POST GAME Round 4 - Broncos vs Raiders

[winslow_wong]

Almost as many as Milf dropped. Sorry I'm so pissed we are losing Hunt and keeping Milf. Homegrown vs bought and its always been clear which one puts in more effort.

Agree. Milf just has nothing to his game at the moment. No speed, can't kick, can't pass , questionable defence and no confidence which pretty much nullifies his footwork. He is cooked, I'm praying that he turns it around because he's our half for seasons to come.

 

[Morkel]

Notice how we found the grass a lot more with our long kicks tonight? We're definitely starting to mix it up, as every team has learned to pressure Hunt.

Hunt with 5 kicks, 130 metres.
Macca with 4 kicks, 101 metres.
Milford with 10 kicks, 254 metres.

 

[Mightybroncs2k17]

Macca is starting to add some attack to his game on top of his defensive load which is good to see. Taking his game to another's level. To me Roberts also seems to be finding his feet especially in defence. As for our overall performance id say it's the type of win you'd be stoked with in round one, it's just a little deflating following two solid perfmances. But maybe an ugly win is what we needed?

 

[Big Pete]

That completely skipped my mind @Morkel, Milford's kicking game showed promise and I'm honestly not that concerned by it.

I was also pleased with McCullough's assertiveness. It's not often he puts himself into first receiver and while the kick was too angled, he needs to keep at it.

 

[mitch222]

Let me just say this, I told you guys a couple of weeks ago maccas dummy and under the posts would work and it would be glorious and it fucking was glorious

 

[Dash]

Notice how we found the grass a lot more with our long kicks tonight? We're definitely starting to mix it up, as every team has learned to pressure Hunt.

Hunt with 5 kicks, 130 metres.
Macca with 4 kicks, 101 metres.
Milford with 10 kicks, 254 metres.

I can't recall a bad kick tonight. A much improved effort by all of our kickers.

 

[Morkel]

I don't get the Moga hate. It's not like he's had much to work with, he's really only had the ball down our own end, trucking out big metres early in sets, which is great to see. If milf comes good, we'll see what Moga is capable of.

As for his defence, he's better than most give him credit for. He's not easily beaten and if he gets a hand on his opposite more often than not he dominates the tackle. The Raider's right side attack is one of the most potent and unpredictable, and he was only half-beaten once, and that was after weight of possession to the Raiders.

 

[Wolfie]

Still recuperating.

I can't see him being 'ready' until the Origin period.

He is playing next week for Redcliffe i believe. He is still going to need a few games so origin time is going to be about right if everything goes to plan.

I think Moga is getting slowly worse tbh. He isnt poor, but he offers very little in attack, even compared to Reed or Opacic, and he has made some odd decisions in defence. If we had a replacement, i think he might find himself out of the side. It wouldnt be a bad thing for him. Its been a very tough opening for him and i think he has done well all things considered, but maybe a break might be the best thing for him.

AS for the performance tonight, it was pretty poor attack wise and very sloppy, but a wins a win. Starting to get a bit worried about Milf, he looks bereft of confidence but at least he isnt hiding. Our halves though still make some dumb last tackle options.

 

[mitch222]

Oh and another thing, my patience with moga is starting to run thin. Our left hand attack doesn't have a clue at the moment and it's mostly his fault with his positioning in attack. Hopefully opacic is back soon and can push his claim for a spot

 

[Unbreakable]

That's bullshit. He's without a doubt been poor for the last 10 or so games, but it's not by lack of effort.

And the fat label is just another "factoid" people throw around to make themselves look smart. Milford has always had a typical islander body, and has never, ever looked like a trimmed low skin fold body builder type.

I don't know what's going on, but his confidence is shot and so is his x-factor. People used to jump on Hook for killing any creativity our players had, but that is exactly what is happening now with Bennett ball, where defense is awesome, but we are super boring in attack, and just expect our stars to conjure enough points to win.

This has been Bennett's signature footy for ages, just look at the Dragons and ourselves when we didn't have the god of rugby league pulling constant rabbits out of his hat, with 2015 being the exception (Walters takes most, if not all credit for that).

We may well win a premiership, because good defense wins titles. All it takes is for us to go on a run at the right time, while our stars fire up at the business end of the season, but don't expect us to be entertainers under WB. It will not happen, because we don't have a Darren Lockyer to perform magic on the field, and Milford is nowhere near acomplishing that... yet (hopefully).

10 games or so? He's been poor since Round 9, 2016.. 20+ games

That's longer than any form slump I've seen, in any form of professional sports. And, yeah.. I'm calling Milford fat to make myself smart.. damn.. you caught me..

He's 100% fat, I don't care what you define as fat, I don't care that he's Samoan. Go look at him play for the Raiders in 2014, close to his optimal weight, the most electric runner of the football in the game. He needs to lose 5, 6, maybe 7 kilograms. His defence is even suffering because of it, the whole myth that you need to be stocky to be able to defend in the halves is the biggest load of shit I've ever seen, the best defensive players in the NRL are all lean, not stocky.

 

[Wolfie]

I don't get the Moga hate. It's not like he's had much to work with, he's really only had the ball down our own end, trucking out big metres early in sets, which is great to see. If milf comes good, we'll see what Moga is capable of.

As for his defence, he's better than most give him credit for. He's not easily beaten and if he gets a hand on his opposite more often than not he dominates the tackle. The Raider's right side attack is one of the most potent and unpredictable, and he was only half-beaten once, and that was after weight of possession to the Raiders.

Is there a lot of hate towards him?

I do agree he isnt getting much decent ball, be interesting to see how he does against some lesser opposition.

 

[Morkel]

Let me just say this, I told you guys a couple of weeks ago maccas dummy and under the posts would work and it would be glorious and it fucking was glorious

It was, and he very nearly had a second, too. Wins in Game 100, 150, and now 200 according to 9. From now on, every game is a milestone game for him. I'll make up a banner that says "Congratulations on Game Number... ... Macca" with interchangeable numbers. Someone must bring it to every game. And make sure the TV picks it up.

 

[Morkel]

Is there a lot of hate towards him?

I do agree he isnt getting much decent ball, be interesting to see how he does against some lesser opposition.

Seemed to be calls to drop him last week and ridiculous calls to drop him in favour of Marshall tonight if Opacic is not fit.

I had Opacic pegged as our long-term left centre going in to this season, as he seemed very comfortable to me on both sides of the ball, coming up with composed, smart plays. Not flashy, but reliable. Save the money and the flash for Oates. But right now I'm quite satisfied with Moga.

 

[Porthoz]

10 games or so? He's been poor since Round 9, 2016.. 20+ games

That's longer than any form slump I've seen, in any form of professional sports. And, yeah.. I'm calling Milford fat to make myself smart.. damn.. you caught me..

He's 100% fat, I don't care what you define as fat, I don't care that he's Samoan. Go look at him play for the Raiders in 2014, close to his optimal weight, the most electric runner of the football in the game. He needs to lose 5, 6, maybe 7 kilograms. His defence is even suffering because of it, the whole myth that you need to be stocky to be able to defend in the halves is the biggest load of shit I've ever seen, the best defensive players in the NRL are all lean, not stocky.

 

[Wolfie]

Seemed to be calls to drop him last week and ridiculous calls to drop him in favour of Marshall tonight if Opacic is not fit.

I had Opacic pegged as our long-term left centre going in to this season, as he seemed very comfortable to me on both sides of the ball, coming up with composed, smart plays. Not flashy, but reliable. Save the money and the flash for Oates. But right now I'm quite satisfied with Moga.

I'd agree with that. I do think some people forget Moga has had 3 knee constructions and its going to take him a bit of time to get things right.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

Oh and another thing, my patience with moga is starting to run thin. Our left hand attack doesn't have a clue at the moment and it's mostly his fault with his positioning in attack. Hopefully opacic is back soon and can push his claim for a spot

**** me mate lol 4 weeks and your patience is running thin.. haha the guy has come over from another club, different structures, back from long term injuries... players need confidence. Confidence comes from time. Time to find their feet and time to learn their place in a team.

 

[Super Freak]

Fucking Broncos couldn't score 19+ points.

I can't get the free big macs tomorrow.

 

[Big Pete]

I thought Moga was fortunate in that the Raiders preferred to predominately attack through Josh Papalii instead of testing Milford, Moga and Oates out-wide save for the lottery cross-field kicks. When they started setting up plays down that side, they made short work of that Milford-Moga fringe and it's becoming a very easy target to exploit.

In fairness to Moga, I much prefer him next to Milford than Kahu and believe he deserves until the Origin period.

The only other alternative is Seve and I don't think he's done enough to force his way into the first grade side.