Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2021

[Fitzy]

Direct swap of Carrigan for Welch with cash Melbourne's way (they love cash)?

No chance

 

[Unbreakable]

He's heavier than 3 of those you mentioned and plays hooker/lock exactly the same as Radley and Smith, s how is he not similar?

Playing the same position and being a similar weight does not make you a similar player.

All of those players I mentioned are immensely more talented with ball in hand. Not only that, they are more impactful with their runs, over longer minutes.

Kobe Hetherington - 39.4 minutes per game, 56 running metres per game, 23.2 tackles per game

Brandon Smith - 59.9 minutes per game, 101 running metres per game, 26.7 tackles per game
Victor Radley - 61.9 minutes per game, 96 running metres per game, 38.2 tackles per game
Cameron Murray - 62.0 minutes per game, 119 running metres per game, 35.8 tackles per game
Isaah Yeo - 64.0 minutes per game, 119 running metres per game, 34.5 tackles per game
Jake Trbojevic - 76.2 minutes per game, 110 running metres per game, 36.9 tackles per game

Even if we're to extrapolate Hetherington's numbers to a 60 minute role, not accounting for increased fatigue / less impact over longer minutes, his numbers would be very, very underwhelming. You'd be looking at someone averaging ~85 running metres playing 60 minutes in the middle. That's not acceptable for someone who is also not doing much in the way of ball-playing. The guys listed above, especially the 4 that aren't Brandon Smith, all run for significantly more metres than they're credited for on the stat sheet, but regularly pass before the line, so the metres aren't tallied. Hetherington rarely, if ever does that.

So, long story short, yes, Hetherington has the body type of a ball-playing lock. He just needs to improve his fitness, work rate, post-contact metres, upper body strength, leg drive, ball-playing, offloading & decision making and he'll be right up there.

 

[Johnny92]

He's heavier than 3 of those you mentioned and plays hooker/lock exactly the same as Radley and Smith, s how is he not similar?

I've read/heard somewhere Kobe has played abit in the halves as a junior so the ball playing ability id say would be there and possibly could be better than some of those mentioned after finding his feet in first grade.

Only problem I have with getting Welch is who do we loose

 

[pagey]

Playing the same position and being a similar weight does not make you a similar player.

All of those players I mentioned are immensely more talented with ball in hand. Not only that, they are more impactful with their runs, over longer minutes.

Kobe Hetherington - 39.4 minutes per game, 56 running metres per game, 23.2 tackles per game

Brandon Smith - 59.9 minutes per game, 101 running metres per game, 26.7 tackles per game
Victor Radley - 61.9 minutes per game, 96 running metres per game, 38.2 tackles per game
Cameron Murray - 62.0 minutes per game, 119 running metres per game, 35.8 tackles per game
Isaah Yeo - 64.0 minutes per game, 119 running metres per game, 34.5 tackles per game
Jake Trbojevic - 76.2 minutes per game, 110 running metres per game, 36.9 tackles per game

Even if we're to extrapolate Hetherington's numbers to a 60 minute role, not accounting for increased fatigue / less impact over longer minutes, his numbers would be very, very underwhelming. You'd be looking at someone averaging ~85 running metres playing 60 minutes in the middle. That's not acceptable for someone who is also not doing much in the way of ball-playing. The guys listed above, especially the 4 that aren't Brandon Smith, all run for significantly more metres than they're credited for on the stat sheet, but regularly pass before the line, so the metres aren't tallied. Hetherington rarely, if ever does that.

So, long story short, yes, Hetherington has the body type of a ball-playing lock. He just needs to improve his fitness, work rate, post-contact metres, upper body strength, leg drive, ball-playing, offloading & decision making and he'll be right up there.

That's all well and good but he's only played 14 games in team that has been consistently shit for the last 2-3 years , and you’re comparing him to players in top 4 teams.
What you can definitely say is he's come into a struggling team and made a difference in 14 games , has ability and passion that can build on a solid start. Plenty to work on but plenty to work with, and I'd be more than happy for him to get first crack at lock after a solid first pre season as a starter.

 

[pagey]

I've read/heard somewhere Kobe has played abit in the halves as a junior so the ball playing ability id say would be there and possibly could be better than some of those mentioned after finding his feet in first grade.

Only problem I have with getting Welch is who do we loose

Hopefully just bullemor and possibly some fringe players (palasia/Kennedy) maybe.

 

[Unbreakable]

That's all well and good but he's only played 14 games in team that has been consistently shit for the last 2-3 years , and you’re comparing him to players in top 4 teams.
What you can definitely say is he's come into a struggling team and made a difference in 14 games , has ability and passion that can build on a solid start. Plenty to work on but plenty to work with, and I'd be more than happy for him to get first crack at lock after a solid first pre season as a starter.

I don't disagree. If we don't sign anyone else, he deserves first crack.

I'm just playing devils advocate to some extent, I think Hetherington's performances this season were very overrated by fans. As I've said numerous times, great defensively, and often finds himself in good spots to grab tries, but he has a LOT of things to improve on before we're talking about him being anything more than a stop-gap option for the 13 jersey.

 

[Sproj]

I don't disagree. If we don't sign anyone else, he deserves first crack.

I'm just playing devils advocate to some extent, I think Hetherington's performances this season were very overrated by fans. As I've said numerous times, great defensively, and often finds himself in good spots to grab tries, but he has a LOT of things to improve on before we're talking about him being anything more than a stop-gap option for the 13 jersey.

He's played barely half a season, give the kid a chance.

 

[Unbreakable]

He's played barely half a season, give the kid a chance.

That's precisely my point. He played half a season and barely made an impact with ball in hand, I'm not sure why people are so high on him based on that.

Admirable effort for his first taste of first grade, but I certainly hope there's some more talent locked away in there ready to be unlocked.

 

[pagey]

I don't disagree. If we don't sign anyone else, he deserves first crack.

I'm just playing devils advocate to some extent, I think Hetherington's performances this season were very overrated by fans. As I've said numerous times, great defensively, and often finds himself in good spots to grab tries, but he has a LOT of things to improve on before we're talking about him being anything more than a stop-gap option for the 13 jersey.

That's fine everyone is welcome to an opinion , and you may be right.
I just think that there's plenty to like and with some time and hard work he could be perfect for what we need.

 

[BroncsFan]

I think Welch is a good idea. Personally I don’t see us buying a 6 with Mam coming through, they seem to have put all there eggs in the niu/Cobbo fullback basket and I can’t see us getting a hooker worthwhile of not developing Mozer alongside Reynolds. So to get an experienced front rower who I think is on the underrated side (for his ability) would be great. Than we have the left over cap for a few upgrades here and there for some youngsters

I think fullback is very much still up in the air.

Cobbo looks like he could be a strike outside back at the moment, which could see him take up the left center spot.

 

[Sproj]

That's precisely my point. He played half a season and barely made an impact with ball in hand, I'm not sure why people are so high on him based on that.

Admirable effort for his first taste of first grade, but I certainly hope there's some more talent locked away in there ready to be unlocked.

You tend to focus only on stats with a lot of these claims and they only tell half a story. The things that have been impressive are a couple of plays that led to tries and the stinging defense which we have been screaming out for. He may end up going on to nothing but he comes from a good pedigree and there have been really encouraging signs, not every kid needs to come out and have man of the match performances to see something there.

If he goes off the boil with second year syndrome, we still have Carrigan, Haas, Flegler, Capewell and Robati who look like they could handle stints in the role there.

 

[Unbreakable]

You tend to focus only on stats with a lot of these claims and they only tell half a story. The things that have been impressive are a couple of plays that led to tries and the stinging defense which we have been screaming out for. He may end up going on to nothing but he comes from a good pedigree and there have been really encouraging signs, not every kid needs to come out and have man of the match performances to see something there.

If he goes off the boil with second year syndrome, we still have Carrigan, Haas, Flegler, Capewell and Robati who look like they could handle stints in the role there.

I gave plenty of examples of areas that he's severely lacking that have nothing to do with statistics, if you'd like to actually read my posts about him.

I also said that he's strong defensively and occasionally finds himself in good positions to grab tries, the two things you just said are impressive about him. Reading is helpful :P

 

[Sproj]

I gave plenty of examples of areas that he's severely lacking that have nothing to do with statistics, if you'd like to actually read my posts about him.

I also said that he's strong defensively and occasionally finds himself in good positions to grab tries, the two things you just said are impressive about him. Reading is helpful :P

And yet you say you don't see why people are excited about him?

 

[Unbreakable]

And yet you say you don't see why people are excited about him?

If his performances this year are enough for people to get excited, it truly just shows how far we've fallen as a club. I guess it makes sense, there hasn't been a great deal to get excited about over the last 4 years or so.

 

[pagey]

If his performances this year are enough for people to get excited, it truly just shows how far we've fallen as a club. I guess it makes sense, there hasn't been a great deal to get excited about over the last 4 years or so.

I think its more the fact we've well and truly fallen and if people don't realise that then good luck to em , but he has been a shining light in our struggle to get back on track.
Maybe he isn't the superstar so many people like to think we should have abundance of but he's definitely the solid player that will do his job that we so desperately need.

 

[McHunt]

If his performances this year are enough for people to get excited, it truly just shows how far we've fallen as a club. I guess it makes sense, there hasn't been a great deal to get excited about over the last 4 years or so.

I think Kobe and Tyson are both enjoying/suffering from the Turpin Effect. That's when your baseline of expectations have fallen so low, a player with no preceding hype might only need to perform at a reasonable level to spark enough energy to lift the team.

As the team gradually raises its bar, expectations rise with it. Fans no longer want someone who's not a potato, they want a star. We no longer want to avoid the wooden spoon and massive deficits. We want to make the top 4.

Is Kobe a top 4 lock? I'm not sure either. I agree with you on that.

As for lock, it's the one position in the team that doesn't have a clear job description. Some locks are just props. Pat Carrigan, for example, offers nothing more. Tackle. Hit it up. Try not to drop the ball. Rinse and repeat.

While others are like a five-eighth crossed with a brick shithouse. They become an extended part of the spine. Kobe falls into this latter type, which makes him vastly more exciting than Patty at the back. Regardless of how good Patty is in the extended prop role.

I agree that Kobe is still very much on trial. You know when you have a good lock because you hear his name shouted every other set. Players like Taumalolo, Gallen, Ray Price, Bradley Clyde, Sam Burgess. These guys made a massive impact every game. Maybe that's the job description.

 

[Unbreakable]

I think Kobe and Tyson are both enjoying/suffering from the Turpin Effect. That's when your baseline of expectations have fallen so low, a player with no preceding hype might only need to perform at a reasonable level to spark enough energy to lift the team.

As the team gradually raises its bar, expectations rise with it. Fans no longer want someone who's not a potato, they want a star. We no longer want to avoid the wooden spoon and massive deficits. We want to make the top 4.

Is Kobe a top 4 lock? I'm not sure either. I agree with you on that.

As for lock, it's the one position in the team that doesn't have a clear job description. Some locks are just props. Pat Carrigan, for example, offers nothing more. Tackle. Hit it up. Try not to drop the ball. Rinse and repeat.

While others are like a five-eighth crossed with a brick shithouse. They become an extended part of the spine. Kobe falls into this latter type, which makes him vastly more exciting than Patty at the back. Regardless of how good Patty is in the extended prop role.

I agree that Kobe is still very much on trial. You know when you have a good lock because you hear his name shouted every other set. Players like Taumalolo, Gallen, Ray Price, Bradley Clyde, Sam Burgess. These guys made a massive impact every game. Maybe that's the job description.

Couldn't agree more. Well said.

 

[Scorchie]

So at the moment we have rumours for
1) Ryan James
2) Tyrone Peachy

Anyone else heard of potential players we are targeting

Please god no