POST GAME Round 1 - Cowboys vs Broncos

[Unbreakable]

Do I dare commend the referees last night? Game flowed well, no howlers from the on-field refs or the bunker, no square up penalties.

Hopefully a sign of things to come..

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

Had to love at Kevvie at the end, saying that Broncos got the win but don’t forget the Cowboys are without McGuire. Bloke is bitter as ****.

Cause there's stuff going on behind the scenes right now . . Someone is trying to unseat the current coach

 

[Jedhead]

1. Isaako - Considering his very late callup, he can hold his head high. Yes he cramped up and cost us a try, it didn't cost us winning, so what. He deserves credit for what was a very solid performance. 6
2. Oates - Very poor start for old Corey. Took the lazy option every time and it cost us every time. The Cows started targeting him intentionally at one point or another because they knew how shaky he was under the ball. Might need a stint in reserves to fully get over this infection he's had but might wanna be looking over his shoulder a bit. 4
3. Staggs - Had a few nice touches plus a try, can't recall any errors from him off the top either. Would still like to see a bit more communication between our backs though and he is top of that list. 6
4. Boyd - Wasn't close to best on ground, but considering most of us were expecting airswings for days, he did pretty okay for himself. Made a crucial tackle late to help stop a try, still looks as slow as a crab laterally sadly, and still can't see a full strength world with him in it. 5
5. Arthars - Was our best backliner tonight. As stated there needs to be more line communication between them but Arthars seems to work well enough under the current arrangement to persist with. Good on him. 8
6. Milford - We're only one game in and I'm already loving what I'm seeing. he chose to go himself far more often than usual and picked the right option 90% of the time. So glad to see he is more free to play how he likes rather than being the puppet master. 8
7. Croft - He is my personal MOTM. Everything he did was exactly what we needed from him in the moment: every kick, every pass and every tackle. He is worth having there just for the pressure he takes off Milf. He might not be DCE, but he's good enough to win games with the pack he's behind. 9
8. Flegler - Another one who under the circumstances really lifted when we needed him to. Can't recall one lazy penalty he gave away and at one point led the game in power rankings. We will need more of it from him until Lodge returns, but I'm more than happy to leave him be to find his groove in the game. 7
9. Turpin - He gets my 2 points. His service from dummy half and ruck speed is a breath of fresh air after a gargle of Listerine. Should feel pretty safe as first option hooker. 8
10. Haas - To be honest, I struggle to see who can stop him taking the Dally M. Perhaps RTS if the Warriors can get into some sort of gear, but man oh man. This boy is a T-800. He will continue to gobble up metres and tackles all year provided he keeps injury free (oh god please), and his combination with the next man can be the best front row in the comp. 9
11. Fifita - Bow to the king. Pay him what he wants. All of those one liners, just find a way to make this boy stay put. He is the future of the club along with Haas. That try is just extraordinary for a player that is supposed to be a second rower. 8
12. TPJ - He loses points for once again wiping himself out of the game with a stupid act, but I would very much like to persist with his aggressive style and try and find a balance that works, because he really does intimidate the opposition and works them over in defence. The penalty was soft as **** to begin with and in the better days of the game used to be a fucking good hit. 7
13. Carrigan - He is clearly up there in the pecking order in terms of the leadership group and is heir apparent to Glenn for the captaincy. Imagine those idiots in the media having a crack at us for running out with such a young captain, I guarantee you that Carrigan is 2nd only to Fifita as a hot property on the player market. 8

14. McCullough - He did just about as much as we needed from him, which admittedly isn't much. Came on late to relieve a tired Turpin and made some good tackles. However one thing I did notice is how....unfit he looked. He has definitely put on a couple of kegs since the off season, and to be honest I think he looks like a player who realizes he is being transitioned out sooner or later. 5
15. Kennedy - Can't recall much from his contributions except a few good tackles which you know was enough to do the job, but he will be in a scramble to retain his spot with Hopoate once all of our regular forwards are back. he clearly has plenty of time to stake his claim though. 5
16. Hopoate - I liked what I saw, hit hard in tackles and took the tough runs when we needed it. As stated will be in the mix over the course of the season....If there is one lol 6
17. Farnworth - Did a swell job. Absolutely looks like the heir to Boyd's centre spot, and probably should already be there by rights. If Oates continues his downward trend, he will surely be in soon enough. Maybe Oates to the 2nd row has come and Farnworth straight in. 7

Excellent review mate. The only blemish was noting Herbie did a 'swell job'. This yankee utterance has no place on these boards.

Keep it up champ.

 

[winslow_wong]

I too liked the look of arthars. Seems to be a natural athlete and moves very well. Our right side actually looks very potent this season. Left side needs work, hopefully Boyd and Oates can get it together because we all know those two can create points.

 

[Browny]

Was it a shoulder charge on Macca or did he just bounce off JT13?

 

[Foordy]

Was it a shoulder charge on Macca or did he just bounce off JT13?

I thought it was a shoulder charge

 

[Strop]

I want to put out a post-game hat tip to the quick interview Haas did with 9 in the sheds. He is just a kid, but came across as thoughtful, thankful and having absolutely zero dickhead factor about him. He should be very proud of himself. Also nice to have two well spoken co-captains as the face of the club in their post match interview too. They were both just buzzing with genuine excitement but came across with a maturity far beyond their years. Good stuff.

 

[Jedhead]

I'm pleased Issako had a great game (loose carry excluded). His kick returns were mostly solid and the little offload with TPJ was great to watch.

I'm also pleased the team never felt the need to use the captain's challenge and (in a sort of old school way) accepted and respected the referee's calls. They could have challenged Herbie being tackled in the air while fielding a bomb, but apart from that the refs were pretty much spot on.

It's only game one, but Flegs looks like he has grown, matured and learned from last season. He is much faster retreating the ten after the tackle thus allowing himself time to reset for the next set. Last year he was being targeted for his lazy runs back and became a bit of a penalty magnet.

Turp's try last night follows on from his try in the trials where the defence went to sleep. It confirms that he is watching and scheming and this will be picked up by oppositions soon enough meaning he will attract more attention thus helping to free up his hole runners for that crucial extra split second.

Boyd was on there to help organise the defence. Well he needs to do a bit of overtime on his outside man (Oates) as he is still rushing in off his wing.

Early days, but our stupid and dumb plays from last year seem far less apparent. With three debutantes last night our overall defensive structures can only get better as the season goes on and combinations begin to gel.

The team deserve an overall 7/10 for last night. Well done boys, ruining the Cow's opening night was a added bonus.

The schadenfreude this morning is still off the charts.

 

[TariqT]

Mostly agree with everything everyone is saying, but there were a few standouts for me.

The team looked sharp with ball in hand. Getting the ball in traffic and pushing through the advantage line constantly, and often looking dangerous for an offload.
The forward pack played like a pack. I'm yet to see much of Carrigan but have been reading endlessly about what a champ of a player he is. I thought it was some kind of communal man-crush thing, but after witnessing his game last night - I understand the hype. He's a superb player, with great football intelligence and timing.
Croft looked great at halfback. That was an almost 10 performance. His defence was as solid as his game planning, and attack. First class.
The forwards, in general, looked really strong and were pushing the Cows back consistently at the point of contact. They looked up for that tussle every tackle.
Milfs kicking game once again looked sharp. Those bombs he throws up are becoming ever increasingly difficult to read, let alone catch.
Flegler and Kennedy were the surprises of the night for me. Last year their ball handling was shocking at times. Last night it was exemplary. They continually hit hard in defence and carried defenders in attack. They played excellently.
Arthurs was fantastic on the wing and when he came into centre. Awesome game reads and super energetic and enthusiastic in both defence in attack. He's a very skilful player.
Farnworth was good when he came on, but there was one thing he did in defence that was superb. They were shot on the right, and he somehow backtracked and jumped about 1-2 meters sideways to shut down a play and save a try. That kind of stuff is hard to notice, but to be able to do that takes a lot of strength, agility, but most importantly intelligence. He's a good player.
Boyd was solid (as I expected) and will continue to be so. He locked up the Cows attack down that side. If Oates had been playing more intelligently, Darius's game would have been even better.
Isaako was a revelation. Sure he dropped it at the end (I swear that was cramp - if you have never had a serious cramp don't comment. You'll be screaming for your neighbourhood to come help get it out if you get one if you're home alone), but his reading of the game from fullback looked a lot better from the wing. He got the chance to put attack into effect, and other that time the cows ran an obstruction (should have been a penalty a few times for that) he looked solid under the hight ball.
Team looked fit, committed, aware of their roles, and confident to put a game plan in effect. Which was much of what we were missing last year.

 

[ningnangnong]

How good was this though:

 

[broncos4life]

I agree with most sentiments people are sharing here, but I don’t understand people raving about Milford...
He did look free and unshackled but didn’t really do anything with it. He tried to have a few runs but was always easily contained.. a few offloads but certainly nothing special.
Not trying to be a downer.. they are positive signs and I hope they continue but I don’t see what some people are describing as a ‘transformed player’

You might not understand people raving about Milford, well I can’t understand anything you have said here. You do realise those runs, the staying alive in tackles and those ‘few offloads that are nothing special’ are what create opportunities for others and what breaks down defensive lines, right?The same things that have people staining their pants when guys like Munster do the exact same thing.

Seriously, the guy can’t win with some fans.

 

[Shane Tronc]

Cause there's stuff going on behind the scenes right now . . Someone is trying to unseat the current coach

Assume you mean for the cowboys? If so it looks like it. Green has to go, they are a rabble.

 

[Kyall]

I don't think Oates will last the season out on the wing at least. We have pure outside backs with the movements needed to be a winger. I see no problem putting him back to the bench as cover back up especially since he can come on in the forwards.

 

[Broncapz]

Our attack seems so much better with Croft guiding it and Milford being unlocked. Croft is a legitimate breathe of fresh air for our offense. We had periods of some really good defense too.
Isaako was immense last night, our forwards were outstanding across the park. We are making more use of broken play. We actually ran in support of offloads. Just overall more satisfying to watch for the most part when we had the ball.

We have the potential to leak points still, and with errors and the opposition landing passes we look like a good team on their day can put 30+ on us.

 

[pagey]

Next week will be much more of a test i would think. Still think some of the defence for their tries was way too sloppy. We had 20 points put on us by a pretty poor footy team which is a bit worrying, but you can only beat whats in front of you, and we did comfortably.

I wouldn't say they're poor, they can put points on any team . They are not a top level team but I think they have plenty of strike , but just missing a few ingredients.

 

[Shane Tronc]

Would also like to highlight how many great cover tackles and cleanup tackles Croft made. Was great to see.

 

[broncsgoat]

He also screamed out of the line which led directly to a cowboys try

 

[big k]

Mate he is just doing his job.... why would he be bitter as **** if he is one bad broncos season away from a coaching gig

We had Glenn, Bird, and Lodge out, but we were lucky they had McGuire out? That's not doing his job. On last nights performance, both teams at full strength maybe Broncos put 40+ on the Cowboys and don't concede as many as 21. It's probably all over by the 60 minute markeasily, but he's doing his job? He might wanna try not sounding like he is bitter