The game evolves.

I've been reading a book "Gridiron Genius" by Michael Lombardi who was a Strategist for the New England Patriots 2014 & 2015. Near the end of the book he looked at how Gridiron is evolving and how he thought it might evolve in the future, it got me thinking about League and the Wests Tigers.

There seems to be continuous change in league especially in the V'Landys era. With so many rule changes its difficult to keep track. In "Gridiron Genius" Lombardi mentioned that athletes will get bigger, stronger and faster, they already are. Obviously in league that's the case now as well, you only need to look at how many outside backs are 190cm+ tall and 95+ kilos? At present there is still room for the smaller centre, around the 180cm mark, but Steven Crichton is probably be the best example of what the archetypal centre will look like in 20 years time, 193cm, 99kg and extremely athletic. Clubs already have these types on the wing or in the centres, Smith, Warbrick and Coates at the Storm, Manu, Sua'ali'i and Smith at the Roosters, Farnworth at the Broncos, Campbell Graham at Souths, Pompey and Berry at the Warriors, Lomax and Suli at the Dragons and so on and so forth. In fact its no surprise the Roosters went out and recruited Dom Young from the Knights is it, bigger, stronger, faster is what they obviously want in their backline. And how many clubs are out there right now looking for the next Nelson Asofa-Solomona to play in their pack? All of them no doubt.

As the athletes get bigger, stronger and faster what changes will need to be made to the game? More protection from head knocks? Changes to tackling techniques? Limitations on contact in practice sessions? That's already the case in the NFL. Well, it could be argued that's what might lay ahead in league too but what of the past 20 years in the NRL and how have the Tigers fared during that period in the football evolutionary process? I'd suggest during that during the first Sheens era they did quite well. Ball playing fullbacks are common now but was Brett Hodgson the first to really impact in that role? Ball playing lock forwards linking with the halves are having a greater impact in games now but was Sheens the first to use a middle, Todd Payten, in this role to great effect? And Pat Richards has certainly had some influence upon kick-offs. These are just a few examples that spring to mind, there may be more. In my opinion great coaches can innovate with what they have, good coaches can look great by recruiting players who are innovative. But post 2005 and the wrestle became the "thing", "controlling the ruck" was the mantra and the Storm led the way although the seeds had been planted when Bennett brought specialists over to the Broncos to teach his players wrestling techniques early 2000s. The Tigers tried to adapt but they struggled to keep pace with Cam Smith and the boys as they grappled, chicken winged, crushered, wing nutted etc to victory after victory. Sheens was sacked and then the Tigers went from coach to coach without success as other clubs evolved with pin point kicking and tall wingers dominating their red zone attacks. Teams began to give away penalties as they defended their own line to stifle teams and get their defence set again. And who of us never grudgingly admired Cam Smith's ability to get tangled up in a tackle when opposing teams were pressing the Storm's line? The baton has now been passed to the other Cam so well done Storm. Bigger, stronger, faster and controlling the ruck. These days  we can see that kicking games have evolved with short drop-outs of various kinds and precision like attacking kicks that hit goal posts yet the Tigers have failed to have a player who can do this consistently well for what seems an eternity. Scott Prince was probably the last half the club had who had a good attacking kicking game. Were all the Tigers' coaches post Sheens that inept or that blinded by their own thoughts on how to win games that they couldn't keep pace with the game as it evolved?

There are other examples of how the game has evolved since 2005 obviously but in essence the Tigers have been left behind and there's a lot of catching up to do. Can Benji be the coach who can speed up the process? It remains to be seen. Hopefully he will have his own style in which he will not only be able to keep up with how the game evolves but also allow him to bring some innovative ideas along in the process.