2014 Ladies and Gentlemen

[D-Man]

Hi Guys,

First time poster, long time observer...

Just want to know your thoughts on Kahu playing 5/8th should we not sign Milford, heard once upon a time that he was being groomed as Lockys successor...

 

[Nashy]

He needs for more game time outside before that should even be considered. His NRL experience is low, his injury rate is high. If he can overcome injury, and get some decent game time, then we can see what sort of player he is.

 

[Waynesaurus]

Reed got to know with Hoffman, that all he had to do was get Hoffman the ball and Hoffman would usually do the rest and score the tries. So, Hoffman to left Wing outside Reed.

I think Hoffy is good for Reed, he is always reminding him not to hog the ball.

 

[pagey]

I posted this elsewhere, but this is my 2014 side...

Until recently, I thought Hoffman would go best filling in at right Centre for Hodges next season. After seeing how Corey Oates is going, I'd be keen to give him a run in at right Centre next year (really in a Gene Miles type role) with either Yow Yeh or Kahu outside him (or Copley pending pre-season form). Reed got to know with Hoffman, that all he had to do was get Hoffman the ball and Hoffman would usually do the rest and score the tries. So, Hoffman to left Wing outside Reed.

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Oates
5. Kahu/JYY/Copley
6. ? (Milford)
7. Hunt
8. Hannant/Kennedy
9. Macca (vc)
10. McGuire
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c)

14. Granville
15. Thaiday (vc)
16. Kennedy/Hannant
17. Dodds/Tasi/Lui/Stagg

only thing i would change is have hannant and kennedy starting props and thaiday in with gillett on bench and rotate between them and parker , glenn . and i reackon hala would be in my prop rotation

 

[GCBRONCO]

JYY on the wing, I have doubt he would be up for that under the high ball he will have a hard enough time making a comeback without worrying about that. If he makes a comeback its in the centres or maybe 2nd row.

 

[Steve Renouf]

just don't criticise others for their choice of positivity or negativity.

Isn't that what you started doing when you first replied to me originally? :laugh:

Anyway, welcome to my ignore list.

Good idea, if you kept reading my posts it could interfere with your karma as I prefer to sugarcoat my breakfast cereal, rather than reality.

 

[Allo]

A slightly different list/side. I'm going purely by who we DEFINITELY have on our books for next year, not who I want or including rumoured players. Now I'm not sure on how up to date the site is, especially regarding the lesser known guys, but being Zero Tackle, you kinda trust it. This is our top 25 squad next year of 100% done signings (again according to ZT)

1. Barba
2. Oates
3. Reed
4. Hoffman
5. Yow Yeh (contracted, but y'know)
6. Taylor (only other definite half signing)
7. Hunt
8. Hannant
9. McCullough
10. McGuire
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker
14. Granville
15. Thaiday
16. Stagg
17. Hala

Copley and Kennedy are notable exclusions: Copley noted as being to end of 2013 and Kennedy I don't think has officially signed the dotted line unless I'm missing something. (wasn't listed either, but throw him in at 18. as he's a formality)

Of course Milford is still way up the in air

I'm not sure on the likes of Kahu, Dodds, Cullen, Molo, Drew, J Wallace, Gibb, Whitchurch (all ?s on the site). Georgetown, Dalziel-Don and McLean the only other '?s' but I'm assuming they were single year deals for 2013 like Bond, Kemp, Tasi etc

Positives from the list are really more the absences: Anderpson, Maranta, Wallace, Lui, Norman. Some nice dead wood gone there. Prince has played ok so I'm not lumping him in with those nuffies

 

[azza]

JYY on the wing, I have doubt he would be up for that under the high ball he will have a hard enough time making a comeback without worrying about that. If he makes a comeback its in the centres or maybe 2nd row.

Yeah we should be looking at bringing him back in the centres next year now that Hodges is out. It might take a while to get back like his last one so we should be ready for that. I also would like a real winger playing instead of Oates tbh.

 

[hidethesuspect]

Yeah our depth is a problem. If you have to play your 2nd rower as a centre and also a second rower as a winger then you are not managing your depth players very well. There is something to be said for some of our players bad form playing out of position, some just don't cope well with it.

 

[Harry Sack]

Good points. I've hear it said many times about the current Broncos squad that we have a team of athletes, not a team of footballers (Not even very good athletes either atm, **** we need to fire that conditioning coach). The majority of our players are interchangeable. Which is good to an extent, but you wind up with a bunch of Gidleys. Jack of all trades types who aren't especially great at any position, but could have been if developed correctly.

 

[Broncoman]

No matter how strong our strongest on-field squad is and no matter how good the new signings are if they aren't used and trained properly more of the same will be expected. I hope missing the finals is a real wake up call for everyone involved and they come back with a real determination to turn it around.

If I was given the first grade team for the off-season this what I would do.

1: Thin the players down, some of them don't look match fit and it's affected their game and agility
2: Bring in a new attacking plan
3: Have a military style 36-48 hour camp at Canungra or the Glass House mountains. Some of the guys seem to have lost confidence and each other and a camp will be a great asset. A weekly bonding session on a weekday night, go out to a movie, dinner etc
4: Make Parker captain, Thiaday isn't captaincy material IMO
5: Get the players to know no-one fears or rates the Broncos anymore and how it's up to them to turn it around
6: Make the off-season as enjoyable as possible, make the players turn up with a big smile on their face with a confident attitude.

 

[Alec]

Biggest change for the playing group that we need is to have a completely new defensive attitude. Despite the whole year being pretty pathetic, I think defence was by far the biggest let down. I can't imagine us keeping Kearney for next year, so whoever replaces him as the defensive coach will hopefully do a far better job.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Biggest change for the playing group that we need is to have a completely new defensive attitude. Despite the whole year being pretty pathetic, I think defence was by far the biggest let down. I can't imagine us keeping Kearney for next year, so whoever replaces him as the defensive coach will hopefully do a far better job.

Definitely, the defensive stats this season have been absolutely pathetic for us and its a trend we desperately need to reverse next season.

 

[Broncoman]

Disagree that defense is a major problem. Just compared the stats from last year to this year and last year our attack was the 8th best in the competition with 481 points, currently we are 11th placed with 400 points. Last year we had the 6th best defense last year with 441 points conceded (18 per game) currently we are 9th placed in points conceded with 440 points (19 per game).

Our big weakness lies in attack and the inability to score points behind a forward pack when at it's strongest contains 4 players that are Origin and Test regulars, a Kiwi international and a future Origin bolter.

 

[Porthoz]

Bman, we have he highest missed tackle average in the NRL, worse than the Eels. We are second last in the amount of meters conceded just ahead of the Eels, our ruck defense is softer than any other team, our line speed is more often than not non-existent, and defence is not our main problem? :scared:

You can put the 10 tries difference in attack to Maranta too...

If you're going to compare, compare this season with 2011, not 2012.

 

[john1420]

Let's just agree that attack AND defence is our biggest problem, and the only thing we get consistently right is getting off the team bus on time :loool:

 

[GCBRONCO]

Not to mention the line breaks conceded have skyrocketed over the past seasons and that we are conceding on average 20.3 points a game this season making it hard to win any match particularly the tight ones. Scoring points is great and all, but if your defense isn't upto scratch you will still lose or draw a lot more that you should have won, thats clearly been shown the past two seasons.

 

[Alec]

I think our attack has actually improved since 2012, especially after we booted Norman and Wallace out of the halves.
Defence definitely dropped significantly though. In fact how many recent games did we fail to win after dominating in attack early on?