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St Helens: good passing team

Within a matter of days the pitches look more suited to a 20/20 Cricket match and it's suncream not wintergreen that they are having rubbed into their legs before they play.

Phil Clarke
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The Millenium Magic weekend was a significant one in many ways for the teams in engage Super League.

It was one of the first to be played in good conditions after a winter which seems to have gone on forever. Admittedly the roof was closed but it seems to have coincided with the start of summer.

As in most outdoor sports the weather can have an effect on the outcome but when the sun shines and the grass is green the game gets quicker and the teams with the most skill show what they have been working on for the last nine months.

I understand that to lift the heavy trophy at Old Trafford you need a squad who can play in good and bad conditions. They have to be able to very quickly shift their style of play to suit the circumstances that they find themselves in.

Just a couple of weeks ago they were slogging through the wind and rain and trying to lift their feet out of the mud. Within a matter of days the pitches look more suited to a 20/20 Cricket match and it's suncream not wintergreen that they are having rubbed into their legs before they play.

It might be wishful thinking but I think that the remainder of the Super League matches will beplayed on firm pitches in warm weather. There may be a change by the time that we get to the Play Offs but between now and then the second half of the season will be dominated by the fastest and most skilful teams.

It is very hard to statistically measure the passing accuracy of players in Rugby League. Players very often catch bad passes and so the misdirected pass goes unnoticed.

Likewise, the distance between players when passes are made is something which receives very little attention but which takes on massive importance when the weather allows us to see just who are the best passers of the ball.

Every team has one or two players who can accurately pass the ball over ten metres, but the best teams have encouraged other players to try this.

We often hear coaches and players talking about manufacturing a one on one situation which gives the attacking player an advantage. The greater the spaces between the defenders the more isolated each man feels and the more vulnerable he becomes should the attacking player change direction.

Most tackles in Rugby League are made by more than one man, even the ones out wide. If it becomes a simple case of one man with the ball against one defender then the odds favour the man in possession every time.

Without wanting to single out one team I must highlight the way that St. Helens are prepared to throw passes greater than 10 metres. This is a difficult skill when standing still, but when you are running at full pace its like throwing a dart at a dart board whilst running for the bus.

You need to get your timing right, you need to get the weighting of the pass right and you need to hit the target which might be several metres in front of where your team mate is when you are looking at him.

I have never been able to understand why heavy pitches slow down the fastest players. If they slow down players why is it that it only seems to slow down the quicker guys? What I do know is that it is much easier to change direction on a firmer pitch and that it is very hard to defend against.

Passing the ball accurately over greater distances and changing direction without altering your stride length or losing speed are the two things which will lead to the most tries in the run to the Play-Offs.

Now to this week's questions...

Email Phil Clarke: mailto:skysportsclub@bskyb.com or click here to send him a question...

AH! BRISCOE?
Hi Phil, I feel most of your World Cup selections are there or there abouts. However, as a Hull KR fan I feel Shaun Briscoe at least deserves a mention. I have seen him play in a number of games this season and his bravery is second to none and his support play is excellent, even Hull FC fans will support me in saying this! I feel Lee Briers will be on top form for Wales and will prove himself to the former coaches, who in my opinion chose not to play him in past games. Also what about Ben Westwood? Marc Needler.

PHIL REPLIES: I agree with you on most of this Marc and apologise for not mentioning Briscoe as a second option to Wellens. I think that he would be a reliable option at the back and has consistently improved each year since starting at Wigan in 2002. Unfortunately for Lee, and despite his best efforts, his Welsh team mates weren't good enough to qualify. Ben Westwood is another back row player who you could add to my list, so is Eorl Crabtree, and Darrel Griffin isn't that far behind some of the props.

ITALIAN JOB
I am a recent convert to the game and I just cannot get enough of it. The game is played at such a pace and yet with an honesty you could never see in any other sport. I am of Italian nationality and I was wondering does this sport exist in Italy? And is there a national team? It's a shame my country plays the other code. Andrew Miggiano

PHIL REPLIES: Sadly I am not aware of any Rugby League in Italy. The game is spreading very slowly in some other European countries like Holland, Germany and Serbia. Perhaps you could be the man to get it going in Italy. If you fancy the challenge why not contact the European Development Officer called Kevin Rudd. I think you could track him down on kevin.rudd@rlef.eu.com. Just imagine if you were the one to take the 13-a-side game to the heart of the Roman Empire!

After Castleford offered to refund their fans after the Cardiff weekend, how much should Wigan refund for their fans? As a former player of the club and with background in Sports Science what do you put these bad performances down to? Julian Daniel.

PHIL REPLIES: One could probably write a book about the reasons why teams perform so badly from time to time and I will attempt to describe just a few.

Loss of confidence - 'Belief' in sport is invisible and intangible but is also invaluable. After losing so heavily to St Helens in recent games, one wonders if the Wigan team thought that they could beat the Saints on the big stage in Cardiff.

Loss of Form - Players will not always play at or close to their best. If you go for a jog every day, you'll realise that some days you just feel better than others. It happens to full-time athletes as well. If this happens to one player you never notice it, but if it happens to several at the same time it looks catastrophic.

Lack of Ability - Sometimes you're just not good enough. The opposition have better players who have more skill and are able to combine as a team with devastating effect.

Bad Day at the Office - this is a sporting cliché used by coaches to explain a 'blow out' result. Even the best teams lose heavily occasionally.

My friends hate it when I quote from John Monie's days as Wigan coach. He used to keep the team grounded by saying that "you're never as bad as what you think you are, and you're never as good as what you think you are". Admittedly he didn't need the first half of this sentence as much as the second when he was in charge at Wigan, but he did from time to time.

Don't forget that Wigan lost to the Grand Final winners in the game before the Grand Final last year. They have already won at Leeds this year and could probably do it again in the Challenge Cup.

Email Phil Clarke: mailto:skysportsclub@bskyb.com or click here to send him a question...