POST GAME Round 13 - Rabbitohs vs Broncos

[Sproj]

Last night, up until the 17th minute mark we had been penalised and had a number of 6 again calls (think it was 6 or 7 in total) go against us that were simply explainable. Now taking into account we are not exactly setting the place on fire with our structures and set plays there was no way Souths could have been totally error free for the same amount of time.

After seeing the bunker rule Lodge played at the ball in the captain's challenge I switched off. Like many other successful challenges Lodge was not looking at the ball and was simply trying to make a tackle. The bunker clown's call was "Lodge showed intention to strip the ball"!

So does that mean he never intentionally stripped the ball but he was looking like he was planning to? The doubt in the bunker's call suggests cognitive dissonance in the decision he's made and it was enough for me to call it quits on the latest installment of the - 2020 Duping the Broncos show .

The "50/50" call when the Souths player was pushed over the sideline was a howler - even the Souths player knew the ball was still in play and he was moving and in danger of going out as he managed to get the ball offloaded albeit a second too late as he was now touching the line. Any other game the ref would have ruled that play on.

I'm not about to go through every contentious call, I'd be here all day Christ. However, over the last 10 weeks we have been shafted quite comprehensively by both the ref and the bunker. The fact we can all see the obvious ones, and whinge about never getting the rub of the green on the 50/50 ones suggests there is more to it than just 'the way the game is'. If that is the case, if that is the way the game is now I'm looking seriously for another sport to follow.

I can see the player's frustrations. They know it's happening. To train your butt off all week and then be caned relentlessly for the first 20 minutes to ensure you're fatigued and unable to compete on a level playing field is doing their heads in.

Why the club is not supporting these boys and drawing the NRL's attention to what is an obvious anomaly is mind numbingly baffling. I know they don't want to give the younger players an excuse to not try by saying it's the poor reffing of the game and not you. They don't have to worry about that if they raise it once and make it very strongly (10K worth strongly) and then having said their piece move on.

The younger players could cop that and would be less inclined to feel defeated knowing they're in an us against them situation. It's what our club was built on for God's sake!

But for the club to say nothing week in and week out is unforgivable, and just another sad indictment of how clueless the front office is at present. It really is a case of young lions being led by meek donkeys.

I can see most of our young guns are trying, they need the front office to show them some much needed support and simply raise the stats with the NRL and ask for a 'please explain'. Until they take strong and conclusive action on this and then resolve how to get rid of the rogue fraudster who is masquerading as a head coach whose ideas are systematically ruining our playing roster I'm switching off from the whole shitshow for now.

Rant over!!

You’ll be back next week because you love the club and it breaks your heart to see it like this and you live in hope that despite the coach these blokes will actually put in and show the same passion we all have at some point.

 

[Stix]

Last night, up until the 17th minute mark we had been penalised and had a number of 6 again calls (think it was 6 or 7 in total) go against us that were simply explainable. Now taking into account we are not exactly setting the place on fire with our structures and set plays there was no way Souths could have been totally error free for the same amount of time.

After seeing the bunker rule Lodge played at the ball in the captain's challenge I switched off. Like many other successful challenges Lodge was not looking at the ball and was simply trying to make a tackle. The bunker clown's call was "Lodge showed intention to strip the ball"!

So does that mean he never intentionally stripped the ball but he was looking like he was planning to? The doubt in the bunker's call suggests cognitive dissonance in the decision he's made and it was enough for me to call it quits on the latest installment of the - 2020 Duping the Broncos show .

The "50/50" call when the Souths player was pushed over the sideline was a howler - even the Souths player knew the ball was still in play and he was moving and in danger of going out as he managed to get the ball offloaded albeit a second too late as he was now touching the line. Any other game the ref would have ruled that play on.

I'm not about to go through every contentious call, I'd be here all day Christ. However, over the last 10 weeks we have been shafted quite comprehensively by both the ref and the bunker. The fact we can all see the obvious ones, and whinge about never getting the rub of the green on the 50/50 ones suggests there is more to it than just 'the way the game is'. If that is the case, if that is the way the game is now I'm looking seriously for another sport to follow.

I can see the player's frustrations. They know it's happening. To train your butt off all week and then be caned relentlessly for the first 20 minutes to ensure you're fatigued and unable to compete on a level playing field is doing their heads in.

Why the club is not supporting these boys and drawing the NRL's attention to what is an obvious anomaly is mind numbingly baffling. I know they don't want to give the younger players an excuse to not try by saying it's the poor reffing of the game and not you. They don't have to worry about that if they raise it once and make it very strongly (10K worth strongly) and then having said their piece move on.

The younger players could cop that and would be less inclined to feel defeated knowing they're in an us against them situation. It's what our club was built on for God's sake!

But for the club to say nothing week in and week out is unforgivable, and just another sad indictment of how clueless the front office is at present. It really is a case of young lions being led by meek donkeys.

I can see most of our young guns are trying, they need the front office to show them some much needed support and simply raise the stats with the NRL and ask for a 'please explain'. Until they take strong and conclusive action on this and then resolve how to get rid of the rogue fraudster who is masquerading as a head coach whose ideas are systematically ruining our playing roster I'm switching off from the whole shitshow for now.

Rant over!!

The commentary turning a blind eye shits me. If the same calls were going against the Eels or Roosters the commentators would be blowing up. Did anyone see Latrell lose the ball cold getting up from a tackle only for the ref to call a strip? They zoomed in on the replay, not a broncos hand anywhere near the ball! And it didn’t even get a mention from the commentators...The Broncos were never winning last night but **** me the referees are bad.

 

[Eli Suave]

Re: Croft.

His job was to run tonight. He didn't. If he's still not 100% then why play him?

More idiocy. Seriously, we're living in a fucking clown world.

The only thing Croft is running is the team into the ground. He has no kicking game no organising skills no IQ and couldn’t tackle a bag. He’s not NRL standard at all.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Personally I would like to see Staggs at 6, Tommy at 7. I think there is a good balance there.

 

[jarro65]

Personally I would like to see Staggs at 6, Tommy at 7. I think there is a good balance there.

Who would we put in at centre to cover Staggs ?

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Who would we put in at centre to cover Staggs ?

Im sure Arthurs would be alright in there

 

[McHunt]

The commentary turning a blind eye shits me.

They didn't on Nine. They questioned a number of calls.

 

[badyon]

Anyone else impressed by fat arse fifita getting smashed by Walker and that other noted hit man Gagai all night?

Got up fake smiling like a dbag who knows he is going to get that kind of shit non stop for the next 3 years.

 

[HarryAllan7]

Last night I watched my team concede a try from a tap restart. The last time I saw such a try was in Under 10's. Even then it was bad.

The opposition player... standing perfectly still...with our defensive line completely set and ready and in position... tapped the ball and threw it to a front rower... who simply... ran over the line.... and scored.

Oh... you say.. well surely this front rower was Glenn Lazarus? Payne Haas? Petero Civoniceva?
It must have been some mighty goliath of a man - a physical specimen and truly gifted footballer the likes of who we have never seen to score at will in such a scenario.

But you would be wrong. The culprit was Mark Nicholls - fringe first grade player and career fill-in.

But.. but.. but, you protest, there must be some explanation - some extenuating circumstances which lead to such an event! Surely our players were confused! Bamboozled! Distracted by some error of the referee which resulted in them not being aware play was live at the time of the try. This is like '6 Again' all over!

Again you would be wrong.

Well then surely it was bad fortune? One or more of our players slipped on a greasy surface, colliding with each other, bringing our entire defensive line to the ground in some grotesque Benny Hill-esque stunt to allow the NRL's Steven Bradbury to stroll over for a 4 pointer. Yes, surely that must be it.

But that is not it.

You fall to your knees weeping as the darkness closes in. This is being a Broncos fan in 2020.

 

[Brett]

I missed the game last night.
To save me reading through 8 pages, can someone surmise the match for me? Were we competitive? Any stand outs?

 

[McHunt]

Anyone else impressed by fat arse fifita getting smashed by Walker and that other noted hit man Gagai all night?

Got up fake smiling like a dbag who knows he is going to get that kind of shit non stop for the next 3 years.

Not really. I was hoping to find solace in him being over-rated, but he did what he always does for us: scored a solo effort try when everyone else was flailing. If it's any consolation, TPJ ended up with significantly better stats on paper (apart from the try), and no-one's exactly raving about him today.

 

[Broncos Maestro]

“I can’t fault the effort“

Yeah we’d have to get beaten by 50 every game from hereon to match that, I got over-excited...

The remaining teams must be itching to play us; they know they can dramatically improve their For & Against

 

[Allo]

I missed the game last night.
To save me reading through 8 pages, can someone surmise the match for me? Were we competitive? Any stand outs?

We were at times. Still conceded an overlap try on Staggs/Coates edge.

Ref was whistle and 6-again happy, and blatantly inconsistent against us, which didn’t let us get a look in for long parts of the game and resulted in huge momentum swings.

Lodge still looks underdone, bench usage was garbage again. Haas forced to play 80.

Dearden was bloody excellent, ran the line and sold some sweet dummies and broke through the defence a couple of times. just needs to improve his kicking game and he’ll be amazing

 

[Broncos Maestro]

The only thing Croft is running is the team into the ground. He has no kicking game no organising skills no IQ and couldn’t tackle a bag. He’s not NRL standard at all.

I really hate his last plays where it’s always so predictable - same old bombs directly to the fullback. It’s like he doesn’t know how to do grubbers

 

[Aldo]

I thought Walker and Gagai handled Fifita pretty easily all night. He never really looked like a threat apart from his try, on which I thought Dearden isolated Walker quite nicely. He'll get better but needs to focus on the footy and not try to get the better of a couple of smart arses riling him up all game.

 

[007]

For having 3+ mil on the sidelines last night, i dont think we missed Oates or Milf based on their form over the past 2 years.

 

[NSW stables]

I thought Walker and Gagai handled Fifita pretty easily all night. He never really looked like a threat apart from his try, on which I thought Dearden isolated Walker quite nicely. He'll get better but needs to focus on the footy and not try to get the better of a couple of smart arses riling him up all game.

Yep walker and gagai just showed the comp how to nullify an approx 1.25 mil a year player. Just get up in his face early with numbers and get under his skin.

I think the titans have once again screwed themselves over throwing all their eggs in the fifita basket. If an average souths can work him out, the top tier teams should do so easily.

 

[badyon]

Not really. I was hoping to find solace in him being over-rated, but he did what he always does for us: scored a solo effort try when everyone else was flailing. If it's any consolation, TPJ ended up with significantly better stats on paper (apart from the try), and no-one's exactly raving about him today.

Yeah, and at the end of the day that's he will give you. 12 to 15 tries a year and a big defensive headache that will free up his inside half. Not worth 1.2m but super valuable. I'm just fkn pissed we couldn't find a way to keep this pack together.

They all want 1m a year, and the rot started with Lodge needing a lot of cash to pay back his legal liabilities. All of them will be turned into pay me now mercenaries, that kinda started with Lodge situation, and had fuse lit with Haas big early contract.

Nothing really wrong with what we did with those two, but when you chuck in bird and Milfs awful form , the detonation was primed for everyone half decent to want 1m a year.

Lodge's money issues was the real start imo