THE Newcastle Knights need to find a way through the NRL’s best-drilled defence – while reinforcing their own – in Saturday’s clash with resurgent Wests Tigers at Scully Park, Tamworth.
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After six rounds, the Tigers rate as the competition’s biggest improvers. Their only loss was after a controversial late penalty against Brisbane, which NRL officials later admitted was incorrectly awarded.
The Tigers’ success has been founded on miserly defence, which has conceded only 67 points, at 11.1 per game. In comparison, the inconsistent Knights have leaked 164 points at 27.3 per game, after combining three narrow wins with three lopsided defeats.
Knights coach Nathan Brown said he had noted that the Tigers have been forcing teams into error through swarming, up-and-in defence, especially off their goal-line.
“They’ve certainly been taking a lot of time off a lot of sides,” Brown said.
“Most sides they’ve beaten this year, their completion rates have been very low … because the Tigers’ defence has been very aggressive and keen. They’ve sort of been forcing the errors.”
Brown said up-and-in defence, pioneered by Warren Ryan at Newtown and Canterbury, was something of a rarity in the modern game.
“It’s not as common these days,” Brown said.
“But one thing that is common is that it is getting harder to score inside that 10 or 15-metre zone, whether it’s up-and-in defence, or whether it’s sides getting off their line.”
Brown said defensive success was “a long-term thing”, best evidence by Melbourne Storm.
“To keep doing it, for any of us, is the difference between being a good, consistent side and an OK side,” Brown said.
“For us, it’s something we’ve certainly got to get a lot better at. For the Tigers, they’re doing it great and they probably want to continue doing it great.”
