Quote ="The Eagle"If he drops behind his line then its a man not just out of the line, but taking him out defensively altogether. It would give him a better position to field the kick from, but it would put him at a worse position for a regular tackle. '"
The in-goal/in-touch areas are quite short on most grounds so we are only talking about a few metres and he would drop back in anticipation of their kicker punting for the corner from the centre of the field. He is then in a position to move forward with momentum to jump for the kick (like a full back). Or if the attacker doesn' t kick but spins the ball wide, the defensive winger has time to move forward and back into the line again but with momentum - in fact in a better not worse position.
Anyway in Hall's case he has usually rushed forward out of the line so it would not be worse.
Quote ="The Eagle"The defending winger is always going to be at a disadvantage as they don't know where the kick is going to be, they are on their own, and they can only really fail (knock on, miss, driven back over the line).'"
Well all the more reason to try something new because if he is always at a disadvantage if he remains rooted to the spot, so better we find other ways to defend this much used and successfull kick to the corner tactic. It cannot be worse! Also if the defending winger has dropped back a few metres he will be in a much better position to judge the trajectory of the ball and increase his chances of catching it without the risk of being penalised for obstruction.
Quote ="The Eagle"It was a bad read from Hall, but I think that it is pretty much the hardest skill in the game diffusing a well executed kick to the corner'"
True but you will have a better chance if the defender is airbourne and attacking the ball. If you cannot catch it you would also have a chance of palming it dead.
