2013 player report card

[hayseed]

Thought BP would have done one of these by now as he does for the SOO matches. This will be a lot harsher than anything he would dare to write about his beloved Broncos. Must have played at least 10 games to qualify.

Scott Andersen- One of a long line of fringe forwards who spent a good deal of their time in q cup, had some good games where his tackling was powerful and his hit ups of a sound quality but struggled with his ball handling and probably failed to rise up with his limited chances. Career is probably over. SCORE C-

Mitch Dodds-A very under rated performer who isn't utilised properly by his coach, a very strong tackler and defender on his day but limited game time and injury interrupted his season. Would be better served with a fresh start at another club, have tweeted Gus about it and he is interested. SCORE C+

Matt Gillett-Gets criticised for his high missed tackle count but he usually ends up performing the tackle on the one he just missed, he rushed the line quite often which can also result in a tackle miss, an overated stat, although his rookie season remains his best to date, I wish we had 10 Matt Gilletts and we would never lose a game, one of few players who can hold his head high. SCORE B+

Alex Glenn-Definitely his poorest season to date scoring a paltry 2 tries considering his great 2012 campaign. Struggled to have the impact of previous years and whilst solid most times, we really needed more out of him, will come back stronger next year. Appeared disinterested at times. SCORE C

Dave Hala-Another victim of a having a coach who is clueless as he played less than 10 mins on a couple of occasions. Looked to be struggling with his fitness and appears unsure of his actual role. Still have high hopes for him but will only flourish under a different coaching staff. SCORE C-

Ben Hannant-Injury plagued season which really affected his performances, was bullied against the powerful packs and one can't help thinking that his best is long behind him, had a good game against the a lightweight Wests pack but overall had a very poor season. SCORE D+

Justin Hodges-Probably a bonus that he actually played 14 games plus 3 Origins as his broken body will eventually finish his career, absolute match winner when he is fit and the void is noticeable when he isn't there, absolute superstar amongst a bunch of novices. Incredible player, even on one leg. SCORE A

Josh Hoffman-Moving to the wing was a revelation for him as it displayed his powerful running and his knack for frequently finding the try line, moved to his preferred position of FB after the Norman axing and a massive game against lowly Parra got him thinking that he was a really good fullback (which he isn't). Hopefully a Bronco centre of wingman for many years to come. SCORE B+

Ben Hunt-Played his usual bench hooker role again this year which was never ever very inspiring, got his chance at HB in Rd 19 and showed some good things but mixed it with some horrible plays which were all too frequent. Has been described as a clever player (he isn't) and is being touted as the #7 for many years to come (he won't be). SCORE D+

Jordy Kahu-Finally got his chance after 2 yrs on the sideline and immediately showed some promise, a great match vs Cronulla comes to mind but unfortunately his injury curse struck far too often and his pace is a definite worry. Hopefully an uneventful off season will ensure a strong 2014 because this kid has got some real potential. SCORE C

Dunamis Lui-Another victim of the Hook disease and wisely has decided to move on and play under a real coach. A very powerfully built kid who was very inconsistent but I saw something in him late in the season which I really liked. Will get a proper chance at Manly. SCORE C-

Lachy Maranta-Could possibly be the worst winger to ever play the game, even worse than Rex Terp, couldn't find the tryline in an under 8's match, can't run, can't tackle and can simply cannot find the tryline which is a bad trait for a winger. Will probably never play another NRL game but the way this organisation is run these days, anything is possible. SCORE E

Andy McCullogh-Probably the slowest dummy half in the game and the most predictable, a tackling machine but we need someone who can produce tries, one of many reasons why the Broncs are one of the worst sides going round currently, don't see a successful future for him. SCORE D

Josh McGuire-Despite his small stature, he puts everything in and had a couple powerhouse performances late in the season against a couple of the weaker sides. Goes missing against the strong sides but that isn't through lack of trying, touted as a future SOO player but that is a little optimistic. SCORE C

Corey Norman-Played out of position until his axing and had a very inconsistent season, would do some good things but too often would mix in some horrendous blunders which would cost his side, probably a little harsh in getting dropped especially on such a weak side but will benefit in a different environment. SCORE C-

Corey Parker-His best season ever despite the Broncs suffering their worst, easily the Broncos best with his tireless tackling and solid hit ups, has an outside chance of the NRL MVP award but playing on such a woeful side has probably cost him Dally M votes. SCORE A+

Scott Prince-Has seen better days especially defensively but was easily the Broncos best spark in attack and we would have been much worse off without him. Again a victim of playing on a poor side but was one of our best. SCORE B-

Jack Reed-Mr. Reliable, especially in defense, a solid but unspectacular center who is hardly a strike weapon out there like the premier centers in the game. But he does his best and never takes a step back and hopefully has an injury free 2014. SCORE C

Dave Stagg-Mr Utility who played a number of positions this year and always puts in an honest effort despite being well past his prime, one of the best tacklers in the game who has probably played his last match. SCORE C

Sam Thaiday-Overall a very poor season by a man who is struggling with the burdens of captaining a non playoff side. Has been accused of being lazy but I think he is exhausted, Hook is burning this guy out and his career could be finished 3 yrs before it should be because of it. Hopefully doesn't get picked to play in the World cup farce enabling him to have a long off season where he can rest his wounds. Is a champion player and if he can lay off the Zinger pies, then I expect to witness a revitalized Sammy next year, we simply have to. SCORE D+

Pete Wallace-I said at the start of this year that if Wally started the year the way he finished last season, then we would be in trouble. As we all know, he had a horrid season where his kicking, running and passing game were of minor league status. A real shame because he played some great games over the years and it is mind boggling to see how it ended for him. Hopefully he will carve em up at his home club. SCORE E

ANTHONY GRIFFIN-Originally got the gig to keep the seat warm for WB''s arrival the following year, got the gig fulltime when Benny went elsewhere, that was a major stuff up as this bloke is totally out of his element. Has a negative game plan, scared to make changes, treats his fringe players disgracefully and has no clue on how to use the interchange bench. Has just lead Brissy to their worst ever season, has won just 11 of his last 30 games and amazingly still has the support of the board. If he coaches another game with this team, then this organisation will sink to another depressing level. Absolutely embarrassing to have someone like this coaching the team and we will not move forward until he is removed. SCORE E

 

[Porthoz]

I can't say I can fault much of this.
Very good and objective report card overall, although I would drop Norman to D- and Alex Glenn to D+, and would increase Macca to C, Wallace to D and Griffin to D as well, because of the injury plague he had to suffer. Corey Oates didn't play enough games, but I would've given him a B+ despite some rookie mistakes, precisely because he was a rookie playing out of position in a team adrift.

It will be interesting to see whether this report card gets close to the BHQ POTS 2013 final ladder, which I will start publishing tomorrow.

 

[Foordy]

apart from using it to have a go at Hook in many reviews, not too much i disagree on.

Hala has said he can't play much longer stints than what he does, may be able to change when the new fitness coach gets here.

I do think you were harsh on hook. i'm not saying he was brilliant, but many of his decisions to stick with player, imo, came from either a long injury list or the fact that we didn't have anyone better on the books that could replace the under performing player.

I also don't think Norman was playing out of position, at this stage he is not an NRL quality 5/8. if he wants to play in the top grade. he even got moved to fullback in the QLD Cup after he was axed (although, he did start QLD Cup at 5/8)

you were harsh on Reed, IMO. he formed a good combination with Hoffman down the left had edge. he was his usual rock in defence and even started setting up his winger.

 

[pagey]

Although I agree with some points I think your as negative as a person can get and some of those calls back that up . Cheer up mate !

 

[Financeguy]

Not a bad write up Hayseed, the ugly truth.

Good read mate.

 

[Sproj]

There is quite a bit I disagree with but some I agree with. You certainly have it in for Hook don't you. He would benefit from a coaching director to mentor him. He also did make the tough decisions albeit too late.

Norman? Who the hell is he not an E? Hoffman should also have got an A. Him, Parker and Hodgo were the shining lights in a very disappointing season. Prince a B-? He didn't get going until the last few rounds and was terrible for two thirds of the season, hence beig told to retire.

We were just a tired looking team all year and hopefully the new fitness coach will fix that as will a long off season to get rid of the unreliable injuries our boys were carrying.

 

[coreyh88]

You didn't take into account macca's very strong late season (a standard) which should at least bring him to a c+. Fair enough in criticising hunt's flaws but no way he is below a c. He may go missing at times but at least he wasn't missing for half the season like the halves pairing before him. Ben hannant's score was fair enough if you take into account what he is paid. But even against the cowboys he played with better stats than scott. On absolute terms he would be a b-. Most of it is quite fair though.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Pete Wallace-I said at the start of this year that if Wally started the year the way he finished last season, then we would be in trouble. As we all know, he had a horrid season where his kicking, running and passing game were of minor league status. A real shame because he played some great games over the years and it is mind boggling to see how it ended for him. Hopefully he will carve em up at his home club. SCORE E

E is the new F .......

 

[KingWebcke]

wow, Hannant a D+? we definitely must be watching different games. I feel like Hannant is stuck carrying the burden of being tagged as the next Shane Webcke and people always judge him based on that, rather than how he actually plays. he will never trample defenders like Matt Scott or throw brilliant offloads like Trent Merrin but he runs his blood to water and I thought his effort was quite valuable, especially early in the year when McGuire was injured and other stuff.

I mean, up until he got injured before r10, Hannant was averaging something like 40 tackles a game and still making lots runs. That is a huge effort! There aren't many forwards in the NRL who could boast that level of work.

You mention the game agaisnt Wests but he had quite a few other good performances through the year. I thought he was easily BOG when we pipped the Cowboys in r6. and I thought he was again one of our best in r5 against the Titans and the week before against the Storm too. I know he didn't have a great year and it was inconsistent after his injury but I think he did a lot better than D+. especially when you gave Lui, Hala, Dodds and Anderson better scores. If they played better or were more valuable to the Broncos than Hannant then I'm Mickey Mouse.

I thought McGuire was better than a C+ too. in my opinion he was one of our better players over the last half of the season.

 

[Charmamba]

Yeah some very harsh ratings there, McGuire and Hannant both should be higher up and Kahu getting a better rating than Hunt doesn't seem fitting either. Kahu at this point is still a fantasy.

 

[KingWebcke]

sorry, I feel like I should add that I like a lot of the ratings, even if they are a bit harsh. I obviously don't agree with a few but I'm sure if I did an equivalent list there would be ones that other people would regard as blatantly incorrent or ridiculous

 

[Big Pete]

Thought BP would have done one of these by now as he does for the SOO matches. This will be a lot harsher than anything he would dare to write about his beloved Broncos. Must have played at least 10 games to qualify.

It's good to see other members making a thread for a change. Can't start every thread on the forum, especially when there is so much to talk about in comparison to the Origin.

My ratings...(based on number of appearances)

Josh Hoffman - 7/10 - Was one of the few success stories at Red Hill. Reminded everybody what he offers and was one of our best weapons on that left edge, scoring 15 tries and had a high involvement rate in each game.

Andrew McCullough - 5/10 - Had the typical McCullough season comprised of a promising start, quiet middle and strong finish. Clearly needs to work on his consistensy but the talent is clearly there and when he's on, he's one of the best in the business.

Peter Wallace - 3/10 - 2013 clearly wasn't his year. As always, tried hard but nothing really went his way and he just couldn't for the life of himself create opportunities. Eventually got demoted to bench utility and was told to look elsewhere next season.

Ben Hunt - 4/10 - Finally got his chance at halfback but was very turbulent in the position. At his best, easily the best halfback we had in the position and his ability to ball-play and run it to the line yielded points but at his worst, he'd turn over possession at pivotal moments. His career hangs in the balance.

Matt Gillett - 6/10 - A weapon out on the fringes but was way too up and down to be considered a good season. Like a lot of his team mates, think he struggled playing the full 80 and made too many basic errors as a result. Can't help but feel apart of his problem was the gameplan. Gillett is the type of player who works well off the back of others and it seemed like we kept using him to do grunt work.

Corey Parker - 7/10 - Cemented himself as one of the game's best backrows and is finally receiving the recognition he deserves down south. With that said, didn't think this was his best season and felt like too much of the Broncos play revolved around him, which hurt as much as it helped.

Scott Prince - 4/10 - For a long time he was neck and neck with Wallace in terms of being the worst half but he played well in the closing stages of his career.

Jack Reed - 5/10 - Solid season from Reed all things considered. If nothing else, I really appreciated his commitment to the team. Seemed like whenever he was scheduled to miss portions of the season, he'd return early from said injury and help us out when we really needed him. Is currently one of the best defensive centres in the game, if he can work on his passing game he could be a very handy centre moving forward.

Sam Thaiday - 4/10 - Failed to live up to expectations which often leads to harsher judgement. As an individual, honestly, he was more or less solid but as captain his duties extend beyond just playing for himself and as a result you can't say he deserves a pass. It appears the experiment has failed.

Alex Glenn - 5/10 - Disappointing follow up from an impressive 2012 but was still very strong down that left fringe, bending the line on numerous occasions and opening up chances on the inside. Interesting to see where he goes from here, is obviously in a stand off with Gillett for that left-hand fringe and hopefully that brings the best out of him.

Josh McGuire - 5/10 - Slow start which was compounded by a calf injury which most derailed the first half or so of the season. Started performing at the level you'd expect him to late in the season but in the scheme of things not a stand out year. Thought some of his ball-playing was terrible too. For all the complaints about Hook not employing enough ball play through the forwards, clearly not enough was being made of this facet.

Lachlan Maranta - 2/10 - Would just about have to be one of the worst wingers in club history? In fairness, was made to play more games than he should have out of position but gee it was a sorry sight watching him play when we've had the likes of Hancock, Carne, Sailor, Tuqiri and Folau...Kept it to a 2 because at least he was good at defusing bombs.

Corey Norman - 3/10 - The most telling fact of Norman's 2013 was that he was dropped and never made his way back into the first grade team. He was one of the club's most potent attacking weapons in the early going but had deficiencies at fullback and was guilty of making too many coach killing mistakes.

Ben Hannant - 4/10 - Disappointing season from Polar. Like McGuire, suffered a calf injury which really derailed his season and just rarely reached his heights. Best performance was against the Cowboys where he out-played both Australian props - unfortunately Brisbane just didn't see enough of those performances and it hurt them big time.

Justin Hodges - 7/10 - Could be accused of being a little generous here but Hodges at his best was a match-winner and still one of the best centres in the game. Clearly head and shoulders above most all year and really it was only injury that really prevented him from achieving his best season since 2007. A pleasure to watch at full flight.

David Stagg - 4/10 - Performed a job for the Broncos off the bench. Had a pretty unremarkable job all told but still capable of the odd defensive play all the same.

David Hala - 3/10 - Had a couple of promising touches but lacked the work-rate to really make a fist of things and had the habit of emulating Dave Taylor at times.

Dunamis Lui - 3/10 - Improved but at best just became a decent 'cameo' player with the odd good run. Was still a little clumsy and soft.

Mitchell Dodds - 4/10 - It's a shame he got injured when he did. He was really coming into his own around the Origin period amd was turning into a legitimately solid first grader.

Scott Anderson - 3/10 - Typical Sanderson year really. Had the odd decent game followed up by a lot of forgettable performances.

Jordan Kahu - 4/10 - Had a couple of decent touches and showed some good ability near the line but clearly a little rusty.

Corey Oates - 6/10 - Played 9 games and scored the second most amount of tries for the club, deserves recognition. Was asked to play out of position and handled the assignment extremely well for a rookie coming up with a number of big plays which gives fans plenty of hope moving into the future. Easily rookie of the year.

 

[Broncoman]

Can't really disagree with that and a good read overall.

 

[Alec]

Pete's is pretty much 99% spot on, except for McCullough being one of the best in the business when he's on part IMO. He just becomes "good" when he's switched on... and that's very rarely.

 

[Big Pete]

That was one of my more controversial lines but really it's not far off the mark. The #9 position is one of the more competitive positions in the competition and I believe fans underestimate where McCullough is in the pecking order and how much that order fluctuates.

On song, he's definitely one of the better hookers in the competition.

 

[pagey]

Pete's is pretty much 99% spot on, except for McCullough being one of the best in the business when he's on part IMO. He just becomes "good" when he's switched on... and that's very rarely.

Think your just a hater

 

[Sproj]

I think all things considered, while I understand the Oates rating given it was only 9 games, in those games he played he was at least an 8. Hodgo, Parker 9 and The Hoff 8 at least.

Oates became a go to player in those 9 games. Says everything for me.

 

[Alec]

Think your just a hater

Believe it or not, I want him to succeed and become the best. I also want Thaiday to improve dramatically. I want Maranta to be a good player.
I want the Broncos to be the best, but I'm just trying to look at the side objectively.