Film Breakdown: Josh Byrne’s Chicken Wing
This is the confidence that Towers spoke of. Byrne knows that he doesn’t need to make some elaborate move to get around Pulver because he’s been getting wherever he wants all game.
What’s special about this move is it builds off of how he scored the second goal. Pulver tries to prevent the rollback overtop, by forcing him underneath. Byrne feels that pressure and changes his approach – get underneath.
The 6 ‘3, 200-pound, New Westminster, BC native uses his size to his advantage to get around his defenders. He turns his left shoulder towards Pulver, protecting his stick, and takes three hard steps, accelerating through his chest, which causes him to slip. A classic bull-dodge.
Since he’s dodging underneath along the left wing, his stick is naturally towards the inside, which increases his shooting angle. As soon as he takes that step towards the inside, it’s game over.
Furthermore, as a defender, you can’t make contact with the ball carrier five yards inside the restraining line and expect to stop him. If you watch Matt Rees who’s designated to slide, he’s unsure of when to go, but once he does, Byrne is already in too threatening of a spot.
The help is too late and not aggressive enough and if you want to stop a guy like Byrne – who averaged a hattrick in the NLL this past season – you can’t let him get within five yards with his hands free on a 6-by-6 net.
When referencing what was going through his mind during that play he said, “At the end of the day, I missed a bunch of shots towards the end there. Blazey [Blaze Riorden] bailed us out and made a massive save, and I couldn’t finish it for him, so I just felt like I had to take the ball to the rack.”
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
