NEWS Croft 'honoured to be a Bronco'

[Huge]

So Melbourne's plan should be: destroy Croft to collapse House Brisbane?

Yes but House Brisbane doesn't rely on just the one player, most were equally inept in the recent season. Melbourne do rely on Cam Smith as the heart and soul.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Don't be surprised if Croft doesn't get first shot at half back. I can see Dearden killing it in the trials and getting the nod. It is good to have a few options in the halves. We could even have Bird at 5/8 and Milf at halfback! So many combinations. It's a healthy headache.

Even more healthy when O'Sullivan is back from injury, this is the difference between having recruiting an additional halfback for 2020 and not, we went from a situation where if Dearden got injured or suspended while O'Sullivan is unavailable we were up shit creek to having serious competition in the halves.

 

[Kooly87]

I'd say the likelihood of Croft not being the Halfback in Round 1, injury or suspension etc aside, is almost zero.

You don't go out on a limb to recruit a bloke, stick him instantly into your leadership group and then put him directly in front of the press on day 1 of training to talk about living up to the standards set by Langer, to then start him in Queensland Cup.

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So Melbourne's plan should be: destroy Croft to collapse House Brisbane?

Melbourne's plan should be to just keep doing whatever it is they've done since basically 2007. God knows, it's proven effective.

 

[McHunt]

Yes but House Brisbane doesn't rely on just the one player, most were equally inept in the recent season. Melbourne do rely on Cam Smith as the heart and soul.

Pretzel logic if I've ever seen it.

 

[PNG Broncos fan88]

I'd say the likelihood of Croft not being the Halfback in Round 1, injury or suspension etc aside, is almost zero.
You don't go out on a limb to recruit a bloke, stick him instantly into your leadership group and then put him directly in front of the press on day 1 of training to talk about living up to the standards set by Langer, to then start him in Queensland Cup.

Obviously, what has Dearden ever done in his handful of games...'an almost try assist?'

 

[M.B.88]

I personally suspect Croft can be the superior player in a couple of years time. But that's kind of besides the point. They're very different players. They do different jobs and have different skill sets. Milford has done a decent job of trying to play the organiser and he does deserve plenty of credit for the improvements he's made in this regard. He's certainly a far more well rounded player than when he came to us.

That said, I'm not sure if he's actually a 'better' player than when he came to us. Now a lot of it isn't his fault, he was asked to do a job he wasn't familiar with and probably isn't going to ever really be suited for. We paid the money we did for Milford for his running game and his ability to create havoc on opposition defensive lines particularly in broken play. We never bought him here to be our Halfback or to do almost all of our last tackle kicking. There is no shame in this, even Lockyer struggled to excel when he wasn't given a decent Halfback to play alongside.

So we finally have a Halfback alongside him. He's not Cronk or JT or DCE, but he's definitely got a huge amount of potential, and rather than seeing it as him vs Milford, we should be looking at what they can do to complement one another.

Croft to me looks like a guy waiting to get the reigns and in Brisbane he'll have that opportunity. This means Milford can take more of a backseat if you want to call it that, but it's not meant in a negative sense. It ideally means that Milford will be more free to pick and choose when he wants the ball and where he wants to inject himself, safe in the knowledge that he has a competent Halves partner who can take pressure off him on the 4th and 5th tackle and particularly with our kicking game. This should leave Milford fresher physically, and with more time to get a feel for the opposition and the weak spots he can target.

I agree that Milford deserves credit for what he's done at Brisbane playing mostly a lone hand with a revolving door of questionable Halves partners and working on skills that he should never really have had to concern himself with. Make no mistake though, Croft is under pressure to find his feet quickly, but don't for a moment think Milford isn't either. With a genuine Halfback to play alongside him, its up to Milford to now show us he still has that attacking arsenal and moments of brilliance that he came to us with and that we pay him handsomely for. Tom Dearden is on the horizon, and there will be more behind him. No one should feel their position is safe without having to earn it, and that applies to our highest ever paid player most of all.

The perfect post.

Champion

 

[M.B.88]

I've made both points on many occasions . The Sharks gave us the blueprint in their gf win. The other point about concentrating on one player without respite would work and most especially on a lynchpin player such as Cam Smith. Destroy him and the house collapses.

Exactly.

The issue is they knew how to nullify our runners in that game by going at their legs.

That's why you need Turpin making the markers and the A B defenders sit back more and need to make more decisions... Means they can't just swarm us knowing full well who the runner will be which is dead obvious with Macca running the ruck.

We need guys making marginally late hits on Smith after a kick... At least once. But not in our own 30.

Turpin TPJ and Fifita should be the one to do this. Unsettle him. Get in his face. Talk up. Bite back.

We need to scrap and drag against them as the Raiders do, as the Sharks do, as the roosters do.

Lateral ball movements and offloads. Don't play to a usual game plan, they're ready for that shit, they're too well drilled.

I bet the Walker brothers would be able to train a team to beat Melbourne consistently

 

[M.B.88]

Obviously, what has Dearden ever done in his handful of games...'an almost try assist?'

I thought this way too til I saw the guy train yesterday.. he was a livewire.

He reminded me a lot of Lockyer the way he was in exactly the right spot in support after a linebreak... The break was made on the right edge (Boyd's Defensive edge) from almost the in goal... The 2nd team made the break up the sidelines through whoever was playing right centre and Coates... Dearden showed up twice to receive a pass and continue the broken play, AND showed up at the last second to almost score the try but it was a very hard chase and in goal defence that stopped him putting it down.

But the guy received and shoveled the ball to exactly the right player to keep things moving. Was a sight to see!

It was in yesterday's drills that I saw why everyone at the club have wraps on him.

I think the issue with him in game so far is Milford over calling him. Hopefully this all changes for Croft. Otherwise there's no point

 

[McHunt]

I thought this way too til I saw the guy train yesterday.. he was a livewire.

He reminded me a lot of Lockyer the way he was in exactly the right spot in support after a linebreak...

 

[broncsgoat]

I personally suspect Croft can be the superior player in a couple of years time. But that's kind of besides the point. They're very different players. They do different jobs and have different skill sets. Milford has done a decent job of trying to play the organiser and he does deserve plenty of credit for the improvements he's made in this regard. He's certainly a far more well rounded player than when he came to us.

That said, I'm not sure if he's actually a 'better' player than when he came to us. Now a lot of it isn't his fault, he was asked to do a job he wasn't familiar with and probably isn't going to ever really be suited for. We paid the money we did for Milford for his running game and his ability to create havoc on opposition defensive lines particularly in broken play. We never bought him here to be our Halfback or to do almost all of our last tackle kicking. There is no shame in this, even Lockyer struggled to excel when he wasn't given a decent Halfback to play alongside.

So we finally have a Halfback alongside him. He's not Cronk or JT or DCE, but he's definitely got a huge amount of potential, and rather than seeing it as him vs Milford, we should be looking at what they can do to complement one another.

Croft to me looks like a guy waiting to get the reigns and in Brisbane he'll have that opportunity. This means Milford can take more of a backseat if you want to call it that, but it's not meant in a negative sense. It ideally means that Milford will be more free to pick and choose when he wants the ball and where he wants to inject himself, safe in the knowledge that he has a competent Halves partner who can take pressure off him on the 4th and 5th tackle and particularly with our kicking game. This should leave Milford fresher physically, and with more time to get a feel for the opposition and the weak spots he can target.

I agree that Milford deserves credit for what he's done at Brisbane playing mostly a lone hand with a revolving door of questionable Halves partners and working on skills that he should never really have had to concern himself with. Make no mistake though, Croft is under pressure to find his feet quickly, but don't for a moment think Milford isn't either. With a genuine Halfback to play alongside him, its up to Milford to now show us he still has that attacking arsenal and moments of brilliance that he came to us with and that we pay him handsomely for. Tom Dearden is on the horizon, and there will be more behind him. No one should feel their position is safe without having to earn it, and that applies to our highest ever paid player most of all.

This is a great post.

However if Croft had the slightest chance of being a better player than Milford he’d still be at the Storm.

 

[abashii]

Melbourne's plan should be to just keep doing whatever it is they've done since basically 2007. God knows, it's proven effective.

Cheating, chokeholds and chicken wings? Cannonballs, crushers and concealed contracts?

 

[Huge]

I'd say the likelihood of Croft not being the Halfback in Round 1, injury or suspension etc aside, is almost zero.

You don't go out on a limb to recruit a bloke, stick him instantly into your leadership group and then put him directly in front of the press on day 1 of training to talk about living up to the standards set by Langer, to then start him in Queensland Cup.

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Melbourne's plan should be to just keep doing whatever it is they've done since basically 2007. God knows, it's proven effective.

UNLESS forced to ! Almost zero you say but what if he doesn't fire in the trials and Dearden is electric? What then? Do you still put him in just because the club chased him, he is in the leadership group and paraded him around to the media and fans? Possibly but Seibold might choose to do otherwise. I'm only suggesting it so that we all temper our expectations for Croft's impact. We'll see and I think the smart money will be on Croft, I just don't think it's a lock yet.

 

[Kooly87]

UNLESS forced to ! Almost zero you say but what if he doesn't fire in the trials and Dearden is electric? What then? Do you still put him in just because the club chased him, he is in the leadership group and paraded him around to the media and fans? Possibly but Seibold might choose to do otherwise. I'm only suggesting it so that we all temper our expectations for Croft's impact. We'll see and I think the smart money will be on Croft, I just don't think it's a lock yet.

The failure would have to be pretty damn catastrophic and at the same time Dearden's form would have to similarly be pretty damn spectacular for that to unfold. So yeah, I'd put the probability of that at close to zero. You're right, of course it's possible, just highly, highly improbable.
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Cheating, chokeholds and chicken wings? Cannonballs, crushers and concealed contracts?

I didn't say I liked it, I just said it's been staggeringly effective.

 

[McHunt]

Don't be surprised if Croft doesn't get first shot at half back. I can see Dearden killing it in the trials and getting the nod. It is good to have a few options in the halves. We could even have Bird at 5/8 and Milf at halfback! So many combinations. It's a healthy headache.

Croft is our new halfback. Lock it in.

 

[lynx000]

I thought this way too til I saw the guy train yesterday.. he was a livewire.

He reminded me a lot of Lockyer the way he was in exactly the right spot in support after a linebreak... The break was made on the right edge (Boyd's Defensive edge) from almost the in goal... The 2nd team made the break up the sidelines through whoever was playing right centre and Coates... Dearden showed up twice to receive a pass and continue the broken play, AND showed up at the last second to almost score the try but it was a very hard chase and in goal defence that stopped him putting it down.

But the guy received and shoveled the ball to exactly the right player to keep things moving. Was a sight to see!

It was in yesterday's drills that I saw why everyone at the club have wraps on him.

I think the issue with him in game so far is Milford over calling him. Hopefully this all changes for Croft. Otherwise there's no point

That is a great review, thanks for that.

 

[Renegade]

I thought this way too til I saw the guy train yesterday.. he was a livewire.

He reminded me a lot of Lockyer the way he was in exactly the right spot in support after a linebreak... The break was made on the right edge (Boyd's Defensive edge) from almost the in goal... The 2nd team made the break up the sidelines through whoever was playing right centre and Coates... Dearden showed up twice to receive a pass and continue the broken play, AND showed up at the last second to almost score the try but it was a very hard chase and in goal defence that stopped him putting it down.

But the guy received and shoveled the ball to exactly the right player to keep things moving. Was a sight to see!

It was in yesterday's drills that I saw why everyone at the club have wraps on him.

I think the issue with him in game so far is Milford over calling him. Hopefully this all changes for Croft. Otherwise there's no point

I'm glad you're coming around.

 

[pagey]

I thought this way too til I saw the guy train yesterday.. he was a livewire.

He reminded me a lot of Lockyer the way he was in exactly the right spot in support after a linebreak... The break was made on the right edge (Boyd's Defensive edge) from almost the in goal... The 2nd team made the break up the sidelines through whoever was playing right centre and Coates... Dearden showed up twice to receive a pass and continue the broken play, AND showed up at the last second to almost score the try but it was a very hard chase and in goal defence that stopped him putting it down.

But the guy received and shoveled the ball to exactly the right player to keep things moving. Was a sight to see!

It was in yesterday's drills that I saw why everyone at the club have wraps on him.

I think the issue with him in game so far is Milford over calling him. Hopefully this all changes for Croft. Otherwise there's no point

The kid will be a gun , has all the attributes.

 

[Alec]

tried that for several years ... didn't work ... time for plan B

Milford needs to be the support player, sniffing around the ruck waiting for the offload. focus on getting his running game back, rather than managing the game.

Croft should be the game manager ... i think he'll surprise some people when we hand him the keys

Agreed with most of this (except I'm not sure how Croft will actually go). The reason for buying a halfback isn't for Milford to keep doing what he has been doing, that defeats the entire purpose. The whole reason is to get him running more and try to play like 2015 again.