2018 Bronco season review.

[Rhino1001]

Centre still?

Yeah but where are you putting Bird and Boyd?

EDIT: Sorry didn't read where you said Bird at lock

 

[pennywisealfie]

Keep Bennett.

 

[Donald Garner]

1. Boyd
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Roberts
5. Isaako
6. Milford
7. Nikorima
8. Lodge
9. McCollough
10. McGuire (only bloody just)
11. Gillet
12. Glenn
13. Su’a
14. Fifita
15. Haas
16. Pangai
17. Offa

Now if we can find some bloody consistency that team will be hard to beat!

 

[007]

Yeah but where are you putting Bird and Boyd?

I said Boyd to centre in the situation that bird moves to lock.....In the instance that Boyd retains FB, Bird to Centre.

The only other combination i can see (my favourite), but i don't think Wayne will run it is:
1)Iassko
2)Oates
3)Roberts
4)Boyd
5)Kahu/Staggs
6)Bird
7)Milf
9)Macca 50 mins/Kodi 30 mins.

In the instance of backline injury, Bird can shuffle also can Kodi

Staggs, Kodi and 2 forwards form the bench.

 

[Alec]

I hope this O'Sullivan guy shows the goods next year.

 

[Kyall]

How is everyone hanging shit on Kodi? I can’t be watching the same games? He was head and shoulder above Milford today and apart from a few errors here and there he has been great the back half of this season. Milford has been far more rocks and diamonds then Kodi!!!

This says season not the last game mate he’s been poor all year at hb.

 

[Donald Garner]

I said Boyd to centre in the situation that bird moves to lock.....In the instance that Boyd retains FB, Bird to Centre.

The only other combination i can see (my favourite), but i don't think Wayne will run it is:
1)Iassko
2)Oates
3)Roberts
4)Boyd
5)Kahu/Staggs
6)Bird
7)Milf
9)Macca 50 mins/Kodi 30 mins.

In the instance of backline injury, Bird can shuffle also can Kodi

Staggs, Kodi and 2 forwards form the bench.

Bird deadset sucked it up so bad in the halves this year

 

[I bleed Maroon]

1. Boyd
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Roberts
5. Isaako
6. Milford
7. Nikorima
8. Lodge
9. McCollough
10. McGuire (only bloody just)
11. Gillet
12. Glenn
13. Su’a
14. Fifita
15. Haas
16. Pangai
17. Offa

Now if we can find some bloody consistency that team will be hard to beat!

If I were Bennett, I'd be making it perfectly clear to McGuire that he's dancing on eggshells. Even if he is moved back to Prop, he's got Carrigan just about ready to kick the door down which pushes Joe O into the starting side. McGuire is dangerously close to being flat out unneeded.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Darius Boyd - 6/10 - Some games he's 10/10, some games he's 3/10, and it's pretty much an even split between the two with absolutely no middle ground, improve consistency and body language.
Corey Oates - 8/10 - Stay on the wing, keep your head down.
Jack Bird - ?/10 - Get healthy, thanks.
James Roberts - 7/10 - Great when he wants to get involved, needs to get more involved, also, improve defensively.
Jamayne Isaako - 8/10 - Gun, just needs to improve defensive positioning.
Anthony Milford - 7/10 - Gun when he's got confidence, still makes far too many poor decisions, get fit in the off-season
Kodi Nikorima - 6/10 - Great runner of the football, woeful defender, woeful decision making, bench utility next season
Matt Lodge - 8/10 - Gun, just needs to work on his motor and get the brain snaps out of his game
Andrew McCullough - 6/10 - Great defensively, an absolute zero in attack, he needs to adapt, quickly, or be left behind.
Sam Thaiday - 3/10 - Thank you for your service.
Alex Glenn - 7/10 - Reliable in attack & defense as per usual, just lacks any game breaking ability.
Matt Gillett - ?/10 - Get healthy, thanks.
Josh McGuire - 6/10 - Appreciate the effort every week, but effort doesn't equate to quality, improve everything, quickly.

Tevita Pangai Jr - 8/10 - Gun, needs to work out all these niggly injuries.
Jordan Kahu - 3/10 - Don't want to see him in a Broncos jersey ever again, he's a broken man physically, not up to first grade.
Jaydn Su'A - 7/10 - Good building season for Jaydn, should be pushing for a starting job next season, keep working.
Joe Ofahengaue - 8/10 - Gun, very reliable in attack & defense every week, should be starting next season.
David Fifita - 7/10 - Great rookie season with limited opportunities, keep working.
Patrick Mago - 6/10 - Wasn't bad when given an opportunity, happy to keep around for depth.
Korbin Sims - 4/10 - Some great games, mostly shit games, enjoy being the last Sims to wear a Broncos jersey.
Kotoni Staggs - 6/10 - Pretty good when given the opportunity, just needs to keep improving.
Payne Haas - ?/10 - Get healthy, thanks.
Jake Turpin - 7/10 - Good when required, may be needed a lot more next season if McCullough keeps stagnating.

Agree with everything there except sims and thaiday (a little bit).

Sims was attrocious this last game but he stepped it up most games this season compared to previous seasons. Although I am glad to see the back of him, because i think his form rounds 20-25 was more a flash in the pan then a new standard for him...

And thaiday was decent this year, not good and should have retired last year (or 2016), but decent. Maybe a 5 or 6... and turpin played about 60 minutes this year... less then bird or haas...

 

[Crazy Sam]

At the start of the year, it felt like the squad was the weakest (Bennett-coached) we'd had since 2003 and would struggle to make the 8. As it's transpired, we've managed to finish about where we could've reasonably expected to at best, yet we've done it without Gillett (our best forward in recent years) and Bird (fair chunk of the salary cap) while blooding some very young and exciting talent. Hopefully with a full off season they will be able to sort their defense out as we have enough points in us going forward.

 

[Unbreakable]

Agree with everything there except sims and thaiday (a little bit).

Sims was attrocious this last game but he stepped it up most games this season compared to previous seasons. Although I am glad to see the back of him, because i think his form rounds 20-25 was more a flash in the pan then a new standard for him...

And thaiday was decent this year, not good and should have retired last year (or 2016), but decent. Maybe a 5 or 6... and turpin played about 60 minutes this year... less then bird or haas...

Haas played 36 minutes this year, Turpin played 80. I left Haas, Bird & Gillett out of the ratings because they were cut short by injury and I don't think they had enough time to show us anything. Bird probably played enough games to warrant a rating, but considering the injury he was coming off, the injury he was playing through and the constant positional changes, I don't think it'd be fair to lay in to him, I wanna see what he's got next year.

Thaiday was not decent this year, he was our worst player by a relatively large margin. Sims, maybe I was a tad harsh, I probably dropped him 2 points purely for that shitful display today. I'm just glad to see the back of him, despite his good games, I never had faith in him when he was on the field to make the correct play.

 

[McHunt]

Time to move Macca on completely. He has been driving me nuts for years with his wait-two-seconds then randomly lob the ball end-over-end style of dummy half play. It's no coincidence the three games he was out were the highlights of the season, and then once he returned we went to shit again.

I would give WB the benefit of the doubt except for his lack of foresight to drop Macca to reserve grade or put him in a defensive only role.

 

[007]

Time to move Macca on completely. He has been driving me nuts for years with his wait-two-seconds then randomly lob the ball end-over-end style of dummy half play. It's no coincidence the three games he was out were the highlights of the season, and then once he returned we went to shit again.

I would give WB the benefit of the doubt except for his lack of foresight to drop Macca to reserve grade or put him in a defensive only role.

Defensive only role is left right out mate...there's no spot in current day NRL squad for such a player with his size and speed.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Defensive only role is left right out mate...there's no spot in current day NRL squad for such a player with his size and speed.

He's Berrigan but with none of the talent. Watching his insipid dummy half runs is flat out embarrassing.

 

[McHunt]

He's Berrigan but with none of the talent. Watching his insipid dummy half runs is flat out embarrassing.

Defensive only role is left right out mate...there's no spot in current day NRL squad for such a player with his size and speed.

His service from dummy half is what rankles me. How can you be so inept at passing the ball it travels end upon end in a casual lob, 9 times out of 10? He should be able to fire bullet passes from centre field to the wing.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Haas played 36 minutes this year, Turpin played 80. I left Haas, Bird & Gillett out of the ratings because they were cut short by injury and I don't think they had enough time to show us anything. Bird probably played enough games to warrant a rating, but considering the injury he was coming off, the injury he was playing through and the constant positional changes, I don't think it'd be fair to lay in to him, I wanna see what he's got next year.

Thaiday was not decent this year, he was our worst player by a relatively large margin. Sims, maybe I was a tad harsh, I probably dropped him 2 points purely for that shitful display today. I'm just glad to see the back of him, despite his good games, I never had faith in him when he was on the field to make the correct play.

I dont disagree with most of that response, but although terrible thaiday has still been a 5 i think

 

[bent]

Based on review of this season. If everyone maintained there current form. The team I'd pick first on paper would be:

1 Isaako. Required over Boyd for his defense..
2 Robberts. Given he is our main weapon. I'm quiet happy for him to do less defense and be ready to cut people to shreds in kick returns.
3 boyd. He loves to defend in the line and has shirked his kick defense all year. So just keep him in the line.
4 bird. If he comes back fit. I'd even consider him for fullback or a halves position. But given what limited vision we saw of him. He's a centre for now, who i would be most excited to see bring back the Hodges style defense and one out runs we miss from kahu and Roberts being too small.
5 Oates. (Or whoever replaces Oates when he leaves for more )
6 Milford. Good to see his kicking game coming along. Gives me hope he is turning into a better trainer. God help us if he comes back fat again after the off-season.
7 McCullough. Given he can pass great standing up. Just not from the ground. We get the world's best defensive half back for a year. While we find a decent one. Our entire right side defense doesn't work anymore because of the small body nikorima puts in the line.
8 lodge. Nuff said.
9 Turpin. Or anyone else. (Insert better plan here...)
10 McGuire. Get him on. Get him off just like the good old days. His eye sight, means he's doing his best. Experienced forwards are key for this young crop.
11 Gillet. Welcome back buddy. You have been missed.
12 Fafita. This kid is going to be a weapon with another preseason. Hes 18, he's going to be another pangai. Which is just scary good for us.
13. Pangai. Would tell him always run first. Pass if needed, in the rare cases he has not just trampled over somebody.
14. Glenn. The original super sub. Can battle it out with Fafita. Experience is valuable to show the rest of the new rookie class how to operate from the pine.
15. Haas.
16. Mago. Great to have another big body in the team. Going good.
17. Big Joe. Was not a fan last season, but turned me back into a fan. Like all the other young forwards needs to learn to defend our line like his life depended on it.

Honourable mentions:

Staggs, there is something about this kid. Bennett, Dont turn him into another Copley, by making him wait for his crack too long. Boyd's replacement at centre if injuries happen.

Kahu. Was at both of the trial games where you did your knees. So glad to see him stay on the park for a whole year. But wow he is not a centre. Will take Oates wing spot when he leaves.

Tactics= Defense, defense, defense. We have the talent again to let the attack take care of itself like the good old days.

Recruitment: Would like us to get just a solid half back inside milf. An organizer that can defend well is all that's needed. I thought we should have picked up Townsend years ago when he was struggling at the warriors before the sharks gave him another crack. If there is someone like this floating around we nab them on the cheap.

Kodi. love to watch this kid play old school footy. But can't stand to see him in our defensive line. Have always been about giving the little guys a chance. But unless he can learn to chop the big man down like Ian Lacey did back in the day then this is the end of the road.

 

[Accept]

Bird deadset sucked it up so bad in the halves this year

Only played two games there, he was actually quite good against the Warriors. He will be a key member of the squad next year.