2008 Match Program Q & A - Rocky Elsom
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Match: HSBC Waratahs v Brumbies
Date: March 7, 2008
Interview: BEN KIMBER
Images: GETTY IMAGES
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He's one of the deep thinkers in the HSBC Waratahs squad and believes there has been a major turnaround in attitude since 2007.
Rocky Elsom says that the Waratahs of 2008 are willing to chance their arm to get the right result, whereas that may not have been the case in the disastrous 2007 Super 14 season.
“This year we just want to attack all the time which is not really a strategy based thing, it’s more of an attitude, and when we get into trouble we tend to want to play ourselves out of trouble when he’s on the front foot,” Elsom said in this exclusive chat with Waratahs Match Program.
A have a go attitude running off the back of a solid pack of forwards. Sounds like a pretty good mix to me!
WARATAHS MATCH PROGRAM: How is the team shaping up so far after such a poor year last year?
ROCKY ELSOM: I think we’ve shown patches of how we want to be playing. And when we get it right we’ve shown how good we can be when we are playing well, but we still have a long way to go. I think one of the big differences is when you have Vicks (Dan Vickerman) in the team. We have such a strong defensive lineout that it is really easy to play around that. The attacking lineout is important too, but it’s the defensive one that you structure your game plan around. And that’s so different when we have Vicks, but I almost feel that the team is the exact opposite of last year.
WMP: Opposite in style or attitude?
RE: Last year, particularly at the start, we were very conservative in the backs. They just wanted to play a little bit of field position then hold on for the end and grind out a win. Whereas this year we just want to attack all the time which is not really a strategy based thing, it’s more of an attitude, and when we get into trouble we tend to want to play ourselves out of trouble. Which is a good thing because if you aren’t good enough to play yourself out of trouble then you probably aren’t good enough to win.
WMP: What has been the core reason for the change? Is it personnel or coaching strategy?
RE: I think it’s the guys probably just having a little bit more confidence and ability than we’ve had in the past. Obviously our backline wasn’t firing last year so you probably tend to not want to play as much if you’re a back and it’s not working as well as it could.
WMP: If the lineout strength is important, won’t that still be adversely affected by the law changes meaning less chances to have a fully set version?
RE: I think there will be games where the lineout is less important, but in the big games it will be extremely important. And if you don’t have a competent lineout it will probably cost you the game. Teams without competent lineouts aren’t going to be anywhere near the finals. But you’ll definitely see games where the lineout won’t feature much. One thing you have to understand is if the lineout doesn’t feature much it could be because the other team doesn’t have a good one and is avoiding it, and they’re willing to pay the price elsewhere as they try and avoid the lineout. We played the Bulls last year and they had four of their own lineouts. They were obviously very strong there and also had a very strong driving game which we tried to avoid, and it cost us, because we had 20 lineouts and they got to us by the end of it.
WMP: With more quick lineouts does that mean more ball in play and a tougher fitness task in each game?
RE: You usually get a bit of a mental break going to a lineout because you have about 20 or 30 metres to run before you get to the lineout and you have to be switched on again and have to watch them, but usually if they take a quick lineout they put it back up field, so it’s not as hard as it may seem. You don’t have to worry as much about where you are.
WMP: So you haven’t found the game’s more challenging under the new laws?
RE: I don’t think it has been that much harder. Games are a lot faster, like that Hurricanes game was very fast, but then you have games that are a lot slower like the Chiefs game which was particularly slow. Not necessarily slow from an entertaining point of view, but from a running point of view you weren’t necessarily doing the big shuttles across the field that you were the week before. So you have your fast games and your slower games and I really don’t think the difference has been massive. I think that if you look at kilometers covered it may be harder, and it might be a bit higher percentage wise, but it doesn’t seem like it’s too bad. In saying that there will be a few more of those games that will be a lot faster than you expect, and you just deal with that as you would any other time you end up in a fast game.
WMP: So will that affect the way teams are selected? Will rugby league style mobility start to be more important than some of the more traditional union body shapes?
RE: I think that there will definitely be times when teams will go for that now, with more players of that type of style. Firstly because of the perception of the game now and secondly if they are trying to play a certain style of game that will really suit it. If you play like the Hurricanes say, who want to play fast all the time, then you need a guy who can play maybe backrow or midfield, that type of player to keep that going and really be effective there. But you’ll also see those sort of teams that put an emphasis on mobility will get punished in other areas because good teams are going to be able to slow it down and play the type of game they want to play. For instance if you think you can get them up front in the scrum then every free kick you’d just take a scrum every time, and you could have 20 in a game. From time to time there’ll be shifts but you’ll see teams get exposed if they try it on too much.
WMP: You had to bulk up when you came back to Rugby from league, is it the same for all your league backs?
RE: I had to put on 10kg at least because I just wanted to be big enough. In the backs though at the top level of league they’re a lot bigger than lower levels. Up over the 100kg or 105kg. Guys like like Dell (Wendell Sailor), Lote (Tuqiri), T (Timana Tahu) Stirling (Mortlock) there all a lot bigger and tend to be able play that power game when they play Rugby because there’s less about playing those shuttles across field and there’s also less of that wash of positions where people have to play in all of the positions.
WMP: Have you ever considered a switch back to league? Any unfinished business there?
RE: I liked playing league but I think I’ve seen my best league days. When you reach the top of a Jersey Flegg grand final there’s nowhere else to go really in league.
IR: And finally, I received a note suggesting I ask you who conducted your first ever television interview?
RE: Actually it was Bronc (NSWRU media manager Djuro ‘Bronco’ Sen) when I was 16 or 17 and he worked for C7 when they did sport on cable and they covered a school game. He had a flowing head of hair back then. He wasn’t bad, very serious though, very Today Tonight style.