2019 Broncos Line-up

[Sproj]

Macca at his best is slightly above average. Macca at his worst is slightly above average. Overall, he is slightly above average. For this side to be a contender though, Macca can be the starting 9 but he must NOT play 80 minutes as the hooker. He lacks game awareness and has done so since he came into the team. A decade after his debut, it is unlikely he will ever improve in that very important area.

Obviously, Smith is streets above everyone else when it comes to awareness and the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck. Hodgson is the next closest but he is miles behind Smith, though a fair way ahead of everyone else. Farah used to be in Hodgson's position but he has regressed a lot in his old age, something that amazes me about Smith in that regard. Smith looked like he was slowing down back end of last season, come round 1 though, he looked as good as he ever has.

Cook has his speed as a point of difference to other hookers. Friend at his best is Hodgson level, Friend at his worst is slightly below Macca level. Overall, I'd argue Friend is a better hooker than Macca. Peats was on his way to being excellent but then got curtailed by injury. Luke is very inconsistent.

All in all, Macca is average to slightly above average but in this day and age, and with the halves that the Broncs have, I don't think Macca is that good a fit. So one of Milf, Kodi or Macca need to be changed and Macca needs someone in 14 who can come on late in halves to give this side a chance to score points.

 

[rnabokov]

I was really harsh on Macca after the other night and in hindsight, I think I was off the mark. Maybe a lot of our issues with our ball play in the middle from dummy half is less Macca and more the style of play that has been coached into the side for years, and also, as someone else observed, the contributions or otherwise of the rest of our spine.

Hopefully, Seibold reinvents the way we play from dummy half and gets supports running on both sides with a lot more involvement from our halves ... sort of like 2015 if I dare mention that year again

 

[Cult]

Macca at his best is slightly above average. Macca at his worst is slightly above average. Overall, he is slightly above average. For this side to be a contender though, Macca can be the starting 9 but he must NOT play 80 minutes as the hooker. He lacks game awareness and has done so since he came into the team. A decade after his debut, it is unlikely he will ever improve in that very important area.

Obviously, Smith is streets above everyone else when it comes to awareness and the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck. Hodgson is the next closest but he is miles behind Smith, though a fair way ahead of everyone else. Farah used to be in Hodgson's position but he has regressed a lot in his old age, something that amazes me about Smith in that regard. Smith looked like he was slowing down back end of last season, come round 1 though, he looked as good as he ever has.

Cook has his speed as a point of difference to other hookers. Friend at his best is Hodgson level, Friend at his worst is slightly below Macca level. Overall, I'd argue Friend is a better hooker than Macca. Peats was on his way to being excellent but then got curtailed by injury. Luke is very inconsistent.

All in all, Macca is average to slightly above average but in this day and age, and with the halves that the Broncs have, I don't think Macca is that good a fit. So one of Milf, Kodi or Macca need to be changed and Macca needs someone in 14 who can come on late in halves to give this side a chance to score points.

Friends worst is getting booed off the field by his own supporters. Friends worst is one of the worst full time hookers that have ever played the game. He was actually embarrassingly shocking last year. There is no comparison between Jake Friends worst and Andrew McCullough’s worst.

 

[Huge]

The trouble with Macca is his stats flatter him. He leads the comp's tackle count week after week, and he makes few mistakes. On paper, he's like the first guy picked.

Which means he's not someone you can tell to try harder or send to the lower grades to get his act together. He is what he is, and unfortunately, it's not the full package. It's a brutal coaching decision to tell a guy who consistently busts his guts week in, week out, and does nothing wrong, he's surplus to requirements.

It doesn't help that neither Kodi nor Milford seem capable of calling the shots either. If we had an alpha playmaker in the halves maybe we could carry's Macca's deficiencies ball in hand.

We beat Souths, Roosters and Manly convincingly during Macca's absence. You saw what happened when he returned.

I don't think for a second that McCullough COULDN'T improve. No, not at all. I'm certain he knows exactly what has in the past been required to get picked every week. That is, shovel the ball, make a thousand tackles and that includes being smart enough to anticipate who and when to tackle. What he has only done once ot twice since I've watched him is take chances. He's the kind of guy that absolutely does not want to feature on monday morning video blooper reels. He does not back himself. He never understood the Babe Ruth thing, you know the story, who has the most home runs, Babe Ruth, who has the most strike outs, Babe Ruth or so it was back in the day.

I suspect he fears taking a chance or risking it all. He seems never to say, **** the playmakers and shotcallers and I'm going to have a crack EXCEPT when right on the goal line when he might try the dummy. Farrah, Cook, Smith all just blast off at times, rocks and diamonds, they chance their arms without fear of failure holding them back. I just wish he'd take on more, try and be creative because, **** me he's got the rest ofthe NRL convinced nothing unusual is going to happen when he's at dummy half. Nows the time to surprise them all.

 

[McHunt]

Bullshit. The trouble is simply that there is nobody at the club better than him and telling him that he’s surplus to requirements would be a blatant fucking lie. A hooker doesn’t call the shots. Cameron Smith does but nobody else can or should. If we are judging players on how similar they are to Smith, every single player in the game is shit.

McCulloughs passing is fine. He doesn’t throw the ball to nobody like Granville does and he doesn’t throw the ball to people’s heads like Nikorima does. He’s even obviously worked on it since last year. The fact that we are talking about him after the game on Thursday is bullshit because we did not lose because of him and he didnt do anything wrong in that game

His passing game is mediocre. Are you his mum or something?

 

[Cult]

I was really harsh on Macca after the other night and in hindsight, I think I was off the mark. Maybe a lot of our issues with our ball play in the middle from dummy half is less Macca and more the style of play that has been coached into the side for years, and also, as someone else observed, the contributions or otherwise of the rest of our spine.

Hopefully, Seibold reinvents the way we play from dummy half and gets supports running on both sides with a lot more involvement from our halves ... sort of like 2015 if I dare mention that year again

Our issue, as Seibold has already pointed out is that we aren’t getting to the play the ball quick enough. It’s something they have been working on but will take a while to get. And maybe it wasn’t able to be shown against the team with the best wrestling in the game but hopefully we will look very different against every other team

 

[PNG Broncos fan88]

Staggs into the starting team should grant Turpin that 14 jersey against the Cows.

If Seibold gives Jake the chance this week, the competition will only make our beloved team better.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

His passing game is mediocre. Are you his mum or something?

Superb debating technique for an eleven year old.

 

[Battler]

If we have no 9s coming through and the club thinks Macca is shit then we have to go after Blayke Brailey because he's the only top tier 9 I see coming through. Hopefully we can convert one of our young halves into a hooker (Paix seems the most likely), or turn Niko into a Cook like 9 (imagine him defending in the middle tho... dios mio).

Friends worst is getting booed off the field by his own supporters. Friends worst is one of the worst full time hookers that have ever played the game. He was actually embarrassingly shocking last year. There is no comparison between Jake Friends worst and Andrew McCullough’s worst.

Rorters supporters are idiots who act like spoiled children because they fill positions they're weak in with super stars year after year. They probably expected old Uncle Nick to throw the dollars at Smith.

Friend was badly injured for most of last year. Just like Bird, it's not fair to judge him and his ability off games he was battling injury for the good of his team (the rorters have no depth at hooker, they needed him). After he got his injury sorted out over the Origin period he was playing close to 80 week to week and dominating. Judging off his performance on Friday he's carried that form into 2019.

 

[winslow_wong]

His workrate is exceptional but his passing game is by far the worst. He also seems to suck all the life out of our creativity. You would think his absence would leave a massive hole in our defence, but the games he missed last year didn't reflect that, and of course, our attack suddenly morphed into us looking like contenders.

There is nothing worse than when the ball gets passed to Macca in open play. He’s as lost as ever

 

[Pub Steak]

You reckon it's the 6cm of extra heighot, the 5kg of weight or KNik just doesn't have enough mongrel to defend like Cook in the middle? Or the work rate of the boys around them?

Damien Cook
Height:
180 cm
Weight:
88 kg
Age:
27
Date of Birth:
23 June 1991

Kodi Nikorima:
Height:
174 cm
Weight:
83 kg
Age:
24
Date of Birth:
03 April 1994

 

[Pub Steak]

Here's a couple more to show that he should be able to learn to defend in the middle:

Jake Friend:
Height:
175 cm
Weight:
92 kg
Age:
29
Date of Birth:
01 February 1990

Issac Luke

Height:
175 cm
Weight:
93 kg
Age:
31
Date of Birth:
29 May 1987


I'd say it's time to send Kodi to Gilmeisters school for tracking then promote one of our many talented young halves to the starting side .

 

[Unbreakable]

You reckon it's the 6cm of extra heighot, the 5kg of weight or KNik just doesn't have enough mongrel to defend like Cook in the middle? Or the work rate of the boys around them?

Damien Cook
Height:
180 cm
Weight:
88 kg
Age:
27
Date of Birth:
23 June 1991

Kodi Nikorima:
Height:
174 cm
Weight:
83 kg
Age:
24
Date of Birth:
03 April 1994

Being a hooker isn't about body type, it's about technique and practice. Pretty much anyone of any size (within reason) can be one, but generally speaking you can't just manufacture them in their mid 20's. I don't know the stats, but I think you'll find about 95% of NRL hookers have played predominantly as hookers in juniors. Peter Wallace is the only manufactured one i can think of in recent years.

 

[pagey]

If we have no 9s coming through and the club thinks Macca is shit then we have to go after Blayke Brailey because he's the only top tier 9 I see coming through. Hopefully we can convert one of our young halves into a hooker (Paix seems the most likely), or turn Niko into a Cook like 9 (imagine him defending in the middle tho... dios mio).



Rorters supporters are idiots who act like spoiled children because they fill positions they're weak in with super stars year after year. They probably expected old Uncle Nick to throw the dollars at Smith.

Friend was badly injured for most of last year. Just like Bird, it's not fair to judge him and his ability off games he was battling injury for the good of his team (the rorters have no depth at hooker, they needed him). After he got his injury sorted out over the Origin period he was playing close to 80 week to week and dominating. Judging off his performance on Friday he's carried that form into 2019.

What about the young hooker from the dragons, cowboys are chasing him.

 

[broncos4life]

I wasn’t ripping on Macca, would legitimately like to watch a highlight reel of his. Every other Tom, Dick and Harry has one.

It’s easy to say that you’re not ripping on him when you’re called out, but the “shouldn’t be too hard” and cool guy dancing emoji from your original post suggests otherwise. At least stand by your convictions.

 

[Pub Steak]

Being a hooker isn't about body type, it's about technique and practice. Pretty much anyone of any size (within reason) can be one, but generally speaking you can't just manufacture them in their mid 20's. I don't know the stats, but I think you'll find about 95% of NRL hookers have played predominantly as hookers in juniors. Peter Wallace is the only manufactured one i can think of in recent years.

Yeah but hasn't KNik been a hooker for quite some time? Where did he play pre NRL? He's a professional and can knuckle down in tackling practice surely. His attack and service from hooker is much better than Macca's in my opinion.

 

[Wolfie]

I like the look of Harry Grant from the storm.

 

[Unbreakable]

Yeah but hasn't KNik been a hooker for quite some time? Where did he play pre NRL? He's a professional and can knuckle down in tackling practice surely. His attack and service from hooker is much better than Macca's in my opinion.

Been a hooker for quite some time? He's literally never been a hooker, he played 1, 6 & 7 in juniors / U20's.