2014 Ladies and Gentlemen

[john1420]

yes i agree and this is my opinion that it seems the majority are pointing the finger at griffin . i think he got it wrong and played to many people out of position at the start of the season but there was alot of other contributing factors too , and he is obviously trying to rectifiy our weakneses which i think shows he has got some sort of a clue .

Well pagey, I did not say Griffin had no clue

I said we need to appoint someone in the coaching ranks that can make a difference

Not 'replace the head coach he is f***ing useless'

As I said elsewhere, I am quite happy for Hook to hang around but he must acknowledge his strengths and weaknesses and appoint assistant coaches to fill the gaps

Now, on to matters of opinion

It is an opinion to say 'the coach needs help'

It is not an opinion to say 'how about having a dig at the coaching if we dont do well next year . easy to point the finger from behind the keyboard'

That is telling me I am not allowed an opinion and is not appreciated

 

[pagey]

Not at all , I'm saying let Griffin have a year with some quality like 2011 ( 1 game away from gf ) and then say he has weakness's . That's my opinion and I didn't say anything about keeping your opinion to yourself did I?

 

[rnabokov]

I'm saying that a player like Barba will demand the plays he wants, and I think the players around him will have no choice but to respond. This is a good thing.

This a great thing for a coach - your players will need less of the talk and more of the walk

... or in this case, RUN

 

[john1420]

Not at all , I'm saying let Griffin have a year with some quality like 2011 ( 1 game away from gf ) and then say he has weakness's . That's my opinion and I didn't say anything about keeping your opinion to yourself did I?

Yeah you did pagey

You said "how about having a dig at the coaching if we dont do well next year"

Which means I cannot have a dig at the coaching this year, which means I have to keep my opinion to myself

Then just to ensure I didn't get confused, you then said "easy to point the finger from behind the keyboard" which reiterates your first point about not having an opinion

 

[Steve Renouf]

We have a pack that rivals any other teams.

As a famous rapper once said, lets Break it down. :laugh:
You say, a pack that "rivals any other teams"? OMG.

8. Hannant - An honest Bronco who was let go for the prime of his career, still going okay but he is getting slower and looking a little unfit these days.
9. McCullough - Scored a good try last week but his inability to be creative or consistent (or last 80 minutes lol) will forever be his undoing.
10. McGuire - Played well and holds his own, he has what it takes.
11. Thaiday - Captain slug. Not worthy of a starting position with his current form and is looking more unfit every time he takes the field. It was mentioned about his hair, his hair does make his movements seem more dynamic than the really are.
12. Gillett - Hot and cold. Can do good things at times but also has a habit of knocking on or missing crucial tackles, he is not what you would call "solid" at this stage of his career.
13. Parker - Champion - nuff said

So how you can form an opinion that the above mention pack rivals others is really laughable imho, especially when you consider the ages of 3 of them and what stage of their career they are in right now.

Our backline on paper could be 1. Barba, 2/5. Hoff/YY, 3/4. Reed/Hodges. At full strength, I believe that is the best backline in the comp, bar none. That being said, Hodgo and YY could be very average from here on.

Best backline in the comp, bar none?

YY won't play first grade again, and if he did he would be a shell of his previous form. Unless I am confusing your YY with someone else. People talk about Hodges hammy and now Achilles, I think he back would be just as damaged from all the carrying he has had to do. Reed is a liability in defence and as was clear the other night, likes to put himself before the team. He can do some good things but he is more cold than hot and highly over rated imo.

As I said in another thread, Barba in good spirits will be great in broken play, Barba with baggage on a losing team may not be so effective, and my tip is he will go walkabout again within 2 years.

Hunt is a decent half who fluctuates between brilliant and horrible.

Hunt is a dud, and the other night at times he was almost Wallace-esq in some of the things he did.

We should be a top 4 team, at full strength next year.

Yes and Hook will win coach of the year.

If we aren't Hook will have nothing to hide behind.

What does he have to hide behind now?

 

[Aldo]

As a famous rapper once said, lets Break it down. :laugh:
You say, a pack that "rivals any other teams"? OMG.

8. Hannant - An honest Bronco who was let go for the prime of his career, still going okay but he is getting slower and looking a little unfit these days.
9. McCullough - Scored a good try last week but his inability to be creative or consistent (or last 80 minutes lol) will forever be his undoing.
10. McGuire - Played well and holds his own, he has what it takes.
11. Thaiday - Captain slug. Not worthy of a starting position with his current form and is looking more unfit every time he takes the field. It was mentioned about his hair, his hair does make his movements seem more dynamic than the really are.
12. Gillett - Hot and cold. Can do good things at times but also has a habit of knocking on or missing crucial tackles, he is not what you would call "solid" at this stage of his career.
13. Parker - Champion - nuff said

So how you can form an opinion that the above mention pack rivals others is really laughable imho, especially when you consider the ages of 3 of them and what stage of their career they are in right now.


Best backline in the comp, bar none?

YY won't play first grade again, and if he did he would be a shell of his previous form. Unless I am confusing your YY with someone else. People talk about Hodges hammy and now Achilles, I think he back would be just as damaged from all the carrying he has had to do. Reed is a liability in defence and as was clear the other night, likes to put himself before the team. He can do some good things but he is more cold than hot and highly over rated imo.

As I said in another thread, Barba in good spirits will be great in broken play, Barba with baggage on a losing team may not be so effective, and my tip is he will go walkabout again within 2 years.



Hunt is a dud, and the other night at times he was almost Wallace-esq in some of the things he did.

Yes and Hook will win coach of the year.

What does he have to hide behind now?

I think your pretty spot on with these assessments, but coupled with this is how they play as a team. They have nothing at the moment in this department and I have my doubts as to whether Griffin is the man to gel them together into a side capable of challenging the top teams. I hope I'm wrong.

I continually hear and read how management has a plan that can't always be divulged to the fans and how we should stick firm as there are good times ahead, but I am concerned how there hasn't been a positive succession plan in place following the retirement of Lockyer. Their plan for this was to let Wallace do his best and hopefully Hunt and McCullough will come good and fulfill the promise they showed in the 20s. It has been pretty obvious for a while that this situation wasn't going to do much.

It also concerns me that our recruitment drive (whilst is an improvement over previous years) is mostly fueled by the signing of a couple of players that wouldn't have been in our sights 12 months ago and have only come about fortuitously. I'm happy to give Griffin one more year to get these muppets to play something remotely resembling rugby league, but a vast improvement in his coaching needs to be shown.

 

[theshed]

k. :(

 

[Brett]

k. :(

Seems being optimistic with certain people around is a sin, mate. Chin up, we're not all constantly negative.

 

[brad88]

Steve... agree with everything you said except for this.. "Reed is a liability in defence"... i believe he is one of the strongest defensive centres in the game. unfortunately he is let down by poor decisions of those around him forcing him to come out of the line to stop overlaps.

 

[Steve Renouf]

Seems being optimistic with certain people around is a sin, mate. Chin up, we're not all constantly negative.

Some would call it negativity, others would prefer reality.

 

[Brett]

Some would call it negativity, others would prefer reality.

Well, what I would say to that is, there's always a different way to get your point across.

 

[hayseed]

Some would call it negativity, others would prefer reality.

Reality seldom exists in this chat circle.

 

[Steve Renouf]

Well, what I would say to that is, there's always a different way to get your point across.

If I used a "different way" it wouldn't be my point then would it?

 

[Brett]

If I used a "different way" it wouldn't be my point then would it?

Is this a serious question?

 

[hidethesuspect]

Frig me Steve Renouf, tell us how it is. Fairly accurate assessment unfortunately. The two biggest things that concern me are the fact that Macca will remain the same skill level and not improve and will be allowed to keep his position no matter what. The other is that we are stuck with Thaiday for life even if he doesn't remain captain. I think with a new coach these things probably won't change. We've had our best from Thaiday and I can't see him repeating that and Macca just doesn't have it in him, he's ok, but you cannot win a premiership with him in such an important position. Do you think a new coach will demote Macca and left Thaiday go? Nope, never going to happen.

 

[vertigo]

Difference being I knew nothing had changed from last year just by watching the second half of round 1 yet some people just focused on the first half.

You'll be able to tell straight away again next year when we play a top 4 team.

 

[hidethesuspect]

Reality is relative/subjective. Some people just live in black, negative worlds (their reality). The same people tend to have plenty of negative agendas.

It always helps to remember that RL is just a game. One we get obsessive about, it's true.

No need to criticise other members for optimism, though. It would be a nicer life with more optimism as we tend to shape our world by our attitude.

Good post and probably a lot of truth in that. However it's almost impossible to have a positive attitude with the Broncos at the moment. It's just a game yes, but the Broncos are more than just a team to me. If they weren't I wouldn't be watching NRL with it's slow decline in quality.

Difference being I knew nothing had changed from last year just by watching the second half of round 1 yet some people just focused on the first half.

You'll be able to tell straight away again next year when we play a top 4 team.

Depending on how much the roster is changed I would give them a bit more a chance than just the first game. But I believe what you might be saying is that even if we lose the first game you can tell how well we will do next year by the attitude we display. Is that right? If so I completely agree, after all the poor performances (not moving up off the line, not tackling properly and no support play) are just a direct result or poor attitude and poor coaching too :P

 

[vertigo]

But I believe what you might be saying is that even if we lose the first game you can tell how well we will do next year by the attitude we display. Is that right? If so I completely agree, after all the poor performances (not moving up off the line, not tackling properly and no support play) are just a direct result or poor attitude and poor coaching too :P

Correct, just look at the Roosters - they finished 13th last year, signed some quality players and brought in a new head coach in Trent Robinson and they're going gangbusters.

We could be in the frame to do the same thing if we find the right coaches (both Griffin & Kearney have to go)