2025 Pre-season discussion. The Madge dynasty begins.

[Sproj]

NRL: Put in requests for preferred games and we’ll add it to the random draw.

Nek Minut: same round 1 as last year.

Who could have seen that coming?

 

[Gaz]

 

[BroncsFan]

It's probably the best time to get rorters... No Sam Walker, No Brandon Smith, No Sandon Smith... their first game with a new structure without JWH, Suaalii, Manu, etc.

They'll be coming into the game with a team that looks completely different to 2024.

 

[Sproj]

It's probably the best time to get rorters... No Sam Walker, No Brandon Smith, No Sandon Smith... their first game with a new structure without JWH, Suaalii, Manu, etc.

They'll be coming into the game with a team that looks completely different to 2024.

Well let's hope ours plays completely different to how we looked in 2024.

 

[Brocko]

Even in round 1, when we'll all be keen for footy to return, that Friday 6PM is a brutal game for the first Friday night of the season.

 

[BroncsFan]

Well let's hope ours plays completely different to how we looked in 2024.

We might have some teething issues with the team having to adapt to Madge's style... in defence and attack.

The biggest key for us will be defence... it's likely to be a complete overhaul from what they're used to and what's be engrained in them for so long.

I think of titans in the 2024 season... Hasler came in as a fully defensive coach and had to completely overhaul a titans team who were conceding 27 points per game in 2023.

Titans started the year horribly in defence and people were questioning the Dessie appointment with the titans conceding 31.25 pts per game through to Round 5 without registering a win, but their attack was looking far worse.

Then Dessie went full modern meta mode against raiders in Canberra and had his players falling asleep in the ruck, being offside all the time, etc. basically just break as many rules as you need to, but don't let your defensive line be broken.

Titans lost the game 21-20, but also lost the penalties and six agains 13-4... most notable out of that game was Ricky Stuart in the presser saying that titans could've been penalised 30 odd times and if that's what the NRL wants to see in defence then he will tell his players to start doing the same.

I think it kind of flipped a switch in the titans players though and showed them the success that can come if you just follow the storm, panthers and rorters way of defending by just ignoring that rules exist. For the remaining 20 games they conceded 26.5 pt per game and won 8 games, so not a huge improvement on the previous year, but they had a ton of injuries and now Dessie has a base to start from.

Broncos are coming into 2025 with no base to work from, because they've never played the modern meta (Wayne refusing wrestling all those years earlier)... so it will all come down to how quickly Madge can get the modern defensive methodology across to the playing group.

Early on we might be needing to win via high attacking shootouts rather than grafting out low scoring slug fests... until we have our Canberra moment... so the more underdone teams we get to play early on the better it will be for us.

That's not usually what happens with a broncos 'draw' though... expect to see storm (away), penrith, cows (home), souths, etc. in the early schedule... so the playing group will need to be learning from within the deep end.