PRE-GAME Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys

[ostin86]

I don’t think Knik will get dropped all year.

That's a scary thought. I hope he is not our next Andrew McCullough.

 

[Harry Sack]

I don’t think Knik will get dropped all year.

Can see him getting benched at some point as Sproj has suggested though. Unless of course he's killing it.

 

[Art Vandelay]

You have to use what's available against teams. Tevita either has to be used for offloads or told to tuck his head in and hit the line as hard as he can. Thats how Offa is making the metres he does. I think he has the ability to get the ball away clean a lot of the time. Sure, he might throw some bad offloads but he will never learn when he can or can't by not trying.

I got the feeling against Melbourne that he probably could have offloaded on about 50% of his carries, but every time he had a glance behind him nobody had followed him. If Seibold is thinking long term it might be worthwhile telling TPJ to break off a 6-8 offload game if only to force opponents to commit an extra defender in the future.

 

[Eta Carinae]

I feel like our forward pack did really well against the majority of the good packs in the comp last year. We just struggle against Melbourne because their wrestling is far superior to ours. Because of that they get quicker play the ball which helps Can Smith look like an absolute genius whilst carving us up.

Struggled terribly in both games against the Dragons.

 

[The Strapper]

Removed

 

[Eta Carinae]

Edit: Quoted edited post.

 

[The Strapper]

Edit: Removed.

 

[winslow_wong]

I don’t think Knik will get dropped all year.

They are rep players for their respective positions. Unfortunately this looks amazing on their resumes and no one seems to be willing to drop rep players.

 

[Sproj]

They are rep players for their respective positions. Unfortunately this looks amazing on their resumes and no one seems to be willing to drop rep players.

Wasn’t Farah dropped at Wests while still NSW hooker?

DWZ from fb and captain to wing? McGuire to the bench at Cows? Pearce while NSW halfback (not sure on this one)? Crichton to the bench at Roosters?

 

[winslow_wong]

Wasn’t Farah dropped at Wests while still NSW hooker?

DWZ from fb and captain to wing? McGuire to the bench at Cows? Pearce while NSW halfback (not sure on this one)? Crichton to the bench at Roosters?

Farah I’ll give you. The others going to the bench and changing positions isn’t really dropping. Still in the team.

 

[Big Pete]

The only time you really see representative players dropped is when they're misbehaving off the field. The player who comes to mind is Michael Jennings who was dropped to Windsor in 2012. Michael wasn't playing good footy, but there had been a few off-field incidents that required him to get his head checked.

The same thing happened to Matty Moylan after he represented Australia in the Four Nations. He misbehaved down in Melbourne and found himself in NSW Cup. That was the moment I well and truly jumped off the Moylan bandwagon and the way he carried on afterwards was unprofessional.

DWZ from fb and captain to wing?

Edwards was always the first choice fullback at the Panthers and DWZ wasn't captain of the club.

McGuire to the bench at Cows?

It's unavoidable at the Cowboys, they've got an excess of representative forwards. Still, you'll find that Gavin Cooper came off the bench on Saturday and will likely fill the same role on Friday.

Pearce while NSW halfback (not sure on this one)?

What time frame were you thinking of? The only incidents I can think of is doggy gate and yellow dress gate.

Crichton to the bench at Roosters?

New club and coming back from a serious shoulder injury.

 

[Allo]

I'm happy with the subtle changes Siebs has made for this week. Tells guys that the pressure is on but doesn't disrupt team cohesion too much yet.

I wonder if at some point throughout the season we might see something like this:

1. Roberts
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Boyd
5. Isaako
6. Milford
7. Dearden
8. Lodge
9. Macca
10. TPJ
11. Fifita / Glenn / Su'A
12. Gillett
13. Joffa

14. KNik
15. Haas
16. Flegler/Carrigan (alternating to improve fitness / exposure, etc)
17. Glenn / Su'A / Fifita

I’d be happy for this, Jimmy would be interesting at FB. We know we’d at least start our sets at the 20-30m minimum instead of the 10.

A middle ground I want is the team you posted with Isaako at #1, Farnworth/Kennar/anyone on his wing + either Deardon or SoS in the halves.

Su’A 18th man. I know he’s coming back from injury, but he looks a good 10kg heavier than previous, and not in a good way.

 

[Big Pete]

The basic impression I get from Seibold is that he values his senior players, so guys like Darius Boyd and Andrew McCullough will be shown more leeway than fans will like. I don't think that same patience extends to the halves and while he'll give Kodi a month, if the Broncos are still struggling, he'll bring in Sean O'Sullivan. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if in Round 5 we see Seibold select O'Sullivan off the bench if the side is struggling. New coaches are typically less stubborn with their side and usually like to experiment with the 17. Even Wayne was like that in 2015 and wasn't afraid to rotate his bench just to get a feel for the squad in game day situations.

At best I see O'Sullivan as a solid alternative, but I don't think he's the type of half the fans want. The closest thing the Broncos have to that vision right now is Tanah Boyd and he's still acclimitising to the Queensland Cup and won't be available until the Sharks game in Round 16. Brisbane could of course upgrade him, but I don't see that happening and believe that Turpin and Dearden will be the players to come in the Broncos Top 30.

 

[Mitch06]

The basic impression I get from Seibold is that he values his senior players, so guys like Darius Boyd and Andrew McCullough will be shown more leeway than fans will like. I don't think that same patience extends to the halves and while he'll give Kodi a month, if the Broncos are still struggling, he'll bring in Sean O'Sullivan. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if in Round 5 we see Seibold select O'Sullivan off the bench if the side is struggling. New coaches are typically less stubborn with their side and usually like to experiment with the 17. Even Wayne was like that in 2015 and wasn't afraid to rotate his bench just to get a feel for the squad in game day situations.

At best I see O'Sullivan as a solid alternative, but I don't think he's the type of half the fans want. The closest thing the Broncos have to that vision right now is Tanah Boyd and he's still acclimitising to the Queensland Cup and won't be available until the Sharks game in Round 16. Brisbane could of course upgrade him, but I don't see that happening and believe that Turpin and Dearden will be the players to come in the Broncos Top 30.

What's the point of having Dearden in the squad if we supposedly have no intention of playing him until after mid year (St the earliest)?

 

[Mitch06]

I love how we kept Vunivalu out of the game. We need to do the same to the Cowboys and only kick to Bowen in the far right side when we are in their half. We rag-dolled Addo-Car and because of the back three's positioning, it's not practical for the opposite winger to come across for plays 2 and 3.

We put a dent in their set each time we kicked to Addo-Carr. Let's do it with Bowen and then smash Opacic and Kahu on 2. Keep Nene out of it.

 

[Chewed]

What's the point of having Dearden in the squad if we supposedly have no intention of playing him until after mid year (St the earliest)?

He hasn't even been playing in state comps at any level, I think he might be on a pretty big bulk up regime and I'd say he'll debut before years end. Browns 18 and been thrust into the starting 5/8 position for Eels, Dearden is the future.

 

[Big Pete]

What's the point of having Dearden in the squad if we supposedly have no intention of playing him until after mid year (St the earliest)?

The Broncos view Dearden as the future halfback of the squad and want to fast-track his development as quickly as possible. I was surprised the Broncos gave him a brief sabbatical, especially when his contemporaries played NRL level trials and backed up in the NSW Cup.

The Broncos are treating his development extremely seriously, and I haven't seen anything like it since the Cowboys took Ponga under their wing. Before Ponga, it was probably a tie between Manly and Will Hopoate who was on ridiculous Benji Marshall levels of money and Boyd Cornder from Sydney who signed for first grade money off his Harold Matts form.

 

[pagey]

He hasn't even been playing in state comps at any level, I think he might be on a pretty big bulk up regime and I'd say he'll debut before years end. Browns 18 and been thrust into the starting 5/8 position for Eels, Dearden is the future.

What about the others, Boyd and paix ?