PRE-GAME Round 4 - Warriors vs Broncos

[BroncosAlways]

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

What a joke.

 

[Ari Gold]

Yeah the Eels definitely got back into the game once Tomkins went off. The Warriors have lost their only full match without Tomkins and the period where he was off they were outscored 16-0.

Honestly think we should win this, but with Matulino and Hoffman in the forwards and SJ behind them, they definitely can't be underestimated.

 

[bazza]

I wish Copley was in for Reed. I was one who was willing to give Reed a go under Bennett, however he's just not offering as much as he did since his rookie season. Remember the game Copley had against the Warriors last season. Absolute beauty. The amount of opportunity Reed got against the Cowboys and he still wasn't able to capitalise on it was pretty alarming. Copley would of sliced through on most of those occasions.

I also don't get the constant commentary, especially from Ray Hadley and Wally Lewis, of Reed being the best defensive centre in the game and how he time and time again defuses the attack down his side of the field with brilliant tackles. All I've seen in the past few seasons is arm grabs without any use of the shoulder. I don't know whether that's due to his shoulder injuries or not, but to be known as a defensive specialist, he is a pretty average defender.

 

[1910]

Stats:

Eden: 11 hit ups, 118m, 3 offloads, 2 tackles, 3 missed.

Parcell 10 hit ups, 101m, 45 tackles and 1 miss, 1 try.
Anderson 13 hit ups, 132m, 7 tackles, 2 misses and 1 try

Molo 11 hit ups, 96m, 20 tackles and 1 miss.

Parcell has made 118 tackles in three games for 3 misses. Scored 3 tries, 333m from 36 runs.

Souths stats weren't sent through.

 

[Foordy]

just judging by the stats and it seems that Parcell is really putting his hand up for a crack at the NRL

 

[rnabokov]

just judging by the stats and it seems that Parcell is really putting his hand up for a crack at the NRL

Judging by the way Niko played last week, Parcell will have a hard time getting a spot.

 

[bazza]

I know Nikorima has been going good, but I'm still not completely sold on him as a hooker. I still believe he is a natural half or fullback and I just hope were not stunting his development by doing another Ben Hunt and playing him out of position. I think he should develop as a half or fullback, as in my opinion that's where his future lies.

 

[Unbreakable]

If we wanna save some money on the salary cap we should not re-sign McCullough and just promote Parcell to starting hooker, he seems above average defensively with 5x the attacking ability of Andrew.. and he's way younger.

 

[Big Pete]

Two years doesn't make him way younger.

Parcell has to play first grade first, then we'll talk about him replacing Macca.

The grass is too green in Ipswich.

 

[Unbreakable]

2 years 11 months.

I'd love to see him get a crack in the NRL this year, just to see how he handles it, let's hope for a 2 week minor ankle sprain from Macca at some point so we get a taste test.

 

[Big Pete]

May want to check your maths, still 2 years is 2 years in Rugby League.

That's pretty scummy to be honest Unbreakable.

I assume you're not a Buddhist?

 

[Unbreakable]

It's the same principle as Copley getting injured not being a horrible thing because we got to see how Oates was going this year, and now he's outplaying Reed and may force him out of the side when Copley gets back, which would probably not have happened this season without the minor injury to Dale.

If it takes a minor injury for us to get a look at Parcell and he comes in and outplays Macca in every aspect, we'll be thanking the Rugby League gods.

 

[BroncosAlways]

I know Nikorima has been going good, but I'm still not completely sold on him as a hooker. I still believe he is a natural half or fullback and I just hope were not stunting his development by doing another Ben Hunt and playing him out of position. I think he should develop as a half or fullback, as in my opinion that's where his future lies.

After years of hating having Hunt come off the bench, I honestly believe it helped him in the long run - in a few ways that is.

For example, look at him defensively. The bloke regularly takes down men twice the size of him with ease, I remember the bulldogs game last year where he manhandled Williams and even made a one on one strip on the big guy. Now I dare say without all those games defending in the middle contributed to that. Now with Nikorima being the size he is I reckon it's good giving him some time in the middle defending against the big body's of the NRL. I don't however want to see him linger at bench hooker for too long, but for now it's alright.
He'll have a good test ahead of him this weekend and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Big Pete]

There's a fine line between silver linings and actively hoping somebody on your own team gets injured.

If I was Morkel I'd have a field day with this...

But plenty of ways for Parcell to break into the team, choosing the low-road will only anger the footy gods.

I made a similar warning in 2012, we all know how that panned out.

 

[Brozilla]

It would be complete speculation but how well would Parcell go in the top grades? Surely he couldn't handle the defensive effort.

 

[rnabokov]

I know Nikorima has been going good, but I'm still not completely sold on him as a hooker. I still believe he is a natural half or fullback and I just hope were not stunting his development by doing another Ben Hunt and playing him out of position. I think he should develop as a half or fullback, as in my opinion that's where his future lies.

The way he has been playing he looks like a natural hooker as well. We also have enough halves. I thought Niko really stood out last game and I am so looking forward to watching his progress. His speed in getting the ball out was spot on and it set up Kahu's try

 

[rnabokov]

.... and I guess if he can also play in the halves and at the back then he is an ideal utility - just what we need.

 

[broncos4life]

.... and I guess if he can also play in the halves and at the back then he is an ideal utility - just what we need.

Yep. For mine Kiko is the ideal bench hooker/utility. Adds speed around the ruck in small bursts and can cover an position in the backline if injury strikes. Perfect!