Broncos v Warriors in-game *spoilers*

[jarro65]

I was really impressed with the way carroll came back and immediately started running the lines a good secondrower should.

Lockyer must've loved it too 'cos he put Tunsa through a couple of holes, and only for the fact Tunsa is still a bit underdone, could've led to tries.

I really hope the younger forwards take note of this and start to follow suit icon_thumbs_u

 

[Coxy]

Can't add much more than already's been said. Fantastic second half after a relatively ordinary first half, or rather first 25 minutes. looked like the turning point i was hoping for that second half.

Let's hope the Folau and Clinton injuries aren't too serious, though I don't hold much hope for Clinton...looked like the man without a face!

 

[mick]

IMO the first half wasn't even *that* bad. Plenty of positives to take out of it - we of course let them have a huge amount of possession, but to only concede 8 points was a job well done.

Great second half, and particularly a good performance from the likes of Thaiday, Taylor, McCullough and Parker. Tunsa played very well all things considered, and we're going to need them all to step up further in a few weeks as injuries continue.

Overall, that was a good win and a damn vital one. Two points last week and two points from the bye next week. We must beat the Rabbits in another two weeks and we can start the run from there. Can't believe it will already be round 19!

 

[Coxy]

Meh, I'm still not sold on the first half. It was 8-0 (and then 8-4) only because the Warriors butchered tries. Mannering strolled through at will.

Much improved second half.

 

[mick]

Oh the Warriors definitely didn't take their chances and there's no doubt the second half was much better. Still, when you're doing twice the amount of tackling as the other team for a half an hour, there's almost no reason why it shouldn't be 24-0.

 

[Coxy]

And it did start with a really poor chase on Locke in the in goal. Although he did use the post well as a shepherd.

Pin him in goal then and it's a very different first half IMO.

 

[broncosil]

A much better game from the Broncos than in recent weeks. They played with enthusiasm, effort and heart. Like others have said the return of Tunza may have embarassed them and their forwards did the job.

Taylor - had a fantastic game, let's hope he can be consistent and continue with these performances. He has such massive potential it would be a shame to see him waste it.

Thaiday - proved why he should always be a wide running backrower. Why he was changed to a workhorse I will never know.

Hoffman - another fantastic performance. He showed last night that he wants that fullback position, and if he continues to play that way I will have no qualms with him replacing Hunt. He has also got better aspects to his game than Hunt does, defense and speed being two of them.

The rest - everyone put in, even Michaels to an extent. Lockyer had a great game and Wallace had his best game in ages. Hodges has shown that without him the team suffers.

Overall, a great improvement, and barring injuries to Clinton and Folau, the team should remain unchanged.

 

[Coxy]

As good as Hoffman was, he needs to learn to jump and get forward momentum when fielding bombs. Price made him look like an idiot.

 

[Jeba]

6. McCullough's performance was great - He MUST play the 80 minutes, I keep saying it but the teams that have 80 minute hookers seem to always be able to get better roll ons in attack and better momentum throughout the game.

Agree a thousand percent. I said in the Broncos v Parra post game thread that Ivan needs to pick a hooker and stick with him to really get that 1-6-7-9 combination working. Very glad to see he picked McCullough and didn't pick Gorrell or Marsh on the bench. That will do Macca's confidence a world of good, and he played well last night. I like his little dummy-then-go's. Makes half a gap and gives him a quick play the ball, puts the defence on the back foot.

One thing I will say - the Broncos are the worst in the League at shielding chasers out of the contest when a bomb goes up. I know Ivan is not a fan of it but everytime a bomb goes up I get very very nervous (apart from when it is directed at Folau). That's why Winterstein (who I thought was awesome last night) is having his troubles when the bomb goes up, he gets no protection. Obviously we have to work it so that we don't give away penalties.

Good to see Thaiday back running wide and hopefully this will recapture his form of 2007-08 when he was used that way.

You could make a case for Ivan reading this forum too - all of a sudden we've Taylor running wide, Thaiday back running wide, McCullough hooker for 80 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[broncosil]

As good as Hoffman was, he needs to learn to jump and get forward momentum when fielding bombs. Price made him look like an idiot.

I forgot about that, yes it made Hoffman look ordinary. Hopefully he learns from it.

 

[pennywisealfie]

gotta give mad credit to Tunza, best come out of retirement the broncos have had since alfie...and we've had a few!

 

[Kris]

I was pretty happy that we won the game last night. We didn't have a lot of posession in the first 25 or so minutes of the game, but at least we hung on and only gave the Warriors 8 points. So credit to our huge improvement with our defence last night! However, we still need to improve our defence in the middle and shutting players down straight away because we still let go of a few offloads.

I would be happy if we have Hoffman as Hunt's replacement. He's still young so he's got plenty of time to improve, but I liked the way he played last night.

And TC....YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I loved seeing his combination with Locky again. :D It would've been orsm if he got a try haha.

 

[Fozz]

Looking at the NRL.com stats the Warriors ended up with 16 offloads. Reckon they would've got around 10 in the first 20 minutes so well done on shutting down that aspect of their game after that.

 

[Kris]

It's cos of Tunzaaaaa. He is GAWD.

 

[Professor47]

It was a good win.

Rookie mistake by Hoffman allowing Price to take it but that happens with rookies.

I'm worried about Folau's injury. If he's gone for the season it would be another big blow to our premiership chances this year.

Still not convinced about Tunza yet, not sure if we want to use him when we have a full squad.

DT, great game but still not blowing up about losing him yet. I still think the rabbits may have jumped the gun. Good luck to him though.

Hodges was strong. I have to say, Broncos are half the team without Hodges. Our loss ratio without Hodges must be staggering. It's so clear Lockyer/Hunt/Hodges play the biggest impact on our team performing. It's a real pity we need all three to really strut our stuff. Hodges in particular. We can't seem to post on points without him.

 

[Je$ter]

I really liked the yellow jersies. They looked mad with the black and yellow total 90's and custom legends (for those of you who are footy boot fanatics ie me).

From replays I have seen I think it was Carroll coming in that caused Izzy's injury. That's footy but I spose, espeically with TC playing the way he plays.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I also loved the Jerseys I want one... I wonder how much they will go for in auction..

 

[Aeetee]

Locky is already at $6,600.00

http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/livestrong-nike/NRL.html