Playbooks

[zylya]

Bit of a random one, but wondering if anyone's seen/got a copy of any RL playbooks?

Obviously not expecting to have one that's for this season or anything, but interested to see how clubs have structured their play. What sections do they have in? Are they specific about their sets or do they just work to general principles?

If anyone has a digital copy they can share, that'd be hugely appreciated.

[The Blues Ox]

Watching SL this season I can only presume that the RFL sends a generic play book out to each team at the start of the season and then all each team has to do is rename everything in it.

[Man of Kent]

I’d love to see something like this too. 

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, zylya said:

Bit of a random one, but wondering if anyone's seen/got a copy of any RL playbooks?

Obviously not expecting to have one that's for this season or anything, but interested to see how clubs have structured their play. What sections do they have in? Are they specific about their sets or do they just work to general principles?

If anyone has a digital copy they can share, that'd be hugely appreciated.

Is this the kind of thing that RFL coaching courses provide?

Have you asked them?

[Copa]

Skills, drills and plays … apparently 

https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2015/03/31/complete-league-coach-and-player/

“350+ skills, drills and plays all with instructional video and coaching commentary are included as well as 270+ ready-made sessions.“

Edited November 7, 2022 by Copa

[sentoffagain2]

   Rugby League is a simple game don't try to over complicate it.I would be surprised if there are more than a dozen moves so no need for playbooks.In my day we had two or three moves and spoke to each other on the field using a code word for the move so all the players knew what to expect.

[MattSantos]

29 minutes ago, Copa said:

Skills, drills and plays … apparently 

https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2015/03/31/complete-league-coach-and-player/

“350+ skills, drills and plays all with instructional video and coaching commentary are included as well as 270+ ready-made sessions.“

Cant get this to work.

Would love to see it if anyone has.

[Madrileño]

57 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

 simple game don't try to over complicate it.I would be surprised if there are more than a dozen moves so no need for playbooks.In my day.......

Sums up a lot of the attitude from the demographic on here. Completely out of date.

Top teams absolutely will operate with a playbook. Zylya's question is relevant and I would love to see one as well. 

[sentoffagain2]

9 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

Sums up a lot of the attitude from the demographic on here. Completely out of date.

Top teams absolutely will operate with a playbook. Zylya's question is relevant and I would love to see one as well. 

  Still think it's a simple game ,some players are better at reading a game than others.An ex international that i knew described the modern game as 5 drives and a kick.Despite having a pro career of over 20 years he would not pay to watch S.L.However a club does need two or three get out of jail moves to be used in close games but they are unlikely to come off more than twice a season.

[Man of Kent]

2 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Rugby League is a simple game don't try to over complicate it.I would be surprised if there are more than a dozen moves so no need for playbooks.In my day we had two or three moves and spoke to each other on the field using a code word for the move so all the players knew what to expect.

I've played tag at quite a high level and there's a load of moves & variations, and that's just an 8-a-side game played as a hobby.

I'd be surprised if RL doesn't have tonnes.

[zylya]

Thanks to all replies - not looking for drills at training, but looking at playbooks of set moves & shapes. I coach in both league and union and a few years ago the Japan union playbook for the 2015 world cup came out (a few years after the cup had ended) and was interested at the level of detail that went into it. I put together an attack playbook for one of my union teams this year and it ran to 26 slides and that's just the attack (but not including any scrums or lineouts).

I'm putting a league together for a university team nearby, starting with some simple stuff (kickoff formation, attack principles e.g. 2 lines of attack, defence principles, couple of simple set plans e.g. T1-3 work to one side, T4 double blocker play back the other way, T5 kick). Because some of them are so new to the game, it'll also have some key reminders (e.g. receiving kickoff: don't let it bounce out). Although I do occasionally get up there to run a session, I don't have the time to be there every week, so this is to help the senior players know what areas to cover at their training. I'm keen to see what things I might have missed that other teams put in, as well as just being interested in how pro teams (or even semi pro teams tbf) structure their gameplay.

[Red Willow]

There was a bit of a todo at Salford many years ago. It was when Karl Harrison was coaching and we had been relegated, it was said that an ex employee of Salford handed over the playbook to another club (not Leigh)

 

[The Vet]

12 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Cant get this to work.

Would love to see it if anyone has.

That app is no longer available, I used to have it but haven’t coached in years, it wasn’t about game plans etc it was just demonstrating different skills

[MZH]

12 hours ago, Madrileño said:

Sums up a lot of the attitude from the demographic on here. Completely out of date.

Top teams absolutely will operate with a playbook. Zylya's question is relevant and I would love to see one as well. 

I'd be very interested to see if any teams use a playbook as such, I actually don't know if they are a thing or not. It's not American Football where most of plays are meticulously designed. A lot of RL is simply playing what you see and knowing what to do in certain situations. Teams will have a general idea of in this set we want to work from point a to point b, but the game is too fast paced to be structured to that extent. Every team will have a handful of pet plays that they like to call at certain times, but is that enough to constitute a playbook?

[Madrileño]

1 minute ago, MZH said:

I'd be very interested to see if any teams use a playbook as such, I actually don't know if they are a thing or not. 

They do.

They are.

 

 

[MZH]

3 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

They do.

They are.

 

 

So what sort of things are in them? I've never heard a coach or player refer specifically to a playbook.

[Viking Ste]

I used to have a copy of the Phil Larder coaching handbook, I imagine it’s still on my dads bookshelf. If I remember rightly, it is about 250 pages of very convoluted moves

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, MZH said:

So what sort of things are in them? I've never heard a coach or player refer specifically to a playbook.

Team Principles - in attack, in defence

Set plays (exit sets, strike plays etc)

Roles and responsibilities of players in certain positions/roles. eg: markers; who steps into dummy half if 9 has scooted and is on the floor; winger on which carry etc.

Kick return - roles of individuals. Calls whether to pass, or run. Where contact should take place on kick return etc. 

Strategy within different zones of the field.

Defensive setup in different zones of the field. eg: how many in backfield, where they are positioned. 

Defensive system: alignment on what shoulder (if any), who goes forward on defence. Where your markers go off a tackle. When tackle is complete, where the 3rd man retreats to in the system.

That is literally off the top of my head. The list though, could be endless. 

Even half serious amateur teams will use a playbook. Suggesting pro teams wouldn't is just nonsense. 

Coaches use them to force responsibility onto players, and remove any excuses such as "I didn't know what we were supposed to do here". No professional coach is going to operate without one. It is 2022, not the 1980s. 

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, Viking Ste said:

I used to have a copy of the Phil Larder coaching handbook, I imagine it’s still on my dads bookshelf. If I remember rightly, it is about 250 pages of very convoluted moves

It was a seminal work at the time with regards to rugby league. 

[MZH]

5 hours ago, Madrileño said:

Team Principles - in attack, in defence

Set plays (exit sets, strike plays etc)

Roles and responsibilities of players in certain positions/roles. eg: markers; who steps into dummy half if 9 has scooted and is on the floor; winger on which carry etc.

Kick return - roles of individuals. Calls whether to pass, or run. Where contact should take place on kick return etc. 

Strategy within different zones of the field.

Defensive setup in different zones of the field. eg: how many in backfield, where they are positioned. 

Defensive system: alignment on what shoulder (if any), who goes forward on defence. Where your markers go off a tackle. When tackle is complete, where the 3rd man retreats to in the system.

That is literally off the top of my head. The list though, could be endless. 

Even half serious amateur teams will use a playbook. Suggesting pro teams wouldn't is just nonsense. 

Coaches use them to force responsibility onto players, and remove any excuses such as "I didn't know what we were supposed to do here". No professional coach is going to operate without one. It is 2022, not the 1980s. 

Fair enough. Obviously those are all things that a team will work on in training and will vary slightly from one team to another. Most teams tend to go about things in a similar sort of way, but obviously different coaches have slightly different philosophies about certain things. I suppose I've just never considered that they have an actual play book to document it all.

[zylya]

2 hours ago, MZH said:

Fair enough. Obviously those are all things that a team will work on in training and will vary slightly from one team to another. Most teams tend to go about things in a similar sort of way, but obviously different coaches have slightly different philosophies about certain things. I suppose I've just never considered that they have an actual play book to document it all.

I hear what you're trying to say around the training aspect and you're right - it's essentially just a method for coaches and players to all stay on the same page - so a coaching team will have all their principles written down so that there's little variation between coaches etc. Also an easy reference.

[The Blues Ox]

 

On 07/11/2022 at 14:00, Red Willow said:

There was a bit of a todo at Salford many years ago. It was when Karl Harrison was coaching and we had been relegated, it was said that an ex employee of Salford handed over the playbook to another club (not Leigh)

 

Funny you mention that but I have a Salford manual on my computer from 2000, not much in the way of plays in it but it gives a good idea about culture and nutrition etc.

[sentoffagain2]

47 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

 

Funny you mention that but I have a Salford manual on my computer from 2000, not much in the way of plays in it but it gives a good idea about culture and nutrition etc.

   Not in the playbook but just after one of my teamates signed for Fax they had a Cup Game at home to Wigan.Les Pearce was coach and he had a dozen metal dustbins painted in Wigan Colours red and white hoops and during training had the players sidestepping and swerving round the dustbins.Fax lost to a good Wigan side but it certainly put a smile on the players faces.

[Archie Gordon]

1 hour ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Not in the playbook but just after one of my teamates signed for Fax they had a Cup Game at home to Wigan.Les Pearce was coach and he had a dozen metal dustbins painted in Wigan Colours red and white hoops and during training had the players sidestepping and swerving round the dustbins.Fax lost to a good Wigan side but it certainly put a smile on the players faces.

But did they beat the dustbins?

[Red Willow]

7 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

 

Funny you mention that but I have a Salford manual on my computer from 2000, not much in the way of plays in it but it gives a good idea about culture and nutrition etc.

If it was from 2000 I would imagine it was more about going to the pub or running the pub. The coach at the time had a few issues.