Broncos v Souths *spoilers*

[Jeba]

The recruitment area, now with sad passing of Cyril needs redevelopment, when was the last player of real standing we produced, maybe K but he’s leaving.

Stagg, Hannant, Boyd...

I think he means who is actually still playing for the Broncos.

I think that's part of what Astroboy was getting at.

 

[Je$ter]

Russo hit the nail on the head (with brute force). Everything he said is true and to be honest unless we see some major changes in the next couple years this club could be in for very lean times. Look at Parramatta, 10 years ago they were the best team in the comp. Then they started falling off the rails, making a lot of recruiting from outside the club, a useless CEO and a coach devoid of new ideas.

Time for a change, starting with the team for next week!

 

[The Brizz]

Rocky, WB let go of plenty of good players before last year though; Priddis, Civo, Barnes, Prince etc.

 

[renouf]

We will rue the letting go of K for years to come, we should be re-signing him number one then if money left over D.Lockyer. I am afraid to say this as he is and has been favourite player for years now but Locky is on the way out and for mine this should be his last season. When was the last game that he had an actual real influence on the game, sad to say it's been a while.

Locky is the only one capable of winning a game for us at the moment.. so I don't think hes past it at all. I do think however that he shouldn't have played Origin this year.. but being lockyer he had to be involved in it.. and he'll probably regret it now if we miss the finals.

 

[Kimlo]

I seriously think Locky should get a one year contract and his form needs to be assessed after that. I think injuries and age are catching up with him fast and 2 years might be stretching it.

 

[Kimlo]

I seriously think Locky should get a one year contract and his form needs to be assessed after that. I think injuries and age are catching up with him fast and 2 years might be stretching it. However if the only problem is lockyer playing for too long then we would be in the top 4 safely.

 

[bigjim]

I don't pretend to know all about the game of league or the on-field tactics of players and coaches.
However, I have eyes and I know what I see with my eyes.
When an opposing team targets one player consistently, Michaels, for a whole game with constant success and nothing is done about that player or the obvious problem, then the blames has to be the coach's.
No team in Broncos history has been been beaten so comprehensively with 40+ points scored is so many games in such a short period.
If you think it's just Origin your sticking your head in the sand. There seems to be a sense of unhappiness in the camp and there are definitely some underlying off-field problems. No South team, I don't care how hard the Origin series has been, should beat the Broncos like they did.

 

[Coxy]

bigjim is exactly right. There's fundamental problems that have been there from round 1. They were covered relatively well because players like Hodges and Folau were covering them up by playing well and keeping us winning. Now that injuries and fatigue have set in, our go to players aren't doing as well and the absolutely pitiful standard of the rest of the playing group is being shown up.

Michaels is just one of a number of players who simply aren't first grade standard. Setu. Te'o. Yow Yeh. Williams. Wapau etc. so many of those guys get a shot and have absolutely jack all.

Why is our depth so bad? It comes down to recruitment. As others have pointed out, we've let hosts of quality players go and replaced them with **** all. Folau is the only quality signing we've made in 5 years and we've paid overs for him, given all he really provides is a bomb catcher.

I said it to a few people on Friday night. I hope the Broncos miss the finals this year, and by some margin. Maybe then change will occur. Positive change.

 

[Flutterby]

x 2 Coxy. We've still managed to keep making the finals so everyone thinks it's all tickety-boo and just cruised along doing much of the same.

 

[subsbligh]

I saw tonight what everyone has been saying about Michaels. If Dave Taylor needs time to work on his fitness in QCup, Michaels needs to work on his defence in that same arena. Horrible reads, and just raped by Sutton's take the ball to the line approach. Single-handedly let in 24 points for us.

 

[lynx000]

There was a reason why I dubbed him turnstile after the Manly game. Lyons did exactly the same thing to him. The real question is, we can see it, the crowd can see it, obviously the opposition coaches can see it. Why can't our coaches see it and do something about it. Did you see Ryan's comments in the courier mail today, he doesn't care how many points we leak, it will all be okay when we get into the finals. Different ballgame then apparently. *slaps forehead and wanders off mumbling* I need some of whatever he and Ivan are on obviously, gives you a totally different viewpoint.

 

[Anonymous person]

1) Were are we headed with our recruitment - I love Israel but we paid overs for him. We effectively weakened 4 positions to get him (hooker, left centre/wing, workhorse backrower and creative utility forward) and it has backfired massively

We didn't 'effectively weakened 4 positions to get him' - he was basically a direct swap for Tonie Carroll. Carroll retired, wouldve easily been on 300k a season, and we get Folau for about the same money. There we go, deal done. 1 player leaves the team, 1 player joins the team.

 

[Coxy]

Hmmm, ok, even if that were true, how do you explain losing Kemp, Ennis, Hannant, Boyd and Eastwood as well while only gaining Te'o, Gorrell (LOLZ) and Setu?

 

[Anonymous person]

Hmmm, ok, even if that were true, how do you explain losing Kemp, Ennis, Hannant, Boyd and Eastwood as well while only gaining Te'o, Gorrell (LOLZ) and Setu?

Ennis, from what I read, wasn't exactly fitting in - probably because he's a pain in the @rse.

Hannant wanted more money than he was/is worth. Didn't he sign for over $300k a season with the Bulldogs? He was worth about half of that when he signed.

Boyd wanted to play Fullback IIRC? With Hunt there that was never going to happen, so he went where he was guaranteed to play Fullback.

Eastwood also had the cheque book thrown at him IIRC. He was always a lazy, unfit, 'play good once every 6 weeks' type of player at the Broncos, so I honestly was glad to see him go. He was the modern day Carl Webb of old (and of late, to an extent).

Who knows why we signed Gorrell. Honestly, I have no idea. We have PJ Marsh just sitting on the sidelines. Then again, Hooker has not been Bennetts best position decision wise, having told one of the best hookers of the modern game in Luke Priddis to leave. Bennett was probably also trying to save money in the cap by letting lots of players go and signing very few so he could give Hunt a huge pay raise come negotiation time, and then bring Perry back to save us when we hit our mid-season slump on a gigantic deal to set him up for life.

Wayne Bennet no doubt made all those signings, and really, is there anyone left who hasn't realised he had little to no clue in his last few years with the Broncos? The constant and unwavering selections of players like Shane Perry and Steve Michaels show he signed/selected players based on everything but skill and performance. Shane Perry probably cooks a mean roast, and had Benny over every sunday night, so he kept his spot. Michaels, well he must give a mean rub & tug, as surely nothing short of that could secure him a first grade spot.

 

[Foordy]

^^^ IMO, Michaels has only gone shocking this year, last year before he was injured he was going great guns and would have played origin instead of Boyd

 

[Anonymous person]

^^^ IMO, Michaels has only gone shocking this year, last year before he was injured he was going great guns and would have played origin instead of Boyd

I can't agree with that. Last year he was mediocre at best. Last year he only screwed up 5 times a match, this year it's up to 10 times a match.

I've never seen anything in Michaels, and to be honest I don't think he will ever be anything other than mediocre at best. He will NEVER be anywhere remotely near the quality of a player like Inglis, Hodges, Tonga, or even Boyd.

 

[Jeba]

^^^ IMO, Michaels has only gone shocking this year, last year before he was injured he was going great guns and would have played origin instead of Boyd

I can't agree with that. Last year he was mediocre at best. Last year he only screwed up 5 times a match, this year it's up to 10 times a match.

I've never seen anything in Michaels, and to be honest I don't think he will ever be anything other than mediocre at best. He will NEVER be anywhere remotely near the quality of a player like Inglis, Hodges, Tonga, or even Boyd.

You can't deny his form before his injury last year was very good. I think he was in the top 5 in the NRL for line breaks for a while there and his defensive problems weren't there.

 

[Foordy]

^^^ IMO, Michaels has only gone shocking this year, last year before he was injured he was going great guns and would have played origin instead of Boyd

I can't agree with that. Last year he was mediocre at best. Last year he only screwed up 5 times a match, this year it's up to 10 times a match.

I've never seen anything in Michaels, and to be honest I don't think he will ever be anything other than mediocre at best. He will NEVER be anywhere remotely near the quality of a player like Inglis, Hodges, Tonga, or even Boyd.

If every player in the club was as good as those guys that would be great because they are the best centers in the game but the salary cap doesn't allow it. Michaels before his injury last year was at least a decent first grader maybe not quite up to origin level, but not far behind it. i still think his best position is wing, this year although he is at the top of most of the attacking stats for centers, his defence has just not been up to NRL level.