best way I've ever seen the game being played (not that I was around then.)
Thompson was born in Warwick in Queensland in 1895 and died in 1980.
Well my point is that the best way of finding something new is to look to the past.
I was introduced to contract football by the late Bob Bax who was the President of Norths in Brisbane and the man who got me over from Otahuhu to coach them in the Brisbane Winfield Cup.
Back in those days I tended to have my teams playing a structured game a bit similar to what we see today.
Bob Bax sat me down one day and explained how contract football worked and I've been a fan of it ever since.
It's a flowing type of game, using the ball at all opportunities, on every inch of the field.
It's based on the fact that the ball will always beat the man.
His belief was that when you had the ball you also had the advantage. Nowadays, that is how most still see it, and you're entitled to ask 'so what's new?"
Well Thompson's contract football took it further, a lot further.
The possession teams enjoy now is usually diluted by about 50% with barging runs one off the ruck and no intention of passing.
It's argued this is required to help gain field position and allow structures to get set. In my opinion most of these barging runs are a waste of possession and a result of the lack of organisation.
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett is a disciple of contract football and to this day still often coaches this system - it doesn't always work, but more often than not it does.
All teams are looking for that edge or advantage and that's the way it's always been, but at the moment there seems to be a stale mate with most clubs training and playing in a very similar fashion.
Contract football is all about attack whether in possession of on defence, no negative plays are accepted.
At the moment you can predict where a ball is going to land from a kick off as soon as you see the draw.
But, we often see in the dying stages of a game, when one team just behind on points, employ a short attacking kick off, and more often than not, regain the ball.
Just imagine a team doing this as a disguised kick from the kick off to start the game. Most coaches wouldn't have the courage to do it because they'd think it too radical and the risk too great.
But the biggest risk in footy is not to take one.
Bob Bax was a disciple of Duncan Thompson and although Bax is unknown here in New Zealand, he is arguably the greatest coach of all time in Queensland RL.
The late great Super Coach Jack Gibson, is known as the 'father of modern day coaching' and Big Jack was a fan of Duncan Thompson.
And while Jack had a reputation of developing unbreakable defensive teams, he was also a believer of contract football and many of his teams played it without them or the fans and media realising what it was called.
To summarize, what I've been trying to point out is that this NRL competition is not going to be won by a team that plays the same as every other team play the game. The best teams and the best players have an element of unpredictability in them.
