The last 3 weeks have gotten me excited. Its not just winning, but the way we are winning. The pressure football. The swarming over the opposition; The fast ball movement. It got me thinking back to when we last played like this....2016. That said it also got me thinking about what has changed. Yes we have lost a lot of the Premiership team (11 no longer on our list and a further 3 who were not in the 22 last week because of injury or form or suspension. Its not just the personnel who have changed though its the roles they are playing in the team as well.

The table below sets out the 2016 Premiership team, their traditional positions, the role they played (open to interpretation) and then the 2020 equivalent. In some cases not only the personnel have changed, but also the team role.



Capture - Prem.jpg

For example our premiership team had 3 lock down defenders, Hamling, Morris & Fletcher, but today's team has 2 at most; the 2020 team has more run from defense with 3 designated run and carry defenders in JJ, Crozier and Williams. There is still a long way to go, but I'd be interested in seeing whether we migrate back to the 2016 roles either through injury or because its too attacking and not sustainable against better teams.