[2025 Trial] Broncos vs Bulldogs

[NSW stables]

Watched the game, yes piakura made some hard tackles and can be exciting but he was still not following structures. This was particularly clear in the dogs last try.

Piakura was so slow off the line that rogers couldn't slide out, which in effect, did not allow mariner or karapani to remain on their men.

Piakura puts on hard hits because he is slow off the line and accelerates into tackles, but if there are long passes, he gets caught out, and threw the whole left side out.

 

[Wolfie]

I just think it’ll take some time for the new spine to really click. Cobbo had a typical lazy PTB error, Patty had a loose offload in our own end to no one. Paix had poor service,

I’m not concerned, I just think it won’t come as easy as we might hope.

Some posters cant handle when people post some constructive criticism. They seem to get very antsy about it. I didnt see anything wrong with your post at all. I'd be surprised if our coaching team didnt point out the exact same thing.

How are you supposed to improve if you go in with the attitude of " doesnt matter, its only a trial "

You take the positives, and work on the negatives.

 

[HarryAllan7]

Real arm wrestle to start the game and we hung in there and slowly took control.. that’s something we didn’t do last year - a good sign.

Our attack looked very clunky, but that’s to be expected in pre-season.

Never seen Piakura play the way he did - he really stood out to me and looked like a man possessed. If he can do that consistently he belongs in the team. Hope he keeps it up. Paix looked good again, but his service can be erratic.

Tapau is an error / penalty magnet and I don’t see a way he makes the team over Jensen - especially with the current ref crackdown on playing the ball with your foot, which Tapau never does.

Think we’ve all got lots of reasons to be hopeful for this year - bring on the chooks!

 

[Dexter]

Jensen provides so much bang for buck. It's hard to see 800k ish difference between him and Haas.

 

[Big Del]

Jensen provides so much bang for buck. It's hard to see 800k ish difference between him and Haas.

He took it up a notch yesterday .
He has looked better than last season in the trials .

BUT it was him and Billy who let the opposition run past for a try

I thought BTK was better .

 

[Sproj]

Jensen provides so much bang for buck. It's hard to see 800k ish difference between him and Haas.

Given Te Kura and Willison's emergence, do we need to spend so much on Haas even moving forward? I get he has a small village to take care of but you have a salary cap to work around.

 

[Wolfie]

Given Te Kura and Willison's emergence, do we need to spend so much on Haas even moving forward? I get he has a small village to take care of but you have a salary cap to work around.

He's not going to take a paycut is he. He's going to want more not less or even the same. I cant see the value in having a prop on so much money.

 

[1910]

I thought it was interesting how low the Broncos tackled, leg tackles are out because it isn't rewarded but the Broncos did a lot of it. It means you can suffer from a lot of off-loads and it can cost you in the last quarter of games because you have to get up more and back. Your marker defence has to be elite too.

Attack wise thought the passing was poor, guys not getting to spots passes to the ground behind in front it was the full spectrum of bad passing.

Broncos on the ball has been back these trial games, It was prevalent under Briers in 2023 but went away last year but the Broncos are much better at pushing up and being there in case in the trials so far. They have scored at four tries just being there.

Broncos won the first/last seven minutes of each half in both the trials too. No points against in that time frame.

 

[theshed]

He's not going to take a paycut is he. He's going to want more not less or even the same. I cant see the value in having a prop on so much money.

Both fair points but I wouldn’t speak too soon Haas. He looked the most aggressive I can remember seeing him at club level yesterday.

if he is injury free, I think we might see the best version of Haas this year.

 

[theshed]

I thought it was interesting how low the Broncos tackled, leg tackles are out because it isn't rewarded but the Broncos did a lot of it. It means you can suffer from a lot of off-loads and it can cost you in the last quarter of games because you have to get up more and back. Your marker defence has to be elite too.

Attack wise thought the passing was poor, guys not getting to spots passes to the ground behind in front it was the full spectrum of bad passing.

Broncos on the ball has been back these trial games, It was prevalent under Briers in 2023 but went away last year but the Broncos are much better at pushing up and being there in case in the trials so far. They have scored at four tries just being there.

Broncos won the first/last seven minutes of each half in both the trials too. No points against in that time frame.

Yeah, weirdly we looked more cohesive during the trials when the second stringers were attacking.

The top 17 looked really out of sync

 

[Wolfie]

Both fair points but I wouldn’t speak too soon Haas. He looked the most aggressive I can remember seeing him at club level yesterday.

if he is injury free, I think we might see the best version of Haas this year.

The cap is going to be a factor. Even Haas at his best i'm not sure is worth the investment. Of course, a lot is going to depend on the development of BTK and Willison now. If they both keep stepping up, its going to make it easier to not get into a ridiculous bidding war to keep Payne. If they dont, we have an issue.

 

[Dexter]

He took it up a notch yesterday .
He has looked better than last season in the trials .

BUT it was him and Billy who let the opposition run past for a try

I thought BTK was better .

BTK will get his share of game time this year but I prefer Jensen at this point. Prob no right or wrong way to go from what we've seen.
Ben is a beast close to the line which also creates space and options for others.
Not sure how he would be if he had to play big minutes to cover injury/sinbin/headbin situations.
Nice problem to have though.

 

[McHunt]

Paix’s service was shocking at times. I was going to say Billy outplayed him

Can't even slightly agree with that. Wasn't as impressive as his last game, and a few passes didn't stick, but Billy looked like he was wading through mud in comparison. It wasn't even close. Paix has the 9, but I would be exploring other options for 14. I've been looking at Madden, but only because he can do what Billy does as a half, but considerably better. Smoothy has a bit more muscle, so can cover lock, but has no utility beyond that. He's probably better at dummy half, and he does have a nascent kicking game, but there's not a lot to get excited about there.

 

[theshed]

Can't even slightly agree with that. Wasn't as impressive as his last game, and a few passes didn't stick, but Billy looked like he was wading through mud in comparison. It wasn't even close. Paix has the 9, but I would be exploring other options for 14. I've been looking at Madden, but only because he can do what Billy does as a half, but considerably better. Smoothy has a bit more muscle, so can cover lock, but has no utility beyond that. He's probably better at dummy half, and he does have a nascent kicking game, but there's not a lot to get excited about there.

Come on bud. Let me feign Billy tolerance for one post.

I’m pretty sure the Smooth has filled in, in the halves before and did fine. You could also argue that if we needed halves coverage in a pinch, the hooker formally known as the next Cooper Cronk could just fill in there and Smoothey play hooker. ,

 

[1910]

Smoothy has always kicked his whole career, goals and in play. 5/6 For the Falcons in a Grand Final.

67 goals in Cup and one field goal- finished second behind Rogers in Cup in 22.

 

[McHunt]

Come on bud. Let me feign Billy tolerance for one post.

I’m pretty sure the Smooth has filled in, in the halves before and did fine. You could also argue that if we needed halves coverage in a pinch, the hooker formally known as the next Cooper Cronk could just fill in there and Smoothey play hooker. ,

Yes, Hunt has opened up the bench in all kinds of ways. Having to carry a plodding hooker is an albatross we may yet shed.