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#Post#: 155812--------------------------------------------------
Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look like?
DIR By: dispatchesfromthestoop
Date: June 25, 2026, 3:38 pm
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Evening all,
New 'Dispatches' out looking at the sorts of shapes and themes
Brad Cooper utilised with the Hurricanes this past year:
HTML https://dispatchesfromthestoop.substack.com/p/what-is-brad-cooper-bringing-to-harlequins?r=72ypja
In short:
- basics executed with precision
- commitment to exploiting width and beating defenders to the
space
- huge variety in forward pod shapes.
Personnel differences are the caveat, but it's a taster of what
we might expect...
Aaron
COYQ
#Post#: 155817--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: mrpj1985
Date: June 26, 2026, 3:38 am
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--- Quote from: dispatchesfromthestoop link ---
>
> Evening all,
>
> New 'Dispatches' out looking at the sorts of shapes and themes
Brad Cooper utilised with the Hurricanes this past year:
>
>
HTML https://dispatchesfromthestoop.substack.com/p/what-is-brad-cooper-bringing-to-harlequins?r=72ypja
>
> In short:
>
> - basics executed with precision
> - commitment to exploiting width and beating defenders to the
space
> - huge variety in forward pod shapes.
>
> Personnel differences are the caveat, but it's a taster of
what we might expect...
>
> Aaron
> COYQ
>
--- End Quote ---
Great article, very informative. Wonder where our 'like for
likes' are and where we do need to re-assess profiles.
#Post#: 155821--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 26, 2026, 8:01 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Enjoyed the analysis. Watching the final, it was great to see
how effective Reuben Love is at 10 for them and he definitely
has a touch of the Marcus about him. Our attacking patterns have
been rudimentary at best for the last few seasons and the
enthusiasm to support hasn't been there; I really think Cooper
can have a huge impact for us. We do have some pretty impressive
ball playing carriers available to us at the moment but we
aren't making the most of them in a coherent attacking plan.
However...
I think your kicks-per-carry stat is a bit broken. No team kicks
more than they carry. 4.95 kicks per carry on average means that
we should've expected the Hurricanes, who made 169 carries in
the final, to have kicked it about 836 times(!)
But even if you assume it's actually carries-per-kick, it's
still not passing the sniff test. In the final they kicked it 22
times and carried it 169 times, 7.68 carries per kick. The stats
usually record the kicks:passes ratio, which was 1:10.6 in the
final.
Previous handful of matches prior to the final (per
HTML https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/hurricanes/):
136 carries to 22 kicks (6.18 carries per kick) & a k:p of 1:9.1
149 carries to 39 kicks (3.8 carries per kick) & a k:p of 1:5.7
122 carries to 28 kicks (4.36 carries per kick) & a k:p of 1:7.3
177 carries to 26 kicks (6.8 carries per kick) & a k:p of 1:9.7
for an average cpk of 5.76, or if you total the carries and
kicks, it's 753 carries for 137 kicks (5.50)
a quick glance at their earlier matches suggests the majority of
them lean towards the higher number of carries per kick, too...
#Post#: 155823--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: June 26, 2026, 8:20 am
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That's basically just a humblebrag that you work in a nice,
cool, air-conditioned office!
#Post#: 155824--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: dispatchesfromthestoop
Date: June 26, 2026, 8:24 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: JammyGit link ---
>
> Enjoyed the analysis. Watching the final, it was great to see
how effective Reuben Love is at 10 for them and he definitely
has a touch of the Marcus about him. Our attacking patterns have
been rudimentary at best for the last few seasons and the
enthusiasm to support hasn't been there; I really think Cooper
can have a huge impact for us. We do have some pretty impressive
ball playing carriers available to us at the moment but we
aren't making the most of them in a coherent attacking plan.
>
> However...
>
> I think your kicks-per-carry stat is a bit broken. No team
kicks more than they carry. 4.95 kicks per carry on average
means that we should've expected the Hurricanes, who made 169
carries in the final, to have kicked it about 836 times(!)
>
> But even if you assume it's actually carries-per-kick, it's
still not passing the sniff test. In the final they kicked it 22
times and carried it 169 times, 7.68 carries per kick. The stats
usually record the kicks:passes ratio, which was 1:10.6 in the
final.
>
> Previous handful of matches prior to the final (per
HTML https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/hurricanes/):
> 136 carries to 22 kicks (6.18 carries per kick) & a k:p of
1:9.1
> 149 carries to 39 kicks (3.8 carries per kick) & a k:p of
1:5.7
> 122 carries to 28 kicks (4.36 carries per kick) & a k:p of
1:7.3
> 177 carries to 26 kicks (6.8 carries per kick) & a k:p of
1:9.7
>
> for an average cpk of 5.76, or if you total the carries and
kicks, it's 753 carries for 137 kicks (5.50)
>
> a quick glance at their earlier matches suggests the majority
of them lean towards the higher number of carries per kick,
too...
>
--- End Quote ---
Thanks for the reply @JammyGit, here is a link to the stats, and
the source is in there (it comes from the RugbyPass team
comparison stats breakdown), in truth the reason i went for
carries and not passes was because the data for carries and
kicks is collated in the same place whereas passes isnt:
HTML https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dNrinoFDwHId6BK--f6ax2nRUR56Tt0e-FVWxuyQN54/edit?usp=sharing
And yes it was carries-to-kick ratio, doh!
#Post#: 155826--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: June 26, 2026, 8:49 am
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Great stuff. Makes it all the more frustrating that Marcus will
be riding the pine overseas when he could be getting used to new
systems in preseason.
#Post#: 155848--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 27, 2026, 7:23 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: dispatchesfromthestoop link ---
>
> Thanks for the reply @JammyGit, here is a link to the stats,
and the source is in there (it comes from the RugbyPass team
comparison stats breakdown), in truth the reason i went for
carries and not passes was because the data for carries and
kicks is collated in the same place whereas passes isnt:
>
>
HTML https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dNrinoFDwHId6BK--f6ax2nRUR56Tt0e-FVWxuyQN54/edit?usp=sharing
>
> And yes it was carries-to-kick ratio, doh!
>
--- End Quote ---
Got it. The mean of the ratios across the season is 5.15, the
median is 5.28. But yeah, the ratio when you sum all the carries
and kicks is 4.95. Not certain that's the most useful way to
calculate it (obviously not your fault, just Rugbypass data
being given that way). They played 18 matches and in only a 3rd
of them was their ratio under 5 carries per kick!
The super rugby stats site you link in the doc is some good
stuff. Canes really were top of the lot when it comes to clean
breaks, carries, and defenders beaten. The one that really
stands out for me is the offloads - only the Crusaders come
anywhere near, 181 to Canes 196. Next best is on 130! That's a
serious strength. Which is exciting, given that this club has a
pretty memorable history of what happens when we play an
offloading game...
Sadly the rugbypass stats site is not giving me what I want to
see the comparative stats for Quins, but I'd be hugely surprised
if our offloads were a decent number this season. The Opta stats
say 2/3rds of our offloads (number unknown) were successful, and
only 11.7% of them lead to a break or a try, which is pretty
awful.
Unfortunately the Opta site is also kinda broken and isn't
showing the Super rugby sides, which is a real shame as there's
some excellent stats to mine there!
#Post#: 155902--------------------------------------------------
Re: Summer 'Dispatches'...What does a Brad Cooper attack look
like?
DIR By: acfurness
Date: June 29, 2026, 8:33 am
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"I cannot go through another year of hearing people talk about
Quins not replacing the irreplaceable unicorn Andre"
This line should be made compulsory reading for all Quins fans.
Great article, be good to see how we employ his attacking
systems with our personnel.
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