PRE-GAME Round 4 - Warriors vs Broncos

[abashii]

It's interesting all the Broncos' articles list Dale as having a calf strain but the member emails show him in the casualty ward with a hamstring injury. Either way it'd be great to see hom back in the squad, hopefully at left centre.

 

[Unbreakable]

Hopefully he comes in for Reed :P

 

[Brozilla]

Am i misreading the article or is there a possibility Copley could be named in the squad this Sunday?

 

[Super Freak]

Or he could replace Maranta..

I know we still have Reed, but at least Maranta would be gone and we would have two reasonably good finishers on the wing.

 

[Brozilla]

Or he could replace Maranta..

I know we still have Reed, but at least Maranta would be gone and we would have two reasonably good finishers on the wing.

I wasn't overly impressed with Copley on the wing though. I think he's suspect under the highball as well.

 

[rnabokov]

Copley to centre, Reed to wing.

Reed on the wing worked well last year. He showed he can cut it out wide, and when he pulls his finger out, he is a strong runner, way faster than Vidot, better instincts than Maranta, a better defender than Vidot or Maranta, good under the high ball and bats it back well, and knows how to finish ... when he pulls his finger out.

Copley is a centre and not a winger. Like Kahu is not a winger.

Play people in their best positions.

 

[K-Style]

Copley to centre, Reed to wing.

Reed on the wing worked well last year. He showed he can cut it out wide, and when he pulls his finger out, he is a strong runner, way faster than Vidot, better instincts than Maranta, a better defender than Vidot or Maranta, good under the high ball and bats it back well, and knows how to finish ... when he pulls his finger out.

Copley is a centre and not a winger. Like Kahu is not a winger.

Play people in their best positions.

Old turnstile Reed? Can he catch a highball? Im not sure Copley can either but I dont see him as a winger either.

 

[Foordy]

Old turnstile Reed? Can he catch a highball? Im not sure Copley can either but I dont see him as a winger either.

Reed is actually decent under the high ball ... not as good as Maranta, but still decent

 

[Kimlo]

I seriously hope Reed or Maranta are replaced and not Oates.

 

[Unbreakable]

Reed is the only viable option to replace I think, Maranta has obviously been super solid so far this year, virtually no mistakes and hasn't bombed any tries either really.

Oates has been decent as well, game winning try against the Eels and made some good metres against the Cows.

 

[rnabokov]

Old turnstile Reed? Can he catch a highball? Im not sure Copley can either but I dont see him as a winger either.

Did you watch him on the wing last year?

 

[morganmorgan]

Just saw the weather forecast for auckland. Chance of showers! Will this help or hinder us?

 

[K-Style]

Did you watch him on the wing last year?

I can't remember him on the wing. I don't believe the turnstile stuff but since I heard I have seen him miss one or two. I don't put the one that went between him and Milf on Jack's shoulders either because if he took that tackle then Oates had to cover 2 players. That was Milfs tackle. The worst I can say about Reed is that he should have passed it to Oates at one very obvious point in the game.

The one person we talk of replacing him has some defensive issues of his own and has been known to hog the ball also.

 

[Taylor1921]

If the broncos want to beat the warriors, we can be taking one man hit ups, the forwards need to be passing like we did in the cowboys, we need to run the warriors out of the game.. That's how you beat them. Not one up bullshit. Once we do that, we let hunt and milf destroy them like we did to the cowboys. To be honest I feel a win... I'll be at the game aswell so we better wing or else it's a long drive back with a car full of warriors supporters.

 

[rnabokov]

How's this for media rubbish:

"... Even without Tomkins the New Zealand side have more quality than the Broncos right now, and at home should be too good. Warriors by 8."

http://www.nrl.com/warriors-v-broncos-preview/tabid/10874/newsid/84846/default.aspx

 

[Broncoman]

The Warriors looked very fragile in defence out on the left side when I watched them last Saturday and we could exploit them there with Copley and Oates running of Milford.

 

[Ari Gold]

You mean their right? Their left is a bit better and Copley and Oates would be up against their right side defence.

 

[Mt Smart]

Hard to say what the Warriors strengths and weaknesses are so far as it's been a largely inconsistent and unremarkable set of performances thus far. IMO Tomkins has been a step above from last year and his absence will be notable, despite what Porthoz might think of him.

Here's my observations of the Warriors, though some of these impressions are from last year:

They like to push when the game is in the balance, the Warriors fight a lot harder than they did in the pre-Macfadden days. One of the features of their defence is that rather than just using line speed, they are specifically coached to have the first man hold up the ball carrier and then two defenders come in and push. Runs from dummy half or one up hit ups where there's only one guy lining up to take it will be punished if the game is in the balance.

They also like to push from the scrum once per game. Usually went it's least expected or when the game is in the balance. They have a decent success ratio at it too.

SJ has been horrible this year. He's also carrying a left arm injury. He's also worse when he plays without Tomkins. Their right edge attack is their go to area when Tomkins is in the team and Lolohea doesn't have the same chemistry, even if he is a half by trade. Allwood is also an average player and isn't the same threat that Hurrell is.

Hoffman has improved their left edge attack. He's especially dangerous from fast play the balls as the threat is there to go wide to Vatuvei and that opens things up for Hoffman.

Their right edge defence will be very weak this week. Allwood has 2-3 games experience and Jonno Wright isn't much chop. He's tall, so it's a bad idea to bomb to him, but you'd run down that edge all day if you're smart. I can see Glenn scoring a try this weekend.

Lolohea is not a natural fullback or winger and his high ball prowess is not as good as a result. He spilt one last week against the Eels. Vatuvei lacks a bit of acceleration too. Ideally you'd bomb between Lolohea and Vatuvei to create confusion. Neither is nailed on to take it and putting it between them will just create more confusion and possibly expose any potential lack of confidence Lolohea has under the bomb.

Their only centre is Kata who looks dangerous but is still a rookie. Needs to be watched in attack but Hodges could take advantage of him defensively.

Leileui looks a bit more dangerous out of dummy half than Friend so poor marker defence is more likely to be punished. He set up a try on the weekend for Lolohea by taking advantage.

All in all this is a very winnable game though.

This post is more accurate than anything you will read in media opinion about the where the 2015 Warriors are at.

Your post about the Warriors last outing was bang on too but you didn't talk about the secound half of the game against the Eels Ari but in short Tomkins went off and the right edge defense fell apart with the reshuffle.

Tomkins has become our Lockyer, such is the degree that he is the link man in the defence and the attack that the Warriors this season will struggle to win games without his timing and direction (he was missing against Newy and we were woefull....against the Eels Tomkins goes off and the Warriors fell apart).

Wigan couldn't win a thing without Tomkins and it has become so for the Warriors ( he plays as the play maker and organizer....after last year Tomkins and the Warriors now seem to understand what he can do).

This game is the most important of the regular season to Warriors fans in terms of the history. The Dynasty that was the Broncos is what we grew up on.....that game in 1995 is what old boys like me relive every time the Warriors front Brisbane.

I can't wait for this clash. Hoffman/Mannering/Thompson have been a formidable trio for us, Hoffman is the form forward for the Warriors closely matched by Mannering, Thompson has added a lot of starch too....I have always rated the Broncs tacklers in the middle, the clash between the back rows will be epic.

I don't expect a win for the Warriors. Too much lost with Tomkins out.