2024 pre-season discussion: Pre-season Premiers

[Mustafur]

I watched the first half of the second Penrith game last season recently and noticeably we were more dominant than Penrith for a fair chunk of that half and noticeably Ezra seemed a lot more. Oval and controlling that game without really taking much of a kicking load. For sure I agree he should remain a 6 for as long as we can keep him there but I don’t think he will be entirely useless. I just don’t think it’s a position where 21 year olds possess the skillset to be successful. You see it in lots of sports in playmaking positions. Look how much he has improved since he debuted he has that much time plus some till Reyno leaves so he has time to get there, nobody expects him to currently be of that ability. I think if Madden and Coby shit the bed we have no other choice but to play Ezra at halfback we just won’t be in the market for a quality halfback unless we shit the bed with retention over the next few years.

I’d still play Jock and Coby at 7 with the hopes they can get the best out of Ezra. If Mozer lives up to his hype and Ezra and Walsh continue to grow we don’t need a dominant halfback at all, they just need to be a premiership quality kicker and be vocal enough and smart enough to guide players around. They don’t necessarily need to put together 25 try involvements a season like Reyno currently is. Ezra only had 9 try assists last year imagine if his skillset could get to a stage where he was 15-15 (tries-try assists) by the end of the year. If he can get to that and Mozer can manipulate and control a game from dummy half we will eventually get to a stage where Mozer, Ezra and Walsh will be calling the shots from there positions. You have to remember we currently have a very controlling lock. I think it’s not going to be a difficult job to be a halfback in this side I do however think it will be a difficult job convincing Ezra he doesn’t need to be the halfback in this side.

For me I have reservations on moving Mam to 7 because I feel he can be the next Munster as a 6, his natural running ability is soo good it feels counter intuitive to try bring play making into his game atleast for the next few seasons.

Working on his kicking game sure, but the rest will more than likely put him in too many minds for options when he has it right atm.

 

[McHunt]

This ****

 

[BroncsFan]

This ****

Dogs / rorters recruitment officer on the prowl

 

[Johnny92]

I watched the first half of the second Penrith game last season recently and noticeably we were more dominant than Penrith for a fair chunk of that half and noticeably Ezra seemed a lot more. Oval and controlling that game without really taking much of a kicking load. For sure I agree he should remain a 6 for as long as we can keep him there but I don’t think he will be entirely useless. I just don’t think it’s a position where 21 year olds possess the skillset to be successful. You see it in lots of sports in playmaking positions. Look how much he has improved since he debuted he has that much time plus some till Reyno leaves so he has time to get there, nobody expects him to currently be of that ability. I think if Madden and Coby shit the bed we have no other choice but to play Ezra at halfback we just won’t be in the market for a quality halfback unless we shit the bed with retention over the next few years.

I’d still play Jock and Coby at 7 with the hopes they can get the best out of Ezra. If Mozer lives up to his hype and Ezra and Walsh continue to grow we don’t need a dominant halfback at all, they just need to be a premiership quality kicker and be vocal enough and smart enough to guide players around. They don’t necessarily need to put together 25 try involvements a season like Reyno currently is. Ezra only had 9 try assists last year imagine if his skillset could get to a stage where he was 15-15 (tries-try assists) by the end of the year. If he can get to that and Mozer can manipulate and control a game from dummy half we will eventually get to a stage where Mozer, Ezra and Walsh will be calling the shots from there positions. You have to remember we currently have a very controlling lock. I think it’s not going to be a difficult job to be a halfback in this side I do however think it will be a difficult job convincing Ezra he doesn’t need to be the halfback in this side.

Patty also plays a big role as well, watching his Mic'd up he's organising the forwards like a half back.

 

[McHunt]

Here's the stream address (official Broncos Youtube channel), comes live around 3:45pm

https://www.youtube.com/@nrlbrisbanebroncos/streams

 

[Nerd]

Fox sports has an article about Campbell Graham missing half the season and they list Karapani as a potential replacement for Souths … despite him being named in a Broncos team THIS weekend. Clearly no research required to be a RL journalist lol.

It's Newscorp mate, research and facts are optional for their journo's.

 

[Fitzy]

For me I have reservations on moving Mam to 7 because I feel he can be the next Munster as a 6, his natural running ability is soo good it feels counter intuitive to try bring play making into his game atleast for the next few seasons.

Working on his kicking game sure, but the rest will more than likely put him in too many minds for options when he has it right atm.

Nonsense, if he isn’t going to bring a playmaking style into his game then there is no point having lethal options on his edge. You can’t expect a 6 to score 18 tries a season, it’s just not a realistic target year in year out. He is reigning 5/8th of the year, on a large contract and put one of the best grand final performances of all time together. He needs playmaking ability full stop.

Playmaking isn’t just shouting at players, it’s a passing game, it’s putting your hard line running second rower through a gap, it’s a short grubber for a goal line drop out. How can we possibly continue to give a crucial member a free pass from learning his job. Reyno is here to make sure when he ***** it up he gets it right the next time, why would you waste a whole year (or more) of his development alongside Reyno not growing that facet of his game. If he isn’t good enough to make the right decision whether to run, pass, kick or let someone else come in and make a play (e.g. Walsh, Billy, Selwyn, Reyno) on 800k a year than he simply does not fucken deserve the hype. It’s his job and he has to start figuring it out. If he doesn’t figure it out in the next 2 years he will shit the bed just as badly as Milf did without a top line halfback.

I agree with the notion the preference is to be a 5/8 that’s my preference as well, but a 5/8 still has to be able to decide, make and control plays to a high standard to win comps.

Not expecting improvement and development of players in areas of there game is how you end up falling back down the pack. He has so much and I mean SO MUCH more to improve on and he is already one of the best players in the game. You don’t waste time developing a player like him when you have Reyno alongside him. There is a very big difference between being a lead playmaker and having a high level playmaking ability, Milford was the former that was his downfall. Can’t keep making fundamental errors in our operations based off issues of the past, these players are not them.

EZRA MUST CONTINUE TO GROW HIS SKILLSET REGARDLESS OF WHAT HIS FUTURE POSITION ENTAILS.

 

[BroncsFan]

Nonsense, if he isn’t going to bring a playmaking style into his game then there is no point having lethal options on his edge. You can’t expect a 6 to score 18 tries a season, it’s just not a realistic target year in year out. He is reigning 5/8th of the year, on a large contract and put one of the best grand final performances of all time together. He needs playmaking ability full stop.

Playmaking isn’t just shouting at players, it’s a passing game, it’s putting your hard line running second rower through a gap, it’s a short grubber for a goal line drop out. How can we possibly continue to give a crucial member a free pass from learning his job. Reyno is here to make sure when he ***** it up he gets it right the next time, why would you waste a whole year (or more) of his development alongside Reyno not growing that facet of his game. If he isn’t good enough to make the right decision whether to run, pass, kick or let someone else come in and make a play (e.g. Walsh, Billy, Selwyn, Reyno) on 800k a year than he simply does not fucken deserve the hype. It’s his job and he has to start figuring it out. If he doesn’t figure it out in the next 2 years he will shit the bed just as badly as Milf did without a top line halfback.

I agree with the notion the preference is to be a 5/8 that’s my preference as well, but a 5/8 still has to be able to decide, make and control plays to a high standard to win comps.

Not expecting improvement and development of players in areas of there game is how you end up falling back down the pack. He has so much and I mean SO MUCH more to improve on and he is already one of the best players in the game. You don’t waste time developing a player like him when you have Reyno alongside him. There is a very big difference between being a lead playmaker and having a high level playmaking ability, Milford was the former that was his downfall. Can’t keep making fundamental errors in our operations based off issues of the past, these players are not them.

EZRA MUST CONTINUE TO GROW HIS SKILLSET REGARDLESS OF WHAT HIS FUTURE POSITION ENTAILS.

100% agree... we need his edge to be a serious threat.

At the moment Walsh is our biggest threat and Ezra is ridiculously good at support play and seeing it happen to be there. His instincts on that are ridiculous.

That's ok when you're a rookie in your first year or so of footy and you've got Reynolds and Walsh around you, but he now needs to work out his tools and what works best for him.

His speed is elite and he has shown his cut out ball sporadically since debuting.

I would love to see his running game evolve this year.

A lot of the time last year we'd go to his edge but when he got the ball they were already all over him and it would die... would like to see us work on that where he's getting it in space and putting the opposite second rower and half under serious pressure.

If he can get that show and go working it's basically shut the gate... he had it working in the grand final so maybe that's a sign of things to come.

That becoming a serious threat opens up all his other options

 

[Johnny92]

100% agree... we need his edge to be a serious threat.

At the moment Walsh is our biggest threat and Ezra is ridiculously good at support play and seeing it happen to be there. His instincts on that are ridiculous.

That's ok when you're a rookie in your first year or so of footy and you've got Reynolds and Walsh around you, but he now needs to work out his tools and what works best for him.

His speed is elite and he has shown his cut out ball sporadically since debuting.

I would love to see his running game evolve this year.

A lot of the time last year we'd go to his edge but when he got the ball they were already all over him and it would die... would like to see us work on that where he's getting it in space and putting the opposite second rower and half under serious pressure.

If he can get that show and go working it's basically shut the gate... he had it working in the grand final so maybe that's a sign of things to come.

That becoming a serious threat opens up all his other options

I think with Selwyn at centre next to him could free up some space for him. Herbie you knew he'd cut back inside so the defence didn't need to slide to cover, Selwyn will try beat you on the outside so the opposition have to make sure they cover that.
Piakura is also probably a more dangerous attacking threat then Capewell was.

 

[McHunt]

I think with Selwyn at centre next to him could free up some space for him. Herbie you knew he'd cut back inside so the defence didn't need to slide to cover, Selwyn will try beat you on the outside so the opposition have to make sure they cover that.
Piakura is also probably a more dangerous attacking threat then Capewell was.

Yep, so pumped seeing life after Herbie, with his cutting inside and running straight at the defence, every time.

Selwyn will motor straight ahead, stick out his paw, knock them on their arse and run 99 metres to score.

 

[Big Del]

I reckon Ezra has been under instructions to KISS .
ie Keep it simple stupid .

If you go back and watch his high light reels he has many more tricks in his bag than he has shown us in NRL .

He has a grip on the ball that means he is ready to pass long or kick in behind the defence . He can kick with either foot .

Very early in his carreer he did a thing where he was tackled , but deliberately landed with his elbow / ball off the ground and flick passed off his back to Herbie who scored . That was when I realised this kid is sumpin special .

Those flick passes he did last year are the tip of the iceberg .

 

[McHunt]

I reckon Ezra has been under instructions to KISS .
ie Keep it simple stupid .

If you go back and watch his high light reels he has many more tricks in his bag than he has shown us in NRL .

He has a grip on the ball that means he is ready to pass long or kick in behind the defence . He can kick with either foot .

Very early in his carreer he did a thing where he was tackled , but deliberately landed with his elbow / ball off the ground and flick passed off his back to Herbie who scored . That was when I realised this kid is sumpin special .

Those flick passes he did last year are the tip of the iceberg .

I expect he'll chance his arm more this season, and consequently his error rate will go up. He'll cop some criticism for high risk plays if that's the case. Like Walsh.

He's also a big fish now, on big money, with a head to match. No more under the radar, he'll have a ten foot target on his back. They will run at him, hit him hard and try to injure him. Reynolds knows all about that.

Speaking of which, I also expect Reynolds to shed some of his some load onto Ezra. That means more boot to ball.

 

[Fitzy]

I reckon Ezra has been under instructions to KISS .
ie Keep it simple stupid .

If you go back and watch his high light reels he has many more tricks in his bag than he has shown us in NRL .

He has a grip on the ball that means he is ready to pass long or kick in behind the defence . He can kick with either foot .

Very early in his carreer he did a thing where he was tackled , but deliberately landed with his elbow / ball off the ground and flick passed off his back to Herbie who scored . That was when I realised this kid is sumpin special .

Those flick passes he did last year are the tip of the iceberg .

That’s all skill elements alone that are currently in his game. We are talking about evolving areas of his game like unlocking players outside him, calling plays, building pressure. The best way to unlock his dangerous running game is by unlocking the lethal players around him, anybody over commits on him and he needs to be making sure Piakura, Selwyn and likely Oates capitalize. He needs to know when to give early ball, when to hold the defensive line up and dish it. All these things that do need to become a part of his game to bring the best out of his edge and himself. If you can do everything sharply, creatively and deceitfully you become the most dangerous of players and everything becomes easy for you.

Obviously to a degree he has to keep it simple but the stuff that needs to be implemented in his game is very simple stuff, it’s about putting away your outside men and making the right decisions time and time again. Start improving his kicking game alongside that other stuff and all of a sudden he isn’t just one of the best 5/8ths in the game he is one of the best players full stop. It’s about integrating and improving a greater bag of tricks that will allow him to be an 800k player every game regardless of whether his running game is at its very best or not.

We aren’t fucking around anymore he does not have much time to be in a position where his hand can’t be held anymore. He needs to make sure he has a skillset that if we don’t have a helpful halfback he can be just as effective on his own still.

He is very capable of it and it’s pretty simple stuff, it’s all about exposing yourself to these situations, can’t hide behind a curtain and not integrating these skills into match play and then get a rude shock when you eventually find out they aren’t adequate enough when Reyno has fucked off.

 

[winslow_wong]

Has anyone seen the giant mural of patty carrigan and Reynolds in the valley? Spotted it today as I drove past. Season is coming.

 

[McHunt]

 

[Wild Horse]

I'm drunks guys I need your help lol. When is the livestream? Where can I watch it? Cheers.

 

[BroncsFan]

I'm drunks guys I need your help lol. When is the livestream? Where can I watch it? Cheers.

 

[BroncsFan]

I'm drunks guys I need your help lol. When is the livestream? Where can I watch it? Cheers.

Can watch it here mate