The most popular motivational film in Sydney’s first grade rugby league competition 50 years ago was Vince Lombardi’s Second Effort.
It was actually a sales training film where the celebrated NFL coach, after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named, showed examples of his Green Bay Packers refusing to surrender. Jack Gibson owned a copy, and it helped propel his St George team to the 1971 grand final, won by John Sattler’s South Sydney.
Perhaps the current Dragons coach, Anthony Griffin, rejects such motivation as antiquated, a victim of what British writer CS Lewis called “chronological snobbery” where everything in the past is either wrong or insulting.
If so, Griffin could show more recent examples of second effort, such as those demonstrated by the Dolphins, his opponents at home, this Saturday.
In the closing seconds of last week’s match against the Broncos, with the scores level, a kick from the Dolphins was gathered by Brisbane’s Kotoni Staggs who ran the length of the field to score.
A number of Dolphins chased but only second-rower Tom Gilbert pursued the flying centre to the try line. Some would say a back-rower had no obligation to chase all the way, but he did.
Earlier, with the Broncos certain to score after evading the cover defence, 33-year-old Dolphins front-rower, Mark Nicholls, beaten but not bowed, threw out a desperate hand to knock the ball from a winger’s grasp. It wasn’t an agile centre who denied the try but an ageing prop.
Compare these second efforts with the Dragons’ surrender ten minutes from the end against the Broncos in round three and their second-half capitulation on Sunday against neighbours, Cronulla.
Dragons captain Ben Hunt said after that match the Sharks were “too good”, a comment echoed by his coach. Too good, or defended more desperately?
The ladder-leading Broncos have conceded almost 90 points less in their first four games this year than in their final four matches of the 2022 campaign.Credit:Getty
The results after round four are usually the best guide to end-of-season rankings and the top teams right now are those who are demonstrating superior defence.
The teams down the bottom are folding like a card table when forced to defend repeated sets, or lose key players. Again, compare this to the Dolphins who started against Brisbane without their brilliant five eighth Isaiya Katoa, two suspended players in underrated hooker Jeremy Marshall-King and alpha forward Felise Kaufusi, and lost half Sean O’Sullivan during the match.
ARLC chair Peter V’landys is understandably lavish in his praise for the Dolphins and Wayne Bennett but the Skinny Coach would have taken little notice of the rule changes in the ARLC’s pre-season competition. There were no rewards for defence but the smart coaches had their players wearing shoulder pads and mouthguards in the pre-season tackling drills. The others had their men making token collisions with rubber pads, mini-games ending 10 tries to zero versus the pads.
Almost 80 per cent of games to round four have been decided by 12 points or less, the most number of games decided by this margin through four rounds since 1908. It’s not as if the attack has slackened because there is an extra half a try scored per match per round (6.9 in 2023, compared to 6.4 in 2022). Rather, it has been the enhanced defence of the teams who were lower on the ladder in 2022, including the Broncos who have conceded 58 points this year, compared to 145 in the final four rounds last year.
V’landys’ six-again rule has also been ratcheted back, contributing to the closer scorelines.
Maybe Griffin believes showing film of the Dolphins’ second effort is too demeaning to players who expect to be treated like a Ming vase (shattered when dropped).
However, if he rejects chronological snobbery, there are examples of second effort from St George’s history. In Gibson’s 1971 grand final year, an opposition outside back picked up a loose ball and ran 80 metres, with second-rower Barry Beath the only one who chased the entire distance.
Gibson admonished his players, inviting them to buy tickets in the grandstand if they opted to watch, rather than participate. In another match, the Dragons Brian “Chicka” Norton, ran 70 metres to score a try and was awarded Frank Hyde’s Seiko watch for man of the match, despite winger and later ARL secretary Geoff Carr scoring three tries, including the winning one. However, Gibson dropped Chicka because he made only four tackles.
Defence has always been half the game but in this season to date, it has been the better half.
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