Auckland 9s - Brisbane vs Bulldogs - LIVE Discussion

[Unbiased Nostalgia]

Why?

Nevermind, it's just an excuse.

 

[Porthoz]

He was thinking about having KFC with half of New Zealand after the comp.

ROFL!

:respect:

 

[Big Pete]

Game 24
Brisbane Broncos vs Bulldogs

Broncos
2. Alick
3. Eden
6. Milford
7. Nicholls
8. Gavet
10. Molo
13. Lowrie
14. Whitchurch
16. Parcell

Bench:
1. K. Nikorima
4. Boyce
12. Ofahengaue
15. Opacic
17. J. Nikorima

Pre-Game: Both teams were looking to avenge disappointing campaigns in a game of no real consequence. Brisbane had been disappointing, losing a close one to a hapless Sydney side before getting overwhelmed by Cronulla in the final game of Day One. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were content to go through the motions and didn't over-extend themselves in their two prior games.

Play-By-Play:

In a case of Deja Vu, the Broncos were caught off-guard by the kick off and the Bulldogs had early possession through Curtis Rona. However, the Bulldogs immediately released the pressure valve as Lloyd Perrett dropped a simple pass off Pritchard to hand Brisbane the ball.

The Broncos signaled their intentions early with some nice sideline to sideline play. Unlike the day before where they seemed content to play safety first football, the Broncos seemed more willing to pass and had a greater understanding of each other's game. This was evident in the third tackle of the first set where Milford combined with Nicholls to put Whitchurch through the gap. While it resulted in Eden being comfortably shown the sideline, it was a good show of confidence early that had been completely missing the day before.

In response, Canterbury were happy to just ruck it up with very little variation. It was a set devoid of any imagination and to make matters worse, they came up with a poor last tackle play that simply gifted the Broncos territory 40m out from their own line. It was inexperience from Mbye who decided to put through a chip kick for himself instead of going through the hands when there was plenty of space and numbers to his left. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Francis Molo spilled it on the second, handing them possession they did not deserve.

They showed why too with another ho-hum set. To their credit, they did make good metres down their right hand side but kick from Mbye was completely unnecessary and were sure signs of a player going through the motions instead of playing what was infront of him. In this case, a pass or even a cross-field kick would have been the go.

Off the back of a handy offload from Gavet and nice short-pass from Lowrie, the Broncos were able to earn themselves the first penalty of the game through a play-the-ball infringement. Wasting little time, the Broncos take the quick tap through Joe Boyce who makes good metres enabling Nicholls to combine with Whitchurch and the former Schoolboy makes a tough determined run that sees him break a few tackles before he's eventually stopped well inside the Dogs half. The Broncos were looking good but on the next play, Jayden Nikorima bit off more than he could chew throwing a pass out infront of Opacic who was struggling to time his run to begin with. Good intentions from Jayden but his lack of timing shone through and in hindsight, would have been better off taking on the Canterbury winger and either poke his nose through or get a fast play the ball.

It nearly cost the Broncos as the Bulldogs produced their best play of the game through a couple of offloads to put Jaline Graham through up the centre. It was nearly try time for the Bulldogs but the last pass from Graham to Tolman was difficult and fortunately for the Broncos, resulted in a knock-on inside their 30m line.

After both teams went close to scoring, the Broncos were finally able to draw first blood in the 6th minute through a simple show and go from Kodi Nikorima. Off the back of another play-the-ball infringement from the Bulldogs, the Broncos were able to ruck it up through Ofahengaue and Boyce before Kodi got into dummy half, challenged Damien Cook and Moses Mbye who simply weren't quick enough to react. Broncos 6-0

It didn't take long for the Broncos to score another. In a contentious decision, the Bulldogs were ruled to have thrown a forward pass inside their forty. Two plays later, Milford skirts across field and finds Jayden Nikorima running a straight line that leaves his opposite clutching at air before dotting down for a bonus try to give Brisbane a comfortable 13-0 lead in the shadows of half-time.

Second half

The Bulldogs made an absolute meal of the kick off, handing the Broncos possession inside their 10m. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Opacic got a sniff close to the line and in the process of planting the ball down, lost it, letting the Dogs off the hook and straight on the attack. They nearly went the length of the field off a quick tap and a penalty but a smart charge down from Lowrie on Cook fortutiously bounced the Broncos way giving them possession inside their 20m.

Brisbane rucked it up, largely playing off the back of Parcell's scoots from dummy half but ended the set poorly as Nicholls had his chip kick intended for Kodi Nikorima charged down. In a comedic little moment, both Kodi Nikorima and Corey Thompson looked at the referee in confusion as they thought Kodi was offside but the referee was right to call play-on and I'm sure Kodi received a lecture about playing to the whistle. Dogs went close to scoring, but Tolman once again dropped the last pass with the line open and his winger unmarked.

On the next set, the Broncos received a six again after a failed intercept attempt from Lloyd Perrett and Jayden Nikorima does well to beat Rona down the sideline before losing his balance and throwing a desperate pass that was taken successfuly intercepted this time through Damien Cook. It was a nice little play from Jayden, very Justin Hodges esque but once again a sign of his immaturity as the pass was never on.

Dogs continue to play basic footy but you can tell some of their players are getting restless as hulking prop Tim Browne decides to challenge the Broncos down the sideline before Curtis Rona puts in a chip and chase for himself. It nearly came off too, but Kodi Nikorima was good enough to get there and put the Broncos on the attack but nobody was buying into Milford's little 360 routine. Brisbane work their way down field but continue to let themselves down with their kicking game as Milford has his kick charged down and knocks on in the ensuing contest for the ball. It was clear that he was caught up in two minds as his winger was looking for the chip through when really Milford just wanted to run it.

On first play, the Dogs go left to Thompson who turns Shaun Lane back on the inside right through a gap and he appears certain to score before Matt Parcell makes a remarkable try saving tackle on Lane to force the ball loose over the try line. Parcell was in the thick of the action again as the Bulldogs made another break off of a Milford mistake before he and Gavet combined to show Adam Elliott the sideline and maintain the Broncos clean sheet.

From the ensuing tap, Antonio Kaufusi forced a fumble on Opacic to give his team one last crack on the line but a good try-saving tackle by Whitchurch thwarted one opportunity before Curtis Rona lost it over the line. Opacic raced to the 20m line to send Jayden Nikorima down field. Jayden made good metres but the Bulldogs chase did well to get to him before he linked up with his brother Kodi who tip-toed down the sideline before throwing a hail mary on the inside seemingly to Alick but before the young winger could get to the ball, he was cleaned up by Antonio Kaufusi resulting in another penalty to the Broncos.

With time ticking down, Nicholls turned the ball over to Milford who decided to take on the line before popping a nothing pass to Jayden Nikorima who knocked on and basically summed the game up for both teams.

Summary: Brisbane clearly wanted to redeem themselves after a disappointing end to Day 1 and did so, albeit, not as convincingly as say the Titans. What was apparent was that this was a young inexperienced side that were rusty in their first real hit-out of the year and there were a couple of times they were guilty of taking soft or poor options when they needed to earn them first. For example, they really should have kicked for a corner at some point in the second half to take a bit out of the Dogs and give themselves an opportunity on the next set. I doubt it really bothered them all that much in the grand scheme of things but at the same time, I hope the younger players took some of these lessons out of this experience so they can press forward. Tough pick for MotM as the Nikorima brothers proved handy but I'd give it to Parcell for his two late try savers and work around the ruck. I'd also give a shout out to Gavet, Lowrie and Whitchurch who I thought complimented the side well and gave them some toughness. Lowrie in particular was a welcome addition after the disappointing performance against Cronulla.

Phew! Don't think I'll be getting into the habit of that come Season 2015. Congrats to whoever took the time to read it and for those who weren't able to see the game, I hope the run-through was handy.

 

[Foordy]

who needs to watch the game, when you have that sort of commentary ... Awesome work [MENTION=1899]Big Pete[/MENTION]