PRE-GAME Round 23 - Broncos vs Sharks

[Donald Garner]

Top 2 would be amazing but I'd be satisfied with a top 4, which is a long-long way from being sealed. The good news is we play the 2 teams we are in a battle with for a top 2 spot on the run home so it's all up to us rather then other results

Top 3 I'd be happy with. Really want to avoid 4th and the storm first week of the finals. I just did the ladder predictor. Going on form of other teams we can drop one game and still be in top 4 but we can still finish as low as 7th if we have a bad run.

I'm really nervous about this game. The boys would have got some confidence from last night but the Titans we're woeful. Sharks will be much better. If we beat them on Friday I'm happy to say we are a chance this year. Lose a tight one and we are still in it but get belted and we are just making up the numbers!

 

[GCBRONCO]

Definitely, we got to back it up against the Sharks but also need to be a convincing win. I don't care if the margin isn't huge I just want to know that the boys come out firing and when in a position to go on with it do so. The keys are our defense and our forwards looking to dominate and continue to build confidence through that because I feel if we do that we can beat them in attack and we will win.

 

[2ndPhase]

If we can back up this week with a convincing performance than I'll dare to believe again. Apart from Melb, the rest of the top 8 are inconsistent. If we can keep playing at 80-90% we are an odds on chance of winning into the finals. As much as it's up to us we should be doing all we can for a top two finish as others have mentioned. It's actually weird that we are so close to the top of the ladder with what I see as generally pretty average form from our boys.

The last few weeks have reinforced that nearly everyone is very beatable if we can bring our A game. And hopefully we won't see a performance like last week again this year and that rubbish attitude is now out of the system.

Sure Hunts form at 9 is too early to call, however what we lose in a bit of D without Macca we likely gain 10 points a game with Hunts scheming at 9. If we can settle our D and maintain an attacking attitude we are a solid chance of winning purely on scoring more points than the opposition. Our achilles will be what was exposed last week. If we stink it up in the middle then we don't have the composure in the halves to wrestle the game back. Keep our middle tight and we are very likely. Now beating Melbourne is something else all together.

 

[winslow_wong]

I'll tell you who needs to step up now that joffa is out. Korbin Ashton sims.

 

[PerthBrissy987]

I'll tell you who needs to step up now that joffa is out. Korbin Ashton sims.

With Haas , Fai , Offa , moose and possibly Lodge do we even need sims ?

 

[Mitch06]

With Haas , Fai , Offa , moose and possibly Lodge do we even need sims ?

We need him for the rest of the season and finals? Both is what is being discussed.

 

[Kyall]

Korbin needs to go back to the bench.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Judging by the ladder predictor, assuming we beat the Sharks, we absolutely must beat the Cowboys in Townsville in R26 if we want to finish 2nd. Otherwise our good graces rest in the hands of the Roosters opponents in the same round....The Titans. *Barf*

Our fate is truly in our own hands now. The difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd in our premiership chances is canyon wide.

 

[Horseheadsup]

Judging by the ladder predictor, assuming we beat the Sharks, we absolutely must beat the Cowboys in Townsville in R26 if we want to finish 2nd. Otherwise our good graces rest in the hands of the Roosters opponents in the same round....The Titans. *Barf*

Our fate is truly in our own hands now. The difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd in our premiership chances is canyon wide.

Didn't realize it was in Townsville.
Bloody.

 

[pagey]

Didn't realize it was in Townsville.
Bloody.

I think we got the cowboys covered

 

[Stix]

Didn't realize it was in Townsville.
Bloody.

If we're up for it we'll win convincingly without JT. That guy just finds a way to **** us over

 

[PerthBrissy987]

Didn't realize it was in Townsville.
Bloody.

We need to finish second you would think having 2 finals at suncorp will help alot

 

[Morkel]

With Haas , Fai , Offa , moose and possibly Lodge do we even need sims ?

I've been on the Sims rollercoaster. Excited when he was signed, exceeded expectations to start the year, but had cooled on him over the past couple of months. I'm now back to appreciating what he brings, as I assume Bennett does, and see how he uses him.

I think he was forced to do too much work at the Knights. His stats were a fair bit higher than they are with us, but he'd drop a lot of ball and give away stupid penalties and just appear to be lazy and not putting in (hence why Knights fans were happy to see him go). I think with him though he's certainly not like a McGuire, who gets better the more minutes he plays, Sims' effectiveness doesn't so much taper off as much as it drops off a cliff. Bennett knows this, and is using him wisely. He knows that he'll get worn down, but instead of worrying about him getting found out, he basically dares the opposition to tire him out, because he hits like a fucking hammer. "Run at him if you want, you'll tire him out, but you'll still be feeling it next week and when he comes off, one of the younger, more dynamic players will come on to run over you". He'll only make 5 runs and 10 tackles in his first stint, but that's enough to do his job, and there's not much he can do to improve those tackle numbers - if you watch, the opposition players often refuse to run at him.

He's excellent in terms of dominating tackles and rarely gets dominated himself. He's actually a pretty good offloader too. But he's far better starting, absorbing the initial venom, than coming on after 20 and being surrounded by fatigued players and getting tested laterally. He also normally gets a big rest, so is almost completely refreshed for his second stint.

 

[Super Freak]

If we're up for it we'll win convincingly without JT. That guy just finds a way to **** us over

I wouldn't bet your house on that. Cowboys didn't even have a bench against the Storm and look how they went..

Compare that to how we went.

Morgan tends to **** us over more than Thurston.

 

[Tatus]

Let's hope your players are focusing on the cowboys game too this week. 2 points will make my trip that much sweeter.

 

[Super Freak]

Let's hope your players are focusing on the cowboys game too this week. 2 points will make my trip that much sweeter.

I'm sure you will walk away with a big smile on your face.

The Broncos aren't going to win this game. We just can't beat any of the top 4 teams at the moment, especially teams with a strong defence. With Maloney due back that will make it even harder for us.

Complacency after a big win is a real issue for us.

 

[PerthBrissy987]

I'm sure you will walk away with a big smile on your face.

The Broncos aren't going to win this game. We just can't beat any of the top 4 teams at the moment, especially teams with a strong defence. With Maloney due back that will make it even harder for us.

Complacency after a big win is a real issue for us.

Soooo negative

 

[Tatus]

I'm sure you will walk away with a big smile on your face.

The Broncos aren't going to win this game. We just can't beat any of the top 4 teams at the moment, especially teams with a strong defence. With Maloney due back that will make it even harder for us.

Complacency after a big win is a real issue for us.

That's my line of thought too, but it can go one of two ways (surprise, surprise).

Your troops will be confident and looking to see where they stand a few weeks out from the finals... Or, they take their foot of the gas and come in expecting an easy win.

A little stat falling into our favour is that the Sharks haven't lost 2 weeks in a row. Hopefully we can continue that trend and get back to winning.

A big loss for the Sharks, even though he is just a rookie, was losing Brailey to a broken jaw. For such a young fella he was very composed from dummy half, gave good service, and didn't overplay his hand... although his goal like defence was getting exposed in the weeks leading up to his injury