Round 24 - Broncos Vs Storm - Build Up Thread

[Alec]

Why are you so opposed to re-shuffling the team in defence? I remember the last time we did that, we won the premiership.

 

[Big Pete]

Why are you so opposed to re-shuffling the team in defence? I remember the last time we did that, we won the premiership.

It was one change and both defenders happened to be good in their respective positions.

At least constantly speaking. Hunt/Hodges would swap over if the option wasn't working out.

 

[Kaz]

Why are you so opposed to re-shuffling the team in defence? I remember the last time we did that, we won the premiership.

But we had better players & WB as coach.

 

[Alec]

Whether Norman defends at centre or at 5/8ths, he'll still be in just about the same position.

 

[Big Pete]

Not really, centre is defensively one of the toughest positions to adjust to.

Norman is already a s**t defender, up against the likes of Cronk, Slater, Chambers etc. I'd get bloody scared.

It really would be Joel Moon v2

But yeah, I'll leave it at that. I'll keep my mouth shut until Friday.

 

[Kaz]

Whether Norman defends at centre or at 5/8ths, he'll still be in just about the same position.

What, standing under the goal posts, waiting for Smith to convert a try. :001_tt2:

 

[Old Mate]

The thing is it isn't much of a shuffle at all, your fb is amongst everything during attack then drops back in defense, the difference is Hoffman drops back in defense? It's no biggie. On the 5th have Reed and Beale drop back, no dramas at all.

 

[Jeba]

Come on guys he finally said he'd keep his mouth shut!! Roll with it!!!!

 

[rnabokov]

For mine, both Hook and Bellamy know all they need to know about how to win and lose this match.

For starters, Slater's game is not all that different to Barba's, so obviously, that's one thing Hook has had to address in his game plan. Otherwise, Slater (with the help of we all know who) will shred us. (We all saw how easily Barba broke through Wallace's tackles for 2 of his tries.)

In the most simple terms, our losing streak has been mostly because of poor defence. In this case, stats are relevant. To quote the NRL.com match preview:

"Tellingly, Brisbane averaged 29 missed tackles and 13.5 ineffective tackles per game between Rounds 1-16, when they sat third in the NRL ladder, but have averaged a whopping 44 missed tackles and 15.3 ineffective tackles per game since."

Clearly, that has to be where the team's major effort has to focus, defence, and keep that focus for the whole 80 minutes. Or, we will get flogged big time.

Whilst I agree with Coxy in his post above about the positives of Norman Hunt, Wallace and Macca as our "spine", for mine, it was the passing amongst the forwards AND the support play/bodies in motion, AND the defence, that were really impressive last week... for 20 minutes.

I don't really know how much that had to do with Norman at the back, but it was certainly due to a major change to the way our forwards played, and in doing so, set up our wider runners.

That's what we need to do, and for 80 minutes, to beat the Storm, in fact, any team.

We showed v Dogs what we can do in 20 minutes, and that is, we can be a real premiership threat, if we can do it for 80.

No matter what, I am again backing my team. Go the mighty Broncs!

 

[Porthoz]

1. Norman is a mediocre fullback. He had a solid game on the weekend but there were faults there that I can see being exposed by sides like Melbourne & Manly. I don't see any potential of him at the back and really just see it as a stop-gap.

Norman is a worse 5/8 than fullback, and although his defense at fullback is a worry, it's no worse than when defending in the line. He makes up for that with his superior ability in attack when compared to Hoffman, who has shown he doesn't have the instinct to be at the right place when a loose ball or an offload creates an attacking chance. Norman is the best Bronco in that dept! Besides he has a kicking and passing game far superior to Hoffman.

2. Not a fan of the proposed shuffling technique, sides has enough problems without having to worry about shuffling every set.

Yes, agreed here. Both players need to be able to settle into their new positions rather than try to maintain a high risk shuffle, especially against sides who will take advantage of it

3. I want to see a combination of Norman-Hunt given a run. Wallace did nothing to justify his spot on Sunday and has been in career worst form for ages.

What exactly has Norman done to justify his position? Besides having nothing in attack as 5/8, he has nothing in defense either. At least Wallace still has defense and regardless of his crap decision making process, stays involved and doesn't disappear from a game...

This may not prove the magic bullet, but with the available troops, no play-makers of interest on the market and the fact Beale is leaving, I'd rather see a combo Norman-Hunt-Wallace-Macca gaining experience for the future, and have at least a dig this year!

 

[Mr Fourex]

We showed v Dogs what we can do in 20 minutes, and that is, we can be a real premiership threat, if we can do it for 80.

No matter what, I am again backing my team. Go the mighty Broncs!

Well said.....

 

[noisetheory]

No matter what, I am again backing my team. Go the mighty Broncs!

hear hear!

 

[Mr Fourex]

At least Wallace still has defense and regardless of his crap decision making process, stays involved and doesn't disappear from a game...

I'll tell you what Porthoz, he's losing that too .......Barba shrugged him off to score amongst the 5 tackles he missed on Sunday.

 

[Porthoz]

I'll tell you what Porthoz, he's losing that too .......Barba shrugged him off to score amongst the 5 tackles he missed on Sunday.

All true, and I'll be the last person to say Wallace is performing at any satisfactory level. The worst part is that having said that, he is still outperforming Norman... :001_unsure:

Apart from flashes, Norman has not ever shown he will be more than a Sutton type 5/8, with a good game once in while in between mediocre performances. But if Hook manages to get his defense on par, he can become a damn good fullback, who will give us the X-factor option from the back we are lacking now with Hoffman... Besides, it gives Hunt a chance to make the halves position his own, and to build a partnership with Wallace and Macca.

Hoffman on the other hand has 3/4 written all over him, and can become as much of a weapon as Yow Yeh is (when fully fit).

As I said before, it may not work this year, but I'm willing to go through some (more) pain, for the potential gain!

 

[noisetheory]

WE GOT THIS

 

[Bucking Beads]

I reckon we will win this one. It will be one of our finest wins ever as well. Backs to the wall and injuries battering our side.

 

[Dexter]

Hoffman isn't the source of our attacking woes though. This idea that our ineptitude inside the opposition is his fault is clearly wrong. Hoffman is lucky to get his hands on the ball twice a game in that field position when his halves are continuously taking one out hit-ups, throwing forward passes or kicking it into the opposition's leg. That's what I take umbridge with, Dexter's post.

Why not have the best of both worlds and go with Beale? It doesn't seem like rocket science.

I'm not sure why you take umbridge with my post. I never said Hoffman was the sole reason for our lack of points but it is telling that the last 2 games he was out both players who filled in scored. One off the second man play he seems incapable of doing and one from backing up which he seems incapable of doing.

His sole attacking ploy recently has been to run a line for a Wallace inside pass. Now, I don't want to be to hard on the kid but that shows a lack of intelligence.
The one person I wouldn't want to be passing me the ball in that scenario is Wallace because the defence is on it like a fat boy on cake and he has been getting his arse smacked every time he runs it.

You say Hoffman isn't the problem then say you would like Beale ( so would I and have done for months now) to go to fullback.

 

[rnabokov]

All this talk about Norman and Hoffman, and Beale for FB. It's really hard to make much sense of what I consider to be the somewhat downwards spiral of both Norman and Hoffa. I think I sense Hook's motives for not playing Beale there, given we are clearly trying to sort out a critical position - Beale won't be here next season.

Maybe Norman has an ego problem which clouds his decision making, accounting for his constant Sutton-esque running at the line when passing would be the better option. Maybe he just hasn't got what it takes to be 5/8, and as another poster observed, he is in a way being compared to Lockyer, or at least to achieve a little bit more of what Locky offered the team.

So given that Norman has played at the back before, there is some logic in moving him to FB, especially since Hoffa also has his own issues. Maybe it's the deliberate battering he's taken of late, especially by Inglis; maybe it's that as many have observed over this season, his timing in 2nd man plays has been way off.

Whatever, I can't see any better option than playing them as selected, given that I have no doubt Hook will use both in different roles at different times. I guess we need to work out the FB position for next season in particular.

And, about what people think that we are poor in attack in the opposition red zone, here's an interesting stat, again from the game preview on nrl.com:

" In fact, no side in the Telstra Premiership is as lethal when attacking the line as Brisbane with an NRL-best 46 tries scored from within 10 metres this season."

Interesting. No doubt that stat can be significantly bettered when our FB asserts himself a lot more up front a la Barba, Slater, Bowen, Stewart. Also, it's bleeding obvious that the top 4 of the top sides have creative, assertive FB's.

Broncos by 3, or 23 if Slater gets a few good hits like Hoffman has