NEWS As expected: round 6 and the axe falls

As previously seen in BHQ's crystal ball, Round 6 marks Anthony Milford’s banishment to the QLD Cup. His first outright demotion in nine years. After pissing around with the other two halves Kevvie has finally shown his hand and has done what always had to be done. Milford now finds himself training with the Reserve Grade squad, along with promising centre Tesi Niu. Brodie Croft looks set to take his position outside Tommy Dearden, at least as a placeholder, until [watch this space] arrives. Jesse Arthars will replace Fantesi.

Brisbane management is hoping to have its 2022 roster sorted by June 30. That gives Milford at most 10 weeks to save his contract.

Drink up

Matt Lodge took the microphone to break the news:

“(Kevvie) has drawn a line in the sand. Although I feel sorry for the guys who miss out, you can’t keep doing the same thing week in, week out and expect change. Kevvie has looked at the game and found some things he’s not happy with and he’s holding people accountable. We all know Milf is a talented first grade footballer but he and a couple of others aren’t doing what Kevvie wants and I applaud him for putting his foot down.”

McHunt

 

[Skathen]

Youth isn’t an excuse. Penrith are a younger team than us, with less experience...

Without Milf and Teo we'd have a lower age than the Panthers, we had the youngest pack last year and we've also gone down Offa, Boyd, Bird, Macca etc.

 

[1910]

Youth isn’t an excuse. Penrith are a younger team than us, with less experience...

And lost their hooker, fullback and captain. Big difference is football smarts- Penrith follow a plan. Kevvie could honestly not make it any easier to understand- even I comprehend it but they can't follow it each week.

 

[rnabokov]

And lost their hooker, fullback and captain. Big difference is football smarts- Penrith follow a plan. Kevvie could honestly not make it any easier to understand- even I comprehend it but they can't follow it each week.

I don't think they are dumb. However, they are as you say, finding it hard to to adapt to, and adopt the simple things. LAst year, they had a reason. This year? Maybe it's a combination of things. Recovery from methods/plans which just didn't work, inexperienced half back, a seemingly demoralised Milford and importantly, no genuine leadership. Still, there is no substitute for experience, painful though it is. Penrith have the advantage of having smart players in their spine, and excellent coaching over the years they have been together as a group. Their systems and plans are well worked and understood, a lot like Melbourne, if not all the best teams.

I just hope that small improvements come with time as the side just learns the hard way, and, Kevvie finds that right mix in the halves, which frankly, is not going to be easy this year.

 

[rnabokov]

Maybe they also have PTSD - Post Traumatic Seibold Disorder, suffering the consequences deep down of being bashed a few too many times. Winning is great therapy.

 

[Ffs...]

They may as well send him back their as FB. Thats what we need most anyway.

 

[Alex Wingnut]

Youth isn’t an excuse. Penrith are a younger team than us, with less experience...

No they're not we have the youngest team in the league... although I do Agree its not an excuse

 

[Socnorb]

Milford's problem is that he hasn't evolved. He relied too much on physical attributes that have deserted him. It's what made played like Locky, JT so special. they kept on developing new skills or a calmness under pressure. essentially they were impossible to "work out".

 

[broncsgoat]

Maybe they also have PTSD - Post Traumatic Seibold Disorder, suffering the consequences deep down of being bashed a few too many times. Winning is great therapy.

I definitely have PTSD. The game barely interests me anymore and it's fucking sad.

 

[nopatience101]

And lost their hooker, fullback and captain. Big difference is football smarts- Penrith follow a plan. Kevvie could honestly not make it any easier to understand- even I comprehend it but they can't follow it each week.

stupid is as stupid does

 

[Renegade]

And lost their hooker, fullback and captain. Big difference is football smarts- Penrith follow a plan. Kevvie could honestly not make it any easier to understand- even I comprehend it but they can't follow it each week.

tbf they've had the same structure for a few years now.

 

[Jason Simmons]

Without Milf and Teo we'd have a lower age than the Panthers, we had the youngest pack last year and we've also gone down Offa, Boyd, Bird, Macca etc.

We’ve gone down alright. It’s a fairly predictable outcome to filling an already shit team with dumb ”footballers” (aka athletes) as we have done.

The point is the “youth” excuse is just that. As Penrith show, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.

We are nowhere near good enough. The average age of this squad could be 28 and it wouldn’t make any difference. It would still suck.

 

[BroncsFan]

I don't think they are dumb. However, they are as you say, finding it hard to to adapt to, and adopt the simple things. LAst year, they had a reason. This year? Maybe it's a combination of things. Recovery from methods/plans which just didn't work, inexperienced half back, a seemingly demoralised Milford and importantly, no genuine leadership. Still, there is no substitute for experience, painful though it is. Penrith have the advantage of having smart players in their spine, and excellent coaching over the years they have been together as a group. Their systems and plans are well worked and understood, a lot like Melbourne, if not all the best teams.

I just hope that small improvements come with time as the side just learns the hard way, and, Kevvie finds that right mix in the halves, which frankly, is not going to be easy this year.

I think they are dumb to be honest.

We've basically been on a downward trajectory since 2016/17 with 2015 appearing to be an outlier based on free flowing unstructured play.

These guys can't control the ruck in defense or attack, can't execute the correct 5th tackle option, can't identify when to go wide or when to run it down the middle, can't identify when to hold down the tackler and concede a penalty, can't defend on the edges, can't defend in the middle, can't run a decoy line properly and I'm sure there are many more things this team can't do properly.

I honestly can't think of a single aspect in the game that this team can do even adequately.

Even a shit team like the dogs can at least execute a game plan and look reasonable with the ball in hand, whereas everything we do looks clunky and disorganized.

We're into our third coach with this lot (four if you include Gentle) and they still can't do any of the fundamentals.

I think Bennett was getting wins purely due to the man management and mental side of things where the players were able to get up for a game purely to play for him. It would explain why the team lost any game they were "meant to win"... complacency would set in and they had zero fundamentals to turn to so they could coast through a game.

Granted Seibold over complicated things, but I'd say he thought he was coming into a team that could at least execute a simple game plan and he just had to put the polish on it to get it humming.

It's like there is zero awareness in the team and they just go through premeditated actions that replicate what they do in training.

 

[rnabokov]

I think they are dumb to be honest.

We've basically been on a downward trajectory since 2016/17 with 2015 appearing to be an outlier based on free flowing unstructured play.

These guys can't control the ruck in defense or attack, can't execute the correct 5th tackle option, can't identify when to go wide or when to run it down the middle, can't identify when to hold down the tackler and concede a penalty, can't defend on the edges, can't defend in the middle, can't run a decoy line properly and I'm sure there are many more things this team can't do properly.

Even a shit team like the dogs can at least execute a game plan and look reasonable with the ball in hand, whereas everything we do looks clunky and disorganized.

I honestly can't think of a single aspect in the game that this team can do even adequately.

We're into our third coach with this lot (four if you include Gentle) and they still can't do any of the fundamentals.

I think Bennett was getting wins purely due to the man management and mental side of things where the players were able to get up for a game purely to play for him. It would explain why the team lost any game they were "meant to win"... complacency would set in and they had zero fundamentals to turn to so they could coast through a game.

Granted Seibold over complicated things, but I'd say he thought he was coming into a team that could at least execute a simple game plan and he just had to put the polish on it to get it humming.

It's like there is zero awareness in the team and they just go through premeditated actions that replicate what they do in training.

Agree, with the proviso that I don't think the players are dumb stupid, rather, they are the result of being neglected through poor coaching strategies since at least 2016, together with dreadful roster management, where a bunch of young players have largely been left on their own to figure things out. Leadership and mentoring by experienced players just hasn't happened for years. Since Hodges and Parker retired, who has replaced that experience and leadership? Planning for Darius to be the One .. well, we know how that worked out. Getting rid of Macca at a time we needed stability, not a good idea.

I think that most of our team simply haven't been taught what to do and how to do it, at the most basic level necessary to be competitive with the best at NRL standards, particularly given how the new rules have changed the focus of the game. We haven't adapted largely in my view because they don't know how because they were never given the tools to get there through quality roster management and equally, quality coaching. I think Walters is realizing this as well as the enormity of the task in front of him - basically, to train a bunch of juniors from scratch.

Long long road ahead.

 

[Sproj]

Agree, with the proviso that I don't think the players are dumb stupid, rather, they are the result of being neglected through poor coaching strategies since at least 2016, together with dreadful roster management, where a bunch of young players have largely been left on their own to figure things out. Leadership and mentoring by experienced players just hasn't happened for years. Since Hodges and Parker retired, who has replaced that experience and leadership? Planning for Darius to be the One .. well, we know how that worked out. Getting rid of Macca at a time we needed stability, not a good idea.

I think that most of our team simply haven't been taught what to do and how to do it, at the most basic level necessary to be competitive with the best at NRL standards, particularly given how the new rules have changed the focus of the game. We haven't adapted largely in my view because they don't know how because they were never given the tools to get there through quality roster management and equally, quality coaching. I think Walters is realizing this as well as the enormity of the task in front of him - basically, to train a bunch of juniors from scratch.

Long long road ahead.

You don't need elite coaching though to know how to tackle and hold a ball.

 

[BroncsFan]

You don't need elite coaching though to know how to tackle and hold a ball.

You kind of do for tackling.

If you're just wrapping up the legs all the time the opposition will always be finding their front and absolutely destroying you with quick ptb's

It's basically been happening to us since wrestling became a thing... even in 2015 our defence was heart attack scrambling defence rather than systematic structured defence and proper tackling technique that can control momentum of the ball runner.

 

[Broncapz]

It's gotta be time to put Oates back in the team. Anything is better than Kennar as a centre.

 

[Jedhead]

You kind of do for tackling.

If you're just wrapping up the legs all the time the opposition will always be finding their front and absolutely destroying you with quick ptb's

It's basically been happening to us since wrestling became a thing... even in 2015 our defence was heart attack scrambling defence rather than systematic structured defence and proper tackling technique that can control momentum of the ball runner.

Yip totally agree. Hate to keep harking on but until we embrace the art of the wrestle and invest in our own Dojo we will never be serious contenders again. Defence wins games and today’s defence is structured around a systematic game plan that requires every player to be on the same page. The Storm and the Roosters have had almost ten years start on us. They now have retired champions teaching the next generation coming through.

Our management have seriously dropped the ball on this one.

 

[rnabokov]

You kind of do for tackling.

If you're just wrapping up the legs all the time the opposition will always be finding their front and absolutely destroying you with quick ptb's

It's basically been happening to us since wrestling became a thing... even in 2015 our defence was heart attack scrambling defence rather than systematic structured defence and proper tackling technique that can control momentum of the ball runner.

Just heard a show on the ABC where some sports science professor is looking at rugby league and union tackling techniques to try reduce injuries.

I remember when I was taught tackling. In those days, it was always focussed on legs tackling, the messages being you can't run without legs, and good technique is everything, like not getting your head in front of a hard running prop's knee or hip. Man, I learned that the hard way. You would think players have been taught good tackling techniques in every year of their development from kindergarten, or given our team, maybe not.