Broncos Vs. Knights - Match Thread

[Bucking Beads]

Because really, we should just hire some Shaman as coach, that's really what the Broncos fans want...some miracle worker.

What I want is a committed team effort from a Brisbane Broncos side in 2010! A full 80 mins of quality football. To watch a game and say wow the Broncos are actually playing as a team. I want to be able to praise Ivan for actually getting improvement out of this team.

 

[Big Pete]

Dude, even with Bennett we were missing the most tackles and giving away a ton of offloads.

The difference is, Bennett had adults to work with.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Dude, even with Bennett we were missing the most tackles and giving away a ton of offloads.

The difference is, Bennett had adults to work with.

So you would think that when a new coach takes over we would see changes or improvement!

 

[Big Pete]

Not really.

Considering he was basically left in a ditch with a roster he didn't really want to inherit.

 

[Nashy]

I thought Hunt played alright tonight actually.

 

[Big Pete]

I'd be willing to persist with Hunt, but he'd have to improve on his d dramatically.

He looked better in attack.

 

[Professor47]

ahh... what to say, what to say?

As mentioned an outside back on the bench is just ridiculous...
Our defense ... pfft... is there anything really to say about our D?

Sigh... we are just so frustrating to watch at the moment...

I know the salary cap topic has been done over and over but I've never seen a crappier competition than this year... CLEARLY The dragons are yards ahead atm of how a team should run, the best team in the comp are cheats... then you've got Manly, Eels and the Dogs who are decent...
we've got RL players all over the world - the NRL right now should have players like SBW, Gasnier, Hodgson, Gower, Wing, Budurus + 60 or so more... imagine the depth of the competition then...
Look at the game tonight... the standard of RL was embarrassing.

 

[markmac]

As someone put it before, we look the shambles. Being at the game there is hardly any talk in the line especially in defence. Michaels (I'm not blaming him at all for the loss at all) has no idea in defence has not learned a thing and Kemp I feel is still fairly inexperienced.
The only way the broncos can get through this apart from getting a couple of key players back, is if we get a knew coach. Our players have no fear of Henjak. Imagine if the storm boys put hat effort in and had to return to the sheds to face Bellamy like wise the Eagles and Des. Doors flying everywhere....
Henjak has not improved our attack or defence since taking over. I sit there and watch each game and wonder what the hell do these blokes do all week between the games. I know Henjak is working with kids, but I don't think we're a bottom of the ladder team. His team choices are not the best and the game of musical chairs in the team has never been proved a success by any team in the past comps.
Our attitude needs to change and our skills need to be devloped and Henjak I don't think is capable of doing that. I think our team isn't a top 8 team but I think we can could have placed just outside of it.

 

[ningnangnong]

What an utterly pathetic performance. Worst one this season IMO.

Half of these blokes only want to play when we have the footy in hand, they can't be bothered with defending. Well, pull your arses out and have a go FFS. Deadset, five minutes in and you could already see massive holes forming in our defensive line.

Ivan needs to pick up his act as well. Agree with what ethos said earlier, his use of the bench is just terrible. Also agree with Ari Gold, there is no structure to our game plan (that's if we have one), because at the moment our tries are basically created by luck, rather than specific movements or plays.

Our kicking game has gone to shit. Lockyer was woeful in that respect, as was Hunt. Not sure why Ivan took Hunt off?

Tronc did well. 41 tackles is a big effort, and a few fellas in our side could learn a thing or two about defending from Troncy.

Agree with everyone else in saying Te'o and Thaiday were clearly our best. I was disappointed with the amount of ball dropped by Parker and his incessant desire to come back infield whenever he got possession.

Overally, I am truly disgusted by that performance. It was a joke. These players need a swift kick up the arse. Show some guts and determination. Lazy.

 

[Spec]

Parker really needs to stop trying to do the miracle offload on the first few tackles especially when we're in good attacking position. He's just giving the ball back to the opposition.

 

[Jeba]

Terrible.

20 minutes of awesome, 60 minutes of woeful.

Honestly - what happened at half time? Why did we go into the sheds playing awesome and come out playing so crap? I wanna know what Ivan's halftime message was because it looked like he just told them to defend their way to victory instead of really putting them to the sword.

Henjak continues to be a joke. If he now doesn't realise that putting a back on the bench is a waste and offers nothing, what is it going to take to get it through his shiny head? Also echo what others have said in this thread - taking Hunt and Glenn off, and moving our fullback to the wing, that was like coaching under 9's and making sure every kid gets to have a run.

Bruno - give Craig Bellamy a blank cheque, build him a house, buy him a boat and hand him a paper bag full of cash and a dozen hookers. We need the cranky bugger at our club because the bloke we have has no clue.

On the players, well yeh as others have said, Thaiday and Te'o fantastic. Folau good. I've seen a few wraps for Parker but I was disappointed with him. Made some stupid passes and I was sick of him coming back on the inside whenever he got the ball. Yow Yeh horrible, Kemp horrible, Michaels not as bad as those two but still ordinary. In the forwards Anderson was huge off the bench in the first half, went missing a bit in the second with most of his teammates. Dodds was OK, good in defence. Glenn tried hard but he's a backrower not a hooker.

In summing up, when you lead 22-12 at halftime, and you lose by 8, you can't use injuries as an excuse.

 

[gUt]

Just a thought about the outside back on the bench, maybe he was picked just in case Kemp's ribs imploded or Yow Yeh needed to come off. As it happened. Of course this begs the question why were either of them in the team in the first place if they were dodgy.

Please can we have Sims on the bench next week to sub for Tronc so we don't lose that size up front?

 

[Kimlo]

Nah he's playing crap in Q cup. /sarcasm
Put Sims on the bench next week and get rid of a useless back ffs.

 

[rnabokov]

Kemp's ribs imploded under the weight of 115 kgs of meat.

As for other's criticism of him, he got bugger all ball, no-one even thought of setting up a play for him.

Contrary to others. I felt Hoffman was ordinary. Yeah, he made a few good tackles but he does nothing, nothing in attack. He refuses to come up behind the ruck, he doesn't go looking for the ball. At least if he came up into the line maybe then Lockyer might think of a 2nd man play. Yeah, Hoffman's solid as someone said. Solid ordinary. I'll take Norman any day.

Henjak hasn't got a clue about how to manage a team that isn't littered with stars. He has no skills to mould or create a team from scratch. He's utterly clueless. He's a dud. Bereft of skills he should rest in peace.

We have no team. Henjak sees to that. We have a different team every week.No wonder we have no structure in attack or defence. I feel so sorry for the players.

And yeah, we need Sims on the bench. If it comes down to a choice between Henjak and Sims I'll have Sims please.

 

[Jeba]

Exactly what you said rnabokov (I find I am agreeing with you a lot more this season). We have a different team every week, how the hell can we work out our strengths and play to them if we have different strengths (and weaknesses) week in week out? Injuries are the old excuse, but even before McCullough was injured, for some ridiculous reason Henjak decided to start Glenn in the #9 and McCullough on the bench!!!!! [icon_non Granted, Glenn went well but that's more due to his all-round ability.

We just need to pick the 1-6-7-9 (obviously that's Hoffman, Lockyer, Wallace and McCullough, at the moment Hunt for Wallace and Glenn for McCullough), then pick 2 front rowers (IMO those should be Tronc and Anderson, but happy to see Dodds start as well and Kenny when he comes back, as long as the same 2 start each week). Obviously Thaiday, Te'o and Parker are always our back rowers. If we get a consistent team going, our performances will get better as combinations get better. Henjak is not allowing this to happen. Even tonight we had our fullback to the wing, our halfback to the bench and our hooker to the bench. That was seriously the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen from a coach as far as interchange is concerned.

 

[Big_Dave]

Hodges is the answer to the Broncos problems.
He'll bring the passion back.

 

[Big Pete]

Just caught the game again on FoxSports (glutton for punishment and I was doing the washing up partway through the 30 minute mark through to the 60 minute mark (damn family dinners and being sole cleaner! Never draw the short straw gentlemen) and I'm not AS dissapointed as I was at first. I think, what really hurt was the fact that Lockyer didn't get himself involved enough in that final 10 when we needed him most to direct the play.

Now...for my thoughts.

Starting with the fullback position and honestly I thought Hoffman was good last night. He was great out of dummy half and made some easy ground off of there and was getting some really fast play the balls. Hell our best set of the second half came as a result of two very good runs made by him. I was dissapointed with his work inside the opposition's 20 especially during one instance where he got tangled together with Thaiday when Lockyer went searching for him with a really clever pass but in saying, he was good generally.

Both wingers were poor. Kemp tried hard but was obviously hurting. Yow Yeh just had his characteristic off night. I can't blame him, a player of his ability can either be a hero or a villain.

Michaels was bad, I'm sorry guys I should never of vouched for him. He just doesn't have the speed anymore to make it in first grade which is why I'd much rather see Copley take his place next week.

Folau on the other hand was very good. He was dangerous every time he touched the ball and really tore Sau a new one. I wish Henjak utilised him more, imagine what damage he could do mid-field against a jagged line?

Lockyer was good when he got involved but his problem was he didn't get involved enough. Was dissapointed with one of his bombs which eventually lead to the Knights scoring the try that saw them get in front and his decision to pass back inside to Kemp.

Hunt, showed some improvement especially in that 20-40 minute period but his defence was poor. You'll notice the Knights gained a lot of ground sending backrowers his way. Kicking game was mixed, his cross field attempt to Folau was terrible BUT I saw enough to give him another week. Let him improve I say.

Dodds was solid, he's getting better each and every week. Tronc was solid in d, although he was caught out in the ruck a fair bit which gifted the Knights ground. He will get better with time.

Anderson had some nice touches but somebody needs to tell him to calm down. He gave the Knights the ball because he tried to throw a miracle off load and then allowed them easy metres following a lazy high tackle on their side of half way.

Lui was found out tonight. I like the kid, like his enthusiasm BUT he needs to go back to the Toyota Cup where he belongs.

Glenn was pretty poor tonight. We really did miss McCullough tonight and really needed somebody with some expertise around the middle of the ruck. Glenn is a fine talent and somebody who will really challenge sides in the backrow (if he ever gets the chance) but his work in the middle of the ruck was pedestrian and did little for others.

Backrow was the best part of the Broncos tonight. All of them had their moments and came up with some great decisions BUT there is certainly some room for improvement. I love Parker, but he needs to think of the larger picture and trust his side more. He tried to come up with too many big plays, when he should've just concentrated on doing his job.

Thaiday was Thaiday.

Te'o is going from strength to strength, albeit he made two silly errors in the second half because he opted for a loose carry in the hope of achieving an offload.

And Setu played one of his best games for the Broncos.

Really I feel the way I've set this post up is telling of how the Broncos played tonight. Had they won, I would've said the FORWARDS played well and the halves did this and the backline responded nicely. Instead, it was a very individual effort. If nothing else I hope Henjak sits them down and tells them no matter how young/old they are they need to respect each other and they need to play for one another.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I agree about Dodds, Big Pete. I bagged the crap out of him at the start of the season but now he is in my team every week and I think he will be a cornerstone of our pack for years to come!!. It seems that we have plenty of decent performance by some of our players but never play well as a team.